New Edition. Contemporary Publishing Magazine. by Authoright

NEW EDITION CONTEMPORARY

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MAGAZINE ISSUE 16, JULY 2014

the

ideas issue

What’s the next big idea in book publishing? Industry insiders give us their thoughts.

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This Month

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MASTERS

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ideas issue

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Where Everybody Knows Your Name

THANKS FOR READING!

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CONTEMPORARY PUBLISHING MAGAZINE

Welcome to the Ideas Issue of New Edition!

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With the digital revolution still in full flux, the battle for distribution raging and more books being produced than ever before, people of the page need to be looking forward to what’s next. So this month, we’ve asked some of publishing’s best minds what they think is coming up for the industry. We’ve asked agents and authors, publishers and journalists to share their great ideas with us, and with you! See what they’ve thought up. We also hear from author Robin Reinach on starting her own publishing company and share some tips to leverage your book into a media frenzy.

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Lit by the Bridge

Culture Stock, Aurora, IL facebook.com/litbythebridge On the third Thursday of every month, Culture Stock bookshop holds an open mic event in their store overlooking the Fox River. This month’s featured writer is poet, songwriter, journalist and educator Larry O Dean. The event is free and open to the public, who are encouraged to sign up for five minutes of time to read their own writing. The event begins at 6:30 pm, but readers are encouraged to arrive early to sign up for the open mic, which is limited to ten readers.

The Rise of the Marriage Thriller: Salon with Lucie Whitehouse, Julie Corbin and Alex Heminsley

Bloomsbury Publishing, London pages.bloomsbury.com/bloomsburyinstitute/riseofthedomesticthriller Authors Lucie Whitehouse and Julie Corbin and book journalist Alex Heminsley gather at the Bloomsbury Institute to discuss the rise of the domestic thriller in contemporary fiction. According to Whitehouse, the genre “deals in the dark side of relationships, intimate danger, the idea that you can never really know your husband or partner or that your home and relationship is threatened. In these books, danger sleeps next to you. Marriage is catnip for writers of psychological suspense because it’s such a private, intimate relationship.” Tickets are available for £10 (£6 for students) through Eventbrite, linked on the Institute’s website.

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Amy Bloom

Brookline Booksmith, Brookline, MA brooklinebooksmith-shop.com/event/amy-bloom-lucky-us Amy Bloom, author of Away and Come to Me, will be at Brookline Booksmith reading and signing copies of her new novel, Lucky Us, which will be available in August. The event is free and open to the public, and first come, first served seating opens at 6:30 pm. Lucky Us is currently available for preorder through the Booksmith’s website.

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MASTERS As an author, talking about your book isn’t the only way to bolster your media profile. James Wharton gives some tips on other ways to leverage your work to become the go-to person for print media, radio and more.

The publishing of a book can open the door to a world of opportunities for a first time author. Following a good media campaign and energetic launch period, the window to further profile or financially rewarding activities is there for the taking; some are obvious, others are less so, but what is certain is that a savvy author will strike while the iron’s hot…let’s look at some of the opportunities. The Talking Head Your opinion will be valuable, particularly to a budding news producer who’s looking for a fresh take on something current. This is more likely an opportunity for an author who’s written non-fiction, perhaps within a specific genre. A good publicist will foresee events in the news and make sure news networks and journalists are aware of your expert opinion on a matter. A great example of this is the author Owen Jones, who, after releasing his debut book, Chavs, in the UK a couple of years ago, became the go-to man on all things socio-economic current affairs. Owen has secured coverage on BBC’s ‘Question Time’, Sky News and the majority of British based TV news networks. After Owen’s roaring success with Chavs and the profile he has built for himself as an expert speaker,

his second book, The Establishment, has been confirmed and due for release in September this year. Find him on Twitter @owenjones84 Newspaper and Magazine Columnist It goes without saying that if you can manage a 100,000 word book and a strict deadline, as is common with writing or re-writing for publication, you will be able to cough up a regular 500 to 700 word column for a newspaper or magazine. Columnists are an interesting breed and many authors find the opportunity of continued literary output very fulfilling in between releasing books. Matt Cain, whose debut novel, Shot Through the Heart, has been critically acclaimed since its release recently in the UK, writes a regular column for Attitude magazine, allowing him to engage with a large, loyal audience – perfect for peddling a current or future book. Matt rightly identified that having constant engagement within the media – talking to thousands of people on a monthly basis via a column – has allowed him to remain current and become known to even more readers. Follow him on Twitter @mattcainwriter

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goes, adding to his author acumen. Find him on Twitter @damian_barr

Local Radio Local radio stations are constantly on the look out for new contributions from local people with a profile. If you have a publicist, mention to them that you are interested in doing more locally within the media and suggest they forward information on to a locally based producer of radio/ TV. This happened to me; after an interview at my local BBC radio station last year, I mentioned to the producer that I was very local and always open to contributing to programmes or news pieces. A few weeks later I had a call asking if I’d review newspapers on a Sunday morning, allowing me to reach a large audience. It’s only natural that by doing such work, an author can have their book promoted in return for the time you offer to participate in a show.

The second Edition

Owen Jones , author of ‘chavs’

Future Literary Works

Book Tour Authors can continue to raise income from a book even months after publication, by undertaking a book tour discussing the themes and nature of a book. See my article in the February 2014 issue of New Edition for more details on how to plan your own book tour.

matt cain, author of ‘shot through the heart’

Literary Events A quick search of literary events on Google will point out rather quickly that such happenings are scattered across the calendar frequently, all potential chances to engage with readers and possibly sell some books. Simply forwarding a press release and perhaps some links to media coverage to an event’s programming person can be enough to land a booking. An author who has taken advantage of this recently is Damian Barr, whose multi-award wining memoir of growing up under ’80s Thatcherism has gained him international acclaim. Damian frequently features at both small and large scale literary events, selling copies of his book Maggie and Me as he

Becoming much more common these days is the second edition, sometimes called the Updated Edition. I’m doing this with my book when it comes out in paperback this winter and will, hopefully, entice past readers to rebuy my book, in order to read new content. Authors are also doing this with their books that haven’t been released in the E-format, in many cases due to the fact that when their books were initially released, Kindles and the like didn’t exist. Worth noting here that in ten years from now, there will likely be a new way for people to enjoy their books, so be excited about that, too.

Writing is like a bug, something that’s been said by many, and you might find the urge to sit down and go for another novel too great to overpower. Capitalise on your audience and the supporters who might have already reached out to you via social media; entice them with your second book, tell them it’s coming and to be patient – you’ll be creating a buzz all on your own. There’s a lot of opportunity out there to sink your teeth into. Keep your mind open to these different avenues and don’t be afraid to have a go at something you might not have thought yourself capable of. Your book is your business and you need to ensure that that business survives. By considering some of these activities as ways to keep your literary hopes afloat, you will be setting yourself up for further success. Good luck with it all!

Damiam Barr, author of ‘Maggie and Me’

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Robin Reinach is a publisher who knows firsthand what it’s like to share her work with the world; her own novella was the first book she published through her Central Park Publishers imprint. She shares her experiences of starting her own publishing house and seeing her book roll off the press.

A Publishing House

of My Own When the internet changed the publishing industry forever, I saw the opportunity I’d been daydreaming about since grammar school – to gift the world with my favourite form of expression: books. Books had been my first best friends; books had taken me on my first great adventures, and reading had given rise to my first insights into the people and planet beyond my own neighbourhood. In fact, I recently learned that some psychologists credit novel reading with increasing empathy. I can personally attest to the profound impact important books have had on my life and shifts in perspective they have caused. Growing up in New York City, I was privileged to access myriad alternative artistic expressions even as a child. As a Baby Boomer coming of age during the ‘Make Love Not War’ generation, it was obvious to me that original perspectives were changing the culture in significant ways. Now, in 2014, Central Park Publishers offers a contribution to our ongoing cultural evolution. My first book, Broken Open, is an erotic novella composed of emails and letters. I like experimenting

with form, and I admit to publishing my own book first. There always has to be a ‘first’, and I felt most comfortable practising (and making mistakes) on my own work. The next book I’m bringing forward is much different – a combination memoir/resource, how-to/inspirational story about raising special needs twins, one of whom grew up to be the third autistic adult ever to graduate from Pace University. Central Park Publishers is a garden for emerging perspectives, original and unusual points of view. I am a gardener, cultivating those controversial and vulnerable voices in fertile ground. As an editor, I’m at my best helping others realise their visions. What’s important to the author and what does s/he really want to express? My training in Gestalt therapy helps me see deeply into the psychological aspects of a manuscript and then help the author bring his or her vision more alive on the page. Given today’s fast paced life, what kinds of forms can grab an audience and deliver the writer’s message? One goal of my publishing company is to help authors shape their work so that readers are intrigued and drawn in by more accessible prose forms.

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Reinach’s Broken Open was the first book published by her imprint Central Park Publishers.

That’s one reason Broken Open is told in small bites and big gulps. The reader can indulge on the subway, in the bathroom, or while waiting in line and still get a satisfying chunk of the story. Alternative voices are gestating at Central Park Publishers. We’ve got a safe place for writers to risk exploring anything from their sexuality to rearing special needs kids to experiences in psychotherapy. Did I mention an upcoming compilation project called Shrink Rap, with anecdotes culled from years of experience with therapists who: disappeared without a trace after summer vacation, married or slept with their patients, got arrested and taken away in handcuffs on TV, or ended up owing money to their clients? In today’s chaotic, creative and unreliable publishing climate, big companies are burdened by the drive to make big bucks. Nowadays, ‘top down’ publishing can rarely afford to take chances on the new, the risky, or the original. Luckily, ‘bottom up’ companies like Central Park Publishers are springing up to fill the void. Virginia Woolf was published by her husband; without him, we might not have her work today. In the 21st century, a woman can have not only a room, but also a publishing company of her own. It’s not even that hard to get started. My own path began with creating an LLC (limited liability corporation), setting up an account with Lightning Source (one of the largest print-on-demand services), and buying a batch of ISBNs. The entire process, from incorporation

to copyrighting the final draft of Broken Open and pouring it into the template for Lightning Source, has been a labour of love. I look forward to working with original and evolving voices that readers deserve to hear. Central Park Publishers is committed to that winwin situation, where writers offer up their unique and powerful perspectives, and readers receive a window onto the strange, the funny, the sad and bittersweet voices, speaking out from worlds beyond their ordinary experience. As a native Manahattanite, I was thrilled to find the name Central Park Publishers available for my company. Here on our mostly cement island, Central Park is an almost subversive burst of green, blooming smack dab in the middle of concrete sidewalks and brick buildings. The park is paradoxically a cherished man-made and carefully maintained oasis, as well as evidence of the indomitable spirit of nature, irrepressibly expressing itself at the heart of this most urban island. Central Park Publishers represents that kind of partnership too. The irrepressible, instinctive artistic expression of each author meets the deep care and attention to detail that will help us birth sustainable and superb books into a world that is starving for fresh energy and original ideas. Robin Reinach is the author of Broken Open and President and CEO of Central Park Publishers. Find her online at robinreinach.com and centralparkpublishers.com and on Twitter @RobinReinach

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CONTEMPORARY PUBLISHING MAGAZINE

the

ideas issue

What is the next big idea in publishing? That’s not an easy question to answer. Will it be a major advance in retailing? eProduction? Author branding and marketing? Or will it more likely be smaller shifts in all of these things at once? We asked lots of publishing people – from authors to agents to publishers – about what they think is coming next.

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David Haviland Breaking boundaries with digital I think one big idea will be a much wider range of lengths and formats than the standard 80,000 words. In the age of physical books there were obvious commercial reasons why a book needed to have a certain heft to be viable, but with eBooks this is no longer such an issue. This is a liberating shift, as it means authors will be able to tailor a book’s length to the story’s individual requirements. In the past I’ve found this to be a particular bugbear when reading non-fiction, when I’d buy a 300-page book with an intriguing premise, but then find that the whole thing could have been comfortably managed in 100 pages. At Thistle, alongside our full-length titles, we’re also publishing a growing number of Kindle Single-length titles, in the 15,000–30,000 word range. David Haviland is a literary agent at the Andrew Lownie Agency acquiring fiction. He also manages the agency’s Thistle Publishing imprint.

Tim Davies Trads embrance self publishing I think it’s only a matter of time before the majority of traditional publishing companies offer a self publishing solution of some description, whether overtly, or discreetly. Many are already running a version of this, in fact, via ‘custom’, ‘contract’ or ‘exclusive’ publishing units. As things stand, these units are targeted at companies, institutions or organisations who pay to print and/or publish their souvenir guidebook, corporate history or anniversary memento, but it would only take a small adjustment to their business models to adapt them for the private individual; aka author. Arguably, the only thing that’s preventing publishing companies from launching such a ‘direct to consumer’ model is a genuine and valid concern that their core brand,

positioning and publishing integrity could be compromised by offering a paid-for service. It would be tricky to decline a manuscript submitted by an author for publishing via the traditional route, whilst in the next breath offering to publish it if the author pays! The keys to this, however, will be the perception of the wider publishing industry and authors, the integrity of the services offered and the ethical stance and approach of the publishing company concerned. Things are changing rapidly now as the democratisation of publishing kicks in and the industry wakes up to the new publishing landscape. Tim Davies is the managing director of The History Press and nonexecutive chairman of Authoright.

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Yasmin Standen Rise of the independents

Andrew Lownie Better contracts for authors I don’t think there is going to be one big idea – merely a series of small ideas. We are going to see further consolidation of agencies and publishers, more assisted publishing and self publishing and more diversification in terms of what agencies and publishers do. Many in publishing will make their livelihood from author services and showing people how to secure publication through non-traditional channels. I hope the next big idea is that major publishers will wake up to the fact that they will only survive if they offer terms as good as those offered elsewhere, including fixedterm licences, eBook rates of at least 50% and preferably escalating and higher for back list titles, and they will have to publish, when necessary, much more quickly. Publishers will increasingly sell direct from their websites and might even give thought to helping bookshops by offering exclusives on certain titles for, say, a month before the book is made available to Amazon and other digital retailers. Perhaps also scope to set up the equivalent of the German Buchhaus, offering events within a bookshop environment. Authors will need to think of themselves like musicians – making money from performances as much as retail sales. They will need to be much more sophisticated in terms of having websites, using social media and promoting themselves, often working with writers in similar genres. Andrew Lownie is the best-selling literary agent in the world and the owner of the Andrew Lownie Literary Agency.

I spy with my little eye…More mergers such as PRH are likely and in turn more independent publishers will spring up and start to make an impact. Traditional publishers will need to review their royalties for digital rights – this is an issue which will keep cropping up until it is addressed. The gender issue for children’s fiction is not the problem – there is a great deal of good writing for boys and girls or both – the real challenges which parents face involve screen time versus reading time…How do you market a book to a child when they want to be on ‘Minecraft’?! Amazon’s current demands of publishers – the Hachette dispute in the US and POD demands on UK publishers, along with the MFN (most favoured nation) proposal – this is a Napster moment for publishers – will shake publishing up irrevocably and forever. Future changes will also have a knock-on effect on agents. Distributors and printers will have to play a larger role in the whole process. These latest events are the reason we set up Three Hares Publishing – I knew this would happen five years ago. Yasmin Standen is the owner of The Standen Literary Agency and publisher at Three Hares Publishing.

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Piers Blofeld eBooks direct from publishers Prediction is a scary thing – think of all those people who never saw the need for telephones in the home or thought we’d all be flying to work by now. Having said that, there are some things which I think need to start happening, and really they all centre round the one big fact of publishing in 2014: Amazon are too big and too powerful and in the long run that won’t be good

for anyone – not even those self published authors who are doing great just now. So my big prediction for the next year or two is that publishers will finally start to get serious about using their own channels to sell eBooks. They really do not need Amazon for that, and although there is no way on earth they are going to overtake – or even compete seriously – with them in the foreseeable future, they should be setting themselves a target of 10–20% of all eBook sales through their own channels in that period. What’s great for authors about that is that their best channel would be an author website – who goes to publisher websites? Authors are the brand, and publishers should be (and increasingly are) working with authors right from the very beginning of their careers

to help build their brand. And the more sales authors can generate from their own platform, the more independent they can be. The author–publisher relationship has always been a partnership, but it has historically often not seemed a very equal partnership – Amazon pose such a real threat to publishers that they really need to look at that relationship, and think not just how they can add value for authors, but think about changing some of the fundamental hierarchies of the relationship. There are some really exciting possibilities in that. Piers Blofeld is a literary agent at Sheil Land Associates, where he represents a number of high profile, prize winning and internationally bestselling authors.

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Holly Robinson Connecting writers to their readers The other day, I was signing books at a local Barnes & Noble when a woman approached and said, “Hi! I want you to come to our book club!” I watched in amazement as she whipped out her phone and showed me how she’d listed my new novel, Beach Plum Island, on her ‘want to read’ Goodreads list and posted it on her club’s Facebook page. “I’ll tweet you when we’ve made a decision about your book,” she said in parting. Welcome to the next big idea in publishing: seamless connectivity between readers and writers. As a hybrid author who forges a living as a novelist, ghost writer and journalist, I’ve practically suffered whiplash from recent changes in publishing. When I published my first book with Random House in 2009, for instance, The Economist featured an article lauding the Kindle. eBooks blazed hotter and hotter until recently, when eBook sales began to plateau. Print magazines and newspapers have

been steadily shifting to digital formats or have folded altogether; one of the most recent shockers was the shuttering of Ladies’ Home Journal, an institution for over 130 years. Meanwhile, writers are worriedly watching Amazon battle Hachette and bemoaning the steady decline in bricks-and-mortar bookstores. Not me. I believe readers are always going to be hungry for stories, and thanks to new technologies, there are many exciting ways to deliver them, even with music and visuals, if that’s your thing. For example, Faber & Faber recently released an interactive eBook version of The Thirty-Nine Steps that includes animation and silent-film music. Perhaps more importantly, though, the barriers between writers and readers are falling away. Bookstores and libraries are still essential community resources and provide personal interactions between readers and writers, but we now have ways

to hurdle the barriers between us on our own, too. Today’s authors are blogging, sharing their latest events on Facebook pages, tweeting bits of their work, and creating Pinterest accounts to track things like historic homes and costumes they might be researching for a particular book. Writers also do blog tours, Skype with book clubs and run contests or provide cover reveals online. By letting our readers see how and why we write, they become even more engaged in the finished product – and more supportive of our work. New technologies will continue changing the way we read and tell stories. But the stories will get told, and those of us who write them are lucky to be living at a time when there are so many ways to connect with readers. Holly Robinson is a hybrid author whose most recent novel, Beach Plum Island, was published on April 1 by New American Library.

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Porter Anderson The happy traditional author A part of any good insurgency is a lot of noise. And the fast rise of digitally empowered self publishing authors has been nothing if not noisy. In fact, at the outset, the self publishing US writers were better known for their shrill anger at ‘the gatekeepers’ of traditional publishing than they were for their books. There are still a few big chips on some independent shoulders. But for the most part, time and cooler heads have eased the rhetoric. We now have self publishing authors who are well-known for their titles in various genres. No one suggests that self publishing is a fad, or vanity publishing in a KDP T-shirt, or something to consider only as a last resort. In fact, agencies are devising ways to offer assisted self publishing programmes

and other forms of support to their clients, publishers are trying to sort out how entrepreneurial authors get so close to their readers. And it’s no longer industry wrenching news that a major house has picked up a self publishing author’s existing or forthcoming books. All of which means that there’s now a little time to think about whom we haven’t heard from in a while: traditionally published authors. There are exceptions, of course, such as Kerry Wilkinson, formerly a leading Kindle self publisher and now an outspoken fan of his Pan Macmillan contracts. But for the most part, traditionally published authors have all but gone to ground during the last couple of years’ advances by indie authors. Traditionally published authors may finally have become tired of being portrayed at times as the shuffleboard set. Some self publishers have at least implied that their traditionally publishing colleagues were afraid either of independence, of the work it takes, or of the nobody-but-yourself-toblame isolation it can bring. Some of that may be true for some authors, of course. There can be many other reasons for a writer’s decision to stay with a publisher, or

seek one, too. But a key effect of the ‘silence of the trads’, as I’ve called it, has been that publishers have gone largely undefended by their authors. Even the most-honoured (and presumably most handsomely contracted) authors have remained quiet rather than rushing to their publishers’ aid. That may be, at last, about to change. Entrepreneurialism, the traditional authors of the world might soon be heard clarifying, does not have to mean self publishing. The choice to seek or continue to work with a publisher is perfectly valid for many, many authors. When our #FutureChat discussion at The FutureBook turned to the question in June, author Emily St. John Mandel – whose Station Eleven will be published in September by AA Knopf – stepped forward to praise the “passionate, intelligent people” who form her team at Knopf. She also talked of having more time to write, “not having to spend all my time self-promoting”. And she talked of “seeing my book in bookstores, getting to travel and meet booksellers”. These are not idly named benefits. And while actual contractual points will remain out of sight, there’s much more to be said for the backing and prestige of publishers (whether Big Five or independent) that has gone largely unheard for some time. The important point to remember will be that this need not be a shouting match. No one needs to ‘win’ a PR battle here. And a chance to hear from the traditionally published authors of the world will mean a more balanced, nuanced understanding of the industry for the creative corps. It’s time. Porter Anderson (@Porter_Anderson), BA, MA, MFA, is a journalist, speaker, and consultant specialising in book publishing and its digital disruption.

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Where Everybody Knows Your Name

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In the spirit of the ideas issue, Jordan Koluch takes on the question of distribution, and finds that branding might just be the answer. The great Amazon–Hachette debate is still overwhelming our collective consciousness at the moment. But more than being a David vs. Goliath story (or really, a Goliath vs. slightly-smaller-Goliath story) it is, at its core, a question of distribution – how do we best get books to readers? For Hachette, the answer to that question is currently “Amazon”. According to The Bookseller, Amazon is responsible for 78% of the sales of Hachette titles in the UK and 60% of Hachette titles in the US. This statistic causes me to question whether there are better ways to get books to readers. Independent bookstores are the gold standard of bookselling in many ways. They receive lower retail discounts than national retailers, meaning that publishers make more revenue per book sold. They’re also well attuned to the tastes of the community they serve, making them more like cultural institutions than the chains that may have more variety and lower prices. Stores like McNally Jackson in New York City and Powell’s Books in Portland, Oregon, have avid followings among locals and are destinations for tourists. These stores are famous for their brands, both of which represent curated selections, knowledgeable and dedicated staff, and author events that make literature accessible to the community. While readers may not receive the same steep discounts at indies as they do at other retailers, strong brands inspire loyalty that keep patrons coming back. 0s&1s Novels is trying to replicate this brand loyalty and careful curation on the internet. They offer a small selection of their own titles, as well as two titles each from numerous independent presses as six-dollar, DRM-free eBooks. Though the service

is new, they hope that readers learn to associate quality with their brand and keep coming back for more eBooks, even though the selection doesn’t include international bestsellers. Some publishers have found that sidestepping the retailer altogether is better in some cases. Children’s publisher Barefoot Books turns parents into Ambassadors, offering a thirty per cent profit on every book sold. Ambassadors often sell Barefoot books to their friends at gatherings that resemble Tupperware parties. Barefoot has a brand identity of imaginative, educational and eco-friendly literature that their customers are personally willing to recommend to their friends, creating wordof-mouth buzz that sells even more books. If all publishers could leverage their brands like this, they could sell books through their own websites, avoiding the retailer altogether. Consumers go to Amazon because the company is well-known for having the lowest prices and quickest delivery speed. But if consumers had a way of knowing that JK Rowling is a Hachette author, that her books are available through Hachette, and that Hachette’s brand stood for high-quality, entertaining content, why wouldn’t that consumer go directly to the source, not only for The Silkworm but also for other recommendations from a trusted supplier? I bet you didn’t know that all of the Big Six besides Penguin do sell their own books through their websites (I say ‘six’ because Penguin and Random House still have separate websites). Why isn’t that common knowledge to book buyers, especially when the third Google hit when you search for The Silkworm is Hachette’s website? It’s

CONTEMPORARY PUBLISHING MAGAZINE

because no one Googles a book when they want to buy it; they know it will be available quickly and at the lowest price on Amazon. Because Amazon occupies that brand space in consumers’ minds. Essentially distribution is all about branding; when consumers want to buy books, who do they look to first? Is it the local independent bookstore with whom they have a personal relationship? Is it the big box store they have to go to anyway to get groceries or cleaning supplies? Or is it a monolith e-tailer with lossleader pricing? The draw of these companies is that they’re familiar in a way that no publisher is (except to maybe the very, very dedicated few). According to publishing industry analyst Mike Shatzkin, “So here’s the rule about branding. Each major house should pick one name that is an umbrella. It goes on every book to establish the company as a major source of quality literature, enjoyable reading, and book-packaged information. Trying to target more precisely than that should be the job of the ‘imprint’ brand under the umbrella brand. And that brand should be vertical, identifying subject or audience.” Macmillan has had some success with this sort of branding with their Tor sci-fi imprint. Tor’s readers participate with the brand and each other online at tor.com, where they hear about the imprint’s new releases, read blog posts by Tor authors and editors, and receive free online-only content. From Macmillan’s perspective, having an audience that seeks out their content in one place allows them to better access that market and sell their books. Creating solid brand identities is arguably the hardest thing any business can do. But the benefits to publishers seem to outweigh the costs. Having brands that drive customers to their website rather than the website of a retailer not only brings in more revenue, but allows them to promote more mid list authors who don’t have the same exposure and marketing budgets as the big names that drive sales. Making customers brand-loyal means that they will buy not only JK Rowling’s books, but also the books that Hachette recommends alongside The Silkworm. And that could change the landscape of bookselling forever.

McNally Jackson and Powell’s Books are two independent bookstores with strong brands that draw in locals and tourists alike.

0s&1s Novels has tried to replicate that brand loyalty online wiht a highly curated selection of ebooks from a variety of independent presses.

Barefoot Books has leveraged their brand to make loyal customers brand ambassadors who spread buzz about upcoming titles through word-of-mouth to their friends and family.

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DRM Buying eBooks in a Copyrighted World

Digital Rights Management has become a very relevant (and contentious) point of debate in the revolutionary world of online media. When the cultural showdown pits content creators against networked buyers, who deserves priority treatment in matters of intellectual property rights? Justin Kelly investigates. 18

In our modern age of wireless connection, it is increasingly difficult to deny humanity’s penchant for all things digital and convenient: according to Mark Sweney of The Guardian, all signs point to the likelihood of eBooks outselling print books in the next several years; printed maps are decidedly a thing of the past; and Buzzfeed has become the preferred way for much of the younger generation to receive their news. We have clearly evolved into an online society, and with that choice we have collectively green-lighted an ever-expanding body of digital media. But having more content available means there’s also more for content creators to protect. While it has never been rocket science to build bricks-and-mortar stores with large, locked doors to guard physical merchandise, placing a lock on digital goods is consistently proving itself a challenge for even the most accomplished cyber engineers. How do we stop the illegal dissemination of that which is intangible? How can we prevent unsanctioned duplicates of copyrighted properties when said properties are remotely accessible from any screen connected to the internet? And how do we go about answering such questions without infringing upon individual rights to lawfully purchased property? For many, the answers lie in Digital Rights Management, a branch of online security more widely known as DRM. Programmers are constantly refining methods by which digital manufacturing and retailing companies can protect their copyrighted products. If a hardworking author, music artist, or other content producer has laboured for years to create some form of media meant to pay their bills as well as entertain their fans, it naturally follows that they should profit from the digital transmission of their work, yes? Let’s have a little experiment. I invite you to go to Amazon. com, the Apple Store, Barnes & Noble Online…anywhere on the internet where you know that you can purchase an electronic copy of a book. Once there, search for an online

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version of any book you want. Once you’ve found be viewed as a compliment by those whose media is the YA novel of your choice (we know you so well, passed around, as the active sharing of work exhibits don’t we?), go ahead and buy it. Now try to upload the strong desirability of the product. His experience that book from your device onto your computer. Go (and personal practice of not using DRM on his ahead and do it! We’ll wait. eBooks) has also shown that initial online pirates Having a hard time? Unfortunately (or fortunately, frequently later become monetary contributors if depending on whom you ask), we’ll most likely be the products they experience strike an artistic fancy. waiting a very long time for you to sort out your Howie makes his position quite clear in his website issues: you can’t share an eBook between devices if it article ‘Me and the Pirates are Tight’: has been given DRM protections, and most eBooks “When I became a content creator a few years ago, have been given just that. Almost anywhere else on I used my own experiences as a guide. I wanted it to the internet, it’s quite simple to copy and paste an be easy as hell for other people to own my stuff. That image or piece of text from one location to another. meant never putting DRM on my eBooks. This is the But the story is very different when you attempt to digital rights management protection that makes it do the same thing with an electronic book. I can difficult to convert my books, copy them around, all almost guarantee that if you took part in our group that stuff. I wanted to reward the buyer rather than experiment, you couldn’t even get that eBook file worry about the pirate.” off your device, let alone send it elsewhere. These Howie believes that not using DRM allows his own restrictions are the direct result of DRM software titles to spread far more quickly than they might have planted within the book’s coding, and no amount done had they been protected from illegal sharing. of frenzied Alohomora-ing will work for breaking Although there is a definite rationale to copyright through the electronic protection, arguments such locks. as Howie’s provide a strong In theory, these counterclaim for the unlikely controls are very smart case of online piracy. “I wanted to reward the in granting protection Companies that employ buyer rather than worry against digital piracy. DRM protections have They ensure that those certainly heard the consumer about the pirate.” who have worked to complaints, and they are create a product are working hard to strike that -Hugh Howie properly compensated elusive balance between for the fruits of their buyer convenience and labours. DRM prevents producer respect. Books users from unlimited copying and distribution of on Kindle can now be shared among six authorised digital copyright work – and what is copyright if not devices (though not from Kindle to Nook or Kindle the literal right to make copies of something? Bearing to iPad). YouTube has an appeals process for members that in mind, what happens when a customer has seeking fair use of protected audio tracks. And who paid the full price to ‘own’ a book and then wishes could forget Microsoft’s apocalyptic PR fiasco and to lend that book to a friend, as we do with our backpedalling following their initial announcement physical books all the time without fear of copyright of Xbox One’s all-digital, unshareable, non-negotiable infringement? What of the college student who has cloud for buying and playing games? paid iTunes for a digital copy of ABBA’s ‘Dancing Doubtless, society and media will continue their Queen’ and wishes to use the music as the track to conscious dual momentum toward an increasingly a non-commercial music video documenting his digital sphere, but the legal and moral questions we latest trip to Disneyland? Current DRM mechanisms face in our current phase of that evolution will remain would prevent the sharing of the book, and Google’s fundamentally unchanged. What is more important? stringent programs would delete the YouTube video Should we honour the right of content producers within seconds of identifying those celestial ABBA to control and profit from the work that they have beats. Anti-DRM advocates have seized on actions created, or should our priority go to buyers looking such as these and cried foul at what they perceive to do what they will with the content they have to be widespread disrespect for personal property in purchased? It is possible that a consensus will never be digital spheres. reached on the issue, but one thing is certain above all One such voice in the chorus against DRM else: the faster we move to explore the digital frontier, implementation originates with author Hugh the more pressing and relevant the issue of balanced Howie, a content creator whose novels have spent DRM becomes. considerable time atop Amazon’s list of bestsellers. In Howie’s view, the presence of pirated media should

NEW EDITION, JULY 2014

Fun in the

Sun

It’s that time of year again! It’s finally stopped snowing, and we can all go on vacation before winter rolls back around. Check out which titles we’ll be taking with us to the beach this summer. 20

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Jordan The P hantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster

Diana Summer Sisters by Judy Blume

I was a big Judy Blume fan as a kid, and her novel Summer Sisters is the perfect summer read for every girl who grew up loving Judy! It’s just like reading childhood classics and being an adult (maybe because it is). Vix and Caitlin are best friends who spend every summer together on Martha’s Vineyard with Caitlin’s eccentric family. The book follows them from childhood to their 30th year. Vix is smart and serious; Caitlin is beautiful and carefree. Each envies the other and they are devoted to the friendship to a fault. This book makes me feel wonderfully nostalgic, even if it’s nostalgia for an era I never experienced firsthand! It’s very cliché, but I have reread this book, sitting on the beach, every summer since I was sixteen. My copy is falling apart, and I swear it smells like salt water and sea air every year when I dig it out.

Summer vacation for me means catching up on all of those things I should have done but didn’t, including my reading. So my summer read would be The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster, a staple of American childhood that I managed to overlook the first time around. The story follows ten-year-old Milo on his adventure through a toy tollbooth to save two princesses from the Kingdom of Wisdom (though I didn’t need to tell you that, since I’m seemingly the only person who hasn’t read it). And since I have a new-found love of reading on my phone (see Issue 14), I could easily cart around this classic without taking up space in my beach bag. Thought I may need to get one of those sand-proof sleeves for my phone…

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn With June 21 finally upon us, the summer has officially begun. Time to grab a chair, find a spot outside, and open up a book to forget just how crowded the beaches get this time of year. The book that I recommend reading this summer is Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. The book is being turned into a film starring Ben Affleck with a release in early October. The appeal of Gone Girl is that it can be enjoyed by both sexes. The book shows both spouses’ sides of the story of the wife’s disappearance, with the truth being somewhere in the middle. You truly do not know whom to believe. It is a pure psychological thriller that not even the finest sleuth can solve before the ending is revealed. This is one book that you will not be able to put down, no matter how nice the weather is!

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Justin

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Emma Jamaica Inn by Daphne Du Maurier The only place to read this book is by the coast, but not in a calm, white-sandy Caribbean oasis with flipflops and cocktails aplenty. This book absolutely must be read on the Cornish coast, or another similarly bleak, rocky, wild and windy outcrop of land. I read it one summer whilst on a rainy beach holiday in England and it saved my holiday. Du Maurier provides you with a story that you can totally and utterly immerse yourself in so that the bad weather doesn’t even nearly bother you. The inn itself, Jamaica Inn, still stands, and is said to be one of the most haunted pubs in England. Du Maurier took refuge there after getting lost on the moors, and the place and its inhabitants became the inspiration for the book. It’s certainly atmospheric; you can fully imagine gangs of smugglers organising themselves from here, and dividing their spoils after another unfortunate vessel met her end on the unforgiving rocks nearby. Who knows, a couple of evenings at Jamaica Inn, and maybe you will be inspired to write your next book by one of the resident spirits!

When a book has occupied a spot on the New York Times bestseller list for nearly sixty weeks, it’s not a bad idea to give it a look. Admittedly, I’m late to the game on this one, but Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children is an incredibly original debut novel from photo-collector-turned-author Ransom Riggs. Peregrine takes the best of YA fiction and fuses it with antiquarian photography to create a truly ambient reading experience unlike anything else. The story reveals the life of 16-year-old protagonist Jacob Portman following the mysterious murder of his equally enigmatic grandfather. Hoping to discover a cause for the death of his closest relative, Jacob uses memories and clues to dig up the hidden remains of his grandfather’s fabled past. But when his search leads him to a crumbling orphanage on a small, secluded island off the coast of Wales, he quickly discovers that what the world thought was fantastic and dead might very well be real and alive – and quite possibly very dangerous. If you haven’t hopped on the Peregrine train yet, make it a goal this summer. You’ll be glad you did, especially when the inevitable film adaptation takes Hollywood by storm sometime within the next five years.

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Next time in New Edition:

How to approach book bloggers Should you use a pseudonym? Video games based on books What do authors really want from rejection letters? Author Nancy Freund July happenings And more!

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2014

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