Comments on Nathan Bransford - Literary Agent: And Then Everything in Publishing Changed All At O...

Just frigging stop frigging publishing in frigging...

2009-10-29T05:37:13.160-07:00

Just frigging stop frigging publishing in frigging hardcover. Problem solved.

The author left out several very important develop...

2009-10-28T11:52:34.604-07:00

The author left out several very important developments that point to the future of the publishing.

The Mission of Earthrise Press
http://www.fglaysher.com/mission_of%20earthrise_press.html

Order Books
http://www.fglaysher.com/order_books.html

RoyalLD - Who is Eddie Willers?

2009-10-27T00:52:39.176-07:00

RoyalLD - Who is Eddie Willers?

What came to mind when I read this was, "Who is Jo...

2009-10-26T18:41:23.888-07:00

What came to mind when I read this was, "Who is John Galt?" Will Atlas soon Shrug?

I am curious as to why Walmart hasn't instead chos...

2009-10-26T13:41:36.532-07:00

I am curious as to why Walmart hasn't instead chosen to lower the price on music CDs. Many industry experts have commented that music prices are simply too high and that CD prices must be lowered to compete with illegal downloading. Amazon occasionally sells mp3s for $3.99 an album, and this greatly increases sales. Seems like Walmart exerting downward pressure could be a good thing in the case of music, where the execs are simply too paralyzed to make a big change.

Will different retailers start to feature alternat...

2009-10-24T22:40:44.956-07:00

Will different retailers start to feature alternate "special bonuses?" Buy it on Amazon and get it bundled with the soundtrack the author claims to have listened to while writing. Or get it and Target and get a bonus DVD interview with the Author.... just a thought. Its already happening with so many other releases.

michael- Glad someone caught it!

2009-10-24T13:00:50.855-07:00

michael-

Glad someone caught it!

Was that a GZA reference I heard?

2009-10-24T12:55:39.279-07:00

Was that a GZA reference I heard?

Re: Nooks - I find it absolutely hysterical that a...

2009-10-24T10:17:00.501-07:00

Re: Nooks - I find it absolutely hysterical that a book reader would be called "The Nook." Because according to Dr. Seuss, Nooks can't read.

"We took a look.
We saw a Nook.
On his head he had a hook.
On his hook he had a book.
On his book was "How to Cook.
...
But a Nook can't read, so a Nook can't cook.
So what good to a Nook is a hook cook book?"

- One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish

Walmart has such a piss-poor selection of books, w...

2009-10-24T09:12:13.495-07:00

Walmart has such a piss-poor selection of books, who ever considers going there for that anyway? Okay, so maybe they get the price of the most ridiculously over-priced books to come down, that's not going to do anything to the rest of the market. As long as "bookstore" is synonymous with "books", you don't have to worry about Walmart. AMazon, otoh... I don't do business with them, but that's mostly because I prefer to physically browse a book before I decide to buy it.

As an emerging author the situation feels quite dr...

2009-10-24T01:12:07.843-07:00

As an emerging author the situation feels quite drastic.

I can go into a local store and purchase a book by a well-known author for less than I can get my own discounted books from my own publisher.

How can we compete. No one wants to buy an 'unknown' when a 'big' author is so cheap. At this rate there will soon be no new books. The market will close down

J Nelson - I understand your concern. I have seen ...

2009-10-24T00:34:09.367-07:00

J Nelson - I understand your concern. I have seen free books that are pretty unreadable. But I was talking about something other than just technical proficiency. People wruiting for money will write what they think will sell. People writing from their heart will write what they care about. In the long run, I think the things people care about are the things most worth reading about.

An outstanding example of this is the book "In His Steps" by Charles Sheldon. This is a classic of Christian literature. It is reputedly the number 2 all-time Christian best seller after the Bible. Sales estimates range from 8 million to 30 million. It is credited with popularizing, if not inventing the phrase "What Would Jesus Do". Sheldon cared so little for commercialism that he failed to register copyright and the book was picked up by several publishers who published it on their own and gave him nothing.

Some have said that the quality of the writing is poor by literary standards, I wouldn't know. I found it on a free site the other nuight and read several chapters. It is compelling.

Live Like Him!

-Steve

Nathan, I work at a Barnes and Noble and I had to...

2009-10-23T19:33:44.773-07:00

Nathan,

I work at a Barnes and Noble and I had to laugh at your "THE" Alex, "THE" Que and "THE" Nook and that you didn't have a problem with "THE" Nook. The reason I thought it was hilarious was because our managers and everyone else at BN is having fits about us calling it "THE" Nook. According to them it is not a noun but a "lifestyle". I pause for laughter :) So as you are emphasizing the "THE" with the Nook, we are constantly being reminded that it is just "Nook". And the jokes about Que? What about the Nookie jokes? :) Thanks for your great blog!

Wal Mart is evil. I strongly recommend you read t...

2009-10-23T13:23:02.195-07:00

Wal Mart is evil. I strongly recommend you read the above Pulitzer Prize winning series by the Los Angeles Times. It tells you everything you need (or feared) to know about the real cost of "low prices."

To Anon 2:43 AM I'm with you all the way. I borro...

2009-10-23T10:39:03.694-07:00

To Anon 2:43 AM

I'm with you all the way. I borrow books, or get them from the Library.

Some people cannot afford a $25.00 book, and from the $25.00 to $30.00books I've read from the Library, they just weren't worth it.

Those inflated prices are there to pay all the middle people involved and keep the big names big. Some of us just can't afford to support that.

So be as judgemental as you want for those of us who don't buy books, but not everyone has that extra cash to fill agents, publishers, authors, distributors pockets with those over inflated prices.

Good for Walmart and others who are making it affordable.

J. Nelson Leith, I couldn’t agree with you more! ...

2009-10-23T10:33:51.481-07:00

J. Nelson Leith,

I couldn’t agree with you more! I don’t think it’s pessismistic to look reality square in the face. That’s the only way to deal with it and make effective changes. Reality is what it is: the good, the bad and the ugly. Sometimes it’s more ugly than at other times, but you can’t succeed unless you look at it without flinching.

When this conversation started yesterday, I checked two Forbes lists for 2009: richest billionaires in the world and richest Americans. The Walmart heirs actually fill the spots for 11th, 12th, 13th AND 14th top billionaires in the world, as well as the 4th, 5th, 6th AND 7th richest Americans. If they want to corner the market on books, they have the money to accomplish it.

Why do ebooks cost so much. I recently looked up ...

2009-10-23T10:22:04.620-07:00

Why do ebooks cost so much. I recently looked up the price of the current book I'm reading. Same price as the paperback. Call me old fashioned but I'd rather be holding a paperback for the same price. I know it's the future, but I'm not about to pay the same money to beam down some 1s and 0s to my reader as I'd pay for a good old fashioned book.

First, thanks Josin. You actually expanded on wha...

2009-10-23T10:07:24.614-07:00

First, thanks Josin. You actually expanded on what I was saying, but I agree with where you took it.

Also, in response to several comments above: Why do we have to diminish the legitimate complaints and concerns people have as if they are simply throwing tantrums, being "glass half empty" pessimists, or afraid of change? This is not an honest or rational way of engaging with a serious issue.

This is particularly true of the cross-market gamesmanship of Wal-Mart, which is not simply a technical innovation that can be adapted to. If super-actors who are effectively insulated from free-market accountability through diversification can undercut the profitability of one market in order to profit in others, this poses a very real existential threat to the parasitized market.

No dedicated bookseller, large or small (never mind independents) can survive if a cross-market actor consistently sells under cost. It essentially transforms books into a marketing tool for selling Wal-Mart/Target clothes, soda, and dishwashing liquid.

All the happy thoughts in the world won't save a sabotaged market: only carefully considered anti-trust measures designed to foster genuine, itemized competition.

"Write from your heart; edit from your head." Josi...

2009-10-23T09:47:20.155-07:00

"Write from your heart; edit from your head." Josin L. McQuein

I love this! Get your heart into that first draft, and then polish/edit/revise so that what your heart meant to say shines forth.

And your paragraph shows that brilliance, JLM!

welcome to the music world. When itunes made one s...

2009-10-23T09:40:50.603-07:00

welcome to the music world. When itunes made one song worth only $1 it ruined the music business. If you by only one song from an album it should atleast be worth $5 or more. If you buy the album you should get a deal-- but a record only being worth about $10 is the same as a book being worth $10-- really the same amount has probably gone into making both.

Get ready for the big one-- you have just begun to see the ride wait until your industry gets a huge hit like the record business.

Well, let's say ebooks do make print books extinct...

2009-10-23T09:21:35.183-07:00

Well, let's say ebooks do make print books extinct. I don't think they will, but let's say they do, or they get to the point where it is print books that are rarer buys than ebooks. Anyway, my question is, if that happened, what would stop the publishers from just selling directly to the public and forgoing the expense of bookstores?

Just an odd question I came up with as I read this post.

Jodi

Gotta agree with J.Nelson Leith on that one. Peop...

2009-10-23T09:12:00.108-07:00

Gotta agree with J.Nelson Leith on that one.

People romanticize "writing from the heart" like it's some kind of mystical experience. It's not - it's a rough draft. You write out the book the way you want it, but the way you want it isn't necessarily the way readers want to read it.

Most of the slush that never gets published is "from the heart", as is most of what's run through author mills. But the ones who've written it see it as their "vision" and don't want to hear that there's anything wrong with their baby.

Write from your heart; edit from your head.

Hmmm. I, for one, have no desire to read an e-book...

2009-10-23T09:05:56.696-07:00

Hmmm. I, for one, have no desire to read an e-book, no matter how adorable "the" device is, because ebooks make my eyes go blurry, and I also am bored by Walmart's list of cheap books. That's not to say that I doubt that the publishing industry is in for some changes. However, as Marshall McLuhan says, the media itself speaks a message. Warm, smooth, papery codexes aren't done speaking.

First, thanks for the link to the dog pirate costu...

2009-10-23T08:52:48.449-07:00

First, thanks for the link to the dog pirate costume - I plan to buy one and I don't even have a dog :)

Second, I would challenge all writers, published, not or in between to find a book this weekend and purchase it at full price. Yes you heard me full price. Support an author. Oh and spend some time searching - really look for that gem which WalAmaTargEars doesn't deem a bestseller (aka a pure breed) and find a "mutt." Mutts often make the best reads!

Everything must change some time. It's inevitable...

2009-10-23T08:45:02.533-07:00

Everything must change some time. It's inevitable. With the book industry it has been an unusually long time coming. With the growing dependence on everything technologic it only makes sense that books will lean that way too. But like the movie theatre there will still be a niche for printed books.

The way I see it there are three ways to meet that change.

1. Fight it. Stomp your feet, shake your fists at fate, sulk, mope, and blame somebody, but do your best to avoid it.

2. Ignore it. Pretend it isn't happening and go on as usual until that path comes to a dead end.

3. Embrace it. Live with it, deal with it, and change with it. Try to make it work to your advantage.

I'm going with three. I don't expect to be the next Stephen King or Dan Brown. I'm not writing to be rich and famous. I write because I love to, it makes me feel more alive than anything else. Making a partial living off it would just be a plus.

Even if my only option turned out to be self publishing on ebooks, I would still write. Maybe I'll even be able to pay the phone bill off it.