Electronic
Book Publishing
Electronic publishers offer books in a variety of
electronic formats
for
readers to download to their PC, PDA, cell phone, or dedicated
ebook reading device, order on diskette or CD, or receive by email.
Many also make some or all of their books available in print via print
on demand
technology. Books are available through the publisher's website, the
online storefronts of ebook
distributors such as
Fictionwise, and, sometimes, online
booksellers (often with restrictions--Amazon, for instance, carries
ebooks only if they are formatted for its Kindle reader).
Electronic publishing can be an attractive alternative for writers in
specific genres, especially romance and erotica, which are
among the most popular
ebook markets. It can also be attractive for new writers
frustrated by the difficulty of breaking
into print, for established writers wanting to write in
genres or on subjects that don't interest
their print publishers, or for writers with a backlist of out-of-print
works they'd like to keep in circulation.
Offbeat books that don't fit established genre categories, or are
longer or shorter than a print publisher might
like, may more easily find a home with an electronic publisher,
which can be more flexible in its guidelines.
Also attractive to many writers is the fact that epublishers often
allow a greater say in the editing and
packaging of their books. Epublishers' turnaround times can be
shorter--while
it can take well over a year for a print publisher to consider an
unagented submission or to bring a book to
market, many epublishers are able to respond and publish
in a matter of months (though many of the better-established
epublishers are as flush
with submissions as their print counterparts, and have similarly
lengthy
response and publication timeframes).
While epublishers don't typically pay advances, royalties for
ebooks are usually a good deal higher than for print books--30%, 40%,
even 50% of the download price, as opposed to 8-15% for print
publishers. And
ebooks offer flexibility
in regard to format, as well as the possibility of combining graphics,
sound, and various interactivity options
with the text.
Still, there are some issues to consider if you're thinking of
epublishing.
- Limited audience. Despite steady
annual sales growth (the International Digital Publishing Forum
provides statistics)
and big excitement over the potential of the recently-introduced Amazon
Kindle,
ebooks
remain a niche market--currently, according to this 2008 article on the impact of
the Kindle by Hillell Italie of the Associated Press, less than 1%
of the total book market. Even in the genres that are most popular
among
ebook audiences, print books still outsell
ebooks by a sizeable margin.
A number of factors contribute to this. The plethora of competing
electronic formats and proprietary ebook reading devices is confusing,
and all delivery
methods have frequently-cited disadvantages--people don't like reading
from computer screens; PDA or cell phone screens are too
small; ebook devices are too expensive. Cost can be a
problem--most users feel that ebooks should be cheaper
than their print counterparts, but they're often priced as high or
higher. And the things that appeal
to technology enthusiasts, such as portability and storage capacity,
still haven't won over the the majority of readers.
The audience for ebooks has expanded enormously over the past few
years, and may
continue to do so (though this post on the
future of epublishing from the Dear Author blog, which keeps a
sharp eye on the ebook world, suggests that in some areas, it may have
topped out). For now, however, authors
considering epublication should be aware that they're launching
themselves into a limited field.
- Small sales. This is the logical
corollary to the above. Despite consistently rising numbers,
sales of the average ebook still aren't comparable
to print sales. For lesser-known authors and smaller epublishers, sales
may never rise above two digits. Of course there are ebooks that do
better, sometimes much better--books from the bigger romance- and
erotica-focused epublishers can rack up four-digit sales. Most authors,
however, can expect substantially lower figures.
- Limited exposure and availability.
While some of the major industry
review venues
will consider reviewing ebooks, most still won't. Ebooks are mainly
reviewed online by bloggers and specialized ebook review websites. Nor
have brick-and-mortar
bookstores (where the majority of the bookbuying public still does its
purchasing) yet shown interest in making ebooks available. And
library availability is concentrated on electronic versions of books
from commercial print publishers.
Change is afoot in the more
popular segments of the ebook market--especially, again, in romance,
where some of the larger epublishers have been able to obtain major
bookstore
distribution for the titles they take to print. In most cases, however,
ebooks from independent epublishers--even where a print option is
offered--are
bought, reviewed, and publicized exclusively online.
- Lack of professional credit.
Electronic publishers have proved their staying power over the past few
years. Beyond the
romance genre, however, where some epublishers have achieved mainstream
respect, the commercial publishing world still has
a tendency to discount or devalue independent epublishers and their
authors. There's a perception that epublishers' staff have little
"real"
publishing experience, that editorial standards are looser, and that
epublishing
is "easier." Epublishers are seen by many as a home for authors who
couldn't make the print
publishing grade.
It has to be said that there is some truth to this perception. There
are some very
professional epublishers out there--but also an enormous number of
amateur
epublishers, staffed by inexperienced people who have
limited ability to select
and edit, never mind market and distribute, books. Beyond quality
issues, such publishers tend to have short shelf lives, sometimes
opening up and closing down in a matter of months (more on that below).
A similar problem exists in the print-on-demand world, where the the
cheapness of POD technology and the non-physical nature of POD books
has spurred an explosion of amateur publishers.
The issue of credibility is a touchy one among ebook enthusiasts and
electronically
published authors, and people who discuss it are often accused of bias.
Bias or not, the
perception of ebooks as a "lesser" market is a reality. If you're
considering epublishing, you need to be aware that not everyone will be
willing to
regard your epublished book as a professional
credential.
- Lack of marketing. Professional epublishers market
their titles--advertising, issuing press
releases, sending out review copies, attending conventions and book
fairs. But like all independent publishers, they have limited budgets
for publicity. An
electronically-published
author must bear much of the responsibility for marketing and
promotion.
- No advances. The majority of
epublishers don't pay author
advances. Many writers feel that payment
of an advance is a minimum professional standard, since it gives the
publisher a financial stake in the success
of the book, and therefore a greater incentive to move it into the
hands of readers. Higher royalties, which are
presented to authors as a way of making up for the lack of advances,
don't mean much if there are few sales.
- Other issues. Some writers, whose ultimate
goal is see their book in print and on bookstore
shelves, feel that epublishing can be a useful source of publicity
while they continue to pursue print publication, or a way of
test-marketing their work to establish its audience appeal.
However, the ebook audience is self-selecting, and not necessarily
representative
of the general book-reading public. Brisk sales in the electronic
marketplace may not translate into print
popularity. Also, many commercial publishers want to
purchase electronic rights as part of a total package. If your
electronic rights are tied
up with an epublisher, it may make your work a harder sell in the print
market.
Evaluating
an Epublisher
Epublishers run the gamut from very amateurish to
very professional. Some tips to help you judge:
- Is there a fee? Like reputable print
publishers, reputable
epublishers don't charge fees, whether for
reading, editing, setup, copyright registration, or anything else. A
publisher that charges a fee or requires you to buy something as a
condition of publication is either a vanity
publisher or a self-publishing service, no matter what its claims to
the contrary.
- What's the website like? Is it
professionally designed and
easy to navigate? Is the text well-written
and formatted? Do the links work? The website is the publisher's
business face, and should reflect a commitment
to professionalism. If a publisher isn't capable, or doesn't care
enough, to create an attractive website free
of typos, grammatical errors, and the like, what kind of books will it
produce? On the other hand, a glitzy website
is not a guarantee of quality.
- What are the staff's credentials?
Do they have publishing, editing, or marketing experience? If not,
how does their experience dovetail with publishing and bookselling? Be
wary of publishers that don't provide this information on their
websites.
- How long has the publisher been in
business? If it has been around for a year or more and has a
good-size
backlist, it's a better bet than a brand-new startup. There's a very
high attrition rate for new electronic publishers,
some of which go out of business without ever managing to publish
anything. (2007 was a particularly volatile year in that regard--this
post from the Dear Author blog gives a partial recap). This can be
a huge problem for authors, who
may have trouble getting their rights back, or find their rights passed
on to third parties without permission.
For a more in-depth look at why it's a good idea to avoid brand-new
publishers, see this
post from Writer Beware's blog.
- Are there any complaints about the
publisher or its staff? Do
some research to find out. A websearch on the publisher's name will
sometimes turn up information--often on authors' websites or in their
blogs. Or contact Writer Beware.
We'll tell you if we've gotten any negative reports.
Don't skip this step. Some epublishers that fail under one name start
up again almost
immediately under another; and staff who leave epublishers under
questionable circumstances frequently start their own publishing
enterprises. Here's just one
recent example: a publisher that fell apart under accusations of
nonpayment and other problems, and whose owner, using a different
surname, started a new epublishing company just a few months later.
It's a very, very
good idea to do some digging into an epublisher's business background
so you
can be reasonably sure it doesn't have a seamy
past.
- Are other writers happy with the
publisher? Contact a few of them, and ask.
- What's the contract like? Many
epublishers post their
contracts on their websites, so you can assess
them in advance. The best contracts ask only for digital rights
(electronic and POD), and
take them for a limited time (1-3 years).
Be wary of a publisher that tries to take
subsidiary rights it hasn't shown any ability to sell, or claims a
financial interest in those rights if you sell
them yourself, or requires you to pay some sort of fee or penalty if
you exercise a termination option. Watch out also for bad royalty
clauses: for instance, publishers that pay on net profit.
EPIC, an association for electronically-published authors, has a
helpful list of contract
clauses to watch out for.
- What's the product like? Order a
couple of the publisher's books. Are they of good
quality? Professionally presented? How's the cover art? Do they show
signs of having been edited? Have they been
proofread? What's the caliber of the writing? Bad, poorly formatted,
and/or sloppily-edited books do not encourage
readers to return and do more buying. Ditto for overly-complicated
ordering procedures.
- What formats are available?
Different people not only have different preferences, but use different
equipment. Avoid epublishers that offer books only in their own
proprietary formats--this will further limit an already limited
readership. Look for a publisher that offers as wide a variety of
electronic formats as possible.
- What about print? Many
epublishers offer a print option (though be aware that some charge a
setup fee to authors who choose it) or have certain criteria (such as
sales threshholds) for taking ebooks to print. In the spirit of
offering readers as many formats as possible, print makes sense--but
there
doesn't seem to be any clear consensus on how much, or whether, having
your ebook available in print may help with sales and/or exposure. See these
interviews with a pair of successful epublishers, posted on the
Dear Author blog, for an interesting discussion of this issue.
- What's the royalty percentage?
Like print publishers,
electronic publishers have fixed costs. But it's
less expensive to store a book on disk and make it available on an
order-by-order basis than it is to print, warehouse,
and ship it in the traditional manner. Royalties, therefore, should be
proportionately higher--20-40%--and, ideally, should be calculated on
the book's download or retail price,
rather than the publisher's net income.
- Are the books reasonably priced?
It's a challenge to sell ebooks to begin with; unrealistically high
prices will make it even more difficult. In industry surveys, book
buyers consistently cite high prices as a major reason for not
purchasing
ebooks.
- How does the publisher market itself
and its titles? As
noted above, ebook authors are expected to shoulder a lot of the
responsibility for marketing, but a professional epublisher will also
actively promote its books--for instance, investing in some form of
meaningful
advertising to attract readers to its site, sending out press
releases and advance reading copies, and attending conventions and book
fairs.
- What about distribution? Wider
exposure means more
sales. Look for an epublisher that sells its books not
just
on its own website, but through ebook distributors like
Fictionwise.
- Are there author perks? Do you get
free copies of your
book? Is there an author discount if you want
to order print copies?
- How forthcoming is the publisher?
A reputable publisher
should be willing to answer your questions about
things like sales figures and formats, give references, make its
contract available for your review, and in general
to provide information about itself and its publications (preferably on
its website). If you
encounter vagueness or resistance, be wary. Again, be careful of
publishers that don't provide any information about staff.
Electronic
Magazines
Like
electronic publishers, electronic magazines are legion. Some are
serious efforts
to take advantage of new technology. These ezines are run by
professionals, and are comparable in quality to good
print magazines. But many are of a lesser (often a much, much lesser)
quality. This is something that should be
carefully considered by writers looking to build a track
record. Not all publishing credits are equal.
Writers considering the ezine market should be especially careful
about contracts and rights issues. Many ezines
don't offer contracts at all, which allows them a lot of leeway for
borderline activities--for instance, publishing
stories
or articles without letting the authors know, editing and changing work
without the author's approval, anthologizing the author's work
without getting authorization.
You're best protected against problems if you take care to submit only
to ezines that offer contracts, have already published
a number of regular issues, and appear to be professionally formatted
and edited. Avoid startups (they tend to go out of business without
warning), and be wary of calls for submissions that
are posted on Usenet or at online marketplaces like Craigslist,
unless you can verify that the people involved have previous experience.
If you publish online, you also--unfortunately--need to worry about
piracy. Plenty of Internet users believe that
online content is there for free use by anyone, and online
material isn't protected by
copyright. There are various ways you can protect
yourself, as well as steps you can take if you find
your work has been stolen; see the link below.
Be aware that most ezines are as sensitive about first electronic
rights as print publications are about first
rights in general. If your piece has previously appeared anywhere on
the Internet, many ezines won't want it, or will
accept it only as a reprint. (Password-protected display or critique
sites, such as those run by various writers' groups, are usually an
exception, since the work there isn't visible to the general public.)
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