Comments on: Publishers and Agents are Trying to Figure Out How to Skin Their Own Authors 05/2011/publishers-and-agents-are-trying-to-figure-out-how-to-skin-their-own-authors/ A Lawyer's Thoughts on Authors, Self-Publishing and Traditional Publishing Sun, 13 Jul 2014 22:24:25 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.9.1 By: Passive Guy 05/2011/publishers-and-agents-are-trying-to-figure-out-how-to-skin-their-own-authors/#comment-3685 Thu, 02 Jun 2011 21:29:36 +0000 ?p=3742#comment-3685 Grant – Passive Guy can’t speak for Dave, but PG thanks you for himself.

]]> By: Grant Flint 05/2011/publishers-and-agents-are-trying-to-figure-out-how-to-skin-their-own-authors/#comment-3684 Thu, 02 Jun 2011 20:31:00 +0000 ?p=3742#comment-3684 Thank you, Dave and Passive Guy. Great, timely advice. All sources converging. This is it. Perfect information for me, now!
Grant

]]> By: The Digital Wolf is Huffing and Puffing « Frankie's Soapbox 05/2011/publishers-and-agents-are-trying-to-figure-out-how-to-skin-their-own-authors/#comment-3621 Tue, 31 May 2011 06:33:28 +0000 ?p=3742#comment-3621 [...] discovered two more voices warning about the digital wolf at traditional publishing’s door.  Passive Guy and through him, Dave Farland. Both of these guys are measured and reasoned in their approach. They [...]

]]> By: Passive Guy 05/2011/publishers-and-agents-are-trying-to-figure-out-how-to-skin-their-own-authors/#comment-3609 Mon, 30 May 2011 15:12:37 +0000 ?p=3742#comment-3609 Elizabeth – I do remember reading that the largest tree planters in the world by far are the people who raise trees for harvesting. Ebooks have so many advantages that, regardless of whether someone believes trees raised for paper pulp should be saved or not, an increasing number of paper books will be replaced by ebooks.

Some people are forecasting that paper books will eventually become expensive art objects with beautiful leather bindings, premium paper, letterpress printing, etc. As Dave Farland points out, if the quantities of paper books ordered decline, per-book printing costs increase, pushing prices higher.

]]> By: Publishers Skinning Authors, Eisler & Konrath, and The Never-Ending Blog Tour | David Gaughran 05/2011/publishers-and-agents-are-trying-to-figure-out-how-to-skin-their-own-authors/#comment-3600 Mon, 30 May 2011 10:55:51 +0000 ?p=3742#comment-3600 [...] post from Saturday is especially good, but I recommend having a nose around the whole blog, I learn something every [...]

]]> By: Elizabeth Aston 05/2011/publishers-and-agents-are-trying-to-figure-out-how-to-skin-their-own-authors/#comment-3599 Mon, 30 May 2011 10:18:05 +0000 ?p=3742#comment-3599 Great post, but I’m not so sure about Save the Trees. Think Sweden, think fast-growing pines, think no-one wanting wood pulp for paper, think trees not planted, think less greenery in the world.

Anyhow, whatever the trees’ point of view, ebooks are here and here to stay and while they may expand the market, they’re also, inevitably, going to shrink the number of print books out there.

Parchment – Gutenberg – paper?

]]> By: Passive Guy 05/2011/publishers-and-agents-are-trying-to-figure-out-how-to-skin-their-own-authors/#comment-3596 Mon, 30 May 2011 01:48:40 +0000 ?p=3742#comment-3596 Brandon – When disruptive change picks up momentum, it happens more quickly than any of the established players imagine it will.

As Dave Farland points out, big publishers have books they ordered 5-6 months ago coming on ships from China right now. Their world has changed a lot since they ordered those books.

]]> By: Brandon Wood 05/2011/publishers-and-agents-are-trying-to-figure-out-how-to-skin-their-own-authors/#comment-3593 Sun, 29 May 2011 23:13:58 +0000 ?p=3742#comment-3593 E-books are absolutely the books of the future and anyone who doesn’t recognize that is clinging to hard to the past. Books are great and I love having a hard copy of my favorite books, but e-books are cheaper to produce, more environmentally friendly (hey, that matters to some people), take up less physical space, and all the other reasons David mentions. It’s just odd to hear about all these horrible contracts that benefit no one: the publisher loses in the long term because writers will (eventually) wise up to being treated so poorly and essentially being stolen from, and writers lose out on profiting from their work. Publishing companies IMO need to seriously assess the situation and realize that it can’t be business as usual. They need to focus on their specialty which is, well, publishing print versions of books, not managing a writer’s career.

As crazy as it is to watch from the outside, it must be even crazier on the inside! Informative post; thanks for sharing.

]]> By: Passive Guy 05/2011/publishers-and-agents-are-trying-to-figure-out-how-to-skin-their-own-authors/#comment-3582 Sun, 29 May 2011 19:50:38 +0000 ?p=3742#comment-3582 Lexi – Nobody likes pirates, but reasonable pricing helps minimize piracy.

Apple’s standard 99 cent charge for an iTunes song made a lot of people decide buying a legal copy was easier than pirating it.

]]> By: Passive Guy 05/2011/publishers-and-agents-are-trying-to-figure-out-how-to-skin-their-own-authors/#comment-3581 Sun, 29 May 2011 19:48:26 +0000 ?p=3742#comment-3581 Carly – I agree that Dave has nailed it correctly. I don’t believe anything in the history of the publishing business has prepared it for this change.

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