Reno Charlton's Blog - Posts Tagged "books"
Indie publishing: The way forward for authors and readers
Harry Potter – it's a name that we all know and love; one that has changed the face of modern children's literature and reengaged children with reading once again. However, like many other authors, the great J.K. Rowling did not have a particularly easy time trying to get her work noticed – she was turned down time and time again by the publishing fat cats. Luckily for Rowling – and for millions of children around the world – one publisher did notice the special qualities of her book and the rest, as they say, is history. But what if that one publisher had also rejected J.K's book? Would that have meant that her book was not fit to be introduced to the masses? Clearly not. It would have meant, however, that the world would have missed out on a literary phenomenon.
J.K, of course, is not the only author to have received rejection slips from countless publishers – a huge number of authors could paper the walls with the rejections that they have received, but like the Harry Potter books, this doesn't mean that their books are not worthy of being read. In fact, sometimes it can simply mean that the book was read by the wrong person at the wrong time at the publishing house it has been submitted to. While J.K Rowling did get lucky in the end and did manage to get her book to the masses after being accepted by Bloomsbury, there are many other authors who do not get that break, resulting in readers missing out on what could be a brilliant book in their eyes simply because an editor or professional reader decides that the book is not worthy of publication or does not fit in with their needs. In fact, when you think about it, it was not even a member of staff at the publishing house where Rowling was eventually published who was responsible for her acceptance – it was the eight year old daughter of one of the executives there who read the first chapter of the manuscript and kept wanting to read more!
Several years ago, I wrote a book – in fact two books that were part of a series that I was planning in the children's fantasy genre. Like J.K, I submitted it to various agents and publishers, and the book did get taken on by a literary agent in the UK. However, even with an agent on my side I couldn't find a publisher that would take the book on. Was this because the book was no good? Not at all, otherwise it wouldn't have secured a well known literary agent that was so convinced that the book could be a success they even signed me up for movie rights representation. In addition to this, there were many publishers who read the book and agreed that it was very well written but that it was 'ill timed' by which we assumed they meant trying to compete with Harry Potter and the Lord of the Rings, which were big at the time, might be an issue. I even had my manuscript accepted by one publisher verbally at one point, but when I heard no more after several months I chased up the children's acquisition reader who had been dealing with my book. I then received a cursory email telling me that the reader I had been dealing with had left due to ill health and the new reader did not feel that the book 'fitted in with their list'. So, it seems that the acceptance of a manuscript really can be down to something as simple as getting the right editor or reader at the right time. Imagine if that first Harry Potter manuscript had fallen into the hands of the wrong reader when it was sent to Bloomsbury – we might never have heard of Harry or J.K and the world of children's literature might be very different today.
Of course, it was only a matter of time before authors who have put their time, effort, sweat and tears into their work, became fed up of getting one rejection after another from publishing houses. Many decided that it was time to take action and stop the fat cat publishers from deciding which books were worthy and which weren't – and effectively telling readers what they should and should not read.
Today, there is a thriving indie publishing market in full swing, made possible in part by companies like Amazon with its self publishing arm KDP. This has given authors who have been unable to get a deal with a traditional publisher – or prefer not to go down the traditional route – the chance to get their books out there rather than have them gathering dust in a cupboard or virtual dust in some folder on their PC. The ability to publish their work independently without any agents or traditional publishers in the mix has given authors a new voice. But it is not just authors who are benefitting from the 'indie movement'. Readers are also able to benefit because it means that they are no longer limited to the books that traditional publishers selectively decide should be released. Readers can now enjoy a far wider variety of books in all genres, enabling them to discover new authors that they would never have come across otherwise.
The perfect example of this is Amanda Hocking, who was another author who was the regular recipient of rejections. Unlike Rowling, she did not get that lucky break – at least, not with a traditional publisher. What she did do was take matters into her own hands and decide to self publish through KDP and a number of other outlets. It turned out that, despite publishers, in all their wisdom, rejecting her books, they were actually a hit with readers. Of course, once Amanda proved that her books were good enough and that people did want to read them, having made a lot of sales and money along the way, it was the publishers that were chasing her rather than the other way around!
Having self published my own work recently, I ran a free promotion day on one of my books. Within the space of one day I had received nearly 2500 downloads in the UK and USA for The Secret Portal, my book had gone to number one in the free children's fantasy/horror Kindle bestsellers list, and I managed to reach position 124 in the overall Kindle download list for all genres. I have also received some great reviews from readers and reviewers. Readers have since returned to buy the sequel to this children's fantasy horror, The Vampire Returns and some have come back yet again to purchase my third book, a standalone fantasy YA novel, The Sceptre of Zanafiar.
In short, there is no telling how many literary masterpieces that we may have missed out on over the years simply because of poor judgement from traditional publishers (such as the ones that rejected Harry Potter, who must have been kicking themselves repeatedly for the past decade). However, with the indie publishing market becoming increasingly popular, authors who have created quality work now have a way to connect their books with readers – and readers can at last decide for themselves which books and authors they want to read rather than having a handful of people in publishing houses do it for them!
By Reno Charlton (www.renocharlton.com)
J.K, of course, is not the only author to have received rejection slips from countless publishers – a huge number of authors could paper the walls with the rejections that they have received, but like the Harry Potter books, this doesn't mean that their books are not worthy of being read. In fact, sometimes it can simply mean that the book was read by the wrong person at the wrong time at the publishing house it has been submitted to. While J.K Rowling did get lucky in the end and did manage to get her book to the masses after being accepted by Bloomsbury, there are many other authors who do not get that break, resulting in readers missing out on what could be a brilliant book in their eyes simply because an editor or professional reader decides that the book is not worthy of publication or does not fit in with their needs. In fact, when you think about it, it was not even a member of staff at the publishing house where Rowling was eventually published who was responsible for her acceptance – it was the eight year old daughter of one of the executives there who read the first chapter of the manuscript and kept wanting to read more!
Several years ago, I wrote a book – in fact two books that were part of a series that I was planning in the children's fantasy genre. Like J.K, I submitted it to various agents and publishers, and the book did get taken on by a literary agent in the UK. However, even with an agent on my side I couldn't find a publisher that would take the book on. Was this because the book was no good? Not at all, otherwise it wouldn't have secured a well known literary agent that was so convinced that the book could be a success they even signed me up for movie rights representation. In addition to this, there were many publishers who read the book and agreed that it was very well written but that it was 'ill timed' by which we assumed they meant trying to compete with Harry Potter and the Lord of the Rings, which were big at the time, might be an issue. I even had my manuscript accepted by one publisher verbally at one point, but when I heard no more after several months I chased up the children's acquisition reader who had been dealing with my book. I then received a cursory email telling me that the reader I had been dealing with had left due to ill health and the new reader did not feel that the book 'fitted in with their list'. So, it seems that the acceptance of a manuscript really can be down to something as simple as getting the right editor or reader at the right time. Imagine if that first Harry Potter manuscript had fallen into the hands of the wrong reader when it was sent to Bloomsbury – we might never have heard of Harry or J.K and the world of children's literature might be very different today.
Of course, it was only a matter of time before authors who have put their time, effort, sweat and tears into their work, became fed up of getting one rejection after another from publishing houses. Many decided that it was time to take action and stop the fat cat publishers from deciding which books were worthy and which weren't – and effectively telling readers what they should and should not read.
Today, there is a thriving indie publishing market in full swing, made possible in part by companies like Amazon with its self publishing arm KDP. This has given authors who have been unable to get a deal with a traditional publisher – or prefer not to go down the traditional route – the chance to get their books out there rather than have them gathering dust in a cupboard or virtual dust in some folder on their PC. The ability to publish their work independently without any agents or traditional publishers in the mix has given authors a new voice. But it is not just authors who are benefitting from the 'indie movement'. Readers are also able to benefit because it means that they are no longer limited to the books that traditional publishers selectively decide should be released. Readers can now enjoy a far wider variety of books in all genres, enabling them to discover new authors that they would never have come across otherwise.
The perfect example of this is Amanda Hocking, who was another author who was the regular recipient of rejections. Unlike Rowling, she did not get that lucky break – at least, not with a traditional publisher. What she did do was take matters into her own hands and decide to self publish through KDP and a number of other outlets. It turned out that, despite publishers, in all their wisdom, rejecting her books, they were actually a hit with readers. Of course, once Amanda proved that her books were good enough and that people did want to read them, having made a lot of sales and money along the way, it was the publishers that were chasing her rather than the other way around!
Having self published my own work recently, I ran a free promotion day on one of my books. Within the space of one day I had received nearly 2500 downloads in the UK and USA for The Secret Portal, my book had gone to number one in the free children's fantasy/horror Kindle bestsellers list, and I managed to reach position 124 in the overall Kindle download list for all genres. I have also received some great reviews from readers and reviewers. Readers have since returned to buy the sequel to this children's fantasy horror, The Vampire Returns and some have come back yet again to purchase my third book, a standalone fantasy YA novel, The Sceptre of Zanafiar.
In short, there is no telling how many literary masterpieces that we may have missed out on over the years simply because of poor judgement from traditional publishers (such as the ones that rejected Harry Potter, who must have been kicking themselves repeatedly for the past decade). However, with the indie publishing market becoming increasingly popular, authors who have created quality work now have a way to connect their books with readers – and readers can at last decide for themselves which books and authors they want to read rather than having a handful of people in publishing houses do it for them!
By Reno Charlton (www.renocharlton.com)
Kindle Books: Does Low Price Mean Low Quality?
As a writer, I spend a lot of time reading through and participating in forums on various sites, not just to connect with other writers but also to keep up with readers who are, of course, the backbone of a writer’s career.
I was somewhat disturbed recently when I was reading through a readers’ forum on Amazon’s KDP to find that someone had written something along the lines of ‘if a Kindle book is priced at 0.99 cents then the chances are it’s going to be really bad’. The reader went on to state that she would rather pay more money and increase the chances of getting a higher quality book than pay 0.99 cents and get a badly written book by someone who has no real interest or skill when it comes to writing.
The reason I was concerned about this is because, as an indie author, I have priced some of my Kindle books at 99 cents, not because they are of low quality but because I am a relatively unknown author and pricing low is my way of giving readers the opportunity to read my books and get to know my writing without having to shell out loads of money.
As an avid reader myself, I would expect to have to pay a fair amount of money for books by an established author. However, if I was considering trying out a new author, I wouldn’t want to pay out significant money to start off with. This is precisely why I price my books at 99 cents to $3.99 – I want readers to be able to afford to try out my books and test the waters with a new author.
Also, let’s not forget that Amazon offers readers the chance to ‘Look Inside’, which means that readers can easily look at the first few chapters of a book to assess the quality for themselves. Many of my readers have been very pleasantly surprised to find that after paying between $0.99 cents and $3.99 for a book, they have been able to enjoy well written stories that they have enjoyed and many have gone on to purchase more of my books. The reviews, some of which come from Amazon Top 50 Reviewers, also speak for themselves. Yet, I still don't feel the need to slap a higher price tag on because my aim is to gain fans and readers rather than to reap in as much cash as I can as quickly as I can. The maximum I would be comfortable charging for one of my books, as a newer author, would be $3.99 but this is to ensure a fair price for my readers not because I feel that my books aren't worth any more than that.
My point is that nobody should ever assume that just because a book is priced low that it will be of low quality, as this simply isn’t the case, particularly amongst self published authors who are more interested in building a readership than they are in trying to make a fast buck. Of course, there will be some low priced books that will be of questionable quality – there will also be some high priced books that are equally as questionable. Likewise, there are many low priced books that are of as high a quality as some of their higher priced counterparts.
They say you should never judge a book by its cover – it is also important to never judge a book by its price. As a reader, I embrace the opportunity to discover new writing talent at a really low price and I have no problem paying a dollar, two dollars, even three or four dollars to try out a new author. One thing that I would never do as a reader is pass up books based solely on the low price, particularly given that I can get a good idea of the quality of writing from looking at the book description and the sample chapters. As a writer, I welcome the chance to build a readership by being able to offer my books at low prices and would hate to feel pressured into increasing my prices just in case readers assumed that the lower price meant lower quality.
I was somewhat disturbed recently when I was reading through a readers’ forum on Amazon’s KDP to find that someone had written something along the lines of ‘if a Kindle book is priced at 0.99 cents then the chances are it’s going to be really bad’. The reader went on to state that she would rather pay more money and increase the chances of getting a higher quality book than pay 0.99 cents and get a badly written book by someone who has no real interest or skill when it comes to writing.
The reason I was concerned about this is because, as an indie author, I have priced some of my Kindle books at 99 cents, not because they are of low quality but because I am a relatively unknown author and pricing low is my way of giving readers the opportunity to read my books and get to know my writing without having to shell out loads of money.
As an avid reader myself, I would expect to have to pay a fair amount of money for books by an established author. However, if I was considering trying out a new author, I wouldn’t want to pay out significant money to start off with. This is precisely why I price my books at 99 cents to $3.99 – I want readers to be able to afford to try out my books and test the waters with a new author.
Also, let’s not forget that Amazon offers readers the chance to ‘Look Inside’, which means that readers can easily look at the first few chapters of a book to assess the quality for themselves. Many of my readers have been very pleasantly surprised to find that after paying between $0.99 cents and $3.99 for a book, they have been able to enjoy well written stories that they have enjoyed and many have gone on to purchase more of my books. The reviews, some of which come from Amazon Top 50 Reviewers, also speak for themselves. Yet, I still don't feel the need to slap a higher price tag on because my aim is to gain fans and readers rather than to reap in as much cash as I can as quickly as I can. The maximum I would be comfortable charging for one of my books, as a newer author, would be $3.99 but this is to ensure a fair price for my readers not because I feel that my books aren't worth any more than that.
My point is that nobody should ever assume that just because a book is priced low that it will be of low quality, as this simply isn’t the case, particularly amongst self published authors who are more interested in building a readership than they are in trying to make a fast buck. Of course, there will be some low priced books that will be of questionable quality – there will also be some high priced books that are equally as questionable. Likewise, there are many low priced books that are of as high a quality as some of their higher priced counterparts.
They say you should never judge a book by its cover – it is also important to never judge a book by its price. As a reader, I embrace the opportunity to discover new writing talent at a really low price and I have no problem paying a dollar, two dollars, even three or four dollars to try out a new author. One thing that I would never do as a reader is pass up books based solely on the low price, particularly given that I can get a good idea of the quality of writing from looking at the book description and the sample chapters. As a writer, I welcome the chance to build a readership by being able to offer my books at low prices and would hate to feel pressured into increasing my prices just in case readers assumed that the lower price meant lower quality.
