Holly Lisle does everything in her power to help other authors and simply speaks towards the reality of the book selling world. I’ve gone into plenty of chain stores to find specific books and have been unable to find them, having to order them special or, more often, go home and order them on Amazon.

It would be nice, Dear Author, if you could avoid being malicious simply for the sake of being malicious.

And you do owe her an apology.

This seems to refer to professional writers versus novelists. I.e., an author of a full length novel. I think (and maybe I am totally wrong here) that seems to be comparing apples to oranges.

Yes, I’m afraid you are totally wrong. Either way, someone writing at 3-10c a word in shorts or books could live comfortably in the 50s. This declined through the 70s and was established long before the web. The web has IMPROVED things because it allows broader discourse and marketing. Part of the decline was when word processors came out–made it easier for good and bad writers to submit, which is why there are so many submissions now.

Novels don’t pay substantially better on initial payment. If they earn out one can do better, but there are finite markets for everything.

As for the decline of buyers of short stories and articles, I think that has much more to do with the increase of the internent than the decline of indie booksellers and the broader spectrum of entertainment choices today. Because the claim is that the demise of the indie bookstore is directly proportional to the lowering of the midlist author. I.e., how many midlisters actually made a living off the bookstore sales (which could include short stories but not really seeing the “articles” inclusion).

The one thing that has continued to nag at me about Lisle’s post is the seemingly utopian view that more midlist authors had careers that generated enough wealth to support a family when all bookstores were indies.

It’s true. “Professional” rate today is considered anywhere from 3-10c a word and up. But that’s the same rate that was being paid in the 1950s. Writers of short stories and articles were able to maintain a middle class existence on nothing else. These days, you have a day job or are constantly juggling contracts.

But, the bookstores are seeing losses this year in the first two quarters of this year, and Walmart has posted its worst year in holiday sales in a long time, the economy is not doing as well as the Media would like you to believe.
I agree though, that money spent on bigger authors just seems, well strange. You would think they would spend the time to build someone up. so we are in agreement there, but I don’t see the reason for authors being amazed they are expected to do a little something. And, I disagree that authors had it better with Indies. But the problem there is that you are in the same boat. If you find all the indy sellers in your area are not into romance, they will not stock it. I like indy stores, don’t get me wrong, and I shop at both indy and chain stores, but I don’t think anyone can blame them for hurting the midlist author.

I find that odd as well. My only guess is that the publisher sees a higher ROI on the promotion of a big name author than on a midlist author. I am not sure if analysis is done on a long term basis or not, i.e., investing in a career of an author over two or three books in hopes that it becomes a superleader or putting out the splashy dollars for a bestseller. One thing that is true, though, as May pointed out on another blog (educating me) is that you can only promote a few authors else the promotion is rendered meaningless. In every scenario, there are going to be authors who lose out. Even if all bookstores were indies, the bookseller would chose to handsell midlist author A over midlist Author B, meaning that midlist Author B loses out.

Who decides the authors that lose out? The editor? The bookseller? The buying public? I.e., in the Frank case, many marketing dollars went into Frank over another author on the Zebra list. This is a book the editor really believes in and is standing behind. While this is great for Frank, it is not good for someone else. Is there really an answer for that?

The one thing that has continued to nag at me about Lisle’s post is the seemingly utopian view that more midlist authors had careers that generated enough wealth to support a family when all bookstores were indies. I asked before and received no response as to the veracity of this claim. Because of the number of books published today (which means more authors are getting a chance to have careers), perhaps the concentration of sales for one author has gone down.

It’s true that marketing is largely up to the author. The irony is that bestsellers who don’t need the promotion get it for free, while new writers who would benefit have to cough up out of pocket. Marketing is seen as a reward for success, which is more proof that there business models in need of refinement.

Eric Flint commented that the chain store near him has a managerial “Business model” of ordering one copy of “1632.” It sells quickly, and they have no copies for several weeks. His response was “So change the (obscenity) business model!”

One chain near me does not stock my stuff at all. The other, in the mall where it’s more visible, stocks all my stuff in multiple.

But it is true that both chains and publishers are driven by pure numbers. I have one well-received trilogy that will not extend, because the publisher has bigger fish to fry. I’d love to do more of it, and I may after the rights revert, if there’s still some kind of market for it (reprint and continue through a smaller house). OTOH, it’s possible my other stuff will continue to increase in popularity and I won’t have time.

Another example–Misty Lackey would like very much to write SF, and has a technical background. But her fantasy sells very well, so she’s pigeonholed and the publishers won’t offer as much for SF from her, until it proves itself in the market.

Take a pay cut, or continue with what works? That’s the problem for a lot of authors.

I thought I would post about what I did today at the bookstore. I certainly worked hard selling a ton of romance including many midlist authors! ;-) I’m not going to list all the books I sold today, but rather just romance books that would not have been sold without a little help from this villainous bookseller…

…Yes, all books that would not have been purchase without this dastardly bookseller.[/quote]

Holly did not say that every single person that works for a chain bookstore or has before is evil, for God’s sake. She said that the way the chain bookstores sell their books is hurtful to midlist writers, AND she said that more often than not, the people working in the chain bookstores are teens who don’t care about selling books–just working where their friends are. I know this is true, I’ve been there. They’re not book people, they don’t know a thing about books, they don’t like to read, and could care less about what you want.

People that DO sell books are rare, but she APPLAUDS THOSE PEOPLE!!! She says thanks. She also mentions how people who really DO care about the books and try to handsell them are often told to get back to work, stock a shelf or something, don’t just stand around. They DISCOURAGE the workers from selling the books.

Holly’s use of the word villain was not targeted toward the workers, but the corporate people who KNOW that this practice does not work, yet they don’t do anything to improve. She didn’t say that nobody at a chainbookstore has ever sold a freakin’ book.

What Holly said does not mean that all over the world, there is a cave with all the people who work for chains plotting to destroy up and coming writer’s careers like a comicbook team of supervillains, only that the system is flawed. She also only meant that indies are more likely to handsell because there’s no boss breathing down their neck for them to get back to work.

Taking her comments literally is foolish. There are always exceptions to the rule, and to those who DO handsell at chains, thank you. Holly, and I appreciate it. To those who DON’T handsell at INDIES, shame on you.

Thank you for your time.

I, Ferfe LaBat, went to the local B & N at the Shops at Sunset Place and nearly had a full on panic attack. I’m not certain what a panic attack actually is, but sense that I was close to discovering the full definition first hand. I usually spend around $100 to $120 a month on my reading addiction. As I searched for the books I remembered wanting I also scanned all the other books and tried to remember if I’d read any reviews on that one or this one. I was tempted by great covers and then remembered it was panned somewhere. I brushed my hand along the spines searching for books that should have been alpha-located in between authors. An entire wall of Nora Roberts tempted my camera phone for pixelation as a reminder that if I got lost, just return to either the Nora Wall or the JD Robb wall and begin again.

Shopping for books to read is hell. I might have lasted another twenty minutes but someone near the coffee area passed gas so loudly I expected the fire sprinklers to kick on.

I could not find 2/3rds of the books on my list. I walked the entire store upstairs and downstairs. When I realized I was so frustrated I wanted to cry, I paid the $42 for what I had managed to find and hauled ass the hell out of there.

My point is this. During this entire rant and comment thread, I see nothing about how the chain stores see their romance buying customers. Have they just completely lost touch with us? Why did I have to go upstairs far away from the romance section to find karen marie Moning’s latest? I was happy with my small section in the corner with its comforting blanket of Nora protection.

Sigh.

Anyway. Go Holly! I won’t even pretend to understand what you are talking about since Walmart sells more books times 20 than the indies and chains combined, but it’s good to get someone talking about how it all works so us little fish can understand what’s what.

I can’t handle Walmart either in case ya’ll were wondering. The Florida City book section has an electrical short and every time I try to grab a book it shocks the hell out of me.

I’m with you Keishon, my reading is easily affected by online behaviour,

Ditto here. If an author behaves badly enough… well, I may read her books anyway, if they’re something I’m very interested in, but I’ll be getting them used or from a library. Not buying new.

Honestly, if I gave up on authors who rant or behave badly my autobuy list would shrink pretty quick.

It certainly hasn’t affected my auto-buy list either since it only has about four names on it and almost none are from the romance genre with the exception of Laura Kinsale who can call readers stupid all day long and be eloquent about it and I’d still read her books. Yes, she is that talented.

Anyway, I don’t read author blogs and it’s only when readers address topics like this that draw the ire of authors that we really see how they respond. We are consumers here so tact is necessary and image is everything, I think. Don’t you? I’m not a fan but a potential reader for Ms. Lisle’s work so her rather strong opinions just doesn’t make me want to spend my money on her books. Simple as that. In fact, thinking back on it, most of the authors behaving badly haven’t been author’s I’ve read. ::shrug:: However, I am fickle. And forgetful. Hee.

Honestly, if I gave up on authors who rant or behave badly my autobuy list would shrink pretty quick.

Exactly. I think the comments that tend to have the greatest negative impact on me as a reader are those that suggest the author her/himself doesn’t respect his/her writing, the genre in which he/she is writng, or readers. If I have the sense that a writer doesn’t have much passion for the work he/she’s doing, I’m more likely to be turned off, but even then I can usually get over it in time and go back to separating the work from the online voice of the author. Lisle’s comments, while IMO uncompromising and overbroad, at least suggest a passion for her work, if not necessarily for readers and our opinions.

I’ll have to make the decision first of whether to buy used from an independent bookseller or new from a chainseller.

hehehe.

Honestly, if I gave up on authors who rant or behave badly my autobuy list would shrink pretty quick.