tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22165230.post6528621371777353219..comments2023-12-16T16:50:25.810-08:00Comments on The Heart of the Matter: Is Conflict Bad for Publishing?Barry Eislerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17785333622697500192noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22165230.post-72271883827539624612014-10-03T17:50:32.361-07:002014-10-03T17:50:32.361-07:00Barry, you left out a good one:
“I think ISIS is ...Barry, you left out a good one:<br /><br />“I think ISIS is just trying to do what they think is best for them, and I don’t really see why they should be blamed for that.”Nirmalahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14620667876235314509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22165230.post-22837259120583632242014-10-01T01:15:11.373-07:002014-10-01T01:15:11.373-07:00I thought the Revolutionary War analogy was clever...I thought the Revolutionary War analogy was clever. But in the second generation after that war we had the War of 1812, and in the interim, harassment on the frontiers and costly trade blockades. If traditional publishers are the British, and self-publishers are the Americans--and I think the analogy is apt--then we should expect the former, if they win this battle against Amazon, to continue to encroach on the self-publishing world. They have a history of acting in bad faith: treating authors like serfs and colluding illegally. Their disdain for their authors continues, as evidenced by their rejecting out of hand Amazon's temporary author compensation plans. That's what it looks like from the cheap seats, so the trads have at least a serious perception problem.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04387543984320921430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22165230.post-24976872191226827652014-09-29T08:25:13.940-07:002014-09-29T08:25:13.940-07:00How has AU directly hurt indies? I'll tackle ...How has AU directly hurt indies? I'll tackle that one: Their smear campaign against Amazon has caused some book customers to declare they will buy their books elsewhere. For those indie authors who rely primarily on Amazon for their livelihoods, their tactics likely don't hurt Amazon much, but can be devastating for a new author trying to make it on Amazon's platform. Sure, those authors can sell on other platforms, but when you're just starting out, rankings (rather than an established fan base) are critical for driving new sales, so the incentive to choose a single platform is high. As I see it, AU's propaganda negatively targets new indie authors in a more direct way than they are claiming Amazon targets them. After all, at least they have print sales in brick and mortar stores to fall back on. I'm still waiting on an offer from Hachette or AU to compensate indies for the damage they're causing...Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12590068907895530462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22165230.post-44372228535895428602014-09-27T04:08:27.961-07:002014-09-27T04:08:27.961-07:00@Barry
If the Justice Department weren't in ...@Barry <br /><br /><i>If the Justice Department weren't in such harmony with Wall Street, we might have seen a banker or two prosecuted for global-economy-wrecking fraud.</i><br /><br />Not quite prosecution but an affirmative defense:<br /><br />http://www.salon.com/2014/09/07/finally_wall_street_gets_put_on_trial_we_can_still_hold_the_0_1_percent_responsible_for_tanking_the_economy/<br /><br />Worth the read. Note that the defendants' lawyers were court appointed. That they pursued this defense is amazing. <br /><br />What are the chances that the DOJ will go after the big bankers instead of the little borrowers? You wanna believe in JUSTICE? Good. I got other fairy tales to sell ya. antareshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00928062661776005108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22165230.post-15129615022670160702014-09-27T03:08:35.731-07:002014-09-27T03:08:35.731-07:00In this post Hugh Howey discussed why self-publish...In this post Hugh Howey discussed why self-published authors should care about ebook pricing, a major issue of the Amazon-Hachette dispute: <a href="http://www.hughhowey.com/why-should-we-care/" rel="nofollow">Why Should We Care?</a>.<br /><br />As a reader I'm also deeply and directly affected by the outcome of the dispute. I guess many self-published authors are also readers and may be affected enough to have a stake.<br /><br />But I think self-published author may have an even more important way of being affected by Author United’s actions. Their call to regulators for an antitrust investigation of Amazon, even based on bogus or dubious claims, may directly impact also the self-publishing business, e.g. with restrictions on pricing.Paolo Amorosohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03789843965489611451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22165230.post-28146654660679115342014-09-26T21:08:07.700-07:002014-09-26T21:08:07.700-07:00One thing is glaringly missing from this exchange,...One thing is glaringly missing from this exchange, as it has been from all the exchanges from AU and from Hachette in their underhanded way. Amazon is not forced to sell anything in their store they do not want to sell. It's called capitalism. Hachette needs Amazon and so do the authors. Time and again Amazon has said that readers are welcome to go elsewhere to find books by authors that Amazon does not sell, which is the opposite of trying to create a monopoly. Yes, Hachette authors, and indeed the authors who signed with the rest of the Big-5/6 publishers when it is their turn at bat. Hachette cannot afford to lose Amazon as a distributor. Bottom line, this is about money (isn't it always) and not about anything else, just as it was about money when the Big-5/6 publishers colluded with Apple to keep prices high. <br /><br />Publishers do not want to support ebooks because it would take away from their print runs and print runs is what have kept publishers in business for all these centuries. If Hachette and the rest of the Legacy Publishers can find a way to continue making money without Amazon, I say let them do it. <br /><br />Publishers, afraid that bookstores would close during the Great Depression, created a deal whereby bookstores could send back a book at any time, even years later, and get their money back. Publishers needed bookstores to continue doing business. Publishers need Amazon to keep doing business while shafting their midlist writers and continuing their stranglehold on print. Amazon is willing to walk away, but is Legacy Publishing?<br /><br />In the end, capitalism will out. Jacklyn Cornwellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07703031152094274587noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22165230.post-78986619965595098162014-09-26T15:30:42.895-07:002014-09-26T15:30:42.895-07:00FWIW, being aggressive in attacking the status quo...FWIW, being aggressive in attacking the status quo is one of the earmarks of revolution. And this is a revolution.<br /><br />When I insult, belittle, and attack Hachette, or AU, I take away their power in two ways. First, powerful people tend to think that everyone should agree with them, even when their motives are selfish and their opinions are foolish. Preston, Turow, Patterson, et al can get major media coverage by picking up a phone. When they get spanked in public because they acted badly, maybe they'll be less likely to act badly in the future. Or maybe they'll stop speaking in public altogether, which would be a win since they are spreading disingenuous and potentially harmful nonsense.<br /><br />Second, those who deify these powerful figures stop doing so when their heroes get spanked in a fisk. <br /><br />If I'm a loudmouth that people hate to listen to, why hasn't anyone fisked me? Wouldn't my detractors love to see me humiliated? Lee Child was kind enough to appear on my blog, but he didn't respond to a single point I brought up.<br /><br />Methinks people blame me for my tone because that's the only thing they can use to attack me, and saying I'm rude lets them off the hook of having to engage me on the actual issues. <br />JA Konrathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08778324558755151986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22165230.post-48787234136451814912014-09-26T14:31:58.651-07:002014-09-26T14:31:58.651-07:00My initial response is that AU is making all autho...My initial response is that AU is making all authors (including self-published authors) look bad by coming across as self-absorbed assholes. The percentage of the population that understands the traditional/self published distinction rounds down to zero. <br /><br />My next thought is that AU is so comically ineffective that the answer is none whatsoever.<br /><br />But my final answer is that when "industry thought leaders" are spreading misinformation on an industrial scale, good folks have to do what they can to correct the record or this sort of nonsense becomes accepted fact. William Ockhamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13795149116565627671noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22165230.post-21453046846577033762014-09-26T13:35:22.720-07:002014-09-26T13:35:22.720-07:00Ted, one of the things I keep repeating is that Ha...Ted, one of the things I keep repeating is that Hachette authors should hire a lawyer and get out of their contracts, and then self-publish.<br /><br />I feel that the more AU nonsense I expose, the more I'm helping authors reach this conclusion.<br /><br />It's akin to once being homeless, imrpoving your situation, and then volunteering at a soup kitchen. Just because you're no longer starving doesn't mean you can't assist others who are.<br /><br />My blog is responsible, to some degree, for thousands of authors trying self publishing. Many of these authors are making more money than ever before. Some are making money for the first time ever.<br /><br />To put it another way, you don't turn off the lighthouse just because your ship passed it safely.JA Konrathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08778324558755151986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22165230.post-21952724888008018592014-09-26T13:35:17.778-07:002014-09-26T13:35:17.778-07:00Ted: "How has what AU said or done DIRECTLY A...<i>Ted: "How has what AU said or done DIRECTLY AFFECTED the ability of any self-published authors to continue to self-publish, via Amazon, Smashwords or any of the other self-publishing outlets?"</i><br /><br />I think the question misses a few points.<br /><br />First, does it really matter if AU has directly affected self-publishers? It’s their hypocrisy that should bear the most scrutiny. They have repeatedly represented themselves as not only speaking on behalf of all authors but as a bulwark against the dissolution of literature. That claim is a broad one, and shouldn’t just cover traditionally published authors or the literature they happen to like, but ALL authors. Otherwise, it’s time for them to change their name to LAU (the Legacy Authors Guild) and stop misrepresenting themselves. <br /><br />Second, and putting that aside, however, they DO have direct effects on self- and alternatively published authors. For instance, when they attack one bookseller (Amazon) over another (B&N), it has a DIRECT effect on all Thomas & Mercer authors. When they support Big Publishing’s higher prices, it undermines the company that many of us rely on for the bulk of our income. Amazon is a commercial behemoth and I’m sure can take a beating in most negotiations, but that doesn’t mean as a self-published author that I’ll ignore its roots being poisoned. An attack on Amazon is an attack on me.<br /><br />Third, you’re assuming that the self-publishing world is ignorant of the industry or doesn’t care about the ramifications of the acts of publishers. Many of us are angered by the misrepresentation of the issues and the unwillingness of AU and Big Publishing to compromise or debate the state of the industry simply because we are citizens of the literary community…and we don’t like what we see. <br /><br />The future of literature isn’t only in the hands of the legacy authors and their publishers—self-pubbers are just as engaged and concerned as that crowd is in the direction and tenor of the written word…perhaps more so. We’re not all sitting at home checking our sales numbers—we’re exquisitely aware when a critical debate about publishing is taking place and are ready to expose hypocrisy and wrong-headedness when we see it.<br />Matt Idenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04755783619075875640noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22165230.post-31173525090994163472014-09-26T12:01:10.730-07:002014-09-26T12:01:10.730-07:00Ted, if you don't mind, I've answered by u...Ted, if you don't mind, I've answered by updating the post itself with our offline exchange, which I think is super interesting and useful. If this is an example of the kind of "conflict" decried by the other person I was engaging on the list serv, I hope we'll see lots more of it! :)Barry Eislerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17785333622697500192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22165230.post-38936072054114481442014-09-26T10:30:15.976-07:002014-09-26T10:30:15.976-07:00How does anything that AU is saying or advocating ...How does anything that AU is saying or advocating affect any self-published author?twliteraryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13245921657186732980noreply@blogger.com