Comments on Nathan Bransford, Author: Why I'm Optimistic About the Future of Books

Nathan, I know it's a while since you did this...

2010-06-12T03:36:21.149-07:00

Nathan, I know it's a while since you did this positive blog, but I'd still like to thank you. There is hope. I agree with your analysis and, in spite of the necessary pain, loss and change, I believe the world of books will come out better. As you so rightly point out, this is a real opportunity for the writer. Bypassing the publisher is often essential if you're writing anything radical; publishers, especially since the Salman Rushdie affair, have grown less and less willing to take risks with content. I think there is now a real, viable future for those of us with something important to say; something that might frighten the establishment or unsettle the conservative amongst the reading population. Exposure and identity are now the greatest hurdles a writer needs to clear in order to run the race. More power to your elbow, Nathan.

Hi,

Thanks for sharing such lovely post. I ...

2009-03-14T02:18:00.000-07:00

Hi,

Thanks for sharing such lovely post. I feel book printing requires techniques in order to develop books that meet the standards of the present generation

I just wanted to say thanks! Another author pointe...

2009-03-13T19:45:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to say thanks! Another author pointed me to this blog, and I really needed this. It's like blogging I Ching.

Some moments you just really need a shot of positivity. :)

I think the most important statement you made, Nat...

2009-03-06T10:48:00.000-08:00

I think the most important statement you made, Nathan, was this one: "But when you look at the big picture: greater access will be the best thing that has ever happened to writers in the history of books."

Think about the literary (and literacy) explosion that followed the invention of the printing press. And when you boil the printing press down, all it did was give readers greater access to books. Exactly what the electronic age is doing now.

I worry that in the future companies will have con...

2009-03-06T09:29:00.000-08:00

I worry that in the future companies will have control over what gets put into the widely used sources for buying ebooks. Theoretically, I should be able to go to a bookstore locally and ask if they will sell my book, but they won't. I simply feel that in the future somebody who is not a writer is still going to be in control of the situation.

I'm not being pessimistic. I'm being worrisome.

Thank you!

Like everyone else in the world ...

2009-03-05T18:12:00.000-08:00

Thank you!

Like everyone else in the world (or at least most who read your blog) I am working on my craft now, and as much as I am uncertain about the future of publishing, you certainly painted a pretty picture of what it could be like. That silver lining is enough to help me endure the storm clouds currently overhead.

Thanks again!

Nolan Peterson

Now that Miley Cyrus is a published author....How ...

2009-03-05T15:21:00.000-08:00

Now that Miley Cyrus is a published author....How can I compete?
Why do you do this? Publishing industry?

An autobiography no less. LOLOLOLOL

This is absurd.

Real writers unite!!!

I have more than 6000 "references" that would come...

2009-03-05T08:40:00.000-08:00

I have more than 6000 "references" that would come up if you googled my name as an artist, but although sales are available through various sites, only one site is actually selling and they spend two million a year on advertising every year for their site and are always actively pursuing sales opportunities.

(Another thought:
Supersized stores are closing everywhere.
Going back to the small business model could also be the way things will return.
After being put out of work by big corporations, small businesses are popping up. They are more steady and reliable.
The one-man to three man construction specialist, the local farmers at the local farmers' markets, the small bookseller who features what he wants and specializes in local literary?

It kind of reminds me of how at one time it was so PROGRESSIVE to have an electronic answering system, but today, it is BETTER BUSINESS to have someone who can respond immediately in a REAL way (i.e., a real person) answering the phone.

(word verification: entio roc!)

As Rick Daley and others pointed out, readers not ...

2009-03-05T07:41:00.000-08:00

As Rick Daley and others pointed out, readers not only have to have the book available, but they have to know about it before they can buy it. I wonder if agents like yourself won't find yourself doing way more marketing than negotiating... or negotiating marketing maybe. As the noise increases, the long tail gets more interesting to me.

This is a better articulation of what I've been th...

2009-03-04T22:31:00.000-08:00

This is a better articulation of what I've been thinking than I've been able to come up with. Of course, this brave new world will come with the problem of unparalleled noise (which is where the collectives and taste-makers (great name for a rock band) will come in).

This moment, for publishing, must be what the travel agency industry was facing ten years ago when people first were able to book their own trips on line.

Loving the positivity. I've heard from several of ...

2009-03-04T18:02:00.000-08:00

Loving the positivity. I've heard from several of my 'sources' that e-books are the way of the future (really, I have no sources, have just always wanted to say that...)
Yes, it will be a learning curve like all new things are, but absolutely forward thinking. A concern is that the writing continue to stay sharp.

As a writer about to delve into self-publishing, m...

2009-03-04T14:31:00.000-08:00

As a writer about to delve into self-publishing, my primary concern is actually that my novel be available for the kindle and sony reader.

My second concern is that someone somewhere actually wants to read it.

Re the privacy question - that information is alre...

2009-03-04T11:43:00.000-08:00

Re the privacy question - that information is already available with online sales of printbooks, too. I would expect Amazon analyzes aggregated and depersonalized data on what sells where and to what demo to improve their marketing. Maybe noir thrillers are really popular in Minneapolis. If I'm a bookstore chain with an outlet in Minneapolis, I'd find that useful information to help me not waste marketing dollars and make the most of my shelf space. But as far as tracking information that ties back to a specific user ID, most privacy policies prohibit it unless required by applicable law, and even then they'd probably resist it to protect their reputations and sales - especially if the business only exists online.

I think you've touched well on the future of agent...

2009-03-04T11:37:00.000-08:00

I think you've touched well on the future of agents - you'll need to become more broadly savvy of the multiple channels available to you and your clients to make a living off of their content. The vision of uploading your books and they're instantly available for sale already exists (with a generous royalty on net proceeds of 85%) at Smashwords.com. I'm usually there daily, and each time I find at least one item worthy of setting aside in my library (the online one that comes with memebership) to consider purchasing. I think authors will also have to become much more savvy about the business and their market and building a platform. Maybe in later years new authors don't reach out to agents until they've published a thing or two online and started to get some interest and offers that they don't know what to do with. And maybe there will be room for writers of the odd and unusual (a writer of erotic Star Trek fan fiction from New Zealand comes to mind) to find their market even though no "conventional" publisher would touch them.

Yes, it's going to be very, very exciting.

So, how is the market affecting the length of time...

2009-03-04T10:34:00.000-08:00

So, how is the market affecting the length of time publishers take to review a MS?

Just curious, as I've been waiting over 5 months.

I know this question may seem odd, but in the whol...

2009-03-04T10:30:00.000-08:00

I know this question may seem odd, but in the whole e-book discussion, I haven't seen it discussed.

Is anyone concerned about privacy issues inherent in going to e-books? What we eat, watch, do is already monitored by some entity somewhere, do we just not care to add read to the list?

When you download a digital book, there will be a record. There was a flap not too long ago about bookstores not wanting to give up their sales records to the government. The e-book would make that obsolete.

Just a question.

If the sole goal of an author were for people to r...

2009-03-04T08:29:00.000-08:00

If the sole goal of an author were for people to read his work, then I would agree with you; unfortunately, we all want to make money at this game, and it's here that your argument falls apart.

The problem is security. Look at the music industry -- piracy is rampant, and every new form of DRM is rapidly cracked.

As a former computer programmer I can say with confidence that every system can be cracked, and it only has to be cracked once -- the method can then be duplicated world-wide.

For bands whose music is pirated, they can still make money through concerts; but I defy the pirated novelist to make a living from reading his work aloud in bookstores that hold a mere several hundred people (at the most).

Digital smigital. If the only reason you want an a...

2009-03-04T08:12:00.000-08:00

Digital smigital. If the only reason you want an agent is to help with the marketing, you're a better writer than I am. Scratch that, you probably are a better writer than I am.

What I look forward to most in getting an agent (and an editor), is becoming a writer who writes better books.

I agree with the last part of your comment, especi...

2009-03-04T08:08:00.000-08:00

I agree with the last part of your comment, especially! It really is exciting, and I think in the long run, all of this hype will work out for the best!

Great post. As someone who writes fiction straddli...

2009-03-04T07:54:00.000-08:00

Great post. As someone who writes fiction straddling the border between literary and popular, I've always been a hard sell. Yet I am fundamentally convinced that my writing would find lots of readers with the right combination of agent/editor/publisher. The sheer LUCK involved in getting successfully published--if you lack connections, like most writers--is incomprehensible. And writers who get the first contract invariably acknowledge that--"I'm so lucky, I feel so lucky!" they shout. Not--"I'm such a great writer, I knew this would happen." Because it not only feels like luck to them, they know it IS luck.

I hope you are right, Nathan. I can hardly wait for the future to arrive. I am so tired of my career being held hostage by uninspired agents and overworked, groupthinky editors.

As a writer and a natural-born escapist, I think w...

2009-03-04T06:31:00.000-08:00

As a writer and a natural-born escapist, I think we should have "positivity week" 52 times a year.

For me, I'm very excited about this wonderful pros...

2009-03-04T05:54:00.000-08:00

For me, I'm very excited about this wonderful prospect. People always could publish their own stuff. Martin Luther did it. Thoreau said he had a library of 1,000 volumes, 800 of which he'd published himself (or something like that). Now the writer will be in control of his works.

I know this comes up a lot, but it's hard not to m...

2009-03-04T02:50:00.000-08:00

I know this comes up a lot, but it's hard not to make a comparison with the way the music industry has looked for some time. With any old noodler able to offer their music online and get it sold through credible outlets like Amazon and Itunes, suddenly you're up against a million times as many people vying for consumer's attention. The issue is how to stand out from the sea of other creators, many of whom are just enthusiastic amateurs, who have no knowledge or concept of craft.

In music, if you "self-publish" it's incredibly difficult to reach listeners without the endorsement of tastemakers and respected, already-known reviewers. You also need to spend a frankly astonishing amount of time building "friends" and infiltrating online communities etc etc because there's no exposure available to you that you don't directly create yourself. Because of this, numerous shady online organisations have sprung up offering to do your PR for you, and in almost all cases these organisations are just shameless profiteers and of no practical use whatsoever. Additionally, in the UK, almost every time the press cries "online sensation breaks into mainstream" and tries to convince you that an act started in their bedroom one night and got an enormous record deal the next day due to their "massive online following", you do a little digging and find that said act have been managed by professionals and agented by professionals for some time. The "online breakthrough" was manufactured by a team of people working very hard to get that act noticed.

What I think this means for the book industry is that there is more of a role for agents than ever, and possibly "managers" of authors too. In order to stand apart authors will need astonishing writing skills, incredible PR skills, a willingness to commit to any and all promotional opportunities, and an ability to collaborate creatively with a small team of people in order to reach the highest available number of potential book buyers. And what we need the most is cache. We should all be placing the highest value on our writing and not giving it away for free - we need to perpetuate the idea that our work has real worth, real weight, not that it is something to just be given away. How we cultivate that sense of worth will be a matter to be discussed at length with our agents, and will be the key to being successful in these days of the new digital frontier.

Nathan, you are awesome! I just had to pop in and ...

2009-03-04T02:17:00.000-08:00

Nathan, you are awesome! I just had to pop in and say that. =)

I'm all for change, and as someone who could possi...

2009-03-03T23:43:00.000-08:00

I'm all for change, and as someone who could possibly beenfit from the eBook revolution when it comes, it will probably benefit me. But I also like the bound A5 book that I can take anywhere and read. The idea of reading a book on a screen just doesn't resonate with me. Perhaps I'm a luddite?