Improvisations on Reality

Or, better put, more on the “real book” illusion.

You may have noticed that a lot of self-pub authors are not releasing print versions of their books anymore, but instead are going right to the e-book process. As a result, they are apt to hear, “But it’s not a real book!” for various reasons. I’ve addressed the genre-based prejudice of the “real book” here. But now let’s talk presentation medium.

In 1440 or thereabout, Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press. Prior to this, books have been handwritten, hand-copied, and the more effort put into a copy, the more it cost. As such, they became signifiers of wealth for the longest time, until the printing press enabled mass production of print material, making books more easily accessible. The Industrial Revolution took over and made print reading material available widely.

Until the e-reader was invented, people just could not conceive of a book being presented any other way but printed.

That was in 2007.

Think about that: the e-reader has been around for only five years, and it already changed the way books are presented, and 562 years of precedent is shaken up. Just like that. With a page-sized electronic device.

However, think about this. That’s the e-reader. Not necessarily the e-book. The Internet has, inadvertently, made us all online readers since e-mail became the norm. E-reading is the same thing as what you’re doing now, except it’s on a handheld device.

Think about it. You’re reading this blog right now. I have enough entries in here to publish it as a book in and of itself. If you’ve stayed with it for some years, you’ve effectively read a book online already. If you’ve read a draft of a story online – congratulations, you read an e-book. Just not on an e-reader, but an e-book nonetheless.

No matter how solid a printed book feels – and I will be the last to deny a printed book’s effect; I have paperback versions of every book I’ve published so far – it doesn’t take a print version to call a story real. A story is real by the simple virtue of being written, as I’ve explained in the linked post above. Someone had spent weeks, months, or years of effort into making this story happen. It is completed and released. That alone, in and of itself, makes a story real. What we’re discussing here is a presentation medium, and having the presentation medium be electronic does not – contrary to whoever tells you otherwise - does not take away from the story being real.

That said, let’s discuss the print book as a medium. Apart from the solid feeling of having it in your hands, the “new book smell” – yes, it’s a beautiful flavor…come on, you know it! – it’s also not as likely to sell for an independent. Personal experience: I moved more Kindle copies per month, invariably, than my CreateSpace prints. When I run a promo on any of my books, the other books sell right alongside the free one. For a self-pub who’s new on the scene, this would mean that e-books are a more viable way to market and make revenue. And, considering that uploading is usually at no cost, it’s a guaranteed profit. To release a print book, you may pay for a proof (or not, since CreateSpace introduced an excellent digital proofing option). You would have to wait for the proof to land, read it, send it to the editor again, make the corrections, lather, rinse, repeat until it’s perfect – a standard that is extremely subjective – and then release it. And then there are the shipping costs in sending out review copies. And then the rigmarole of getting a bookstore to carry them.

But the print book has also been around for 562 years. The e-reader and the idea of having a library on a portable device is still about five years old. You know how they say that old habits die hard. The e-book and e-reader are still new, and they’re a splash in a very established and very stalwart market. We’ve seen the decisions that B&N and the Big Six had made in the wake of the growth of self-pub. Things are not going to change swiftly, but they are changing, whether the people like it or not.

Again, let’s not discount the main crux of it all: the story itself. You’re getting a book, whether or not it’s in printed form or in a file on a reader. It is real, any way you cut it. Any distinction of “more real” or “less real” based on presentation medium, genre, author’s background, publisher or lack thereof, exists only in the head of the person making the statement.

There was also an address of quality control in self-publication, with the assertion that self-pub books are poorly edited, poorly formatted, etc. I won’t deny that such books exist. However, they exist across the board. Major publishers sometimes do not format their e-books well, and proof to the fact are my copies of Philippa Gregory novels and Gone with the Wind. Great stories to read, but the formatting on the e-version, honestly, sucks. I own Philippa Gregory paperbacks. Why is there nothing wrong with the layout, but the e-version lacks paragraph breaks in several locations and is more expensive than the printed version? Let’s get real: if we’re going to do quality formatting, then let’s do quality formatting across. the. board. Don’t tar self-published books with a brush unless you are willing to put all books under scrutiny.

Self-publishers sometimes do work alone. Thusly, the editing quality may lack until they gather enough to hire a professional editor. I will be the first one to admit that someone’s first book will not be edited anywhere near as well as the subsequent books (um, guilty, and not ashamed to admit it). Understandable conditions, right? Right.

Let’s be real, people. Writing, editing, formatting, printing, publishing – being an author is a human endeavor. Human errors will happen. We are becoming a reading culture because, with our digital immersion, we’re reading a lot more (screens, but still: reading words is reading words). Human errors will happen. If that is a deal-breaker for you, that is fine, but you may want to step back and evaluate what’s more important to you in picking up a new book. Some of my favorite books (self and trad alike) are not perfect, but the story is so good that I couldn’t care less about the editing/formatting job. Conversely, some books I had were edited and formatted to perfection, but I just couldn’t finish them worth a damn. While I will never deny that editing and formatting are crucial, none of us are so perfect ourselves to have imperfection be a deal-breaker.

The bottom line is this: a book is a book. How you prefer to read it is entirely up to you, but there is no contest with which one is more “real”. They both are. Whether you like it printed or downloaded, you’re still reading a book. That is what should be the first thing to note in the e-book versus hard-copy debate.

K.G., who has both paperbacks and a Kindle.

http://www.amazon.com/author/katherinegilraine

Over the weekend, the proof files got approved and I bumped up the release date a little.

In other words, please welcome my baby: the wrap-up of the first arc, and the fourth book in The Index Series: Revival.

Press Release

Hard Copy

Kindle

I released four books since 2009. And now that I’m back to the usual daily grind of promo, day job, studying, photo-retouching, and all those other things I do, I’m starting to slowly realize that I released four books, and I’m somewhere between surprised and having a conniption about what I’m going to do next.

This series, this story of non-human people in outer space dealing with very human problems on their scale and in their lives, has been something that I wanted to write since I was a kid. The fact that the story is written and published is more than a little surreal. In fact, I feel like I should pinch myself, just to make sure that it’s happening. Even though the hard copies of the books are all within my line of sight, it’s still difficult to believe that yes, I’ve actually stopped just dreaming and started doing all of this.

But there we go, and here we are. So now what do I do?

Well, first things first…PARTY! It’s the first complete arc. Instead of one volume, I have four to offer, and two more waiting in the wings to get released. This has been a labor of love, and a whole mess of work for more than just myself. My editor, Gayle F. Moffet, has labored over every installment since the second, and I have half a mind of having her overhaul the first, if only to have it up to par. This series, right now, is as much hers as it is my own, because if not for her eyes and red-pen feature on Acrobat, I shudder to think of what would’ve happened to my books otherwise.

And second things second, I have to think of the next arc. It will be three books; I have to start on rewriting the fifth one sooner rather than later (because holy plot holes, batman), and of course…artwork!

And speaking of the artwork…

You may have noticed that Jenna Bacci was billed as the original artist for the cover of Revival. That did not turn out to be the case, and instead, the back cover of Revival features the artwork of Tiffany Chaney, from Winston-Salem, North Carolina. This is due to circumstances beyond my control; Jenna is getting ready for college, and working on all of that has been her priority. I’m cheering her on, whichever school she will attend. Tiffany Chaney has been hired to work on the character art for The Index Series, and she will work on the second arc as well. The front covers of Lineage and Revival have both been created by Marion Meadows (yes, the same Marion Meadows who’s on stage with the sax), and hopefully, he will stay aboard as the cover artist for the upcoming arc.

There’s a lot more research to be done for the second arc as well. I will not give away what I’ll be researching just yet, but let’s just say that if you think that this is the last you’ve seen of Morrhia, you’re wrong. And if you’re gleefully thinking that she’ll be back…well, I can’t really tell you what she’s up to, can I? :)

The most important retrospect, though, is how self-publishing has grown since 2009, when I released my first book. Think about it: 2009 wasn’t that long ago, only three years. And if only a year earlier I would’ve said that I’d be going self-pub, I would’ve heard, “That’s great if you want to have your books gathering dust in your closet.” Heck, I actually heard that from a published author as I was tossing the option around. But if I were to be a first-time self-pub right now, the amount of information about self-publishing is astounding. When the Kindle got cheap, it’s like someone poured Miracle-Gro on self-publishing, and suddenly, its view has shifted into a very viable, very lucrative, and very freeing way to get your stuff into print.

It’s been a hectic, madcap, exciting, and completely exhilarating three years in the publishing world, and know what I say? Full. Speed. Ahead.

K.G.

That is the question, and the answer will be decided by majority opinion.

This is the thing. Revival, the fourth installment of the series, is finally done. It’s been rewritten, professionally revised, has a gorgeous cover courtesy of two amazing artists, and is good. to. go.

The print version…ain’t.

This is the thing: I was setting out to release the print book and the e-version at the same time. But while working on formatting the file for e-release, I found and fixed very tiny errors. Which means that the book has to be re-uploaded for print.

Which sucks, but what can I do? Perfectionist me is a perfectionist.

The e-book is fine. I did a sample conversion to check how it would look in Kindle format, and it passed with flying colors. I had to splice in a couple bits (Letter to the Reader, series list) and futz with the layout, but it should be fine, and it’s ready to get released, well…immediately.

You can see my quandary, can’t you?

So, ladies and gentlemen, a poll for you. Comment with an option.

Option 1:  Release the e-book now, then release the print version whenever CreateSpace approves it

Option 2: Release both at the same time, as soon as the print version is up to par.

Option 3: Release both on the scheduled release date, May 13th
Yes, I’m actually letting my fans take charge of the book release! The option with the most votes gets done. Have at it! Comment and tell me why, if you’d like.

K.G.

PS: Gayle, your vote is tallied.

No, not the book kind.

But! I got some gorgeous postcards to advertise Book 4 with. The launch is coming in two weeks, and looks like I might even manage ahead of schedule, which would be AWESOME!

But…need to boost me some exposure.

So, ladies and gents, if you’d like to help me out and leave some postcards in your neighborhood cafe, bookstore, hangout, something – please comment with your address and I’ll mail you a bunch. Comments are moderated and will not be un-screened containing your information. 

I shall do the same for you if you send me yours also.

Any takers?

K.G.

In light of the Dept. of Justice coming down on Apple, HarperCollins, and some others in regards to e-book pricing, it’s time to address the question: what’s a fair price to pay for an e-book?

Frankly? Any price that is set that is below the print copy.

Allow me to be blunt about something, and this may not score me any points, but it needs to be said: no author works for free. We have bills to pay. We have mouths to feed. And we certainly reserve the right to profit from our labor. Most people seem to forget that writing is a job, and not a hobby, or “that thing to do to pass the time”. No. It’s a job, it’s a full-time job, because no matter how long you actually, physically write, the mental process of creating a story is interminable.

However, and on this one I’m standing firm, never should an e-book cost more than a new paperback. Yes, HarperCollins, I’m looking at you, because I see what you’ve done with Philippa Gregory books. I shouldn’t have to pay $14 for an e-book if the paperback costs $12.  No. While the production costs for paperbacks in trad-pub do, in a way, warrant the percentage of the list price that is withheld by the publisher. However, what is there on the e-book end? The production of an e-book is not difficult. Moreover, it’s a one-time thing. There are no repeated payments to the printer, and there is no sending back the overstock if it’s overprinted with e-books. Formatting and uploading is a one-time affair.

Where is the money going? Amazon’s distribution fee is pretty damn small. The author whose e-book is going through a publishing house gets about 16% off the total price. So the other 84% goes to the publisher…why? What, exactly, does the publisher do in order to warrant that much of a royalty on an e-book?

Formatting? Possibly. But formatting, in and of itself, is not a difficult task. If you own a writing software like Scrivener, it does publish to .mobi or .epub format. Even with something you get off download.com, if you toy with the originating file a bit, it’s not that difficult to have a good end result with the conversion.

To shift gears a little, let’s talk e-books for self-pubs.

I notice that more and more authors are going exclusively e-pub with their self-publication. Know what, awesome. It taps into the market directly and wicked fast, it’s free (contrary to what Writers Beware may say, self-publication is possible for free, and this is one of those ways…ahem), and it’s pretty damn easy. And usually, to generate a buzz, the new authors make their books anywhere from 99c to $9.99.

I am not a fan of e-books being priced at a buck, because the author should get a decent royalty cut. $2.99 is the minimum threshold for a 70% royalty, and believe me, that is plenty fair.

And yes, I think that there is nothing wrong with charging almost ten bucks for an e-book if you’re a self-pub. Personally, I wouldn’t do that for my books, but I can see why one would. For one, it’s profitable. For two, if your book garners good reviews and gets a good sales track going, then you have every right to make a better cut off it.

Let’s not get into the “well, it better be perfect for that price!” schtick that I’ve seen. There is no published work, trad or self, that is absolutely perfect. It’s a human labor, and as such, human errors are made. People seem to either forget that altogether, or don’t even stop to consider it. Nothing is perfect, and some of the books priced for 99c should be priced much higher for their content. Conversely, some of the books priced at $4.99 are poorly written and I would be hard-pressed to look at them again. In other words: forget for a second the standards of “perfection”. For one, there’s no such thing, and for two, you’re wasting the time that you can spend reading in trying to vet someone’s work against a subjective standard.

I will be the first to admit that I’d be hard-pressed to shell out $10 for an e-book, but if it’s recommended to me, then I’ll happily fork over the money. Perhaps there’s a bit of an actor-observer bias in me, considering I’m an author plying my trade as well, and thusly know how difficult it can be to drive sales to your book, but I have nothing against shelling out for someone’s work. They too poured in their blood, sweat, and tears into making it perfect, just like my team and I have invested into The Index Series. But when it gets to be where the print book is cheaper, that’s where we have a problem. Ahem, HarperCollins, that’s on you.

K.G.

My books, should you want ‘em: http://amzn.to/InrIwW

Okay, guys – apart from today being tax deadline (finally!!! Effective tomorrow I have a life again!!!), today is also a free promo day for my first book!

Yep, FREE. Got a Kindle? Or got a Kindle reader app for your computer (free)?  Then you can buy my first book 100% FREE.

http://amzn.to/HNYVjw

This is how it’ll work. I am making my books free for every week.

The next free promo day will be, very likely, on my birthday, when I release Book 4.

Happy freebie day!

K.G.

EDIT: Not practical to have three freebie promos in one week. Next one will be on the 25th.

The Big Six publisher companies have declined to renew a contract with Amazon.

Which can also mean that all the trad-pub books available for Kindle can get de-listed.

Seriously? Oh, traditional publishers, what the fuck are you doing.

Very similar to Barnes and Noble deciding to point a 12-gauge at its business-model foot and pull the trigger, the Big Six are doing the same. For the last damn time, people: you cannot hold onto an outdated way of doing business. The key benefit from having Amazon listing your product is exposure. You gain it. Amazon is a great marketplace, and what it claims for a distributor’s percentage is basically couch change to them. The publisher gains something major: revenue. If more people are keen on buying the same book online, then there’s a source of revenue that counterbalances the decline of brick-and-mortar bookstores.

I know that Amazon is starting to look like the Big Business Trust from the 1900s. Well, here’s a question: where’s the competition? Borders and the Kobo market folded, and B&N seems to be clinging to the idea that e-material just ain’t as popular as print books, even though sales of the Nook e-reader are just as popular as the Kindle. The publishing world is having a very hard time accepting that the business model of book publication is changing rapidly.

As a result, bad business decisions are being made across the board on the side of those who are used to the old model; that is to say publishers and bookstores.

Look, I have no love for the Big Six. Their treatment of authors can stand to do better. They shamelessly appropriate the author’s rights to their work under such draconian terms that it is next to impossible for the author to wrestle out their rights from under the Big Six thumb if they want to take the story to another market. And for the trad pub authors who end up going self, they find that there is a lot more flexibility with the sort of stories that they can get published, because the publisher just doesn’t want to take a risk with a book that doesn’t fit the mold. As a result, many books that would otherwise be a smashing success with the trad-pub marketing engine never see outside the slush pile.

However, distributing within the e-medium and with Amazon is possibly the smartest thing that they could have done. It opened them up right to the new and rapidly growing e-book market.

But the fact is, e-books are immensely beneficial for the author, whether self-pubbed or trad-pubbed. It’s quick exposure, easy revenue, and much easier to market. The more mediums, the better. Why, why in the blue everloving fire of Hades’s head, would anyone knowingly limit a distribution medium? Unless there is a massive no-no in the works – which this article is suggesting is the terms of the contract – then I see no reason to limit the author’s distribution. That’s just bad service to the author, whom the publisher is supposed to, you know, take care of.

This is the thing, though. Amazon had been offering this contract to the Big Six for quite a while now, I think ever since the first Kindle had come out. They jumped on board. Did they realize that the authors now see better options for distributing their e-work than to go through the trad-pub medium and see only 15% royalty for e-sales? I understand 15% for print sales in trad pub, but e-sales…come on. So what’s changed? Why are the Big Six digging their heels on something that will easily benefit them more in the long run?

The other side of that same coin is if Amazon’s terms really are that draconian, then I want to see where. Are they taking a larger than previous cut for their distrib? That could be solved by cutting the publisher’s own overhead costs on e-editions, which will 1. keep the author royalty the same and 2. not hamper distribution, so that 3. the publisher can recoup losses in volume of sales. Amazon needs things to distribute, if its main purpose is to be a distribution engine. They benefit from the arrangement too, and again – I want to see their terms.

I am well aware that the publishing world is in disarray right now, but we can all agree on one thing: cutting out e-books and wider distribution options is not a good idea. So can someone explain to me exactly what benefit the Big Six have from doing what amounts to exactly that?

I also want to know what the trad-pub authors, who are losing out on revenue, thinking about this.

K.G.

John Gorman of the Paper Cut blog had decided to catch up with me. Last time I interviewed for that blog (link in the sidebar), I had just released Book 1. Now, I’m working on Book 4. How time has flown!

Read here.

Do you know what April 17th is?

A month from today.

The end of tax season.

Annnnnnd….

….the day my first book, Mages, is free – yes, 100% free – on Amazon Kindle!

Link: http://amzn.to/wjsqgv

Mark your calendars, and brace yourselves!

K.G.

So apparently someone found me by Googling “kg creative writing my best toy”. Wha-huh? Okay.

Now. It’s March in New York City, it’s pushing at the corporate tax deadline, so this is coming to you on a very quick tea break, because lunch has become something I work through. Phone just doesn’t stop ringing, and paper just doesn’t stop flying at this time of year in my world.

So! Onwards to the news du jour in writing, my series, the world…you get the idea.

I’m not keeping an eye too closely on sales right now, and I have realized that Goodreads also has e-book uploads available. I have messaged them and asked them to take down Book 1′s e-book upload.

Now. Considering that I’m effectively ceasing distribution of Book 1 through any medium other than Kindle and print, if you have a Nook and would like to read the first book in the series, per KDP Select terms of service, I can’t distribute it through electronic means other than Amazon for 90 days. Kindle has computer-ready reading apps for every operating system, so please download. Google “Kindle for PC” or “Kindle for Mac” and enjoy. Kindle comes in app form for your mobile device of choice too. After the 90 days, please contact me directly; I’ll be able to take a look at the TOS and tell you for sure when/if I can re-release Book 1 for Nook. I will not go back to Smashwords, and I will explore iBook uploads at a later point as well.

I won’t be able to keep an eye on the numbers in KDP Select much either, damned tax season… But I’ll keep everyone who’s reading posted on how it goes. Part of me is debating pulling the entire series off Nook and enrolling it, but first let’s see how March pans out.

The first prototype for the cover. Image copyright (c) Marion Meadows, used with permission.

Now! I’ve been noodling around with the prototypes for the cover of Book 4. Jenna is working on the character art that will comprise part of the wraparound, but I have yet to see what’ll unfold. I do know one thing: Marion Meadows’s scenery artwork knows no comparison. Case in point, have a glimpse at the first prototype…and I will likely keep it as the main cover, and work around it with the character art.

The fonts may change, and I definitely want some characters in there. Jenna, however, rocks that bit, and I got a glimpse, via email, of what to expect for one of the characters of whom it can be said that she is much-maligned.

The other thing is, I’m trying a new style with the font. Considering that The Index is so named because it’s a collection of the characters’ stories, I had always delineated them with Book 1, Book 2, etc. This time, I’m showing the number in the series by background Roman numerals, and I think I will carry this style forward to the second arc. It’s a little more…I won’t quite say grown up, but it’s definitely a step up from the previous version.

This brings me to the marketing angle of all of this. The postcards that had done a great job with Book 3? I will recreate them with this cover image, and harness the QR codes for sales purposes. If I can, somehow, miraculously, turn this around before Newport Beach, I will be good for maybe, hopefully, turning a good sales number for the launch.

Now, far as the launch…

Ladies and gentlemen, this one is for you: if you would like to beta read/review Book 4, please let me know privately. You may do so via Facebook, Twitter Direct Messaging, email, or a comment to this blog. I won’t be able to give you an e-book as a pre-release, but I will happily give you a PDF. Please keep in mind that the rewrite/edit is ongoing, and it may be a while until you receive the file. But if I can at least know who’s interested, that would be great. And remember: post your review, whether on your blog, the Amazon page for the book, or Goodreads.

Also! If there will be opportunity, I am thinking of engineering a blog tour for the launch. Again, if you’d like to have me, just message me.

I will have some copies for giveaway, and if financial opportunity allows (because the promo copies from CreateSpace, though cheap, still cost money), I am thinking of holding giveaways for the entire first arc set. Four books, ladies and gents, and it is a story that has been my heart and soul for the past six years. Additionally, Jenna has told me that she wants to re-do the covers for Books 1 and 2, so there’s a pretty good chance that the covers that you will see on those two books will be wholly different from the covers that you see in Amazon right now.

Man, this is…happening. Holy crap, I have a book series, and I’m about to launch another one, aren’t I…

Major, major, major thanks to Marion Meadows (yes, the same guy who plays the sax, in case anyone wonders) for letting me use his artwork for my books. It’s truly stellar. He also dabbles pretty heavily in photography, and you can buy his 2012 calendar, featuring various shots taken in Hawaii, right here. Warning: will not be held responsible for anyone’s urge to drop money on a flight to Maui. (and yes, I almost did that, until I balked at the price. Dammit!!!)

Also, I should perhaps mention that the bulk of this has been written in November of 2009, when I boarded a plane and ended up in Montego Bay, Jamaica, with Warren Hill and the rest of the Jammin’ in Jamaica attendees. This festival/music retreat had not repeated since, which I am quite sad about, because…the Ritz-Carlton resort in Montego Bay defies the definition of beautiful. And I have to thank Warren for organizing that one event, because I was able to win NaNoWriMo 2009 while gazing at a beautiful beach.

As far as the anthology – I’m now wondering. If I submit any of the short stories to magazines and online publications, would I still be able to publish them in the antho? Maybe?

I’m also starting to wonder if the Haunted Nightclub series I have been thinking about is even feasible. I do not want it to come off as fanfiction (because really, I’m WAY past that age), but I definitely see it happening in a surreal, dream-sequence-type of story. I just really don’t want to cross certain lines in a story like this, because it will obviously feature and concern some real individuals (though deceased). So…yes, time for me to do some thinking, and some planning.

Oh, and… Gayle is writing a small side-story to Book 3. :) Its start is hilarious, and I cannot wait to see what she had cooked up after Jason and Kai have their initial repartee.

Until next time…

K.G.