Connie Brockway, who had earlier announced that she'd self-publish sequels to her novels, As You Desire as well as All Through The Night, has changed her mind and signed an exclusive deal with Amazon (yes, that Amazon). She's the debut author for Amazon's new romance imprint, Montlake, so these books will be available through Kindle and of course, print books through Amazon only.
There are many questions swirling around the Internet about this piece of news, including distribution. Ms. Brockway has said that Amazon plans to make these books available at brick and mortar stores. This is good news for those readers who don't own a Kindle and don't buy online.
Some international readers won't be able to buy the books without shelling out some big bucks, though. Amazon's international shipping charges can make a novel costs $30! And Kindle apps DO NOT WORK for international readers unless they jump through holes like pretending to have a fake US address and a prepaid VISA. It's a pain in the ass to just get a book. One of my overseas friends pointed out it'd be much easier to download a pirated copy. Sad, but true.
What does this mean to the book business? Oh, A LOT. Will Amazon join RWA (hahahaha)? Will authors published solely at Amazon be allowed into the RWA? Right now, I suspect not, but it can't be easy to be on the RWA (or any writing organization) Board of Directors these days as they sort through all the policies and rules that helped and protect its members and figure out a way to stay on top of things.
I'm looking into this avenue as an option too. Why not? I'm trying to make a living here and if Amazon can sell more books for me (and give me more money than a publisher), it can't be bad. The trick is to read all contracts closely, so that you aren't locked in forever and ever. All authors these days who are selling their works have to be even savvier and more careful these days in protecting their works and rights.
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Sunday, May 08, 2011
Book Bithneth
Posted by Gennita at 11:43 AM
Labels: book business
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5 comments:
Interesting - I had heard that the books would not be availble in print.
It's getting insane in the publishing game. There's so many options now and seems a bit overwhelming overall. Writers really have to get into the business side of it way more that ever, but it looks like the benefits are worth it. I definitely support authors making significantly more money than they do with the publishers. I would say I hope the amount of work "administrative" work doesn't increase, but I suspect it was doing that even with traditional publishing.
As always, good luck my friend. I support any decisions you make to further your career and get a book in my hands . . . err, iPad.
Now that I've thought about it, I don't think international readers are completely left in the cold. I'm pretty sure Amazon will want the trade paperback to be available at all places, so maybe Book Depository will carry it. PODs tend to be more expensive there, but the increase will nowhere be as crazy as Amazon's shipping charges. Plus, free shipping from Book Depository.
We'll see. I doubt Amazon will be so stupid as to make the trade paperback available for order only from the website.
Mary,
Yes, it'll be in print.
Deb,
I think it'll be initially exclusive to Amazon only, so they can get the initial sales. Yes, there are many options out there right now but writers should be aware not to sign something they don't understand. Also, all the self-promo one has to do now is crazy; sometimes I envy the "old days" when we didn't have this to do except write a book!
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