Are we in the midst of an ebook bubble? - CrimeSpace2024-03-29T02:12:23Zhttp://crimespace.ning.com/forum/topics/are-we-in-the-midst-of-an-ebook-bubble?feed=yes&xn_auth=noSo do readers of slash porn.…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2012-02-08:537324:Comment:3306182012-02-08T18:51:47.838ZCammy May Hunnicutthttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/CammyMayHunnicutt
<p>So do readers of slash porn. And somebody might say they shouldn't be writing. It's a slippery slope.</p>
<p>I rather think the idea that anybody can put up an ebook is a good one. Kind of like Gutenberg making mass production of books possible. Have no idea how many are doing it to try to make a killing.</p>
<p>Have no idea why that should be bad for anybody else.</p>
<p>There is no reason to have any costs or expense involved in putting an ebook up on amazon or Smashwords, so your…</p>
<p>So do readers of slash porn. And somebody might say they shouldn't be writing. It's a slippery slope.</p>
<p>I rather think the idea that anybody can put up an ebook is a good one. Kind of like Gutenberg making mass production of books possible. Have no idea how many are doing it to try to make a killing.</p>
<p>Have no idea why that should be bad for anybody else.</p>
<p>There is no reason to have any costs or expense involved in putting an ebook up on amazon or Smashwords, so your touching concern for those who shouldn't be writing isn't really applicable.</p>
<p>And, again, whatever this lesson is that they need to learn in order to stop wriiting, how would they learn it if they're too stupid to know they are not among the elect?</p> You misunderstood and I expre…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2012-02-08:537324:Comment:3306702012-02-08T18:32:55.255ZI. J. Parkerhttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/Ingpark
<p>You misunderstood and I expressed myself badly. At the moment, anybody can put anything up on Amazon or Smashwords, figuring that at 99 cents they can make a killing. It will take some time to learn that the costs of this are borne by the author and generally are a lost investment.</p>
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<p>And yes, I'm pretty sure I should be writing books. Why? Because my readers say so and come back for more.</p>
<p>You misunderstood and I expressed myself badly. At the moment, anybody can put anything up on Amazon or Smashwords, figuring that at 99 cents they can make a killing. It will take some time to learn that the costs of this are borne by the author and generally are a lost investment.</p>
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<p>And yes, I'm pretty sure I should be writing books. Why? Because my readers say so and come back for more.</p> People who shouldn't be writi…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2012-02-08:537324:Comment:3305182012-02-08T17:26:09.788ZCammy May Hunnicutthttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/CammyMayHunnicutt
<p>People who shouldn't be writing book?????</p>
<p>Am I the only one whose hair stood on end reading that? Chilling thought, especially on a writer's group. You're pretty sure YOU should be writing books, right? It's just those other writers who shouldn't?</p>
<p>But leaving that aside, if somebody shouldn't write a book, but is too stupid to realize it and continues to try to express himself anyway... how is going to learn the valuable lesson that his writing is interfering with your…</p>
<p>People who shouldn't be writing book?????</p>
<p>Am I the only one whose hair stood on end reading that? Chilling thought, especially on a writer's group. You're pretty sure YOU should be writing books, right? It's just those other writers who shouldn't?</p>
<p>But leaving that aside, if somebody shouldn't write a book, but is too stupid to realize it and continues to try to express himself anyway... how is going to learn the valuable lesson that his writing is interfering with your agenda?</p> Quite right. But meanwhile t…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2012-02-08:537324:Comment:3306652012-02-08T15:16:17.307ZI. J. Parkerhttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/Ingpark
<p>Quite right. But meanwhile the potentially successful authors can't get their voice heard because of the massive clamor. That's why we have to hope that the lessons will be learned soon by those who shouldn't be writing books.</p>
<p>Quite right. But meanwhile the potentially successful authors can't get their voice heard because of the massive clamor. That's why we have to hope that the lessons will be learned soon by those who shouldn't be writing books.</p> There has ALWAYS been a glut…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2012-02-08:537324:Comment:3306042012-02-08T09:34:07.231ZCammy May Hunnicutthttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/CammyMayHunnicutt
<p>There has ALWAYS been a glut of "how to write" and "how to get rich" books. Writers are chumps who will spend huge sums of money chasing dreams and there are many out there who will take the money. Bad as models.</p>
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<p>What gets me is how easy it should be figure out that somebody who has only one book published, and it's a self-published book on how to sell your novel to publishers, has probably not created a great investment.</p>
<p>Kind of like people who put out a book on…</p>
<p>There has ALWAYS been a glut of "how to write" and "how to get rich" books. Writers are chumps who will spend huge sums of money chasing dreams and there are many out there who will take the money. Bad as models.</p>
<p></p>
<p>What gets me is how easy it should be figure out that somebody who has only one book published, and it's a self-published book on how to sell your novel to publishers, has probably not created a great investment.</p>
<p>Kind of like people who put out a book on Smashwords, then start a blog on how to publish and promote books.</p>
<p>And writers buy into it. I don't get it.</p> Yes, gold rush is a much bett…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2012-02-05:537324:Comment:3303832012-02-05T01:56:53.288ZBenjamin Sobieckhttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/BenjaminSobieck
<p>Yes, gold rush is a much better analogy. Although just like the real gold rush, there's bound to be plenty of death and destruction before things settle down. I think we're on the cusp of a major retooling of the e-book market. The novelty of the e-book is gone. Readers will demand quality. If you can't figure out how to give that to them, they'll be with you.</p>
<p>Yes, gold rush is a much better analogy. Although just like the real gold rush, there's bound to be plenty of death and destruction before things settle down. I think we're on the cusp of a major retooling of the e-book market. The novelty of the e-book is gone. Readers will demand quality. If you can't figure out how to give that to them, they'll be with you.</p> Yes, the goldrush analogy may…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2012-02-04:537324:Comment:3301362012-02-04T22:57:29.646ZI. J. Parkerhttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/Ingpark
<p>Yes, the goldrush analogy may be correct. However, it is possible that things will settle down and decent books will begin to do well again. I was unfortunately late in getting on. I've written before about my frustrations about the delays (that lasted a whole year). That has cost me money. Konrath works with pricing and pitching constantly new titles out there. His latest is 30,000 words. At the moment he has a big promotion and giveaway. Mind you, with his income he can afford it. I…</p>
<p>Yes, the goldrush analogy may be correct. However, it is possible that things will settle down and decent books will begin to do well again. I was unfortunately late in getting on. I've written before about my frustrations about the delays (that lasted a whole year). That has cost me money. Konrath works with pricing and pitching constantly new titles out there. His latest is 30,000 words. At the moment he has a big promotion and giveaway. Mind you, with his income he can afford it. I got irritated reading about it. It's back to the way things were when my publishers promoted two or three releases heavily and me not at all.</p> Konrath's most recent blog po…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2012-02-04:537324:Comment:3302332012-02-04T19:40:13.488ZJon Loomishttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/JonLoomis
<p>Konrath's most recent blog post is interesting on this subject--he makes a pretty strong case that it's not a bubble. The gold rush analogy is maybe a bit stronger--the first wave do incredibly well, the second wave end up selling picks and shovels to the third wave, who get by on the crumbs left by the first wave. But we'll see. There's not a whole lot of risk for someone like me, as far as I can tell--I've done pretty well with traditional publishing, but not so well that I couldn't…</p>
<p>Konrath's most recent blog post is interesting on this subject--he makes a pretty strong case that it's not a bubble. The gold rush analogy is maybe a bit stronger--the first wave do incredibly well, the second wave end up selling picks and shovels to the third wave, who get by on the crumbs left by the first wave. But we'll see. There's not a whole lot of risk for someone like me, as far as I can tell--I've done pretty well with traditional publishing, but not so well that I couldn't afford to roll the dice (and certainly not as well as Konrath, with his 6-figure advances). </p> I don't think we are in an eb…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2012-02-03:537324:Comment:3301032012-02-03T14:08:15.325ZCharles Kellyhttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/pulpnoir
<p>I don't think we are in an ebook bubble, because people make a lot of money out of bubbles before they crash. Then they lose a lot of money. As someone else pointed out, authors can "invest" in their ebooks by spending only a few hundred dollars for formatting, or can actually do it for free, as I did, by learning formatting. (Well, not entirely free: I still pay for professionally designed covers.) It is a "bubble" in the sense that writers are very excited about getting their work out…</p>
<p>I don't think we are in an ebook bubble, because people make a lot of money out of bubbles before they crash. Then they lose a lot of money. As someone else pointed out, authors can "invest" in their ebooks by spending only a few hundred dollars for formatting, or can actually do it for free, as I did, by learning formatting. (Well, not entirely free: I still pay for professionally designed covers.) It is a "bubble" in the sense that writers are very excited about getting their work out there (and, yes, many still think they can make a lot of money out of writing), but the excitement will fade when they find that most aren't making much money and getting much attention. However, the writers won't lose greatly. And it's still a model that gives writers a fighting chance to make money: unlike the legacy model, which takes forever, often never pans out, and--when you "succeed"--means that you get some money, but very little, and are lied to and frustrated by publishers who are used to getting by with a level of incompetence that would horrify people in any other business.</p> My books through T&M will…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2012-01-31:537324:Comment:3299762012-01-31T23:36:00.497ZJude Hardinhttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/festus
<p>My books through T&M will be released in digital and paperback simultaneously, btw, so it's not just ebooks. Although ebooks are where I expect the bulk of the sales to come from.</p>
<p>My books through T&M will be released in digital and paperback simultaneously, btw, so it's not just ebooks. Although ebooks are where I expect the bulk of the sales to come from.</p>