September 15, 2015
by punjacked
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1.Frances Lincoln Children’s Books will next year publish a title “by” Kim Sears’ dog Maggie Mayhem
2. Pearson is to keep its stake in Penguin Random House until at least 2017
3. Pottermore is to be relaunched with a radical new design and approach
4. Obama honors Stephen King with National Medal
5. George RR Martin to star as zombie author
September 14, 2015
by Jaya
2 Comments
Kindle Unlimited has arrived in India! It would have been blasphemous for someone like me, who roots for eBooks, to not even try it. So, I signed up for a month. The results are not surprising, though I wish they were. But let’s look at what we have in store.
Some surprising popular authors
Apart from the worldwide favorite J. K. Rowling with her Harry Potter series, we also have Chetan Bhagat, Preeti Shenoy and Amish Tripathi. So, the recommendations that I got as soon as I signed up weren’t surprising.
Not quite comprehensive
Given that most of the Chetan Bhagat’s titles showed up right away, I thought they have really cracked it for India. Further digging doused my optimism. Bhagat’s (Rupa’s?) endowment to Kindle Unlimited has been generous, but only two of Preeti Shenoy’s and only the first book of the Shiva Trilogy by Amish Tripathi are available. No doubt, authors and publishers are thinking of it more as a marketing exercise, where limited content is made available for “free” so that readers will buy the rest after getting hooked. Given that it isn’t really “free” for readers, the interests of the two parties don’t align.
Does it even matter?
To be honest, given the discounting madness Indian e-commerce and retail industry is enthralled with right now, I would be surprised if people who really wanted to read these popular authors have not already grabbed their books for rather low prices. Popular books are also more likely to be available with friends from whom you can borrow. And second-hand bookstores, where available, would also be full of them. Paying a monthly fee to access these books won’t be too attractive a proposition.
What about beyond popular authors?
So, next I moved to what I was really interested in. Would Kindle Unlimited have books besides currently popular titles from Abhaya’s and my books-to-read list? I thought I hit a jackpot, when I found Midnight Cowboy by James Leo Herlihy there. But some of the others from my reading list, although available on Kindle, were not included in Kindle Unlimited. These included John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men and Graham Greene’s The Heart of the Matter. Most other well-known 20th century fiction authors also drew a blank. Abhaya gave a try to his list of books by authors like Richard Dawkins, John Keay and Vikram Chandra but those came up blank too.
So, what really is there?
Lots of self-published books looking to reach out to new readers by being a part of a program where marginal cost of a book is zero.
But unfortunately, without the well-known names to pull in the readers to the program in the first place, I doubt their aims will be met. It’s only if a reader finds the books she already knows about but may not own or may not want to spend money buying, that she would have the incentive to remain signed up in the program on an ongoing basis. That’s when she wold be more likely to browse around and discover lesser known books which might interest her.
If India surprisingly throws up a category for binge romance readers on Kindle, then Kindle Unlimited just might work, since a large number of self-published books are indeed romance and erotica. I am not holding my breath for that though.
There is Harry Potter, of course!
The basic problem remains
There is a basic conflict between the interests of authors/publishers (content creators) and those of the readers in case of unlimited eBook reading programs like Kindle Unlimited. Readers would like to pay a fixed fee. The fee should be low enough for the reader to consume content worth more than she has paid for. But with this fixed income per user, devising a system that would make content creators amenable to the idea while also keeping the venture profitable has proved tricky. Players like Scribd tried to keep content creators happy by paying them in proportion to not only the use of their content by readers, but also the price of the book.
But with romance readers binge-reading, the math went awry and made the model unsustainable. The result was Scribd having to cut down on romance titles, which won’t make the most voracious of their consumers happy.
Kindle Unlimited doesn’t have that problem of unviability as it fixes the overall pool from which it pays content creators. While the details of how the pool is calculated are not made public, one can assume that it is in proportion to how much Amazon in earning from the program. But from that fixed pool they pay only in proportion of usage, with no regard to the price of the book. That can’t keep content creators happy. The situation may even be a legal mess if the contract between authors and publishers doesn’t account for this uncertain income independent of the price of the book. Even if one of them is willing to give Kindle Unlimited a try, reworking the commercials might be too much work. That the big publishers have often expressed their dismissal of KINDLE UNLIMITED-like programs doesn’t bode well for its acceptance in the near future. The future always holds surprises, so theirs may not be the final word on it.
As far as I am concerned, I am not renewing my Kindle Unlimited subscription and would keep a wary eye on how things develop in future.
September 11, 2015
by InstaScribe
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September 10, 2015
by Jandré
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We looked at a couple of series in Part 1 of Writing the Series. Here we look at how you can write one.
Writing a series takes time and effort commitment. Robert Parker published the first Spenser book in 1973 and his last in 2011. He would, most probably, still be writing about Spenser if his death did not prevent him. Jonathan Kellerman published the first book in the Alex Delaware series in 1985 and later in 2015 the 30th installment will see the light.
Even writing books like the Harry Potter series and A Song of Fire and Ice (Game of Thrones) with “only” 7 installments still require a massive amount of time and effort.
If you look at the Lonesome Dove series, you will see that the first book should actually have been the third, chronologically speaking. This blogger’s guess is that Mr McMurtry did not initially plan to write a series. However, when the book won a Pulitzer in 1986, Mr McMurtry might have recognized the potential of this book. The InstaScribe argument is based on the fact that the books were published out of sequence. Volume Three, Volume Four, Volume One and finally Volume Two. Even the development of characters is not promising if you go in order. My guess is that if the books were published in a sequence that followed internal chronology, there would have been no Pulitzer.
What are some of the points your planning should cover?
The hook is what the protagonist is trying to achieve. Be it to save the world like Frodo, or solve a case like Magnum P.I or Spenser or Kinsey Millhone.
The Lord of the Rings is littered with themes, but the fight between good and evil is at the center of this master piece. The problem with such a big theme could be that it is just too large but Tolkien knew this and added sub-themes to make this work. (See the discussions about the Lust for Power and Altruism)
Spenser, the manliest P.I. ever, could also be reduced to the struggle between good and evil. However, it would be more accurate to focus on his case-solving ability.
If you are familiar with the last century, you might remember the television series, The A-Team. This, I would posit, is a great example of a series with a very weak thread. Episode after episode the members rescue someone from a predicament by
(Come to think of it, McGyver follows the same plan, except that he is the whole team and no one is chasing him.)
The weakness of the connecting thread is that the Murdock of episode one is essentially exactly the same in the series finale. BA never becomes anything but a genius mechanic with a bad attitude and a fear of flying.
The connecting thread is connected to the over arching theme, but it is not the same. This thread can be explained as the characters, their development, relationships, lives, from one book/episode to another.
Mickey Haller is an attorney created by Michael Connelly. His life does not follow anything resembling a straight line. Married (repeatedly), divorced (repeatedly), reconciled (generally not); success, failure, failed relationships, trusty sidekicks, and a love for Blues.It is clear that Connelly has an idea of what he wants to do with Haller, and where he wants to take him beforehand.
You can also see this kind of “prophetic vision” in the Lord of the Rings and in Jonathan Kellerman’s Alex Delaware series.
Make sure that you have a good idea of what will happen to a character during the course of the series. If the hero marries his heroine in Book 1, then basically it just leaves divorce or estrangement as tools to create internal tension.
You know the expression: The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
Each book of the LOTR series is a clear example of this. Make sure that each book is a whole story in itself.
How do you make sure that a book is a whole? Give it a real ending. Have you noticed that most television series end a series on a cliffhanger? Think of the ending of the third series of Elementary, a modernized version of Sherlock Holmes taking place in New York. You are left wondering whether Sherlock relapsed. Perhaps this is fine in Hollywood, but it has no place in a book.
End the damn thing! It will happen that some readers get a hold of Book 3 or Book 7 first. If the book ends, because the words stop, and not because a story has been told in its entirety, it is highly unlikely that they will go back to Book 1.
More coming up in Part 3.
September 9, 2015
by InstaScribe
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By InstaScribe
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September 8, 2015
by punjacked
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1. Swede Self-Publishes Book to Put Kids to Sleep, Becomes Bestseller
2. Amazon Launch Kindle Unlimited in India with Local Partners
3. Indie publisher Hurst is to release a book based on Osama Bin Laden’s audiotapes later this month.
4. Hutchinson to publish a book by Oscar-nominated actor Ethan Hawke.
5. Four Risk Factors Facing the Comics Industry in 2015
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September 7, 2015
by Jandré
3 Comments
All seven books in the Harry Potter series in order without their dust jackets. Each hardcover book used a different two-color scheme. The books are the first American editions published by Scholastic. Author’s collection. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
“A book series is a sequence of books having certain characteristics in common that are formally identified together as a group. Book series can be organized in different ways, such as written by the same author, or marketed as a group by their publisher,” at least that is what Wiki P says.
It is clear that this definition falls short. Dr Who, for example, has a multitude of authors, who all write about the same main character. Generally a series is built around a central group of characters and a central theme.
Allow me to use television and movies to illustrate my point. If you are old enough you will remember LA Law. The series is described as “The lives and work of the staff of a major Los Angeles law firm.” That sounds rather underwhelming, but considering that it won 47 awards, including 5 Golden Globes and received another 144 nominations, it is clear that the series was anything but underwhelming.
James Bond is another example. The Harry Potter series, J.R.R Tolkien’s LOTR and Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight also spring to mind. (Note: LOTR was supposed to be a single volume, but pricing caused it being published in three parts.)
A fiction series is a sequence of books that generally has a set of characters in common as well as some kind of overarching theme.
An exception to the rule would be The Culture by Iain M. Banks. Here the unifying theme is built around a society called The Culture. “A central theme of the series is the ethical struggles which face the Culture when interacting with other societies.” Characters never get an encore. Lots get murdered, shall we say educated by the Culture and the rest are left behind by the author.
If you look at Louis L’Amour’s books in general, you can see why development of the characters is important. In L’Amour’s “single” books the story line is nearly set in stone. Loner cowboy, great with a gun. Great fighter. Does not speak much. Pretty girl. Bad man. Good guy gets wounded and recuperates in the bushes while trapping rabbits. Final confrontation. Good guy wins and gets girl. Various Indians, cattle and rustlers also make an appearance.
This happens over and over, in book after book. But it is not a series, even though you can identify over arching and consistently repeating themes etc.
This shows us that a series is much more than a bunch of numbered books. A good example would be Spenser by Robert P. Parker. Spenser, a private investigator, solves many cases, but the overarching theme is this enigmatic man, his life, his history, his relationships and especially the code he lives by. There is continuity between the characters that feature in the series, their personal development, etc.
The InstaScribe team, in this series, will share with you some thoughts on what makes a series a great series, and what potential pitfalls to avoid. Before we start with that however, have a look at the lesser known series we have read and loved. These exclude the obvious hobbits, sorting hats and bloodsuckers.
This series consists of four books. The Third was written and published first, followed by. the fourth, first and second.
If you have never read a western this is a great place to start. Book Three Lonesome Dove was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 1986.
It follows the life and development of Woodrow Call, a Texas Ranger. From starry eyed youngster to knife, scythe, scissor and plow sharpener.
Violence, death, rape and whores play a great role in this series. Yet, McMurtry, author of Terms of Endearment , never makes you feel as if you are stuck in a Tarantino blood-fest. (By the way, the film won five Academy Awards and four Golden Globes- not your average western.)
Cannery Row was followed by Sweet Thursday. How do we share the comic genius of these two books, without spoiling the surprises? If you have only read Grapes of Wrath, you will struggle to believe that it is the same author, writing about the same era.
Steinbeck’s books, set during the Great Depression, show how the human spirit can overcome life’s most difficult circumstances and triumph. Contentment comes from who one is and not what one owns.
This thirty part series starts in 1800 and ends in 1815. It follows the vicissitudes of Lucky Jack Aubrey, a respected fighting captain, and Dr. Stephen Maturin, the small, ugly, highly intelligent user of opium and coca leaves, who also serves as ship surgeon.
The books are filled with obscure technical sailing and period language that O’Brian uses without confusing the reader. Often Maturin, who is a pathetic sailor, is used to explain nautical terms. Jack, and the other sailors, are often aghast at Maturin’s ignorance. In explaining to this lubber what a sloop or ship of line is, we the readers are also educated.
Have you read any obscure series that you think deserves mention?
September 4, 2015 by Jaya | 1 Comment
September 3, 2015
by Jandré
0 comments
If you thought the InstaScribe series on Audiobooks(Parts 1, 2, 3) had come to an end, well no, it hasn’t. No series is complete without a guide on how to promote your book. Every writer would love it if the book went viral. Unfortunately, videos of the Annoying Orange, Sneezing Baby Panda and biting siblings go viral, but books don’t. No book has ever gone viral, at least according to Google.
This means work hard and get marketing! Make a list of the InstaScribe manual of audiobook marketing suggestions.
ReviewsGet some people to review your book. One possibility would be to work with a group of other Indie authors. One or more from the group review your book and post the reviews on their websites. You link to these.
You can also try your luck with publications and websites that focus on audiobooks.
Have a look at Books For Ears: Audio Book Reviews, Eargasms Audiobook Reviews | Reading with happy ears!, and AudioFile Magazine
NetGalley is also an option, perhaps. This site enables book reviewers and professional readers to read or hear, in this case, your publication before it is released. That they are professionals count in your favor; unless they say bad things!
Here you will have to combine luck, wisdom, good timing and a secret ingredient.
Find a famous voice to read the first chapter. Go the Fuck to Sleep, excuse the language, is perhaps the most famous example. Samuel L Jackson’s f-word filled reading of this book has received millions of views on Youtube, Vimeo and wherever.
Sachin Tendulkar and Michael Jordan have all retired, and might just have a few minutes to spare for you!
As many as one billion people accessed Facebook on Monday the 24th of August, the time of my writing this story.
Facebook has a very good system that allows you to target specific people with your ads. Instead of focusing on people who indicate that they READ, Facebook allows you to aim your marketing gun with greater accuracy. Age, gender, specific interests, etc. all make sure that a potential reader sees your ad and not just any billions of people!
Remember that Goodreads and LinkedIn can also be used when it comes to social marketing. And do not forget about Twitter!
Giveaways and Bundles
An audiobook is a valuable product in its own right. Do not market an audiobook as a mere afterthought.
Instead of giving a free copy of the audio version away with every eBook bought, do it the other way round. Give free eBooks with every audiobook.
Team up with another writer or writers and give a copy of your audiobook as a gift when the other author sells a copy of their book.
That you should write about your own audiobooks and eBooks is so obvious we shopuldn’t even mention it. But do it! Also get others to write about your books. Remember that, according to the latest, most accurate and most scientific research, there are many indie authors out there who need publicity for their own books.
By offering to write about them, 99% will return the favor.
Offer free copies of your book to book clubs. Let them do the marketing for you!
Marketing is hard work, unless you know Samuel L Jackson. But it is a crucial step in your selling process. And the rewards are sweet. Many of you write to make money, but at InstaScribe we are convinced that you write for a much deeper reason.
Maslow called it self-actualization. To be truly self-actualized requires community, and the positive results from your marketing systems will contribute.
Share your promotional experiences with us!
September 2, 2015
by InstaScribe
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By InstaScribe
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