Writers and Editors

May 14, 2012 10:58 AM EDT

Here's a piece about why the author may not be the best person to prepare an index, even though he is required to provide it: Author as Indexer: the Good, the Bad and the Possible by Madge Walls, who writes "Why would an author opt to do the job himself? Money, probably. But why would an author take the time and trouble to write a great book and then leave the all-important index to an amateur just to avoid one last expense?" She makes a good argument for hiring a pro.

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Apr 15, 2012 10:01 PM EDT

Here's another thoughtful piece:• Ebooks and Antitrust (Ryan Chittum, Columbia Journalism Review 4-11-12). Chittum writes: "While this may look like price-fixing, and the DOJ has some damning-looking meetings and timelines (that Penguin’s CEO says contain 'material misstatements and omissions'), it’s ultimately about companies being forced to do what the government wouldn’t do: Take on a monopolistic competitor that abused its market power to dictate how they do business."and "The Justice Department sues for antitrust violations. But whom does it sue? The companies fighting the monopoly, naturally."

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Apr 17, 2012 7:51 AM EDT

Daring to Cut Off Amazon (David Streitfeld, NY Times, 4-15-12). "Plenty of people are upset at Amazon these days, but it took a small publishing company whose best-known volume is a toilet-training tome to give the mighty Internet store the boot. The Educational Development Corporation, saying it was fed up with Amazon’s scorched-earth tactics, announced at the end of February that it would remove all its titles from the retailer’s virtual shelves.... 'Amazon is squeezing everyone out of business,' said Randall White, EDC’s chief executive. 'I don’t like that. They’re a predator. We’re better off without them.'...Mr. White’s bold move to take his 1,800 children’s books away from the greatest retailing success of the Internet era is more evidence of the extraordinary tumult within the book world over one simple question: who gets to decide how much a book costs?" ***********************************************************************Amazon’s $1 million secret (Alexander Zaitchik, Salon.com, 4-8-12). "Yes, much of the literary world is in full-throated revolt against Amazon’s dominance — bookstores fear Amazon will push them out of business, authors worry about deep discounting, and the Department of Justice is considering the major publishers’ challenge over the price of e-books....By quietly supporting small presses and literary nonprofits, is Amazon backing book culture or buying off critics?"..."The pillars of Amazon hatred — recently recapped by the Authors Guild’s Scott Turow on Salon — are arranged like this. Critics allege that the Seattle-based company, led by Jeff Bezos, its ex-Wall Street CEO, engages in predatory pricing. They claim that Amazon bullies small publishers into signing price and promotional contracts that threaten their already slim margins, and doesn’t hesitate to unplug the “Buy” buttons of those who resist. While the company claims a foundational book-loving ethos, some suggest it wages total war against other institutions that sell books and embody book culture." On the same theme: Two US publishers turn backs on Amazon.com (The Bookseller, 4-11-12). "At least two of the big six publishers in the US are refusing to renew contracts with Amazon.com, with the giant internet retailer said to be downplaying the promotion of their titles as a result of the dispute."

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Apr 17, 2012 8:01 AM EDT

Complaints from Amazon employees: Inside Amazon's Warehouse (Spencer Soper, The Morning Call, 9-18-11). Amazon staff works in sweatshop conditions. Lehigh Valley workers tell of brutal heat, dizzying pace at online retailer. This story is followed up by Almost 13,000 boycott Amazon.com (Spencer Soper, The Morning Call, 12-22-11).

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Apr 19, 2012 9:03 AM EDT

Why Amazon may have killed the golden goose (Erik Sherman, CBS MoneyWatch, 4-18-12). "...Amazon is now in a difficult situation. Publishers have to cooperate if the retailer is going to succeed in its long-term strategy to gain more influence as a media player.However, the Big Six don't want to hand over that kind of power -- and they don't have to. For example, they could set relatively low discount levels on e-books, forcing Amazon to lose even more money in discounting than it already is (and Amazon is writing off a pretty penny on the Kindles it sells). Even with that level of resources, a company with investors that want a return can't keep losing money forever."

- PM

Apr 19, 2012 1:37 PM EDT

Joe Brockmeier writes, in The DoJ's e-Book Attack Solves Nothing (ReadWriteWeb, 4-17-12): "The Department of Justice's (DoJ's) lawsuit against Apple and the major publishers over pricing may be a big win for Amazon, but is it really much of a win for Kindle owners? Ultimately, the suit may help Amazon shave a few bucks off of e-book prices, but it's doing nothing to address real problems consumers face with e-books." Read his comments on the problems of DRM ("digital rights management," increasingly re-named "digital restrictions management,"--translation: Lending books is now either impossible or very difficult); of eternal copyright (very little new material is coming into public domain); and Amazon's relationship with publishers (and not just the Big Six). "Time will tell whether the DoJ can prove that Apple, et al., actually colluded rather than arrived at the agency model independently. Meanwhile, it doesn't look like the government is addressing any real problems in the e-book market. Found this article through another: Publishing still has problems DoJ suit will not fix. You may also want to read What Amazon's ebook strategy means (Charlie Stross, Charlie's Diary, 4-14-12): "By foolishly insisting on DRM, and then selling to Amazon on a wholesale basis, the publishers handed Amazon a monopoly on their customers—and thereby empowered a predatory monopsony."

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Apr 23, 2012 8:12 AM EDT

Sunday Dialogue: Books in a Digital Age (NY Times, Sunday Review, 4-21-12). A lively and fascinating exchange of letters to the editors, responding on both sides of the argument, from which I quote briefly -- do read the whole discussion: MICHAEL FINE (Fine Creative Media): The book industry may be (correctly or incorrectly) chastised by a Justice Department that perceives wrongdoing under the law. But the primary issue remains: How will each publisher independently confront the existential threat posed by a single bookseller with such unprecedented power? How will each publisher protect the best interests of readers everywhere? ... Amazon’s ability to dictate prices — essentially sanctioned by the antitrust case — may save readers a buck or two in the short term. But it will deprive them of a world of literature in a decidedly dystopian future."RICHARD GRAYSON: "Literature has always survived, with or without the profit motive. The barriers to entry have fallen. When I self-publish one of my e-books on Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing program for 99 cents each and can have someone buy it and read it the next day, that is all the profit I need."RICHARD ALTSCHULER, president of a small publishing company: "If the largest publishers had to rely mainly on revenue from e-books at prices determined by the free market, they would be unable to support their existing operations. The issue is not, therefore, “cultural” at all, as Mr. Fine argues, but purely economic — an attempt by the “dinosaurs” of publishing to survive through price-fixing in a radically new publishing environment." Other sentiments: DON SHARPES: "Publishers, welcome to your new competition — authors who don’t need you anymore and customers escaping your inflated prices."Librarian ETHAN ANNIS: "In the past publishers acted as gatekeepers, sometimes rejecting great works. For example, the Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist John Kennedy Toole did not have a single novel published in his lifetime. Surely other great authors are unknown because they were never published. In contrast, any author can publish an e-book on Amazon. This has already led to a greater diversity of books."STEVE LANG: "The main thing that distinguishes the e-book market from other digital markets is that the dominant supplier of readers, Amazon, is using a proprietary format for the content....eventually, an open e-book standard will emerge, and then consumers will be able to buy an e-book from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple or directly from the publisher, and read it on a Nook, an iPad or a Kindle."MICHAEL FINE: "Publishers don’t just print books, they develop them....The “radically new publishing environment” Mr. Altschuler cites is largely illusory. For the most part, the current e-book bonanza amounts to a one-time conversion of great titles from publishers’ backlists."As I said, do read the whole discussion, highlighting key issues in these eBook wars and mentioning some that haven't been covered much. One thing these discussions have made authors aware of is that, as an important part of the process that makes good books available to readers, they are for the most part probably not getting their fair share of income.(Pardon the long paragraph. This Authors Guild sitebuilder doesn't allow paragraph breaks in comments!)

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Apr 23, 2012 10:07 AM EDT

Antitrust Primer for the Publishing Price Fixing Lawsuit (Jane Little, Dear Author, 4-22-12). An excellent primer!

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Apr 23, 2012 10:13 AM EDT

Mike Shatzkin comments on Jane Little's explanation of the DoJ monopoly suit

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Apr 24, 2012 10:30 AM EDT

Book Publishing’s Real Nemesis (David Carr, NY Times, 4-15-12). "The Justice Department finally took aim at the monopolistic monolith that threatened to dominate the book industry. So imagine the shock when the bullet aimed at threats to competition went whizzing by Amazon — which not long ago had a 90 percent stranglehold on e-books — and instead, struck five of the six biggest publishers and Apple, a minor player in the realm of books." An article full of insights and interesting comments from all angles. Do read this one (if you have not surpassed your limit of 10 free articles a month--if you are that type of person).

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Apr 24, 2012 10:38 AM EDT

Washington vs. Books (Holman W. Jenkins, Jr., Wall Street Journal, 4-13-12). "What about piracy, low barriers to entry and the fact that literature isn't chopped liver? Trustbusters lunge after "per se" claims because the alternative is the "rule of reason," in which they'd have to understand the market in question well enough to explain how a business's alleged misconduct was unreasonable___________The book industry is defending the very survivability of a book industry whose products are anything but uniform." __________________________________"Justice calls it collusion. In reality, publishers have nothing to collude about, except maybe Clive Cussler's next advance. Books don't compete with each other. Nobody walks into a store and says, 'Toni Morrison looks expensive today. Give me some Stephen Hawking.'"_________________________________________________________Interesting analysis, which may be behind a paywall for many readers.

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Apr 24, 2012 10:46 AM EDT

Things learned and thoughts provoked by London Book Fair 2012 (Mike Shatzkin's follow-up to earlier story, in which he issues a call to action: "...two companies, Macmillan and Penguin, who are carrying the fight for the whole industry. And that means more reason for the rest of us to try to help.I am working on my letter to DoJ now, and I’ll publish it in a future post. I hope all my readers who understand what’s at stake here will also write to Justice. __________________________________________________________Address your letters toJohn Read,Chief Litigation III Section,Antitrust Division,U.S. Department of Justice,450 5th Street, NW, Suite 4000,Washington, DC 20530

- Pat McNees

Apr 24, 2012 10:50 AM EDT

_______________________________________________________________E-book overkill . Justice Dept. Trustbusters should've left Apple and book publishers alone. (Michael Shermer, Los Angeles Times, 4-16-12). "Essentially, two titans — Apple and Amazon — clashed, and competition was working."

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Apr 24, 2012 10:52 AM EDT

______________________________________________________________________________________The Real Bad Guy in the E-Book Price Fixing Case (Barry C. Lynn, Slate, 4-12-12). "Amazon’s continued domination of the publishing industry will hurt the book market."

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Apr 30, 2012 10:42 AM EDT

Navigating a Tightrope With Amazon (David Carr, NY Times, The Media Equatio, 4-29-12). Byliner took Buzz Bissinger's 12,000-word eBook "After Fright Night Lights" off Amazon, when Amazon reduced the price from $2.99 to zero, to compete with the lowest price available, after Apple and Starbucks launched a promotional giveaway of the book. Byliner told the Times, “While we greatly value Amazon as a partner in this new category, we need to protect our authors’ interests. As such, we had to remove the title from Amazon until May 1. We’re disappointed that Amazon customers won’t have access to this wonderful story, but we’re pleased that readers still have other options to purchase and enjoy Buzz’s powerful sequel.”

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Apr 30, 2012 10:49 AM EDT

Amazon vs. Publishers: The Book Battle Continues (Brad Stone, Bloomberg Businessweek Technology, 4-26-12). The big publishers resisting allowing Amazon to provide on-demand printing of their slower selling titles, for fear of empowering Amazon, who would order fewer books.

- Pat McNees

May 19, 2012 9:33 AM EDT

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May 19, 2012 10:08 AM EDT

There’s no level playing field without agency pricing, and not in the way you think by Mike Shatzkin (The Idea Logical Company 5-17-12). Shatzkin is great at laying out the essence of a problem. In this case, in part: There were reasons the Big Six publishers never sold direct to customers, relying instead on retailers, especially bookstores, to service customers. And there were reasons the publishers had to set a price for a book. Now, especially with eBook sales, it is essential for them to build a customer base and sell direct to the book buying public. And Amazon is a big problem when it comes to pricing. But that's not the point of the DoJ case, which is about collusion on pricing. And so far Amazon stands to gain more than anyone--although they're the ones with the near-monopoly. But read Shatzkin's article.

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May 19, 2012 9:45 AM EDT

Amazon’s growth and its lengthening shadow (Mike Shatzkin, Shatzkin Files 4-30-12). Shatzkin raises "again the questions of whether the traditional legacy publishing model is worth saving and whether it can be saved." This is an interesting analysis of "legacy publishing" (with traditional publishers) vs. self-publishing, from the author's viewpoint, and hence down the road from the publishers' viewpoint. And here's one important point: "Amazon ultimately only cares about sales made through Amazon and, if they were candid, would admit that any sale not made through them or an affiliate is a target for future growth. Publishers want as diverse a distribution network as possible; it maximizes sales and exposure for the books they’re charged with and, not at all incidentally, gives them a reason to exist."

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May 19, 2012 10:19 AM EDT

Amazon vs. Publishers: The Book Battle Continues (Brad Stone, Bloomberg Businessweek 4-26-12). An excellent overview of what's going on: Amazon, in its relentless push to increase efficiency, wants publishers to let them "print on demand" those books with limited audiences. The big publishers resist this, knowing it will give Amazon even more power than it has now. Many small publishers welcome it. As always, the discussion after the article is interesting for the variety of views (and misconceptions) revealed.

- Pat McNees

May 22, 2012 8:17 AM EDT

Response to DoJ ‘Bizarre Misunderstanding’ of E-Book Business from AAR (Simon Lipskar, president of Writers House, a New York-based literary agency, on Digital Book World 5-9-12). Essentially, in an open letter to the Department of Justice, Lipskar says the DoJ lawsuit is ill-conceived and details at some length the following main points:"There are three significant areas in which the settlement is flawed, the first creating the greatest confusion: simply put, the settlement seeks to provide a remedy for alleged behavior that has caused no discernible damage. Beyond that, the settlement has ambiguous and unenforceable provisions, which make the terms agreed to untenable on the basis of actual business practice. And equally importantly, the government has failed in its obligations to provide 'a description and evaluation of alternatives to such proposal actually considered by the United States,' as demanded by the Tunney Act."He supports his argument with interest charts and figures about what has been happening with book prices. _____________________He also urges that everyone make their objections (or support) clear by sending a letter toJohn R. ReadChief, Litigation III Section,United States Department of Justice,450 5th St NW,Suite 4000,Washington DC 20530

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Jun 07, 2012 6:37 AM EDT

Letter from Scott Turow: Grim News. Novelist Scott Turow, president of the Authors Guild, presents a strong case against Amazon and for the publishers named in Dept of Justice trial: "The irony bites hard: our government may be on the verge of killing real competition in order to save the appearance of competition." He writes: "We have no way of knowing whether publishers colluded in adopting the agency model for e-book pricing. We do know that collusion wasn’t necessary: given the chance, any rational publisher would have leapt at Apple’s offer and clung to it like a life raft. Amazon was using e-book discounting to destroy bookselling, making it uneconomic for physical bookstores to keep their doors open."Just before Amazon introduced the Kindle, it convinced major publishers to break old practices and release books in digital form at the same time they released them as hardcovers. Then Amazon dropped its bombshell: as it announced the launch of the Kindle, publishers learned that Amazon would be selling countless frontlist e-books at a loss. This was a game-changer, and not in a good way. Amazon’s predatory pricing would shield it from e-book competitors that lacked Amazon’s deep pockets."Critically, it also undermined the hardcover market that brick-and-mortar stores depend on. It was as if Netflix announced that it would stream new movies the same weekend they opened in theaters. Publishers, though reportedly furious, largely acquiesced. Amazon, after all, already controlled some 75% of the online physical book market."

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Jun 07, 2012 6:46 AM EDT

Barry, Joe, & Scott Turow (A Newbie's Guide to Publishing). Barry Eisler and Joe Konrath criticize Scott Turow's post.

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Jul 20, 2012 8:51 AM EDT

Memo to DOJ: Drop the Apple E-Books Suit (Charles E. Schumer, WSJ, 7-17-12). "...the suit could wipe out the publishing industry as we know it, making it much harder for young authors to get published. The suit will restore Amazon to the dominant position atop the e-books market it occupied for years before competition arrived in the form of Apple. If that happens, consumers will be forced to accept whatever prices Amazon sets.

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Jul 30, 2012 10:02 AM EDT

Justice Department to Sue Apple and E-Book Publishers (Jill Rooney, Open Academic, 3-12-12). From the viewpoint of textbook consumers (students): "This is an extremely important issue for college students. With textbook costs often averaging more than $500 per semester for the average full-time college student, the price of an individual textbook is a significant factor in a student’s education budget, and in some cases influences their course choices. Now that the sale of digital textbooks is projected to reach 18.8% of the textbook market by 2014, students, an extremely cost-conscious group, will be an important consumer demographic."

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Oct 31, 2012 9:32 AM EDT

Trying to explain publishing, or understand it, often remains a great challenge (Mike Shatzkin, The Shatzkin Files, 10-31-12). After attending a New York Law School conference on books, Shatzkin compares the Supreme Court decision about Bobbs Merrill to the DOJ suit today. Macy's department store, owned by Straus, was selling at 89 cents a book Bobbs Merrill had set a price of $1 for. "Clearly, Macy's was the Amazon of the time," writes Shatzkin, seeing books as a mere commodity. An interesting look at what American publishers face: "ever-escalating demands for margin from their largest accounts."

- Pat McNees

Mar 26, 2012 9:22 AM EDT

It is so true that writing can be therapeutic, whether one is writing to share or not. I actually use writing in therapy because I can express myself better in writing than verbally.So can we get our insurance companies to pay for our writing classes?

- Linda

Mar 26, 2012 9:52 AM EDT

Excellent blog, Pat. So true.

- Sue Bastian

Mar 27, 2012 10:36 AM EDT

As someone who took a couple of your classes and has been an ongoing participant in another legacy story group you facilitate, I can attest to the therapeutic value of writing life stories for - and reading them - in these groups. It's a non-threatening, non-pressured environment in which to share our stories. Plus, the fact that another group is coming up on the calendar somehow gives me the permission I need to take the time to write.

- Sara Perry

Mar 28, 2012 4:34 PM EDT

This is a great perspective on personal narrative, and is surely the future. As big as MFA programs are, they are dwarfed by the numbers of aging boomers who yearn to tell their stories and make sense of their lives.

- Richard Gilbert

Mar 20, 2012 11:21 PM EDT

Pat, Could you add an RSS widget to your blog so that readers can have it fed into their iGoogle pages? I can't find one, or an email subscription widget either, and it's hard to remember to come back to a web page . . .

- Richard Gilbert

Mar 21, 2012 9:05 AM EDT

I'll see if I can figure out how to do so, Richard.So much to do, so little time!

- Pat McNees

Mar 23, 2012 4:32 AM EDT

Pat, it's not hard! You just have to find the little striped icon and enable it. If you can't, ask any kid or grad student who blogs and they can set it up in three seconds.(Pat responds: I did something. I'm not sure if it's a widget.)

- Richard Gilbert

Mar 10, 2012 6:30 AM EST

I just rediscovered your blog and am really glad. Thanks so much for featuring this video! It is delightful and wise.

- Richard Gilbert

Mar 11, 2012 4:21 PM EDT

I could lose hours listening to those TED talks but this one particularly seemed worth mentioning.-- Pat

- Pat McNees

Feb 27, 2012 3:24 PM EST

More on the same subject:The Fact-Checker Versus the Fabulist (Gideon Lewis-Kraus, 2-21-12) and Writer vs. Fact-Checker: This Time, It’s Personal (The 6th Floor blog, Eavesdropping on the Times Magazine 2-22-12)D'Agata teaches nonfiction writing at the University of Iowa Creative Writing Program.

- PM

Mar 10, 2012 6:35 AM EST

I have written about this issue on my own blog, and, guiltily, less tolerantly than you. As you note, About a Mountain "blends his reporting and storytelling," and there's a lot of reporting, giving the impression that it is factual, and it mostly is. But he does weird things that are unnecessary in my view, as if to make a point. But I don't get the point, unfortunately. Maybe because I was a reporter. I am not a stickler, since his admitted composite characters and events in the service of good storytelling don't bother me. Some things do.

- Richard Gilbert

Mar 12, 2012 9:38 AM EDT

An interesting follow-up piece: What Do Fact-Checkers and Anesthesiologists Have in Common? (David Zweig, The Atlantic, 3-1-12). Understanding why some people choose professions where accomplishments go unheralded. Here's a sample: "IN A CULTURE that favors sensation, the fact checker is an anomaly, perhaps even anathema. He is the brakes on editors and writers racing toward deadline intent on dazzling readers at the expense of edifying them. He is the schoolmarm tsk tsking. He is the public defender for the unrepresented, the downtrodden, the forgotten—the facts." An excellent description of this important position follows, and more broadly is linked with other "Invisibles," who get public notice generally only when things go wrong: anesthesiologists ("they share the same fastidiousness, inner pride of their work, and joy of behind-the-scenes power"), piano tuners (imagine good concerts without them, but do they take a bow?), and graphic designers ("great design often shouldn't call attention to itself").

- Pat McNees