The Changing Face of the Book World

Borders Bookstores are closing across the country. Amazon announces that it is selling more e-books than print copy books. The face of the book world is changing.

It seems that Amazon is leading the charge. And it is no surprise. Amazon is the leader in e-book titles at slightly under one million and has launched among the best-known on-demand publishing companies.

Amazon began buying up small, large and independent publishing houses years ago with the shock that came with the emergence of the internet. Many publishing houses, facing financial trouble, looked to the buyer for relief. It comes as no surprise that Amazon should have its finger on the pulse of the industry given its close ties with the publishing world.

The Wall Street Journal suggested that self-publishers were cutting into profit margins for traditional publishers and noted recently that they are 'short-circuiting' the way that traditional publishers do business. Amazon certainly provides an avenue for self-publishers to be successful. The company is a fierce competitor. Perhaps the company's relative success is evidence of a fruitful competitive strategy.

Borders has had its financial troubles for years and will close the doors at hundreds of stores in the weeks to come. Barnes & Noble is looking for a buyer. If the publishing world's traditional means of distribution continue to change then the landscape for publishing and for books will look very different in a decade.

The internet was a shock to the publishing world just the same as the e-book is today. It is a game changer. And it should be interesting to see how things unfold.

Just Published: A Dawn Run Hot with Morning

Well, it's done! I am pleased to announce that A Dawn Run Hot with Morning is published and is now available on Amazon. Click on the link to Amazon to view the book details, reviews and purchasing options.

A Dawn Run Hot with Morning is my second book of poetry. I worked even harder on this book than I did the first by taking great care with poem selection and partaking in a rigorous editing process. Although the previous anthology, Contemplating Eve, includes ten years of meditative poetry and artwork collected and assembled in a few short months, A Dawn Run Hot with Morning reflects an intensive nine-month journey to create just the right book.

The book cover captures the essence of A Dawn Run Hot with Morning. The painting depicts the hot sun burning off morning vapor over a pond at dawn. I get my creativity from my father, who completed the painting years ago.

Xavier Martin was the chief editor on the project. He helped me to tie the book together with the selection of a few key poems. We labored over every word to ensure consistency.

In this book, I pause to reflect on love, self and well-being. I honor family and strong, bold women role models in my life. In my previous work, Contemplating Eve, the world is a canvass for many adventures in love and in travel. This second book is grounded in a different reality. The season is fall, summer blossoms and summer romance are wilting, and questions about self arise. Laughter and good friendships get me through the tender spot with family enabling me to conquer all over time.

At 104 pages, approximately 50 poems and 12 images, A Dawn Run Hot with Morning, is a slim volume packed with countless lovely and enriching moments. Buy your copy today!

(**A Dawn Run Hot with Morning will be available worldwide within a few short weeks of this blog post. Be sure to check your country's local Amazon website.)

To publish an e-book or not to publish an e-book?

For some proponents of self-publishing, the answer to 'to go digital or not to go digital' would be a resounding "YES! Go digital!" I'm sure they wonder, what's the point of self-publishing if not to publish an e-book? After all, it's a well-accepted idea that traditional publishers can better penetrate paperback markets than self-publishers can. There are many barriers to getting paperbacks into mainstream bookstores and potential cash flow issues when dealing with distributors. Traditional publishers have teams of artists, editors, marketers, advertisers and others at their disposal who can expertly and uniquely package a paperback and get it on bookshelves and, ultimately, to readers more efficiently than a self-publisher ever could hope to (presumably).

I am inspired by many of the stories I hear. For every story of a self-publisher who transitions to the traditional publishing world, I read of five more traditionally published authors who have made the opposite leap, in favor of a low-cost, low-price self-published e-book. The self-published seek new markets with paperbacks and the traditionally published seek the same with e-books. And, every author, regardless of how they were initially published, extols the merits of e-publishing. Many authors note in his or her blog that e-book sales soar set at a low price point. And, the numbers speak volumes: Amazon currently has available some 810,000 e-book titles.

My question is, why do sales soar? Perhaps I should not bother to ask but should rather take advantage of the trend and ride the wave. But, given the recent purge of Amazon titles that were not selling well, which brought the number of titles down to its currently level, sales do not always soar.

What roll does marketing play? I suppose Twitter and Facebook are critical platforms through which an author can reach readers. Most of my readers have been off-line, which is why I chose to go for print with the release of my second book. But, if what e-book publishers are saying is true, clearly it would be worth considering the effort to significantly expand online platforms and reach a different audience. The question is, where do I begin?

So many issues to consider. To publish an e-book or not to publish an e-book? More on this later...

Making the Case: Why Every Author Should Write Everyday

"Tulips" feat. in Contemplating Eve

There are many reasons that an author should write everyday. One is to develop the discipline and the capacity to write well consistently. Practice makes perfect (although we all know that for any writer or artist in training perfection is something ceaselessly pursued but ever elusive) or at least can lead to writing that is good and sometimes great. An author should consider writing daily as essential to his/her craft.

Just as in tennis and other disciplines, where the player is tested over the course of an entire tournament, the writer is judged across a lifetime. Ultimately, the tennis player wins because of his/her overall dexterity, training and will. In the same sense, a writer is judged by his/her body of work: just how prolific and how good s/he manages to be through training and other means matters.

As an author on Twitter and as an author who blogs, each platform gives me the opportunity to publish everyday. This blog, in particular, provides the opportunity to reflect and to analyze the course of my writing, the business of writing, my progress and my discipline.

Twitter is useful in that it allows me to publish poetry (140 characters or less) daily, follow the poetry community on Twitter and get timely advice and information regarding my craft.

These tools have been boons to developing my craft and the discipline of writing daily.

My Reading from Contemplating Eve: The Collected Works

Yawns and laughter are contagious
child-like laughter
the clapping up of spirits
I can feel your eyes graze my face
as you search me from one side to another
now your silence  
evidence of an active inner life
shameless
when I look at you I know
just how ephemeral sadness is
and although you are now gone
even still
your spirit abides in me
go softly, go gently

*

Climb into this tender loving place, which are

my arms. Lay your head next to my

heart and hear it beat.

Be lulled, be warmed

soothingly to sleep.

Climb up my bosom and the side of my face,

through my tight tendrils and arrive

dreaming.

Think of my gentle whisper, my soft touch.

Know that as I envelop your lithe frame

that I hold you closely,

dearly to my soul.

 *

Love

Love is…

constant

Love is…

knowing

Love is…

That we cannot hold each other more dearly

Love is…

Joy

Love is…

My joy

Love is…

Your joy

Love is…

Never letting go

You see my parents taught me how to love.

I had forgotten entirely what mattered--

But, then there is you.

And, now there is you.

My Retort to a Recent Article in Publisher’s Weekly

Publisher's Weekly issued a telling article last week, one entitled “How Self-Publishing Will Lose Its Stigma.” (You can read it here.)  In the article, the author touches upon some of the highlights of a webinar focused on “The Evolution of Self-Publishing.” She admits that although the industry segment is changing, there is still a lot to be learned. Book marketing is key to sales and this is an area where self-published authors often stumble.

There are three author success stories mentioned in the article. These are largely stories about having a winning marketing strategy.  Social media, blogs, websites, Indie bookstores, book tours, book expos and even traditional media have become increasingly more accessible for marketing & promotion.

As a result and coupled with the large number of self-publishers out there now (click here & scroll down to see a list), traditional publishers complain that there is a lot of “noise in the marketplace.” As with any new industry early in its evolution, the market is saturated; there are many players using multiple media to market or to promote many books.  Eventually the market will clear and the most capable and commercially viable writers will emerge.

At the end of the day, profit margins matter and sales in volume mean profit. Prices set by manufacturers and distributors currently reflect the costs of services to authors who fail, as well as those who do well. At some point, these costs will cut into profit margins and draw important questions about cost and risk.

Furthermore, in the article, traditional publishers complained that “gatekeepers” did not exist in the self-publishing realm. There is no discerning eye to determine quality. This in fact is what makes self-publishing so great. There is a free market where the only “gates’’ are the vagaries and vicissitudes of the marketplace. Mastering marketing while limiting costs is key.

This is what makes the e-book so promising. Costs are slight and marketing becomes one dimensional, limited only by one´s skill at social networking.

Self-publishing, particularly, that of e-books, even has a few well-known traditionally published authors in its camp.  Boasting meater royalties and enabling the author to retain all rights to his/her work, self-publishing has been a welcome alternative for authors who want to retain (and embrace) their power.

I conclude that traditional publishers are feeling threatened by an industry that grants ultimate control, power and returns to writers. And they are in profound denial about the potential of this nascent industry.

Another Look Inside A Dawn Run Hot with Morning (The Poetry III)

Welcome back! I have just one more poem in this series of glimpses on to the pages of A Dawn Run Hot with Morning. (Click here to see other poems in this series.) Thanks for tuning in. Enjoy!

 

Laughter

You arrive

Carrying a single flower

A daisy

The sun-kissed kind

It had been your decision

You knew that this was right

And I am happy to see you

Then before I could turn to leave

There was a flutter inside

A feeling of elation

An eruption of happiness

A smile across your lips

An utterance, a cry

There is laughter

There is rejoicing