Amazon publishing outlet

[elisabeth]

Just stumbled onto something that might be of interest to anyone with a work-in-progress up their sleeve: Amazon Shorts.

How it appears to work is: Amazon publishes your stuff on the web, chapter by chapter, in downloadable form. The reader pays a nominal amount -- 49c -- for each chapter, and you get royalties on each payment. Sounds like a pretty good way of showcasing your stuff and making some money as you write!

Here's a link to an explanation, and to what sounds like a most entertaining book: The Shenandoah Spy, based on the life and exploits of Belle Boyd ...

tinyurl.com/wlkwb

(There is an LBH connection, by the way: Keogh's a featured character in it.)

[Scout]

Now that's an interesting idea although 49 cents dosen't sound like much for a whole chapter, but if you had it out there on a constant basis, well, it could add up. Interesting idea.

[elisabeth]

Yup ... And I think the notion is that it goes beyond the immediate payment -- hoping to get mainstream publishers to look at ostensibly niche books. (At least that's what this particular author seems to believe.) Nifty idea. Good for Amazon!

[Diane Merkel]

Elisabeth, I wish lulu.com had that before I bought that dreadful Keogh and Custer (or whatever) book. To say it is odd is an understatement!

The Amazon deal does sound like a good idea; I'll have to take a look. I guess it will ensure that first chapters are captivating!

[fred]

Elisabeth, Diane, and Scout--

I printed out your responses on this thread and showed them to my wife. So, the two of us went on the site and she read it through. (I no longer have the attention span for that sort of thing.) My wife was in the publishing business for 10 years, the last few as the chief executive officer, and if there is something she is well up on it is that and direct mail. The two of us-- she, for cause; me, only because of what I read in the NY Times-- are extremely down on the publishing business. It's not like it used to be and the only thing that rules today is the almighty dollar (or sterling), no longer the well-writen book. It is my belief that extraordinary writers like Christopher Isherwood, E. M. Forster, Auden, Strachy, and the rest, would only be published today by some sort of fluke. Today, it's the usual gang, the usual junk, and the usual celebrity.

Having said that, there does appear to be something of a stigma attached to self-publishing and my wife has always made me steer clear of it, especially when I finished my silly little Custer novel and I couldn't get Random House or St. Martin's Press to publish it. So now it sits, fallow, as they say. The Amazon thing may be interesting, but there may also be a number of issues with it, primarily, what is Amazon's take? They, too, are not in the altruism business, so you have to cut some sort of a deal w/ them and I believe this fellow-- on their site-- alluded to the fact he was not at liberty to discuss those details. That, plus it seems he is well-published (did I see some 90+ titles?), so Amazon may not be looking for the neo and may not be willing to put just anything on there. What are their criteria? How does one go about contacting them? I cannot imagine it would be as simple as logging on & hitting the old "contact us" botton... or would it?

Anyway, while I hate to put a damper on these things, I have reached the point where I am extremely skeptical of anything that smacks too much like a good deal. To me, the best alternative is to find an agent (I had some good success w/ that, including a gal from England... and that really impressed me, I'll tell you), and have that agent find a small, second-tier publisher. While it is never the biggest bang, you never know what can come of it. Look at "Cold Mountain." I have the book; never read it, but that is probably a good example. Maybe a publisher even smaller than that one.

Best wishes,
Fred.

[harpskiddie]

Fred:

Leyton could probably speak to the question of self-publishing better than I, but I do believe the stigma is going out of that nowadays, especially for non-fiction. I purposely set up my own book, when I started 15 years ago in the actual writing, to be a series of 'publishable' sections in case I wanted to sell them idividually.

Almost like the Amazon deal, but more of 'stand alone' narratives and discussions than traditional chapters.

Maybe Leyton will chime in here, or you could contact her directly.

Gordie

[Scout]

All good questions and points Fred. I think the main thing here is what would be the benefits of publishing online. I can't really answer that question but this could be the thing of the future as far as publishing goes. If you have book or manuscript that you can't sell or get printed, well, this could be an option, couldn't it? I mean if you have something collecting dust in a drawer it could be worth the chance to see what happens in internet publishing.

Now I have one Custer booklet that I self published and it was fun. I have a full size book coming out in the spring published by McFarland Publishers. It was much to large for me to attempt such an enterprise. So I guess there are pros and cons on both fronts. The financial rewards are greater through self publishing though but the outlay can sometime be a substantial amount depending on the quality you are looking for.

I have seen some really nice self published books printed by small book printers. Going back to what I was saying...49 cents a chapter...what if 10,000 people buy it off the bat? Could really add up. I would be really interested in knowing some results from someone who has done it.

Scout

[fred]

Gordie--

You could be right about the non-fiction thing; that usually has a tendency to stand on its own. Fiction, however, is another thing, although, who knows; things change. Still, there is nothing like the idea of walking into a Barnes & Noble and seeing the hardcover right in front of you. For guys like me, however, the thrill of a good yarn is still the most important thing and it seems to me you are not a lot different. Non-fiction (in areas I have an interest) feeds my brain; good fiction feeds the soul. I get passionate about good fiction.

Best wishes,
Fred.

[fred]

Scout--

What is your pamphlet about & is it available?

What is your book about? Is it LBH stuff? If so, I'll buy one.

Also, who is McFarland Publishers? This may be the kind of company I was talking about.

Best wishes,
Fred.

[Scout]

Fred...email me at my address below.

[elisabeth]

One downside to this Amazon thing, as I've discovered to my fury: purchase is only open "to customers with U.S. billing addresses". Grrrrrrrrrr. So be warned, you would not be getting global exposure through it. Only U.S.-based readers, agents and publishers get the chance to read your stuff.

Fred, you were right; there had to be a catch, and this is it.

Do tell us more about your book, Scout ...?

[fred]

Elisabeth--

I don't know why there would be a foreign restriction other than copyright issues, but I would think in most cases it could be easily overcome. If you wanted something, for instance, you could always have it sent to my address, and-- for a fairly substantial fee-- I would forward it on to you. (Hey, now there's a thought for a new business!)

And I think there is more than that, Elisabeth. Amazon is not going to spend the money hosting every, Thomas, Richard, and Harold's works, w/ merely a pittance coming in. Either they are getting a substantial percentage of an author who has had some exposure, or something else is happening. Maybe this is even their foray into the publishing business.

Remember something else everyone. Publishing today is all about marketing, not writing. It's like anything else, i.e., furniture, grills, clothing lines, etc. Do you think for one split second that George Foreman designed his grill? Or that Cindy Crawford designed a furniture line? "Oh, yes! In between acting, modeling, and six divorces, I've been designing furniture, a life-long dream!!" And how about Madonna writing childrens books? Give me a break! Suddenly Madonna is A.A. Milne? What has Madonna ever done to qualify as a childrens book writer? See my point? What Scout, Leyton, "gumby,"-- and me, for that matter-- do, is simply try to satisfy a personal need. I don't mean to speak for anyone else here, so it's a guess about our friends; for me, it's just something I enjoy doing. Getting something published is only important to me if people enjoy it. If Bill Boyes didn't like my first article, I never would have sent him another. Same w/ Diane. The fiction book I have written, I wrote for my own satisfaction and I read it for my own satisfaction. It's like an escape. I read it, it throws me back in time. It's like watching "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon" for the umpteenth time or re-reading Ian Fleming's James Bond books or Patrick O'Brian's phenominal Aubrey-Maturin books.

If I make a dollar, fine; if not, fine too. If someone ever wants to take a chance & publish my silly little novel, that's great. The best part, however, will be if one person-- just one-- says to me, Fred, I really enjoyed your book. Anything else is like winning the lottery or a "quik-pik" number for a few bucks. Hey, it was fun! Look at the guy who wrote the book "Angela's Ashes." He hit the lottery. One book and done. He wrote a 2nd & it was a flop; the 3rd was a disaster. So now, he licks his literary wounds and counts his retirement money like Scrooge McDuck: "I burrow through it like a gopher, toss it in the air and let it hit me on the head!" We should all have such problems. In the meantime, an article here, and article there. The added fun is when someone reads what you have written, takes issue w/ it and spends his or her precious time to critique it. (Like what is going on between Gordon Richard, Lee Noyes, Vern Humphrey, and me.) Then you know you have made an impact and someone cares. That's pretty good payment, to me.

Best wishes,
Fred.

[Scout]

"The Indian Wars-Confrontations Between Settlers, Soldiers and Indians, 1500-1901" It is a reference book for the Indian Wars in America with over 1,600 listings for battles, skirmishes and raids. I couldn't find a good reference book that covered all the years of the struggle...so I wrote one. Of course, everybody on this board will be required to buy one...

I'm told it will be out sometime in early spring. And by the way, if you like old movies, my publisher 'McFarland' publishes a great line of movie books on westerns, sci-fi, directors (John Ford, sci-fi directors), etc. Also a great line of other subjects as well...baseball, history. There are two on famous western movie locations. Ford flicks and such. Neat stuff.

Thanks for asking.

[fred]

Mike--

Just let me know where I can buy a copy when it comes out.

Best wishes,
Fred.

[elisabeth]

Scout, that's great -- sounds like an absolute bible. Definitely on the must-have list!

And Fred ... yes, I think you've invented a terrific new business!

I think it must be a copyright issue, as I can't think of any other conceivable reason. But you'd think people with Amazon's clout could sort that out satisfactorily, rather than drive their customers insane with fury ... Could well be that they want to venture into publishing. They're nowhere without product to sell, after all, so it may make sense to create their own. Then again, it may be quite a good deal for them in terms of straight profit. Most e-books seem to be priced fairly low -- around $4.95 -- so if they can get 49c per chapter they're effectively charging almost double. (The book they won't let me read, The Shenandoah Spy, is currently up to 14 chapters, and who knows, there may be more to come.)

Quaintly, it's almost a throwback to the earliest days of mass publishing, isn't it -- the Dickens serialisations and so on. And presumably they can always pull the plug on a book if the first few chapters fail to get readership. Pretty much a risk-free option, especially if they are confining it to writers with a proven track record. This particular writer, Hamit, has plenty of titles to his name, but seems to have e-published them all himself. So Amazon have proof that he can write, while he's clearly keen for a chance to break into mainstream publishing: a good bit of symbiosis. But it would be nice to know more about their criteria for choosing stuff. I'll dig around and see if they explain that anywhere.