Thursday, March 21, 2013
Pungent quote...
From John Scalzi , (who is quite successful); ht Peculiar.
"....But, these publishers and their defenders may say (and have said), the publisher takes all the risk in producing a book! Yeah? Hey, to publishers and their defenders who say that: Fuck you. Fuck you for asserting that the author has shouldered no risk, when she’s invested the time, opportunity cost and material outlay required to create a manuscript. Fuck you for asserting the the author sees no risk to her own career from the choices that the publisher imposes on the publishing process that the author has no control of: everything from cover art (which, if horrible and/or out of step with the market, can sink a book) to the size and distribution of the initial print run, to the marketing plan the publisher has for retail.
"Fuck you for lightly passing over the risk that the author has if the book fails — that any additional books in the contract might be cancelled or put out with the bare minimum of contractual obligation, that the author might not be able to sell another book to the publisher or other publishers because of a track record of poor sales — and for lightly passing over the fact the a publisher mitigates its own risk of the failure of a single book by having an entire portfolio of releases. If one single book fails but the publisher’s line holds up generally, then the risk the publisher encounters to its livelihood is minimal. The risk to the author, on the other hand, is substantially greater. Yes, to all of that, “fuck you,” is probably the politest thing to say in response.
"Tell me again how all the risk lies with the publisher in producing a book. I want to hear it again. And I expect you can imagine what I would say to that assertion, again."
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5 comments:
I have never written a book, by my wife has. John Scalzi is dead on the money.
"Old Man's War" is one of my favorite SF novels of the last decade
One thing that just makes no sense to me, is the OUTRAGEOUS prices charged for most new books these days--so expensive it MUST cut down on sales--simply because no one is going to pay $20 or $30 bucks for a new book that used to(in many's living memory) cost $5 or $10 bucks for similar volumes. Not only does it discourage people from reading, but publishers just don't seem to grasp simple common sense economics--let's see, charge so much only a few incredibly rich folks can afford a copy, or charge a more reasonable purchase price that THOUSANDS, yea maybe even MILLIONS of people can afford! I NEVER buy ANYTHING in a bookstore new anymore--thank gawd fer Amazon! I still visit bookstores, make a list of titles I'm interested in, then look them up on Amazon and get them for a FRACTION of the price. Seems like book publishers would wake up and notice this trend(for I am definetely NOT alone in doing this....)...L.B.
I tend to buy older books this way. But you surely realize none of the extra goes to the author? Writers are the only link in the chain paid proportionately or even actually less than they were 20 years ago.
With new books, which I grant are expensive, I will grit my teeth & support the writer as best as I can, or wait for pb.
Living at the poverty level of this country(hey, I HAVE advanced somewhat--I used to live well BELOW it!), I ain't in much of a position to help support anybody else! I do make ONE exception for one pertikuler writer(ahem!)BUT--like that last eagle book--that WAS actually QUITE reasonable new! One of the exceptions, I'm afraid....L.B.
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