"I've chosen to dip my toe in self-publishing because of increasing dissatisfaction with payments, contracts and working practices in traditional publishing," writes author Ian Graham in today's manifesto. And that dissatisfaction plays out in quite a list of points. Graham's explication of these points includes a pattern of payments that may not arrive for 60 or more days. And: "A contract often does not appear until a project is at an advanced stage or even in some cases after all the work has been completed." Three decades he's been at it, he tells us. And now? "I'll certainly be self-publishing again." - Porter Anderson
Links of the week September 14 2015 (38)
Our new feature links to interesting blogs or articles posted online, which will help keep you up to date with what's going on in the book world:
21 September 2015
I have written and co-written 270 books. I have been a full-time freelance writer for more than 30 years. In that time I have written and co-written 270 books. Most were commissioned children's non-fiction books and graphic novels, but I've also written adult trade fiction and non-fiction. I have just produced my first self-published book. I've chosen to dip my toe in self-publishing because of increasing dissatisfaction with payments, contracts and working practices in traditional publishing.
I used to think of my early teenage addiction to the works of Agatha Christie as the literary equivalent of pool-hall prowess, the sign of a mis-spent youth. Looking back on it now, it seems clear that Enid Blyton was the gateway drug: the Famous Five and the Secret Seven gave me a craving that soon only Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple could satisfy.
Apart from the most famous plots, the details have long since faded, save the odd motive for murder (passing on German measles!); weird clues (Lo - Hen - Grin); and peculiar words (mountebanks and anti-macassars); but what still linger in the memory are the paranoid parsing of every paragraph for that tell-tale clue; the late nights when lights out had to be disobeyed as a denouement loomed; and the satisying frustration of being outwitted time and again by a master plotter. Part of the attraction undoubtedly was that Christie was as prolific as she was talented. No matter how many you read, there was always the assurance that there were plenty more. But where does Agatha Christie's reputation stand today? Is she still relevant, given the current appetite for gritty realism and bloody gore? Do her books still hold up as great mystery fiction? Or is she still read more for nostalgia than anything else? To mark today's 125th anniversary of Agatha Christie's birth, I asked contemporary crime writers to contribute their thoughts on her work. Was she an influence, even if only as someone to react against? Were or are they still a fan and, if so, which is their favourite of her books, and why?
As self-publishing gains momentum around the world and new platforms enable authors to publish their content on a global scale, questions arise about how authors can effectively market and sell their content globally. To address these questions, the Frankfurt Book FairWorld's largest trade fair for books; held annually mid-October at Frankfurt Trade Fair, Germany; First three days exclusively for trade visitors; general public can attend last two. and Publishing Perspectives have organized a one-day program about international self-publishing. The program was curated by Porter Anderson and will take place at the Frankfurt Book Fair on October 17, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
PP: Why should indie authors pursue international readers and opportunities when they have plenty of work creating, selling and promoting their books at home? Porter Anderson: Obviously, international markets hold out the potential for new audiences, readers, and expanded sales to indies, just as they do to traditional publishers. Then again, as you say, indie authors really do have their hands full just trying to produce their own work professionally. And as it turns out, self-publishing is easier than self-selling. It's the marketing challenge that continues to hobble so many self-publishers, let alone their traditionally published counterparts.
In its first study on author income since 2009, the Authors Guild delivers some jarring, if unsurprising, data. The survey, which will be released next week, indicates, among other things, that the majority of authors would be living below the Federal Poverty Level if they relied solely on income from their writing.
So what does that Federal Poverty Level statistic mean? Given that a single person earning less than $11,670 annually sits below the poverty line, 56% of respondents would qualify, if they relied solely on income from their writing. The survey also indicated that not only are many authors earning little, they are, since 2009, also earning less. Overall, the median writing-related income among respondents dropped from $10,500 in 2009 to $8,000 2014 in 2014, a decline of 24%. The decline came for both full-time and part-time authors with full-time authors reporting a 30% drop in income to $17,500 and part-time authors seeing a 38% decrease, to $4,500.
A panel entitled "Putting Your Ass in the Chair," was great kicker for the Slice Literary Writers Conference (discussed here) and a reminder that despite all the social shenanigans that abound in the upcoming fall season in New York, and across the country, nothing happens unless the work gets done.
The truth is, we all get in our own way creating our own conflicts. Still, they can be overcome. Darin Strauss, for example, wrote his first book while working a full-time job in-between the hours of 7 and 9 every morning.
What a fascinating job this year's Man Booker committee is doing, and how difficult they're making life for the poor souls charged with calling the odds. The longlist announcement in July arrived with a mighty clatter of falling idols, cheerfully passing over the big noises of modern fiction - Rushdie, Atwood, Franzen, Ishiguro, Harper Lee - in favour of a 13-book list stuffed with new voices and uncommon writing from the US, the UK, Ireland, India, Jamaica, Nigeria and New Zealand. Further crashes and tinkles now accompany the release of this year's shortlist, which trims another seven novels to leave us with the most interesting finish-line tussle in years.
Among the tumbling skittles in this round are Marilynne Robinson's Lila, the third novel in her much-garlanded Gilead sequence. This is the sort of symphonic, Olympian, ever-so-slightly-tedious novel that in other years might seem an evident contender for Booker reward; so was Anne Enright's Irish family epic The Green Road, which is now destined not to repeat the success of her other Booker-winning family epic The Gathering (2007).
With 17 novels, a James Bond reboot, short stories and multiple screenplays under his writerly belt, is it an odd question to ask why William Boyd writes? He answers quickly and wryly: "It is a good question and a hard one. Basically, I can't imagine doing anything else."
Boyd avoided a family tradition of going into "sensible" professions. At a Guardian Live event for his latest book Sweet Caress he spoke to critic Alex Clark about his career, peppering his reflections with advice for would-be writers. While being a successful novelist "is not something you can buy or learn," he said, and comes from "a combination of a gift and application, talent and luck" there are four questions you need to ask yourself before you set out on a career as a writer.