Release The Hounds (aka ‘your stories’)

As I sit here, thinking about what I want to achieve over the next year as a writer, that generosity of spirit is something I want to keep in focus…

Note: I might be writing this message for myself.

One of the best things I did for myself this year was to take a chance on a book of poetry: Poetry Unbound by Pádraig Ó Tuama

(This is why I will never give up on physical bookstores and libraries: the sheer joy of stumbling across books and taking a chance on them!)

I’m not a poetry expert and often find books of poetry unsatisfying, as I sit there thinking, “‘what am I supposed to get from this? What am I missing?”

Well, Ó Tuama’s book follows up each poem with an essay in which he tells you what he loves about the poem. It’s not prescriptive. It’s not an attempt to tell you what you should get out of the poem, but it does offer a way in.

A Great Start To The Day

Every day that I start by reading a poem and essay from this book, is a good day.

I start my day thinking about words and what can be done with them.

I start my day thinking about how words affect the people who read them.

I start my day with black and white proof that it is possible to use words to share tiny moments and experiences, to be brave enough to put them out into the world, and to find other people who will be moved by them.

And that’s a pretty good way to start the day.

Borrowed focus.

Borrowed courage.

A chipping-away of my excuses.

Do The Work

In a recent conversation with one of the StoryADay Superstars she talked about a gift she made for her brother.

It was challenging (so much that she put off starting, for years), it was a little beyond her skill set (so much that it was imperfect) AND yet she resolved to finish it and give it to her brother anyway.

Of course, he loved it.

He saw all the things that were right with it, not the few tiny details that could maybe have been neater…

Perfectionism Generosity

As I sit here thinking about what I want to achieve over the coming year as a writer, that generosity of spirit is something I want to keep in mind: a willingness to finish things and share them, and let them be enjoyed.

To not withhold.

To not be arrogant enough to think I’ll ever ‘get it right’.

To be bold enough to finish and share my stories.

How about you?

What inspires you? What gives you courage? What’s the best thing you’ve done for yourself over the past year? What’s the most generous thing you will do, in the coming year?

How A Subsidy POD Company Made Publishers Pay 50% Royalties

The Author’s Guild last week declared that no contract should offer an author less than 50% royalties on ebooks[2. They seem to have <a href=”http://www.authorsguild.org/advocacy/articles/the-e-book-royalty-mess-an-interim.html”>modified</a> their stance a little].

15 years ago, it was rare to see a number larger than 12.5% in any publishing contract for primary rights. It was common to see 10% or 7.5%.

How Did We Get From 7.5% to 50%?

Let me tell you a little story about the ancient days of the Internet.

In 1997 John Feldcamp, a digital printing guy and Chris Kelly, a finance guy, decided to set up Xlibris as an ebook and print on demand service (the first time anyone had figured out how to offer true POD services directly to authors) .

In 1998, they hired me to help them change the world. Whatever else Xlibris became or did right or did wrong, it was founded — and operated for a long time — on the burning beliefs that:

  • No-one had the right to tell any writer to sit down and shut up.
  • We were going to help every writer master the new methods of delivery technology was opening up to them.
  • We did not deserve any ownership of their intellectual property in exchange for helping them distribute it.
  • The author should get 50% of the proceeds[2. On print books 50% of the profit was a lot less than 50% of the list price, which is why the company eventually started using different numbers and the word ‘net’, and sounding a lot more shady, even though it was the same thing. But on ebooks? 50% was 50% of list, minus transaction fees, and we didn’t even bother charging for those at first].

50%?!

Barbarians At The Gates

Most people in the publishing industry, even many established authors, predicted that POD and ebooks would mean the end of civilization, that the world would be filled with dross and that not all writers deserved to share their stories with the world.

Three years later, in 2000, the big kahuna of traditional publishing, Random House, made a substantial investment in Xlibris. I listened with astonishment and pride as their spokesman started saying things like “Yes, we’ll be offering 50% on ebooks. That sounds like a fine deal”. I grinned to myself because behind Erik Engstrom’s words I heard the strong “Feldcampian” influence (John was not only extraordinarily clever, he was incredibly convincing).

From 50% to 25% in 8 Short Years

Eight years later Engstrom was long gone and Random House was changing the policy to 25%. Lots of other things have changed too: Amazon, Kindle, Nook, Apps…It looks like ebooks will eventually replace print books as a major sales stream. But authors will only get 25% royalties on ebooks, and the big publishers will get moremore of the profit than ever before.

Last week the Author’s Guild finally snapped and issued this outraged math lesson to illustrate the realities of the 25% royalty:

“The Help,” by Kathryn Stockett
Author’s Standard Royalty: $3.75 hardcover; $2.28 e-book.
Author’s E-Loss = -39%
Publisher’s Margin: $4.75 hardcover; $6.32 e-book.
Publisher’s E-Gain = +33%

“Hell’s Corner,” by David Baldacci
Author’s Standard Royalty: $4.20 hardcover; $2.63 e-book.
Author’s E-Loss = -37%
Publisher’s Margin: $5.80 hardcover; $7.37 e-book.
Publisher’s E-Gain = +27%

“Unbroken,” by Laura Hillenbrand
Author’s Standard Royalty: $4.05 hardcover; $3.38 e-book.
Author’s E-Loss = -17%
Publisher’s Margin: $5.45 hardcover; $9.62 e-book.
Publisher’s E-Gain = +77%

from The Author’s Guild site

The Rights Of Authors

The fact that my bosses convinced Random House, 12 years ago, to use the words ‘fifty percent’ is huge. I believe that Feldcamp and Kelly made 50% a number we writers can ask for today without being laughed out of the room (they endured that several times, on our behalf).

Some of the authors who hailed the ‘publishing services’ companies as Visigoths are now listing their own out-of-print titles with Amazon (at a 70% royalty rate) and keeping them in print independently via POD. They are demanding their due from their publishers, on a scale proposed by the former barbarians at the gate.

I am proud to have been one of those barbarians. And I am proud to have been friends with the men who smiled up at the publishing Caesars and convinced them to agree, for eight shining years, that 50% was, yeah, equitable.  The royalty and distribution debates of the future will be shaped by what they did back in the 1990s.

Writers, join me in raising your glasses today in a toast to Mr. John Feldcamp and Mr. Chris Kelly, founders of Xlibris, Kings of the 50% royalty.

Do you want to become an insanely productive writer? Need a big boost? Need a challenge? Sign up for the StoryADay Advance List to be among the first to hear about this year’s StoryADay May Extreme Writing Challenge. Or read more at www.storyaday.org