Monday, August 4, 2014

Things Change

This past Saturday we had a fun and informative meeting of my local writers' group, CPRW. A few of our members had attended the national convention of RWA and shared the news they'd gathered during their time among the professionals of the romance writing industry.

Some of the big news centered, or course, around the sale of Harlequin to HarperCollins and what that means to writers. My fellow writers shared the amusing words repeated over and over again by the Harlequin representatives during all their presentations. "Nothing will change when the sale to HC is completed." Or course things will change. Positions and offices will slowly or perhaps quickly be combined. They'll tighten their corporate belts and make cuts. They're a business and it's about making promise. Did anyone believe them when they said nothing would change?

Another observation from my friends involved all the traditional publishers. In a direct twist on what we've come to expect, the publishers actively recruited writers. Many of the publishers' presentations were more like sales pitches as they described the things they do for their authors along the lines of promotion, editing, cover design and career goals. Apparently as more writers go the self-publishing route the traditional publishers are looking for ways to compete. At least looking for ways that don't involve paying the authors more money.

This led to a great discussion in our group about what the advantage of a contract with a traditional publisher might be. With some very candid examples, some of our group shared how they're make much more money from the books they have with small publishers compared to their books with Harlequin. But another author shared how little money she'd made so far on her self-published book. An agreed upon sentiment is that publishers give an author a better chance of discoverability. The big publishers will get your book in physical stores or even if they don't, they often have a built in audience of loyal buyers. Small publishers don't put many books in physical stores but they have repeat customers just like the big guys.

None of the news was earth-shattering but lots of it was interesting. Don't forget this Wednesday is the August version of IWSG. And visit the IWSG blog to signup and read an interesting post today. I'll be sharing what my comrades learned about possible trends in the romance and YA fields at RWA National.

Any of the news from National surprise you? Are you published in more than one venue? Do you think the big traditional publishers will ever change their payment percentages to authors to try and keep them?


12 comments:

Maria Zannini said...

I'd like to think that eventually the big publishers will change their percentages in future contracts. They already upped their original miserly percentage for ebooks to compete with the smaller publishers.

The thing they'll hold on to the tightest will probably be rights reversion.

Aside from money, what galls them is that they no longer call the shots. Authors have other options. That must sting a bit.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Interesting most made more money with smaller publishers. That's good to know!

L. Diane Wolfe said...

Of course things will change, just not immediately.

With fewer and fewer bookstores, does it really matter if the big boys can get your book in one?

Stephen Tremp said...

I'll be actively seeking a mid-sized publisher at the end of the month. If nothing happens, I'll be happy to self publish once again. Maybe, I'll start a small publishing company myself and be my first customer.

Pat Hatt said...

The publishers do have an audience there and can help a lot that way. Interesting about the money thing too. And yeah, no change is one big lie.

Joylene Nowell Butler said...

Because I've done both, self-published and sold my work to publishers, I think the only really difference is they pay up front for the book to go to print, cover artist, advertising, and distribution. They also do the posters and send the book to all the award sites. Three months later, the book is no longer important and it's as if the author has vanished. LOL. Okay, maybe not that bad, but it feels like it.

Luanne G. Smith said...

There was an article online this weekend about how much romance authors are making by self-publishing. But in each instance they cited, the writers had begun their careers as traditionally published, which helped them secure an audience -- perhaps by being part of a known publishing house or by being on store shelves. (?). So, yeah, I do think there are things traditional publishers can offer to beginning authors that self-publishing can't yet. But I think everyone agrees authors should be making more on their books than pocket change.

The Armchair Squid said...

Interesting. My wife worked in magazine publishing for a long time and takeovers are always scary. NEVER believe them when they say nothing will change. Everybody saying that is undoubtedly getting their pockets lined in the deal. For everyone else, watch your back.

Robin said...

Interesting that publishers are more into recruitment than they have been in the past. I suppose when you're the only game in town you can be more selective...

Of course, I still think the danger of traditional publishing, particularly for a first-time or non-bestselling author, is getting stuck in the mid-list with very little publicity effort directed toward your book.

Chrys Fey said...

I'm glad that you pointed at that big publishers can get books into stores, and although small publishers may not be able to do that they have repeat customers who buy a lot of their books.

I am published by a small press, but I am querying agents in hopes of snagging a big house, and I plan on self-publishing in the future. So I'm open to all. :)

Anne Gallagher said...

I've read a few more articles about this takeover of Harlequin, and I think most of their current authors are a little nervous. As with anything, change is what you make it.

Memphis said...

The only thing that seems to surprise me are dead hard drives containing the only copy of my book. This has surprised me twice in a row. Now I'm a big fan of The Cloud. Lord knows what The Cloud is going to do that surprises me next and eats my book.