Satima's Blogspot: Amazing Amazonian friends

Sunday, 29 May 2011

Amazing Amazonian friends

Sunday, May 29, 2011 |

Posted by Satima Flavell

No, I don't mean the kind that lop off one boob and go around shooting arrows off at all and sundry. I mean the kind who are brave enough to put their books up on the web for people to buy.

Lots of authors, including some pretty high profile ones, are e-publishing these days. Given the volatile nature of the print publishing industry and the ever-growing interest in e-books among the reading public, publishing online is beoming a viable option. Some new authors - notably Amanda Hocking - have done extraordinarily well via this route, and several authors already established in print, including Jo Konrath and Scott Sigler, are also doing very nicely, thank you.

What's more, e-publishing as an independent author already carries less of a stigma than it did even a year ago. The standard of e-books - until recently notorious for poor presentation and lack of editing - is rising all the time. The reading public is, by and large, reasonably selective. If your work really stinks people are not going to buy it, in e-copy or in print.

Three former critiquing partners of mine, Fiona Leonard, Patti Jansen, and Phillip Berrie have recently become "indie authors". I dips me lid to these enterprising people, nervously wondering whether and when I should follow in their footsteps. I know their work is good, because I've read it. (In fact, I had the privilege of editing Fiona's novel The Chicken Thief, a political thriller set in an African country that has become a dictatorship. Sound familiar?) Check it out. It's one of the best reads I've had this year.

If you don't believe my fulsome praise, hie thee over to Amazonian territory and seek out Fiona's and Patty's books. (Patty's work is scifi, and she has a good handful of stories waiting for you, the latest of which is His Name in Lights.)

And over at the magic land of Smashwords you will find Phill's book The Changeling Detective, an entertaining SF/crime crossover. If you like Jim Butcher you'll really dig Phill's work, too.

One of the great things about e-books is their affordability. You can buy a short story, novella or novel for prices ranging from 99 cents to 3.99. And you can get free samples, so there's nothing to lose. Compared to print books, there is no contest, is there?

Labels: self-publishing

7 comments:

Jo said...: Not all ebooks are so cheap Satima, I have been reading ebooks for years and have paid a lot more for some of them. A well known author, for instance, can cost $16 or even more. Still cheaper than peperpack I know, but not as cheap as a library!!!; Sunday, May 29, 2011
Satima Flavell said...: Those expensive ones are published by the bigger houses, Jo, who apparently can't cut their costs enough to do them any cheaper. From what I've read, their authors are being diddled as well. As I understand it, someone who self-publishes or goes with a small press that specialises in e-books will get something like 70% of the "cover price" of an ebook, while the big houses are only paying aboutg 30%. Doesn't seem fair, does it?

Nothing can beat a library, cost-wise, can it?:-) But as I understand it, in most countries the author gets nothing back from libraries. Here in Oz and a few other countries we have what's called Pubic Lending Rights, which pays the author everytime anyone borrows a book from a public library. Some authors do very nicely out of PLR!

I'm all for anything that will put more money into authors' pockets.; Monday, May 30, 2011
Satima Flavell said...: Hee hee - make that "PUBLIC" lending rights!; Monday, May 30, 2011
Jo said...: There's a joke about that, somebody carving it marble to go on a tomb.

Early night, bowling all day tomorrow.; Monday, May 30, 2011
Satima Flavell said...: The mind bloggles! Have fun at bowling!; Monday, May 30, 2011
Sue Bursztynski said...: And Education Lending Rights if you're a children's writer like me. I'm getting about three times the income from ELR as PLR! :-); Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Satima Flavell said...: I didn't realise it paid so well, Sue! OTOH, I should have known, because I've met a couple of people who write specifically for the school libraries market.

Have you got another book coming out soon? Send me a PR if so and I'll blog it.; Tuesday, May 31, 2011

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