why are ebooks bad ?

[sunil r nair]

hello,

I am getting published by a respectable ebook and POD publisher. I have also been given an isbn number. my book is a collection of my poems. Can someone tell me why is it not a good idea to get ones work publsihed as an ebook and as a POD option?

Regards,

sunil

[Victoria Strauss]

Sunil,

You can find a rundown on some of the problematic aspects of POD at Writer Beware's Print on Demand page.

- Victoria
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Victoria Strauss
THE GARDEN OF THE STONE (HarperCollins Eos)
Homepage: http://www.victoriastrauss.com
Writer Beware: http://www.sfwa.org/beware

[Eric Gilmartin]

A short list of reasons (I have an e-novel out there myself, so I know what I'm talking about):

1 - No advertising budget. None. You have to do 100% of the advertising yourself; your e-publisher won't bother.

2 - No accountability for sales reportage. My e-publisher has the damnedest time fixing his database - it's been literally months since he's been able to record a single sale for me, let alone cut me a royalty check, despite the fact that in my own hometown alone, ten copies were recently purchased on-line ( I saw 'em).

3 - Complete and utter lack of respect from mainstram publishers, authors, agents and editors.

4 - A practical impossibility of selling enough copies to make your initial investment of time, effort, cogitation, paper, ink, postrage stamps, and so forth, worh while. If you write for passion, good; that's all you're probably going to get from an e-publication.

I'm going with top-of-the-line mainstream publishers for my next book, and all I write from now on. I consider my e-publicaiton a good learning experience - it's taught my how not to pursue a career in writing. For that reason alone, it's been completely worth my effort and money, but there's damn little chance I'll ever do it again, or recommend it to anybody else.

[sunil r nair]

hello,

I went about asking the same question to a whole bunch of people. I got a rundown of why ebooks and POD are bad. But there seems to be one company that seems to be serious. try crystaldreamspub.com , its run by a poet and she is sincere in her efforts.

sunil

[Michael Finn]

Now, short stories is another matter. www.tale.com (Mind's Eye Fiction) recieved stories from Stephen King, Harlan Ellison, Spider Robinson, Fred Saberhagan, and other notables, as well as first-time or relative unknowns. They were bought 2 years ago by Alexandria Digital Lit (Mind's Eye was started by a NASA engineer who had time to kill when the US gov shut down due to the budget not being ready a few years ago, and he got too busy to run the site and edit stories), but ADL is also respectable...although I haven't recieved a comission check since the buyout, so it's still seller beware.

[Janet Elaine Smith]

You have to take the bitter with the sweet. I had one POD publisher who was (I thought) good to start with. In fact, they were god. But, things change. I am not certain of the why's and wherefore's of what happened, but they went from good to bad. So, I began hunting a new publisher. Yes, there are drawbacks to POD publishers as opposed to traditional publishers. But, there are also drawbacks to traditional publishers over POD publishers. Such as? The time it takes to get your book into print, the lower royalty rate, the fact that you still have to promote your own book if you want it to sell (unless of course you ARE Stephen King!).
Do good POD publishers exist? You bet they do. I am now with PageFree Publishing and I couldn't be happier. Their "upfront" cost is reasonable, they are dedicated people--devoted to their authors, and they are honest. Check them out at pagefreepublishing.com or see their bookstore at www.thegreatamericanbookstore.com and I'll bet you won't regret it. I know I didn't.
Janet Elaine Smith, author of:
Dunnottar
In St. Patrick's Custody
A Christmas Dream
House Call to the Past
Marylebone
My Dear Phebe

[Victoria Strauss]

>>But, there are also drawbacks to traditional publishers over POD publishers. Such as? The time it takes to get your book into print, the lower royalty rate, the fact that you still have to promote your own book if you want it to sell<<

Taking it point by point:

- What's the big deal about a year or two lag time to get a book in print? With some nonfiction titles, and some highly topical fiction titles, and of course those instant books about various things (which actually can take less than a month to go from idea to bookstore), time is not of the essence. But with most books time is not really an issue. Other than the author's own instant gratification, where's the advantage?

- OK, royalties. Suppose your book is published in hardcover by a large commercial publisher. For the first 5,000 or so copies, you'll be paid 10% of the cover price of the book (it can rise to 15%, depending on how many copies you sell, but let's stick to 10% to start). If your book costs $24.95, you'll get $2.49 for every book sold.

With your average POD publisher, you'll be paid 25% of the net price of the book. That means 25% of whatever the publisher is paid, less its expenses. Yes, this is a higher percentage--but it won't always work out to a lot more money. If your book is sold off the POD publisher's website, only the publisher's expenses (shipping and handling, for instance) will be deducted. But suppose the book sells through Amazon. Amazon requires a 55% discount from publishers. So if your book costs $24.95 (it will be a trade paperback, but POD prices are usually higher, so it may cost as much as a hardcover), Amazon will pay the publisher $11.23 (45% of the cover price). 25% of that is $2.81. Not all that much better than 10% of the cover price.

These are highly simplified examples, but the point is that there's more to royalties than a percentage.

- On to promotion. Sure, it's true that commercially-published writers who aren't big sellers can't count on their publishers to arrange readings and signings and send them on book tours. If they want these things, they must themselves arrange and pay for them. But the task of self-promotion for the average commercially-published print author is very different from the task of self-promotion for the average POD-published author. Here's what most commercial publishers provide even for their most insignificant and unpopular authors:

- Inclusion in a printed catalogue that's sent out to booksellers. Booksellers pay attention to these catalogues, because they recognize the publisher's name.
- A staff of sales reps who pitch the publisher's list direct to booksellers (or a distributor that provides this direct sales service). This gives your book a good chance of making it at least into Barnes & Noble and other chain stores, even if it isn't picked up by all the independents. Most people still do their bookbuying in actual bookstores. The advantage of having books in stores can't be overstated.
- Galleys sent to major review venues in advance of publication (most of these venues will not ONLY review books before they've been officially published; they will not review finished books). Such reviews influence sales; booksellers and librarians tend to pay close attention.
- At least some advertising in trade journals, even if it's just a group ad.
- Efficient (well, reasonably efficient) distribution to bricks-and-mortar bookstores, so that the bookstore can easily order and stock the book.
- Standard bookseller discounts, 60- to 90-day billing, and a returns policy. Booksellers are reluctant to work with publishers that don't provide these perks.
- Often, co-op payments to ensure booksellers provide favorable book placement--face out on shelves, displayed on endcaps, etc. Only the big sellers get those nifty cardboard displays at the front of the store. But even smaller authors often get some co-op benefit.

With most POD publishers--particularly the fee-based ones--you get none of the above services. If you want them, or anything like them, you must take care of it yourself.

When a commercially published author says "self-promotion", s/he means setting up readings and signings and the like--generating a buzz to help sales along. But when a POD-published author says "self-promotion" s/he means not just the buzz, but everything else as well. It's a much, much different task. That's why, with dedicated author effort, the average POD-published book may sell a few hundred copies, but with just what the publisher provides, the average print-published book generally sells a few thousand.

Last but not least: there are exceptions to everything. I'm not promulgating universal truths here. But all of the above is true more often than not.

- Victoria
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Victoria Strauss
THE GARDEN OF THE STONE (HarperCollins Eos)
Homepage: http://www.victoriastrauss.com
Writer Beware: http://www.sfwa.org/beware

[Emma Kaufmann]

Ebooks aren't bad they just aren't selling (in fiction anyway). The best thing to do is have an ebook published in conjunction with a POD. By the way, you don't need books in a brick and mortar bookstore to get people to buy them. 99% of your marketing can be done via the web. You simply need to direct readers to the web page where your book is sold.
For more info go here:
http://www.buzzyour.com

Victoria - while I appreciate that mainstream publishing has many advantages the fact is that a POD based book COULD sell many thousands because its shelf life is infinite rather than the couple of years of a print book.

Emma
http://www.emmakaufmann.net

[Victoria Strauss]

Emma,

Theoretically you're correct about the sales potential of long shelf life. However, a book typically sells the most copies within the first few months of its release, and sales fall off precipitously thereafter. One reason is that readers tend to buy what's new, and the constant stream of new books means the window of attention for any new book is pretty small. You can continue to self-promote, but most markets don't appreciate being repeatedly pitched, and after a while you're going to run out of new places to market yourself. So infinite shelf life doesn't confer the advantage most people think it does. Mere availability doesn't equal sales.

The exception, of course, would be someone who is able to build an adjunct career that features the book--as a lecturer or instructor, for instance, who sells the book at appearances. For someone like that, self-publishing and infinite shelf life is a real advantage. But that's not truly a possibility for most writers, particularly novelists.

Also, paper print publishers don't generally snatch books out of print on a whim. They go out of print because they cease to sell at a level where it's economically feasible for the publisher to reprint or keep them in stock. Some books never go out of print, because they continue to sell well. Some books stay in print for only a year or two. Some stay in print for a good deal longer. One of my midlist-selling mass market paperbacks has been in print for nearly four years; the other has been in print for over two years. There's no hard and fast rule for this.

- Victoria
--------------------------------------------------------
Victoria Strauss
THE GARDEN OF THE STONE (HarperCollins Eos)
Homepage: http://www.victoriastrauss.com
Writer Beware: http://www.sfwa.org/beware.

[ACCrispin]

I have a book with Tor Books that has been in print since 1984.

Sales are small by now, but it seems to sell at a steady rate.

-Ann C. Crispin