The Oscars and The Edgars

Every year, I make an effort to see every movie nominated for an Academy award. Not just best picture, but every movie with a Best Actor/Actress nomination, Best Screenplay, even a few of the foreign films when they come to town. So you can see I was overwhelmed when they announced not five, but ten best picture nominations. I figured Up In the Air, Precious, and Inglorious Bastards would be nominated, but The Blind Side? Up?

After listening to NPR commentary and reading the buzz around the blogosphere, I learned that the big reason behind the ten nominations is to include more mainstream movies that people who don't live near an art house theater or get every movie in their local Cineplex, would see.

Without going into the politics and saying whether I agree with their decision or not, this reasoning intrigued me. Before, the movies nominated were more obscure, often unavailable to the small-town crowd. They wanted to nominate movies available to everyone. Last year, more people saw THE DARK NIGHT than any of the pictures nominated for best film and therefore, in hindsight, they felt DARK NIGHT should have been one of the nominees.

Looking at the Edgar list this year, I see only a couple of small presses and those are in the Paperback Original and Nonfiction categories. None of the Best Novel and Best First Novel nominees are from independent publishers. In the past there have been a couple (SOUL PATCH by Reed Farrel Coleman, HEAD GAMES by Craig McDonald) but this year, zip.

So both prestigious awards have decided mainstream is the way to go, that nominees should be available to anyone who lives by a cinema or a Barnes and Noble. In both instances, I believe the awards should go to the best of the best, not the best of the most readily available. But the Oscars expanded their list to ten nominees. The Edgars are keeping theirs at six, which means in order to include a book by a big publisher, someone from a small publisher is getting pushed out.

All of this year's nominees are talented authors who deserve the honor and recognition. Like the Oscars, I attempt to read all the Edgar nominees, and I can tell you all of them are great books. But aren't there also some brilliant books put out by smaller houses that deserve to be on that list? And were they not nominated because they weren't mainstream enough? Did the judges hold certain prejudices towards small presses? Or were all books considered equally and nominated solely on their merit and the best books just happen to be from big publishers?

No matter the reasons behind the selection process, I believe these prestigious awards should go to the best movies and books of this year, regardless of availability. Of course, the term "best" is subjective, but I feel that's more true for movies than mystery novels. Good writing is good writing, regardless of publisher, and it's hard for me to believe that the best writing of 2010 all came out of big houses.

They Have Questions, I Have Answers

For the month of February, I'll be answering questions on the ITW Debut Authors Mentor Forum. If you have questions about publicity, promotion and marketing that you've just been dying to ask, sign up and post on the forum. You'll have an answer within a day!

Writer's Block Wednesday: Sell out?

Despite all the advances with e-book readers, online media, and creative marketing, the world of publishing continues to struggle. There hasn't been a jump in book sales, overhead for hardcovers is extremely high, and after everyone takes their cut, there's very little profit left over.

Lately, I've been musing over different ways for publishers to increase their profitability. Not just by selling more books, but actually increasing their profit margins. For ideas, I looked at newspapers and movies, to see what they're doing right.

Product Placement: In movies, whenever you see the actor drinking a can of Diet Coke or washing dishes with Palmolive, it's not a coincidence. Companies pay to have their products shown in films. So what about books? Bestsellers like James Patterson and Nora Roberts have an enormous following of readers, how much would a company pay to have Alex Cross talking on a Nokia or driving a Ford? Authors name products all the time, but putting a price on those product names could mean an increase in profit.

Advertising: When you purchase a Mass Market paperback, there is often advertising for the author's next book or other books by that publisher. What about selling that space and using it to house ads for other companies? Of course, to maintain integrity, the ads would have to be appropriate:

• A Nike coupon in the back of Jamie Freveletti's RUNNING FROM THE DEVIL
• A Bloomingdale's ad in the back of Sherrill Bodine's A BLACK TIE AFFAIR
• An ad for the Kindle, Sony Reader or Nook "You could have read this on a ___"

If the advertising fit, not only would the publishers earn some money off that space, it could increase sales for the author. Would people purchase an $8 book if they knew they would receive $15 off a Kindle? This could also apply to e-books, in the same way Hulu or online newspapers use ad space. Would readers care if, when they load their e-book for the first time, they see an advertisement?

These are just a couple ideas I came up with and I welcome additional suggestions. Ultimately, fiction is art, and selling art is far different than selling a commercial product. But if publishers are willing to adapt and think of creative ways to make their art profitable, they'll stay in business longer and authors can earn a better living.

Writer's Block Wednesday: Self-Publishing Today

It seems that lately more people are turning to self publishing. Instead of going through conventional channels, they are printing their work with Lulu or other print on demands, uploading Kindle editions, and marketing the books on their websites. Does this mean that the publishing industry is changing? Absolutely. Does it mean self-publishing is a better option over traditional publishing? No way.

I wrote about this subject a couple years ago, so I won't repeat myself, but a lot has changed since then. E-books no longer carry the same stigma and, in some cases, are actually more profitable than print books. Most of our society has moved from print to digital and books are slowly following. When writers are rejected by agents and big houses, self-publishing seems like a viable option. After all, you get to control your product, the way its marketed, and if you need to, you can change it.

I understand why more and more authors are going down this road, but despite all the changes, the downside of self-publishing is still far greater than the upside:

The Cons:

• No Distribution. Chain stores won't carry the book and the indies that take it on consignment will take a large chunk of the profits. In order to hit it big, your book needs to be available everywhere.


• No Financial Help. Even though publishing houses don't have huge marketing budgets, they will still give you something. Whether it's free copies of the book to send to critics, promotional bookmarks and business cards, or even providing you with a webpage, the publishing houses offer you something. When you're self published, all those review copies, promotional materials, and shipping costs come out of your pocket, and even though it doesn't seem like much, after a while it begins to add up.


• No Resources. Publishing houses have a lot of pull. If you want to be on a panel at a conference, have a book signing at a local bookstore, or land a guest spot on a radio show, your publishing house has the backing to make those things happen. The publicists and marketing team have contacts and long standing relationships that you don't have. If you self-publish, all the market research will have to be done yourself unless you hire an independent publicist, which again, takes money.


• Lack of Media Coverage. Even with all the changes in e-publishing, book critics still won't review self-published books. This is due to reasons I explained in my previous post. Media coverage is necessary to marketing a book, and without it, your book cannot succeed.

My advice to writers is get published through traditional channels. If you get 400 rejections, it has nothing to do with the quality of your manuscript. It could be the current market, sales trends, or for whatever reason, it simply didn't strike a chord with anyone you queried. Fight the temptation to self publish and simply put the book aside and start a new one. Once the new book is completed, return to the query-go-round. Eventually someone will bite.

Writer's Block Wednesday: The Blurb Revealed

What's one thing writers hate and editors will always require? Asking for blurbs. Those little snippets on the back of books from New York Times bestselling authors and prominent book critics. They rave about the characters, claim the book kept them up all night, and praise the exceptional prose. A great blurb can give a lesser known book a boost and being paired with a NYT bestselling author in Amazon searches always helps. But are blurbs really accurate recommendations?

Well known authors can receive as many as ten manuscripts a day from authors requesting blurbs. Many of them, in the interest of helping fellow writers, will try and read as many as they can, but obviously, can't get to them all. Others will blurb based on the back cover and first 50 pages. Some will give an okay book an exceptional blurb by finding one or two things the author did really well.

The blurbs are not mean to deceive readers, but to help writers. However, if you pick up a book because your favorite author blurbbed it and the book was bad, does it make you feel different about your favorite author?

After years of reviewing and spending a lot of time with authors, I've learned that there are four types of blurbers:

1. The Blurb Whore - This is the big name author whose stamp of approval seems to be on every single new release, whether it be a crime fiction novel or a low-carb cookbook.
2. The Fair blurber - This author will blurb a fair amount of books, but only ones they honestly enjoyed.
3. The Newbie - This is the recently published author who is so flattered when approached by authors for blurbs, they feel obligated to provide one, even if they didn't enjoy the book.
4. The Coveted Blurb - This is a blurb from an author who never blurbs anything, and if s/he said something wonderful about your book, it must be amazing.

As a reader, you learn to identify the difference, and the blurb whores will soon lose credibility. A book with a coveted blurb may rise to the top of your list and a blurb from a newbie author may have no affect at all. As an author, it's important to identify a big name author who will enjoy your book and who doesn't dole out blurbs by the dozens. You can go after the coveted blurb, it may pay off, but it's risky and time consuming.

Lastly, there's the issue of conflict of interest. Can an editors ask one of their big name authors to blurb a book by one of their lesser-knowns? Can an agent? Would people outside of the industry notice?

I think now, with Amazon reviews and book bloggers, blurbs aren't playing as much of a part in book buying. Most people will consider reviews and friend recommendations rather than solely relying on a blurb to tell them whether a book is good or not. But looking at all the implications of a blurb and all the outside factors, it's impossible to say without a doubt that the quotes on the back of the book are accurate recommendations.

Belated Writer's Block

Deadlines, house guests, and many other distractions have caused me to fall behind in my blogging. But don't worry, my fellow bloggers have plenty of writing advice for you:

Blair Hurley suggest reasons your story isn't getting published
JT Ellison talks about her idea box over at Murderati
Jason Pinter suggests conferences should be free for those under 18
Sharon Wheeler discusses the Big Brother effect of Amazon


Enjoy!

Writer's Block: The Online Campaign

Most advance reading copies I receive come with an insert or blurb about the book's marketing campaign. I'm not sure why this would be helpful to a reviewer, but I read them anyway. The latest trend I've been noticing is the "Online Marketing Campaign", and I'm not surprised.

Where marketing teams and publicists used to hit print publications, TV, and radio, they're now hitting blogs, online papers, newsletters, and using e-mail blasts to promote a book. They're focused on website hits, e-mail lists, and uploading book trailers to YouTube. Is this more effective than other promotions? Hard to say. One thing's for sure, it's a hell of a lot cheaper.

Web-based promotion costs very little. There's no toner, no paper, no postage or shipping costs. Web advertising is far cheaper than print, but most publishers won't pay for advertising at all. They'll focus on contacting e-zine editors and bloggers to interview authors or write feature articles instead. Why buy space on the web when you can get it for free?

There are many pros to web campaigns other than cost. You don't have to work on web-based campaigns during normal business hours. The web never closes. Once something is up on the web, it's there forever, unlike newspapers and magazines that get recycled or TV interviews that only last a few minutes. The web publicity sticks around until someone deletes it, which means it usually stays there forever.

The last major appeal to the web campaign, is the ability to track traffic. Using StatCounter or Google Analytics, you can see if a blog post or online article brought people to your website or to IndieBound and Amazon. It's a lot harder to see the effects of a magazine article or radio interview.

As print newspapers die out, so will the print marketing campaigns. Marketing and publicity follow the trend, and so far, the trend is online.

Two good examples of this type of campaign are J.A. Konrath aka Jack Kilborn and Jamie Freveletti. Instead of beginning with a traditional book tour to promote his latest book, Konrath did a blog tour, appearing on a different blog everyday in March. He is also giving away a free e-novella, hoping that if he gives away a free taste, people will go out and buy more. Jamie Freveletti's debut novel is about an ultra-marathon runner, so she's been appearing on various running blogs. Her book trailer is also being hosted on various websites, many of which are running related rather than literary.

As a reader, notice where you're learning about book releases or new authors. If you're reading this blog, chances are you get most of your info from the web. As a published author, think about the best, most efficient, and cost effective way to reach the widest possible audience. Chances are, it will be with an online marketing campaign.

Writer's Block: E-books

Recently, the Pulitzer Prize board expanded their guidelines to include online newspapers. One of the most prestigious journalism awards can now be given to a completely electronic newspaper.

When I started freelancing, online publications were easier to break into. They have lower overhead and no space limitations, but they weren't as prestigious. It was more impressive to be in print. The Pulitzer board has taken a step to change that.

So much in publishing has to do with money. Advances, marketing campaigns, sales, all come down to money. And these days, there's not much of it to go around. But what type of book costs nothing to publish? An e-book.

For years, everyone has been skeptical of the e-book, myself included. I enjoy holding the book I'm reading, I enjoy being able to stick a mass market paperback in my pocket for a long train ride, I like seeing the cover art and turning the pages. But I feel the same way about newspapers, and my kind are a dying breed.

What if the Pulitzer Prize board expanded its guidelines even further? What if they included books which were only published electronically? What if one of those books won the award? Would people go out and purchase a Kindle or Sony reader so they could read the latest Pulitzer Prize winning novel? Would e-books gain new recognition and a new audience, making paper books obsolete?

If an e-book wins a Pulitzer, I am confident that it will be the bestselling e-book on the market to date. It may even sell better than some of the bestselling print books. But paper books becoming obsolete? I think that could never happen. I believe that actual books will always have a place in this industry. But I used to say the same thing about newspapers. Now I'm not so sure.

What I do know is that e-books will gain recognition and popularity. More e-books will be published because of the low cost and, for the same reason, more people will be reading them. Why buy a $25 hardcover when you can purchase the e-book for $5? Also, as our society continues to become more environmentally aware, we'll prefer e-books because they use minimal natural resources.

Recognition is the first step to shifting the market. Once e-books are recognized for quality writing and publishing, people will begin purchasing them. Prestigious award committees, such as the Pulitzer, have the influence to make that shift. Will paper book sales plummet because of e-books? Probably not. But I do think electronic publishing will quickly improve and become more widespread, and more people will be downloading their reading material.