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The Big Idea: Sharon Shinn
3 hours ago
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Friday, October 18, 2013
Publishing Industry Facts That Will Make You Think
I've been MIA for longer than intended, but it's a good thing. I've been busy writing. The finish line for Lotus Petals is in sight!!!
This week I was asked to host a discussion about self publishing and small press publishing for my writers group. I've spent the week researching and putting together information and I wanted to share with my readers. :) This will be a multipart post (I went overboard on the research!!)
THE HEALTH OF THE PUBLISHING INDUSTRY:
Despite the go-go of our society and the multitude of entertainment options we have today, PEOPLE ARE STILL READING, but how they are reading is changing.
Sales of hardcovers rose 1.3% in the year, to $5.06 billion, and trade paperback sales increased slightly, up 0.4%, to $4.96 billion. . . . Total e-book sales rose 44.2% in 2012, to $3.04 billion and accounted for 20% of trade revenue and sales of downloadable audio rose 21.8% in 2012, to $240.7 million. (figures from Book stats)
The number of traditionally published print books rose 6% in 2011, to 347,178, according to preliminary figures released by Bowker. This was the first year they included self-published titles in the 'traditionally published' column , and they believe this was the driving factor to the increase.
Bowker goes on to say that the number of self-published books has tripled in growth, especially in ebooks. They tally more than 235,000 new print and ebooks in 2011. This can easily be contributed to new technology that makes self-publishing so easy. And the news of self-published authors 'making it big'. Even with the superstars of self published books being heralded as modern day folk heroes of the publishing industry, individual self published books usually don't do well.
According to the New York Times: “most self-published books sell fewer than 100 or 150 copies", many authors and self-publishing company executives say.
There are breakout successes, to be sure, and some writers can make money simply by selling their e-books at low prices. Some self-published books attract so much attention that a traditional publishing house eventually picks them up. But It's not an easy path to follow, you have to be an entrepreneur if you're planning to self publish.
Well not so fast. Publishing contracts don't guarantee success. As a matter of fact, MOST BOOKS don't do well regardless of who or how they are published.
Which means for every book that sells over a million copies there are thousands that are complete flops.
Yes, these aren't the most current statistics, but sales figures on individual books are guarded. The publishing houses don't talk about it. Published authors, who are ordinarily helpful and supportive of new writers, guard their numbers and don't talk shop. Agents are closed lipped about it.
Smashwords, a self-publishing website has been fairly open about individual book sales. “We make it clear to our authors.” That a huge majority of self-published books “don’t sell a lot of copies,” said Mark Coker, the founder and chief executive of Smashwords, a no-frills operation that concentrates on self-published e-books.
This graph represents Smashword books only.
E-book sales have increase dramatically. Looking from January 2011 to January 2012, the increase was 49.5% for adult books and 475.1% for children and YA books. One analyst from Simba Information estimated that 1 in every 5 adults is reading e-books on a digital device.
Book Sales (as of second quarter 2012)
30% Trade Paperback
27% Hardcover
22% E-book
12% Mass-market
7% Other bindings
2% Audio Book
Pricewaterhouse Cooper projects that by 2016, e-books will make up 50% of the U.S. book market, and that physical book sales will hold steady with only slight percentage increases from year to year.
27% Amazon
16% Barnes & Noble and B&N.com
6% Audio E-book websites
6% Other E-commerce
6% Independent Bookstores
5% Resale and Thrift
4% Walmart
3% Warehouse Clubs
2% Target
1% Books-a-million
1% Supermarket and Grocery
13% All Other Channels
E-book Sales (as of second quarter 2012)
62% Amazon
22% Barnes and Noble
10% Apple
2% Sony
1% Kobo
~3% Google and others
The publishing industry isn't blind to these statistics. A Digital Book World survey found that at the end of 2011, 82% of publishing executives surveyed were optimistic about the transition to digital formats and 54% projected the decline of sales for printed books.
So with the ease of self publishing and the demand for digital books rising, the next ten years will be an exciting ride in the publishing industry.
Tune in for part two where I muse on how an author can possible making money in this brave new world of publishing.
This week I was asked to host a discussion about self publishing and small press publishing for my writers group. I've spent the week researching and putting together information and I wanted to share with my readers. :) This will be a multipart post (I went overboard on the research!!)
THE HEALTH OF THE PUBLISHING INDUSTRY:
Despite the go-go of our society and the multitude of entertainment options we have today, PEOPLE ARE STILL READING, but how they are reading is changing.Sales of hardcovers rose 1.3% in the year, to $5.06 billion, and trade paperback sales increased slightly, up 0.4%, to $4.96 billion. . . . Total e-book sales rose 44.2% in 2012, to $3.04 billion and accounted for 20% of trade revenue and sales of downloadable audio rose 21.8% in 2012, to $240.7 million. (figures from Book stats)
The number of traditionally published print books rose 6% in 2011, to 347,178, according to preliminary figures released by Bowker. This was the first year they included self-published titles in the 'traditionally published' column , and they believe this was the driving factor to the increase.
Bowker goes on to say that the number of self-published books has tripled in growth, especially in ebooks. They tally more than 235,000 new print and ebooks in 2011. This can easily be contributed to new technology that makes self-publishing so easy. And the news of self-published authors 'making it big'. Even with the superstars of self published books being heralded as modern day folk heroes of the publishing industry, individual self published books usually don't do well.
According to the New York Times: “most self-published books sell fewer than 100 or 150 copies", many authors and self-publishing company executives say.
There are breakout successes, to be sure, and some writers can make money simply by selling their e-books at low prices. Some self-published books attract so much attention that a traditional publishing house eventually picks them up. But It's not an easy path to follow, you have to be an entrepreneur if you're planning to self publish.
"So I'm going to push hard to get a publishing contract," You say. "That way I'll be successful in selling my book!"
Well not so fast. Publishing contracts don't guarantee success. As a matter of fact, MOST BOOKS don't do well regardless of who or how they are published.
"Here's the reality of the book industry: in 2004, 950,000 titles out of the 1.2 million tracked by Nielsen Bookscan* sold fewer than 99 copies. Another 200,000 sold fewer than 1,000 copies. Only 25,000 sold more than 5,000 copies. The average book in America sells about 500 copies. Those blockbusters are a minute anomaly: only 10 books sold more than a million copies last year, and fewer than 500 sold more than 100,000.”(Publishers Weekly, July 17, 2006).
And Nonfiction fairs even worse. According to BookScan*, which tracks most bookstore, online, and other retail sales of books, only 299 million books were sold in 2008 in the U.S. in all adult nonfiction categories combined. The average U.S. book is now [2011] selling less than 250 copies per year and less than 3,000 copies over its lifetime.
*A note about bookscan. They only track books with ISBN numbers. A lot of Digital only self-published novels are forgoing the expense of ISBN, and there’s no data on their sales from the industry.
LET ME STRESS THAT:
500 COPIES PER YEAR!
500 COPIES PER YEAR!
Yes, these aren't the most current statistics, but sales figures on individual books are guarded. The publishing houses don't talk about it. Published authors, who are ordinarily helpful and supportive of new writers, guard their numbers and don't talk shop. Agents are closed lipped about it.
Smashwords, a self-publishing website has been fairly open about individual book sales. “We make it clear to our authors.” That a huge majority of self-published books “don’t sell a lot of copies,” said Mark Coker, the founder and chief executive of Smashwords, a no-frills operation that concentrates on self-published e-books.
This graph represents Smashword books only.
T HE DIGITAL DIVED: Will Digital books save the publishing industry?
Book Sales (as of second quarter 2012)
30% Trade Paperback
27% Hardcover
22% E-book
12% Mass-market
7% Other bindings
2% Audio Book
Pricewaterhouse Cooper projects that by 2016, e-books will make up 50% of the U.S. book market, and that physical book sales will hold steady with only slight percentage increases from year to year.
27% Amazon
16% Barnes & Noble and B&N.com
6% Audio E-book websites
6% Other E-commerce
6% Independent Bookstores
5% Resale and Thrift
4% Walmart
3% Warehouse Clubs
2% Target
1% Books-a-million
1% Supermarket and Grocery
13% All Other Channels
E-book Sales (as of second quarter 2012)
62% Amazon
22% Barnes and Noble
10% Apple
2% Sony
1% Kobo
~3% Google and others
The publishing industry isn't blind to these statistics. A Digital Book World survey found that at the end of 2011, 82% of publishing executives surveyed were optimistic about the transition to digital formats and 54% projected the decline of sales for printed books.
So with the ease of self publishing and the demand for digital books rising, the next ten years will be an exciting ride in the publishing industry.
Tune in for part two where I muse on how an author can possible making money in this brave new world of publishing.
Sunday, October 6, 2013
Why Do Feminists Rant About Rape Culture?
I was shocked and amazed to see the following video come across my Google+ feed:
WOW!!
But back to the original "teach boys not to rape" argument that started the video. The reason why "feminist" still say things like this is because jack asses still say things like it's not rape if you're just having bad sex and you want it to stop and it doesn't.
Um no JACKASS that would be rape. I don't care if you're about to climax, if for whatever reason your partner isn't comfortable or doesn't want to continue sex needs to stop or you've CROSSED THE LINE from bad sex to RAPE.
To say if you drink too much you are ultimately responsible if someone has sex with you while you're passed out and equating it to a drunk driver is why we still say men need to be taught not to rape. Having sex with a woman (or man) who's drunk and passed out is not like drunk driving, it's more like saying if someone comes across a drunk person and kills them it's the drunk person's fault because, you know, they were drunk.
Now drunk sex is a whole different topic. If both parties are drink beyond the point that either can make rational choices, the waters get a bit muddy. Let's face it plenty of bad choices have been made while intoxicated. Men, as well as women, have sex while intoxicated when they might not have done so sober. Regretting the choice in the morning, because your inhibitions were lower, doesn't mean it was rape. (hence the use of a buddy system while drinking!!)
But the one clear thing is that if one party is unconscious... if one party isn't drunk, then it's rape. If a person is incapable, for what ever reason, to consent to sex and you go ahead. IT IS RAPE!
Yes this is a long rant, but this video (and the first one he made) make me crazy. I'm not afraid of sex or sexuality. I don't want my daughter to be either. I hate that people still point to 'if she wasn't wearing that sexy dress then maybe...' or "If she didn't drink so much.."
WOW!!
So I even went back to watch the his rebuttal video to be sure I wasn't just having a knee jerk reaction...
TL;dr -- this guy is an asshat who's victim blaming and doesn't know the definition of rape.
To start off with, I agree "teach your son's not to rape" won't solve 100% rapes. There will always be people who are deviant, violent or mentally ill. There will always be situations where things went to far and one party couldn't take no for an answer. So I agree the solution to rape isn't we need to teach boys not to rape, but this video does show why we need to teach boys ABOUT rape, and what constitutes rape.
But they aren't the only ones that need to be taught about rape. So YES, I agree, there are things we need to teach girls to help mitigate their risk (have a buddy system, don't go off alone, don't accept drinks from strangers)...
But, so many of the things that came out of this man's mouth were so wrong. Notice I didn't say to keep safe from rape you need to dress conservatively or not dance suggestively. This is victim blaming no matter what that man in the video says.
It's like saying if you want to stay safe from mugging don't wear expensive clothing. While it's true if I dress like a homeless person I probably won't be targeted for a mugging, but it doesn't guarantee that it won't happen. Mugging is a crime and it shouldn't matter if I have on a ten thousand dollar watch or if I'm wearing a Walmart outfit. The mugger is at fault.
The Commentator argues in the rebuttal video that the Feminist out cry over what he says contributes to girls being unsafe. Or as he eloquently put it 'Feminist logic' Stay Safe = You Deserve To Be Raped.
He's missing the point of the anger. In a culture that is saturated with victim blaming, a man telling girls that the length of their skirt and drinking too much puts them at risk reinforces the perception that the victim is at fault.
Yes there are things we can all do to be safer, but if the point in that video is to teach girls to be safe, there are better things to teach young girls than don't dance suggestively!!!
Why aren't we talking about friends looking out for each other? Why aren't we talking about how to be young and be able to enjoy drinking and dancing AND STILL stay safe by have a Designated Sober friend? Why aren't we recommending girls have friends ID check potential dates (hookups)? These are ways we can teach girls to be safe that doesn't promote victim blaming.
Dancing provocatively and turning on a guy, is no excuse for rape. The bump and grind on a dance floor doesn't constitute consent. And I'm so sorry you're turned on, find someone else who's willing or go home and take care of it yourself!!!
TL;dr -- this guy is an asshat who's victim blaming and doesn't know the definition of rape.
To start off with, I agree "teach your son's not to rape" won't solve 100% rapes. There will always be people who are deviant, violent or mentally ill. There will always be situations where things went to far and one party couldn't take no for an answer. So I agree the solution to rape isn't we need to teach boys not to rape, but this video does show why we need to teach boys ABOUT rape, and what constitutes rape.
But they aren't the only ones that need to be taught about rape. So YES, I agree, there are things we need to teach girls to help mitigate their risk (have a buddy system, don't go off alone, don't accept drinks from strangers)...
But, so many of the things that came out of this man's mouth were so wrong. Notice I didn't say to keep safe from rape you need to dress conservatively or not dance suggestively. This is victim blaming no matter what that man in the video says.
It's like saying if you want to stay safe from mugging don't wear expensive clothing. While it's true if I dress like a homeless person I probably won't be targeted for a mugging, but it doesn't guarantee that it won't happen. Mugging is a crime and it shouldn't matter if I have on a ten thousand dollar watch or if I'm wearing a Walmart outfit. The mugger is at fault.
The Commentator argues in the rebuttal video that the Feminist out cry over what he says contributes to girls being unsafe. Or as he eloquently put it 'Feminist logic' Stay Safe = You Deserve To Be Raped.
He's missing the point of the anger. In a culture that is saturated with victim blaming, a man telling girls that the length of their skirt and drinking too much puts them at risk reinforces the perception that the victim is at fault.
Yes there are things we can all do to be safer, but if the point in that video is to teach girls to be safe, there are better things to teach young girls than don't dance suggestively!!!
Why aren't we talking about friends looking out for each other? Why aren't we talking about how to be young and be able to enjoy drinking and dancing AND STILL stay safe by have a Designated Sober friend? Why aren't we recommending girls have friends ID check potential dates (hookups)? These are ways we can teach girls to be safe that doesn't promote victim blaming.
Dancing provocatively and turning on a guy, is no excuse for rape. The bump and grind on a dance floor doesn't constitute consent. And I'm so sorry you're turned on, find someone else who's willing or go home and take care of it yourself!!!
But back to the original "teach boys not to rape" argument that started the video. The reason why "feminist" still say things like this is because jack asses still say things like it's not rape if you're just having bad sex and you want it to stop and it doesn't.
Um no JACKASS that would be rape. I don't care if you're about to climax, if for whatever reason your partner isn't comfortable or doesn't want to continue sex needs to stop or you've CROSSED THE LINE from bad sex to RAPE.
To say if you drink too much you are ultimately responsible if someone has sex with you while you're passed out and equating it to a drunk driver is why we still say men need to be taught not to rape. Having sex with a woman (or man) who's drunk and passed out is not like drunk driving, it's more like saying if someone comes across a drunk person and kills them it's the drunk person's fault because, you know, they were drunk.
Now drunk sex is a whole different topic. If both parties are drink beyond the point that either can make rational choices, the waters get a bit muddy. Let's face it plenty of bad choices have been made while intoxicated. Men, as well as women, have sex while intoxicated when they might not have done so sober. Regretting the choice in the morning, because your inhibitions were lower, doesn't mean it was rape. (hence the use of a buddy system while drinking!!)
But the one clear thing is that if one party is unconscious... if one party isn't drunk, then it's rape. If a person is incapable, for what ever reason, to consent to sex and you go ahead. IT IS RAPE!
Yes this is a long rant, but this video (and the first one he made) make me crazy. I'm not afraid of sex or sexuality. I don't want my daughter to be either. I hate that people still point to 'if she wasn't wearing that sexy dress then maybe...' or "If she didn't drink so much.."
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
What's Up Wednesday 10/02/13
What I'm Reading
The Theory of Attraction and The Seduction Hypothesis by Delphine Dryden. They were fun erotic romances with nontraditional characters. Mix in a little Big Bang Theory with BDSM and you get the picture. I love that the male love interest was a social awkward dominant...you have to read to understand. The second one was set a Con. I love me some nerds :)
Right now I'm reading Rebound Girl by Tamara Morgan. Again another story with nontraditional leads. The Female protagonist is independent to a fault (comes of arrogant and bitchy at times) and the Male love interest is a nice guy...a really nice guy (he teaches kindergarten!!!). I'm enjoying the book. Morgan has really great timing and a lot of humor. I already have the next book Derby Girl ready to read.
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ABSOLUTLY LOVE THE COVER!!!
What I'm Writing
Novel: I've been keeping up with my word count so that's great but I don't think I'm going to make my mid October deadline. I've decided to add a bunch to the story and change some of the charcters. While I'm NOT doing that now, just making notes, the ending isn't going to match up with the start of the novel, so I'm going to have to go back to the start add at least two chapters and fiddle with the time line a tad. So, while I might have an ending by the Middle of October....It won't be a finished first draft :(
Work. Work has be a huge time suck on me right now. I've been spending my days arguing with some insurance companies...enough to send me on a murderous spree. Luckily I have lots of liquor at home to keep me in check!!!
What Inspires Me Right Now
My son!!!
This was part of his testing for his first degree black belt. One of the skills he had to do was a flying side kick. He worked really hard to be ready for his test and passed!!! He is all kinds of awesome!
I've been swamped and don't have much else to say.
My son!!!
This was part of his testing for his first degree black belt. One of the skills he had to do was a flying side kick. He worked really hard to be ready for his test and passed!!! He is all kinds of awesome!
I've been swamped and don't have much else to say.
So that's what's been up with me this week. How has your week been?
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