Wednesday for Writers #4: The Only One Destroying Publishing is You.

I am sitting here laughing while writing this post, but I know I shouldn't be. What can I say? I am that crazy chick who laughs at inappropriate times. Like right now--when all of you are destroying publishing.

That's right, every single one of you are ruining it... right now. You should be ashamed of yourself! Of course, I'm guilty too, but I don't have any shame, that's why I'm an author.

And if you're an author, you might have heard of a place known as The Kindle Boards. If you aren't an author, and don't know what I am talking about I can't tell you...I can't even be sure of its exact use. It seems to be a place where people who have published on Amazon come together and complain about things. At least, that's all I ever see them do there. I admit to mostly lurking, on account of the one time I decided to say something and this woman--who is totes a crazy cat lady in my head--HAD to tell me how wrong I was. That is right I totally magicked myself onto the best sellers list by not selling any books. That's what she claimed anyway. {Insert wild head-bob here.}

But I digress, I wanted to share with you a reoccurring theme there, and that is, as I have stated before, that you are all destroying publishing. You might not not even know it yet, but I am hear to tell you it's true!

Recent method of total destruction: FREE E-BOOKS!

This is my preferred method of roughing up publishing. The thought is, why will people buy the cow if you are giving away the milk for free? It's almost perfect! Any saying that applies to loose women can in turn be applied to loose writers. AM I RIGHT?

WRONG! These people seem to think that there are enough e-books out there for free that no one
is going to want to pay for a book ever. I guess if you are totally forgettable that might be a problem. If you are writing clone thriller and romance books and never have any type of original thought--this might get you down. But I don't want to be forgettable. I don't want to be mediocre. I plan on making myself irreplaceable--and part of doing that involves building a loyal following. It's no secret I want you guys to buy my books--but I don't want it to be a one sided relationship.

Every time someone says, "Free e-books have ruined it for the rest of us!" I think they have no idea what they are doing. I used to be a marketing manager--did you?

The Old Favorite Flavor of Destruction: .99 E-BOOKS ARE DESTROYING PUBLISHING

I saw an article recently that focused on the new found malaise of the .99 e-book price tag. My first thought was, I didn't know that was mandatory. Because damn if I am not doing it wrong. Technically, I do have two .99 e-books; but they are both novellas. I like .99 for a novel promotion. BUT IT DOESN'T MATTER! If someone wants something bad enough they will buy it--that is why the legacy publishers can charge their prices and not be socially executed. (Also, they have to pay a lot of people) The .99 is to allow people to find you, as an author. Don't hate.

Again, this goes back to whether or not you have a following, and if you have people beating down your doors asking for your next book. People whine about how this doesn't make for a liveable wage--but I've got bad news, if no one cares about you, pricing your book inline with traditional publishers isn't going to save you. The difference in $3.99 and .99 is not going to save you. The only life preserver an author can hope for is going to be tossed out to them by fans. Everything else just makes you a few extra bucks.

And more bad news. If you land an agent who gets you an awesome contract with Random House and they list your e-book for $9.99 you are still only going to get around a buck fifty per e-book. (In this calculation Amazon gives them 70% of list price, they give you 25%, and you give your agent 15%)

Writing isn't really a get rich quick scheme. If you are very, very lucky--and smart, you might pull it off slowly and painfully. That's my plan. Plus remembering to smile when someone calls me an over night success ;) Yes, I just put an emoticon in my blog. It's my blog, I can do what I want.

This Last Reason Gives Me Deja Vu, How About You?: .99 E-BOOKS ARE DESTROYING PUBLISHING (Still)

Before Indie Authors themselves were all bent out of shape over that whole .99 thing, there was another group sounding the alarm. That would be the traditional publishers—and their clients, “How can we complete?” they whined.

Remember where I talked about how fans where your only savior as a writer? That applies to you to genius. I won't pretend for five seconds that me or anyone I know (and I know some SUPAH-STARS) selling .99 e-books so much as gave Cassandra Clare a freaking paper cut. Because most of her fangirls are fangirls for life. She writes it, and they are lining up to buy it before they know even what it's called or what it will be covered in.

You just think about that. Because it's your fault.

Some of the best advice I ever got on writing came from a very good friend and enemy; she told me the secret was simply to outlast everyone else. I believe that is a huge part of it, I also believe that the next step is making sure no one else but you will do.