Caught Between Gutenberg and the Internet

[RichardGraham]

Hi Folks,

There is a fascinating argument about book publishing going on right now and the following article (in my opinion) defines the battle very well.

Please take a look at it and let me know -- should I wait until I finish my book on Roller Hockey International (my current self-imposed deadline is this summer) and then find a traditional publisher who'll pay some of the costs of publishing a (most likely) soft-cover version of the book and then give me a percentage of future sales?

Should I wait to publish my book until the Kindle/iPad/WhoKnowsWhatComesNext battle has a proven winner? Or "sell" it to one of those companies for pennies on the dollar and hope that I recoup some of my investment of time, research and rewrites?

Should I simply publish my book on Inline Hockey Central as a serial (much like Charles Dickens used to do in newspapers) and ask IHC's readers who like what I'm doing to donate a fee of their own choosing to help pay for the (still in progress) book?

Or should I pursue some other option? There are so many possibilities that my admittedly small mind spins.

My biggest fear is that I'll give away my hard work for nothing, and I simply would rather not publish the book than do that, frankly.

Here's the article:

http://salon.com/books/laura_miller/2010/02/01/macmillan_vs_amazon/index.html?source=newsletter

What do you think I should do? There are many potential implications to think about, so please don't respond without thinking for a bit. For instance, if I sell copies of my work in progress on IHC, wouldn't that completely turn off the interest of a potential print publisher?

If I sell my book as a Kindle title, might that knock me out of contention as an iPad author?

All things to consider. Thank you.

[zipyaj]

Hi Richard,
A paradigm shift in the publishing business? Not unlike the huge hit the print-based businesses and advertisers took with the advent of the Internet, and now with the explosive growth of Social Media, it could appear that technology will have yet another impact onto publishing.

This is not my answer - that by private message forthcoming, but the article linked below was in my Inbox this morning and thought I'd share.

Google Says It Can Scan, Display Books Even If Authors Opt Out of Class Action Settlement
02-01-2010
http://industry.bnet.com/technology/10005031/google-says-it-can-scan-display-books-even-if-authors-opt-out-of-class-action-settlement/

BEST!

[hockeyseed]

Or should I pursue some other option? There are so many possibilities that my admittedly small mind spins.

Richard,

First, write your book and make sure it's worth reading.

Second, find a publisher who cares about your book. Don't worry about the ebook vs. print thing and the ebook format vs. ebook format thing because it's frankly out of your control. The only things you can control are the quality of your book and its appeal to the intended audience.

Third, keep in mind that most book publishers expect authors to spin their books, with the possible exception of best-selling authors who write blockbuster novels. So I would create a compelling page for your book on this website (even before you have a publisher) as evidence to the eventual publisher that you have the traffic and motivation to push the book.

As to the Kindle vs. ipad vs. whatsis issue:

The ebook companies and publishers and book sellers are going to fight about the issues in the article you mentioned for sometime. Most sensible publishers (and ebook developers) are trying to settle on a set of standard formats (ideally one, but a set will do). For example, my favorite technical publisher, O'Reilly, offers its books in these formats:

- Print
- Mobi
- PDF
- epub

I usually buy the ebook version because my house will only hold so many books and, my friend, I read alot. So far, I have been downloading PDFs because I haven't purchased an ebook reader (still waiting to see what Microsoft's new tablet is going to be - http://gizmodo.com/5365299/courier-first-details-of-microsofts-secret-tablet). Once I buy the ebook version, I can download ANY ebook format at ANY time (so O'Reilly says and so far it has been true). In fact, O'Reilly lets me know when the file has been updated and I can download that version without paying a fee. (I love O'Reilly).

Granted, O'Reilly is a leader in the field, they have a progressive point of view about electronic publishing, and apparently they can afford to take the stance they do. My real point is that publishers are feeling their way and have different points of view about the importance of the ebook format. They all think they have a stake in the outcome (their continued existence). They are forming alliances to try to gain some power and say in the progress of the technology and frankly, by taking their best guess about what will sell and who will be around in a couple of years. They want to sell books. Some of them want to sell book readers. They will do whatever they can to make both of those things hapen.

(Egads, some of this sounds like roller hockey.)

Long story short . . . don't worry about it. Write your book.

Best regards,

[hockeyseed]

Hey Richard,

I hope I wasn't too brusque in my reply to your question about electronic books. I have just been in the technical publishing business for a long time, and have seen so many variations of the ebook come and go. Ebooks are definitely in the mainstream now, but there's still too much infighting for authors to worry about all of this. The best thing to do is push ahead.

I do think you should build some kind of marketing page for your book, though. I would start it from IHC because that's where you have the most traffic, but you should think about linking to other media, such as youtube videos with some of the people you interview . . . maybe links to player videos of people you write about, that kind of thing.

Here's an example with a technical book:

http://www.designinginteractions.com/book

For something a little more creative, try googling a book called Skeleton Creek. Here is the publisher's page:

http://www.scholastic.com/skeletoncreek/

It's a combination of book and video. (One of the characters posts videos to another character during the narrative of the book. The reader checks out the video along with the character. Neat stuff.)

Have fun! Don't stop writing. There's fodder for procrastination in this stuff, even if it's inadvertent.

Cheri

[RichardGraham]

Hi Jay, Hi Cheri,

Thanks for your great suggestions! I'll look into all of them and post here when I can.