God is smiling

The book lovers forum which I mentioned on here a day or so ago, has several authors within its growing membership including myself, and lots of interesting threads to get ones teeth into. One of these is aimed at the writing members, posing the question, why is it that we feel compelled to write. I have often wondered this myself, but nevertheless, was surprised to read this morning the answer that I typed after I got home last night. I was so tired that I am surprised I had the time or the energy to write at all, but then I often find, as do other writers, that my best work is produced when I am in that state, as spirit becomes detached from the body, allowing the mind to get out of the way.

Here though is what I wrote:

"I write for lots of different reasons - to express happiness, anger, sadness, despair and the sheer lunacy of life, but also to help me gain clarity on the burning issues that bore through to my soul and make me think and question what I see around me in the world at large, and also to make others think and question. I write as a means of learning and finding out more about the world - I teach what I need to learn. Most of all though I write for the sheer love of it, and because it make me feel good to know that in some small way I am making a difference to this world."

It took me a while to warm up this site, and I left for a while after I first joined following some comments that some ignorant so and so posted about how it was perfectly okay to rob authors of their livelihood by buying second hand books. Each to their own. It is all water under the bridge now anyway, and actually since I returned I have not seen that member on there anyway.

The discussion re Katie Price continues to rumble on on that same site, with members agreeing with my comments regarding how this may all be part of the divine plan to bring such issues to the attention of the public at large and open up a dialogue regarding such issues. To me it is and will always be about the authors right to be honoured as the creator of that work. In a way though, when it comes to ghost writing, it goes with the territory that this will not be the case, at least not publicly anyway.

Ghost writers are often very private people. It is a difficult but interesting and very lucrative profession to get into if you have the stomach for it, as it provides a license to get right under the skin of these celebrities and ask them all those pertinent questions that no one else can - not so much maybe with Katie, as let's face it, there is not much of her life that has not already been shoved down our throats anyway. Ghost writers are also paid handsomely for their efforts - usually for a set fee, but often with these celebrity books, if they are sensible and have a good agent who can negotiate on their behalf, for a share of the profits. They do the work knowing that it is part of the deal for their name not to be mentioned and not wanting the publicity that goes along with all of this.

I believe though that things are changing, and there is a big backlash going on against these practises that the industry would be wise to listen to. The public are wising up to the way in which they are basically being conned, and things will therefore have to change. This takes time to filter down through the echelons of the publishing industry, which is notoriously resistant to change. It will though happen, it is an inevitability and only a matter of time - it is not if, but when.

Perhaps a fair compromise would be for the ghost writer to retain her anonymity (I know her name, but most of Katie's fans and those outside the publishing industry wouldn't), but for the prize money to be shared equally between them. Mind you, with the fuss that this has caused, I would be very surprised if the book won anyway. If it does, then I don't think we have seen anything yet, but only time will tell. I do know one thing though; I can guarantee that this will not be the last time that a book such as this courts such controversy and debate.

The Bookseller website has had a few interesting articles regarding print on demand in the last week or so, which indicates that that change may be happening faster than any of us thought. The first of these by Tim Tevnan says that the number of books published in the UK skyrocketed to the highest level ever last year, driven by an increase in print on demand titles.

According to Nielsen BookScan, the number of front list titles (books with both an ISBN and a 2007 publication date) sold last year hit 118,602, up a staggering 36 percent from 2006 when the figure was 86,984.

The amount of back list titles with a pre 2007 publication date, which I guess then would include mine, as we did not change the ISBN for the second edition, sold last year also increased by 28 percent, up to 758,125 from 590,464 in 2006.

While some of this can be attributed to more products such as maps etc carrying ISBN's, this is largely due to the rise in print on demand books. André Breedt, Nielsen BookScan research and development analyst said: "there have been more front list and individual titles sold than ever before. What we are really beginning to see is the effect of books never going out of print with print on demand."

Richard Charkin, MD of Bloomsbury, JK Rowling's publisher said "what you see here is a reflection of a vibrant and healthy society." He went on to say "the principle is that it is simply getting cheaper to publish, but more costly to market to the high street." Tell me about it!

Penguin UK c.e.o. Peter Field agreed stating "if there are 120,000 books published, so many of them are POD or academic monographs, which just won’t make it to the High Street. For trade publishers, we each make decisions to publish based on what we can market and sell into the trade." More's the pity, as these figures seem to clearly show that despite these assertions, these so-called experts do not always get it right. Print on demand, as I have said so many times, has so much potential, not just for authors such as myself wishing to take control of their work, but also for those whose books have gone out of print. These figures then come as no surprise whatsoever to me or I suspect, the majority of print on demand authors both in this country and abroad.

The second story which only goes to underline my point, relates to literary agency PFD, whom it seems somewhat controversially, are also embracing this technology. The article states that PFD are 'entering into a relationship' with Lightning Source, enabling them to bring out of print works from many of their authors, both living and dead, back into circulation through print on demand. These authors include names such as V S Pritchett estate, the Storm Jameson estate and author Angela Huth.

PFD believes that this deal will fulfil two different services; firstly to bring these out of print titles back into circulation, but also to give them the opportunity to re-present titles to publishers with a concrete sales history, with a view to being republished on a mainstream list. I wonder if they would offer to represent me then with the history that I now have and whether I would be deemed to have made sufficient sales to be worthy of their attention?

The books will be available through all the usual outlets that are typically open to Lightning Source books namely, Amazon, Bertrams and Gardners, as well as via PFD's own website. This is the bit that causes the most controversy, as it means in effect that PFD have become both publisher and agent, and one cannot help but wonder whether there is a conflict of interest here.

Still it does show that print on demand continues to make waves and inroads within the industry in a way that would have been unthinkable a few short years ago.

In the almost 2 years since the first edition of my book was published, there have been tremendous changes within the industry, which many thought would never have been possible With changes in the supply chain and the softening attitude towards self publishing and in particular print on demand, there has never been a better time to be embracing this route, and I am for one am really proud and excited to be in the midst of this revolution as one of the forerunners who has helped to bring this change about.

Sometimes I think that you have to hit rock bottom before you can come out the other side, as it is only by reaching this point that you can come to a place of surrender. It is no secret that things have been very tough for me of late, but I am at last beginning to turn the corner and see some light at the end of the tunnel (and thankfully it is not a train coming the other way!)

Last week I reported that I had received an order for 2 books from a Scottish branch of Christian book chain Wesley Owen. They sent the books straight back again though, leaving me £5 out of pocket having sent them on a firm sale basis in good faith. I emailed them for an explanation and was surprised to have an email back a few days later apologising and offering to send me a cheque to cover the cost.

The article in the the local paper was published in last weeks issue and has so far resulted in 2 more sales. I have also been offered the chance to have a stall free of charge at the end of April at one of my local town's most important and best attended annual events - the Brigitte Trust complimentary health day. I also today had an email from a friend from the astrology group I attended last night to say that she would like to buy 10 copies of the book to distribute to her friends. The number I still have to sell is slowly diminishing and God is smiling on me once more. Long may that continue.

Cutting off their nose to spite their face

It has been such a busy week one way or another that I have not had the time to write this blog at all. It seems that everyone seems to be wanting a piece of me right now, and as a result there has not been much peace and quiet for me. Much as I enjoy my job (and I have had a very good week with some outstanding sales and a very interesting visit to trade fair on Wednesday) life was so much easier when I did not need to work. It was not so much that I did not need to anyway, for I should have returned a long time before I did, but it was a conscious choice. The choice to continue working four days a week is then as much of a choice as any other, but still it seems in many ways when I earn so little for my writing efforts, that there is no real choice at all.

I am despite this, old enough and wise enough to realise that despite my musings above, that it is a choice like any other, borne from my need to maintain a certain lifestyle, a lifestyle that involves a little more than just paying my bills and keeping a roof over my head. If I was prepared to make certain sacrifices such as not eating out, driving a lot less (difficult when you live four miles from the nearest town and there is only one bus every other hour), not enjoy holidays to Lundy, buy second hand clothes and just sit at home staring at the walls, then maybe I could afford to work three days a week instead, but this for me is not an option, as I believe, quite rightly, that I am entitled to enjoy my life, and recognise that this involves a certain degree of compromise. Unfortunately for me this has resulted in a big pile of books on the living room table, but that is par for the course and no matter how much I whitter on about this it does not change the fact that they are there.

I had hoped that the pile would start to diminish this week, as the local paper were to run a piece about me in this weeks issue, but it did not materialise. I am not too worried about this though, as I am sure it will be in this weeks one instead. After all, they did go to the trouble of sending a photographer to my home to record the evidence, and they would not have done this unless they were going to use those pictures. The reporter with whom I have been conversing rang Coran at home on Thursday after failing to get hold of me at work. He has decided that he needs to get Gardners side of the story before he goes ahead with the story and get some more background info from my website, which I suppose is fair enough. Rather than talk to Gardners direct though (I wouldn't have a clue who he needs to talk to anyway, seeing as they won't talk to me) I have referred him to Richard. If he hasn't already done so, then I expect he will give him a call next week. I buy the Advertiser every week anyway, as I need to keep in touch with what is going on in my capacity as editor of my village newsletter, so I will see it as soon as it goes in and send a copy to Richard and Paul in due course.

In the meantime my copy of the Booksellers Association Members Directory has arrived, and I have made a start by emailing at least some of their members. I tried to call some of them this morning to follow up, but most of them do not open until 10am on Saturdays. I did though get through to Wesley Owen in Aberdeen, who agreed to buy two books direct from me on a firm sale basis. It is only two copies, but it is a start, and it shows that if one branch is prepared to do this, then perhaps others would too. This is quite exciting for me, as Wesley Owen are one of the largest Christian book chains in the country, with several branches in nearby towns that I could deliver direct to perhaps, saving the cost of transportation.

I also sent a review copy out to Kindred Spirit magazine earlier in the week, to which I have subscribed now for a number of years. This is the leading new age magazine with a huge circulation, and so could do great things for me. They have only recently started to do book reviews again after a long hiatus, and a least of a quarter of those they have published have been of self published books, so I should be in with a very good chance, although it may mean waiting for a few months, since they have a bit of a backlog.

In the book world the debate re firm sale continues to rumble on. Waterstones have now decided that when their distribution warehouse opens at the end of May they will ask publishers for an extra 5 percent discount. This is not too bad actually, since they will be saving money by not having to go through wholesalers. The publishers will then end up better off, as going through a wholesaler means that they will have to sell at 55 percent discount, but Waterstones will buy direct for just 45 percent discount. I could at a push afford to supply them direct on those terms if I could buy books all the time for print cost plus 1o percent instead of the usual 25 percent.

Both Borders and Waterstones are also preparing to start selling e-books, in Borders case via their new website (must check to see if those guidelines re getting stocked by them are on the new site), and Waterstones from July in stores. The Bookseller states that Sony are preparing to launch e-readers onto the UK market sometime during 2o08, yet there were none in evidence at their trade show on Wednesday, and when I asked about them, the staff there knew nothing about it at all.

Borders I see are also changing strategy regarding how books are displayed in their stores, following the example of their American cousins, and displaying them face on rather than just showing the spines. This is a risky strategy for them to take since it will mean that less books will fit on their shelves, but I suppose if it helps to increase sales, as they seem to think it will, then it could pay dividends for both the retailer and author alike.

Julian Rivers, who was a founding director and deputy c.e.o. of the Bertram Group and now runs his own consultancy, as well as being chairman of Waterside Books and director of Meet The Author, has an interesting article re fair trade on his blog site, linked to The Bookseller, where he bemoans the abolition of the net book price agreement and what this has meant to libraries. I find this interesting at a time when I too have been writing about fair trade practises, albeit for a different purpose. It shows me though that I am not the only one to have such thoughts on my mind.

Graeme Neil reports that for the first time last year, the volume of books bought at a discount was greater than the volume bought at full price. The practise of discounting has steadily increased since 2004, when it represented 44 percent of book purchases. In 2007 the volume of discounted titles reached 51 percent of the market.

According to the survey, conducted by BML, consumers aged 12-79 years bought 6 percent more books in 2007 than the previous year, up from 322 million to 342 million. The value also increased but at a lower rate, up 4 percent to £2.454 billion. This is then both good and bad news.

The growth in consumer book purchases between 2006 and 2007 seems to have been driven mainly by supermarkets and the Internet, with both volume and value of sales in both sectors doubling since 2004. Internet sales topped £400 million last year, accounting for 17 percent of consumer spending, up from just 9 percent in 2004.

A third of book purchases still go through chain stores such as the aforementioned Borders and Waterstones, but while volume through these stores has grown year-on-year by 1%, the actual value fell by 1%. The chains however still have far greater buying power than the supermarkets and the Internet combined.

Sales of adult books grew 13 percent in volume in the years 2004-2007, with sales of children's books increasing by 18 percent in volume and 29 percent in value over the same period (perhaps I will become a children's writer then). The lower growth in value compared with volume reflects the decrease in average selling price paid by consumers, and shows to me just how much this agressive attitude impacts on the industry. It seems to me that they are cutting off their noses to spite their face in an effort to be what they think is competitive. During that same four year period, the survey found that average book prices paid for adult books fell by 5 percent with a 3 percent decrease in 2007 alone. One cannot help but wonder where this will all end.