Tuesday Smackdown: What do Epubbed Authors Want
April: With the current kerfuffle over at RWA about the non inclusiveness of RWA’s current leadership, there’s been a lot of discussion about whether epubbed authors should be more fairly represented and considered when making decisions. Of course, there’s a ton of back and forth going around about President Pershing’s June RWR report. There’s Deidre Knights awe-inspiring and very succinct response (with President Pershing’s jaw-droppingly… ahem… interesting (?) comment) and finally Angela James’ response from the publishing perspective (excellent, well-thought out… moved Samhain publishing to the top of the heap in my books).
As you can tell, I side with a lot of epubs simply because I’ve seen so many of these authors and their work. I don’t care what you think of some of the epublishers out there but I know some authors for the better known publishers that work very hard. They produce good to excellent stuff and they don’t deserve to be treated as a red-headed step-child.
Yes, there are epubs out there who publish junk. Yes, a few epubs are unethical and some have disappeared overnight. But we should be working to help writers avoid those fly by nights and get contract negotiations in their favor.
Kendal: This epub thing is a hornets nest, so let me grab my stick and poke away. As a published author in epub format I may have a bit different of an outlook. I am currently published with Freya’s Bower and soon to be with Red Rose Publishing. The reason I have choosen the epub road is because until recently I have only written shorter pieces that did not have a print home. I think that there are good epublishers and there are bad ones, and it is okay for RWA to have a standard to meet. Vanity publishers should definitely not be included.
But who decides? I really am a little too new into this world to have a strong opinion if that folks running RWA have the right to pick and choose at random or if they have a set system that is actually fair. If as an author I can sell a piece and receive a certain level of royalty for it, than yes I believe wholeheartedly I should be a recognized author in the eyes of RWA. My story didn’t take any less skill to write, it just had a home in epublishing. Or at least that is my opinion on the subject.
I believe that I would stronger, as would others, benefit from some constructive help and guidance from RWA. I think you nailed that one on the head, April.
April: Excellent points Kendal. As an epubbed author, you do deserve recognition. And we could (as we are prone to do here on Tuesday Smackdown) jump into the fray but I wanted to move to something much more constructive, especially with all the talk of change going on in RWA.
So here’s what we’d like to devote this Tuesday Smackdown too… EPUBBED AUTHORS. (yeaaaahhh… whooohooo)
In a perfect world, what changes would epubbed authors like industry-wide to make the industry more professional and equitable toward writers?
I’ve already heard on the boards that contest inclusion of epubbed authors is a must. That restraints shouldn’t be made just because the only way they can get to print is through POD.
There’s also inclusion of epublishing workshops at RWA conference.
But what about minimum royalties? Standards for inclusion for epub authors in Pan or PRO? Contract musts and contract minefields?
What standards should be in place for epubs to be included on RWA’s list of pubs?
And at what point does an organization draw the line between a group like Lulu.com or some online vanity press vs a “legit” for profit romance epublisher?
Jump in and let us know what you’d like to see!!!!
As a former member of RWA, I’d like to see the organization sit up and take notice of how many members the have lost or will lose over this. Thanks to Amazon’s Kindle, the Sony eReader and other venues by which books are going electronic at an alarming rate, soon there won’t be authors who are exclusively print published. When we’re all e-pubbed will the RWA still be insisting our work is of lesser caliber and that we are only hobbyists?
I’d like to see an organization that recognizes the writing on the wall [pun intended
] – not far in the future ‘an e-pubbed author’ will simply be ‘an author’.
Thanks for weighing in on the whole RWA Epub ordeal. I just signed a contract with a small epublisher. I did this on the advice of several of their published authors. They are friendly, courteous, and do lots of different things to help promote the authors’s books. Most of the PR, as it is with most publishers, is handled solely by the authors. What I would like to see RWA offer more information and better educate their authors about the differences between a ‘fly by night” publisher and truly genuine business that’s solid and secure and has a successful business model. Epublishing is the wave of the future, even the NY pubs are stepping into the eBook arena. The arguments I’ve heard recently are that ePubbed authors are only a small minority of the RWA members, and therfor there is no need to satisfy the minority (At least that’s how I read President Pershing’s blog post). I’m curious though. If eBooks are only a miniscule portion of the publishing world, why are there so many companies, such as Amazon and Sony, selling ebook readers?
Yes there are some crappy epublishers out there, and there are some really good ones too. Labeling all epubslishers as sub par just because of a few bad apples is stereotyping and just plain wrong.
Just my 2cents!
Great blog, gals!
Arianna
Jennifer,
Agreed!!! Soon it won’t matter. All of those strictly NYT pubbed authors will also be epubbed…what will they think then when the them becomes an us.
It is going to be an interesting thing to watch.
Curious to know why you let your membership lapse? I’m considering renewing for the vote that’s coming up.
April
Arianna,
Adding to my list of things epubbed authors want:
1. Equatable treatment by leadership
2. Entry into contests
3. Ability to apply to PRO and PAN
4. Workshops for epublishing
5. Database of ligit, solid epubs that are RWA recommended/or at least a list of epubs that are considered on the up and up
Keep ‘em coming guys!!!
This is our time to pull together and work towards changes. I imagine a few up coming candidates my look over here wondering what people are saying.
April
April:
For giggles, I sent RWA an email asking if I would be eligible to enter the Golden Heart contest, since my publisher is not on their list of Non vanity presses. Waiting to hear back from them.
Curious to know why you let your membership lapse?
There were a number of reasons I didn’t renew. The price hike was one reason, but the attitude of the BOD was my biggest issue. I have a lot of respect for the members who are digging in and working to change the org from within, but it’s not my thing. I didn’t feel I was getting any value for my money.
Jennifer… ME TOO!!! I had let my membership lapse because of the whole thing with the RITA. Then Kristen and her posse took over ESPAN and I could have kicked myself for not being part of it.
I’m excited to see if some change can happen. I almost would like to do a wait and see too…
April
I’ve been having some interesting dialogue (or lack there of) with one of my chapters. Yes, there are three other members that are e-pubbed, but only one has said anything to me. The rest of the group sort of has this elitist attitude, and one even emailed saying she didn’t want to get involved with the Romance Writers for Change movement because she was only going to aim at NY houses. *shakes head* She’s in for a rude awakening.
What I think some of those aiming for the NY houses (or deeply entrenched in one) don’t realize is that the publishing world is changing. Less books are getting picked up the NY houses. The ones that have been are being released in elctronic versions on Amazon and other markets. And from what I’m hearing, despite the fact the electronic versions of mass market paperbacks cost about the same as print versions, the royalty rate for the author remains the same… which means the publisher is making a great profit. Like it or not, even the NY published authors are getting “e-pubbed” these days, in a sense.
As for what I’d like to see, it’s more equal treatment. E-pubbed authors can join PAN if they make $1000 off a single title. They should be able to enter the RITAs if a print version (even a POD version) of their novel is available and they published through a non-vanity publisher. They should be able to proudly display that “first sale” ribbon at Nationals. And I think the RWA should be educating their members about the diffferent facets of e-puiblishing, be it contracts and royality rates for the NY houses, how to spot a legit e-publisher, or how to promote and build an audience through e-books.
Brava, Crista…. Excellent points.
Something else that you bring up that is BIG TIME issue that NO ONE is addressing is – why aren’t authors getting a bigger chunk of the money earned on epubbed sales from Amazon and their own publishers????
Now that’s something I’m not hearing a thing about from NY authors. One reason so many publishers are going epub is probably because of the bigger profit margin. Why aren’t the authors getting a bigger bit of that???
Many more authors could be full-time!
April