fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #5081 ]

[ SECRET POST #5081 ]

⌈ Secret Post #5081 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 13 secrets from Secret Submission Post #727.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

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01. https://i.imgur.com/YYZ5x0G.jpg

I agree 100%. I need the ending.

TBH this really annoys me bc this is mostly on the publishers

As someone who loves to write and would like to be published someday, I understand the authors' POV.

As a reader with a limited budget, though, it's not feasible for me to buy every single book I think looks promising. I'll get as many as I can through the library, but sometimes I think authors forget what it's like to be on the buying end of the equation.

100% this

(Cozy Werewolf Anon)

I feel bad for many trad pubbed authors. Many of them have a dream of making a living off their writing. And very few can actually do so. Seanan McGuire, midlist, very prolific, fantasy author still has a Patreon.

Most writers do not want to hear writing can't be a day job unless you are very lucky. The disparity in advances is infuriating. Some writers have no idea what it is like at all to be poor.

Messages like this I think are more to try to stem the TIDE of ebook piracy. Which the stats aren't really often in the author's target market anyways. (40 to 50 year old middle class white men/women, at least in the US. The people who can afford to buy books most likely.) Because so many readers who might follow on social media don't know how money is allocated behind the scenes at publishing houses.

I get why they do it, but it misses the intended audience Publishing houses should be cracking down on.

I just don't read books that are advertised as book one out of however many anymore because a) the first book usually ends in a terrible cliffhanger and b) sometimes the second book never comes out.

Agreed. I'd only buy the first part if it also works as a standalone book. If it ends with a cliffhanger? Haha, no.

There are a couple of series I’ve read where each book can stand alone. Those I’ll read before the series is finished.

(cozy werewolf anon)

I understand where you are coming from OP. GRRM is EXACTLY the reason why agents are no longer picking up series. They are picking up stand alone books with series potential. Why? GRRM won't fulfill his contract. He accepted going from a 3 book to 7 book contract, now he can't finish. Jim Butcher burnt himself out on Dresden and had to take a break. He published 2 books in that series this year. I expect a huge sales dip in his numbers because of it. JKR went totally over printing costs and REFUSED to edit down. Rothfuss is... doing... something... eventually.

Publishers don't want to take risks like that when the money is already out. Are established authors still getting big series contracts? To an extent, yes. I know someone got a 13 book contract recently, Scalzi I think. PublishingPaidMe was a very enlightening tag. But that was before Covid hit.

The author though isn't WRONG. Request it from your library. It will register as a sale. Borrow through Overdrive if you can. E-Book licensing is a nightmare but favors publishers in profitability. Also registers as a sale. The worst thing you can do is steal it outright. (General You in this case. Not accusing, just saying.) Honestly, they're asking you to support them as a person/brand rather than their books in a way.

Right now. What you aren't hearing about is b/c of Covid, debut authors are being dropped. It's been very, very, quiet. Shhhhh. Pubs want to pay out established authors first, before picking up new ones. I know agents are still looking because any sales they make now won't go out until 2022 or 23. Hopefully when we're out of this mess, but debuts for 2020, and 2021 are being screwed.

Publishing and contracts and advances need major overhaul. You'd think Covid would have done it but... so far. No. They're doubling down. If Covid continues for another year, it will be interesting to see what happens with the big 5. Will they overhaul advances and make it a more level playing field for debuts/authors. Or will they fold. Also, b/c it's the big 5 and not the big 20, if a book fails and the author with it. There's no place for them to really GO anymore. As they're only as good as their last book. So yeah, don't be surprised authors are going "Buy my books first week/pre-orders!" As publishing is also straying more towards the big 2 comic book model despite how the comic book model is FAILING.

It's complicated. -gestures-

Wow, thank you for this (and other) informative posts, CWA!

Just making sure I understand - by “make a request” to a library and it will register as a sale - is that assuming the library doesn’t already have it and will purchase it? Or is it possible for publishers to take into account library borrowing numbers?

As someone who works at a library, I have no idea how a publisher would know how many times a physical book was checked out.

Though who knows if someplace like Overdrive makes public any stats on total checkouts per title. That's above my pay grade.

(no subject)

(Anonymous) - 2020-12-04 01:55 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

(Anonymous) - 2020-12-04 01:58 (UTC) - Expand

(CWA)

You're welcome!

It works on how many copies of a book a library purchases. For a book, they purchase the book. It has to be a new book not already on the shelves. That counts as a sale for the publisher. For an ebook, for an elevated price they purchase a license to "lend" the book so many times before they have to rebuy the license. It's just like owning a computer program.

A physical book will remain in the library as long as the library system feels it's in good of enough condition to remain in circulation. If not, then the budget will be checked to see if they can buy a new copy, assuming the book is still in print.

In Europe, or at least Britain, they DO keep track of lending and the authors get a minor like half a penny in royalties. Which, those authors really like. But we don't do that in the States. Too many systems and none of them linked together.

A lot of books "given" to libraries, actually end up in "Friends of the Library" sales. Where you can buy used books to help support your library system. Each system has their own methods of price. My home system would do books by type for a while then the last day once the books were really picked over, you could get a whole bag for 10 cents.

The only way most indie books end up in libraries is through author donation. Due to ISBN style issues. There's information from publishers most indie books don't have that need to go into library systems. Libraries will take indie books if the author is local for instance or the book is set in the area. But there is a process and talk to your local librarian.

(no subject)

(Anonymous) - 2020-12-04 05:25 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

kallanda_lee - 2020-12-04 11:58 (UTC) - Expand

tbh this is why, as someone who wants be published as an epic fantasy author--I'm not submitting anything or hunting for an agent until I have a whole series written. I feel like at this point the agent and the publisher will be less leery if I can go 'look, here's the books' from the get go.

(CWA)

I understand your POV here. Okay, I am putting up an updated file tomorrow (it's two super minor things) but I have something on my website for you which is going to explain ALL about querying and why I'm going to say my next piece of advice.

Make sure that FIRST book can stand alone. and DO NOT, I mean, DO NOT mention in your query it's a series or that it is finished. You'll be rejected. That's just the way it is right now. That's how wary agents are of series.

Anyways, it's called "I Finished A Book, Now What?" It explains Querying, Trad Pubbing, Self Pubbing. Tomorrow I'm putting up "16 Signs Your Book Isn't Ready to Be Self Published (And Other Things You Should Know)" all about editing, and "How To Succeed If You Don't Want to Write to Market." which is 100% for self pubbers b/c 'Zon's tomfoolery. Here's the PDF for "I Finished A Book."

https://ginny0.files.wordpress.com/2020/07/i-finished-a-book.pdf

Yeah, sorry.

Between George R.R. Martin and Pat Rothfuss, fuck getting series before they're finished now.

(CWA)

Yeah, I had an indie writer friend go 'I want to be like Rothfuss' and being out of the epic fantasy loop I thought they were like Sanderson, lots of books. Then I found out... one book... a decade ago or so... and no news on the sequel. I was flabbergasted.

Yeah. I can understand why epic fantasy people are NOT buying books.

NAYRT

I mean... if they're saying they just want shitloads of money for doing no work, I kinda respect that

lol

(no subject)

(Anonymous) - 2020-12-04 02:44 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

(Anonymous) - 2020-12-04 03:46 (UTC) - Expand

I don't mind buying the first book in a series, but it's even better if each book has a complete-ish arc. Better if the end of the book feels like a natural pause than an abrupt stop.

I don't even read WIP fanfic. Why would I spend actual money on "/? " original fic??

Books are so long that I'm fine with unfinished series. I don't always stay with the series even if the going is good.

I don't understand. If you don't buy first volumes then they won't sell then the rest of the series won't come out anyway. That said, i haven't bought a book in a long time because I can't afford to buy anything. I'm patching holes in underwear poor rn.

And I'm okay with that.

With the type of series we're talking about here, I'm not buying it until it's complete. If that means that it's never complete and I never buy it, that's fine with me.

I don't have any obligation to the author to buy a book that I may never read (because even if I bought it, I wouldn't read it until the series was completed).

And if that means that publishers don't buy series like that (and instead buy books with complete stories that have series potential), that is totally fine with me.

(I'll buy books in series where each book has a standalone, completed, plot--that's different.)

There's a lot of reasons to dislike JKR, but she actually finished her fucking series in a timely manner and that puts her in a pantheon with few other fantasy writers.

I'm honestly really upset that I'll never get a well written ending to ASOIAF (luckily the show was so bad it numbed the blow) so I'm only going to start a series if it's already finished (and finishes well!) or if each book tells a good story on it's own (like Discworld!).

Yeah, fantasy is in trouble and it's been a long time in the making.

This is EXTREMELY timely, since there was a huge to-do on Nora Roberts site when she mentioned that she released the first of her new series, and a reader (Debra) complained that she didn't understand why the publisher couldn't simply wait to release all in a series at one time, and then proceeded to explain publishing to Nora Roberts, which....lmao

I get you, OP, but I think you have to make a difference between the Nora Roberts of the world, and the GRRMs. Nora writes 4 or 5 books a year and is extremely reliable. I think cozy werewolf author is right, though, it's just going to be a lot of "standalones" that were never standalones, so that people don't wait until book 2 to see if the author is reliable.

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