A Question For The Readers

[Jmurman]

What do you consider the acceptable price for a "fiction book" to you?"

With the advent of POD, Publish On Demand companies we now see a larger selectyion of avaiblable titles. For example Jeff Stansfields book "Lost In Alabama" is made this way. POD prices are fairly high as opposed to the "major houses" that produce hardbacked and paperbacked books. However, getting a story that "we" would buy and read is something that the NY publishing houses would avoid.

Have any of you gave any thought to ebooks? ebooks are stories/novels, in their entirety, that are downloaded from a site for a fee?

Any thoughts on this?

 

[RiJoRi]

A lot depends on the size of the book: e.g., I would expect to pay more for "The Far Pavillions" (M.M. Kaye) than for "The War of the Worlds" (H.G. Wells) even though Wells is better known than Kaye.
Also, there is the matter of paperback vs. hardcover.

I did buy a POD book, and felt the editors must have had a few too many liquids for lunch: there were spellnig erorrs and other typos that lowered the value of the work.

I do look through Project Gutenberg (http://www.gutenberg.org) for books, but these either have no copyright, or the copyright has expired.

--Rich

 

[Jmurman]

A lot depends on the size of the book: e.g., I would expect to pay more for "The Far Pavillions" (M.M. Kaye) than for "The War of the Worlds" (H.G. Wells) even though Wells is better known than Kaye.
Also, there is the matter of paperback vs. hardcover.

I did buy a POD book, and felt the editors must have had a few too many liquids for lunch: there were spellnig erorrs and other typos that lowered the value of the work.

I do look through Project Gutenberg (http://www.gutenberg.org) for books, but these either have no copyright, or the copyright has expired.

--Rich

Rich,

Most POD bools are printed exactly as the author has sent them in, so you'll have errors as most authors won't spend the money for a "proof-reader". The main stream publishers do some "touch-up" but mainly they just also rely on the authors for a complete proof-read manuscript.

The lure for POD is that instead of receiving hundreds of rejections, an author can get his or her work into print, listed on Amazon.com etc and see what it brings.

My thoughts are for ebooks, and how you feel they will impact the market place.

 

[Fleataxi]

Jurman: I've stumbled onto a 3rd alternative. It's inexpensive, small, portable, and can be read anywhere you have access to a computer or PDA/Blackbird with Adobe Acrobat loaded.

I converted all of the stories Tired Old Man and I wrote at Frugal's into Adobe Acrobat PDF files (saves space, it's more portable that WP or Word) and downloaded them onto a single CD ROM. We've only used the first 1/3 of the available 700MB, and have sent out requests for authors to send us stories to add to the CD. Right now the cost is $30 per CD ($25 plus $5 s/h via USPS per adddress) and when the demand reaches a certain point, I can get the CD's professionally copied, and a label printed on them, which reduces my profit margin slightly, but saves me the time/trouble of burning 100 CD's at once.

So far, just by word of mouth avertising, we've sold 10 CD's with more orders pending (I don't count it sold until I have the check in hand.)

I was looking into opening a website to advertise the Stories on CD, but haven't sold enough CD's by word of mouth and avertising on TB2K to cover my start-up costs.

PM me for details if you're interested in adding your stories to the CD or buying a copy.

Fleataxi

 

[xoruss]

I am one of the lucky 10 who was smart enough to buy the CD. The program works and is probably the most effective way for someone to publish a story these days.
Russ

 

[xoruss]

Is there any chance we will see the rest of your story or are you waiting to
publish it first?
Russ, who is anxiously awaiting... "the rest of the story"

 

[Fleataxi]

Russ: thanks for the feedback! Not to hijack the thread, but is there anything I can do to improve the process?

I'm all set to commercially copy the CD which will include b/w printing on disk and a jewel case. I've got a 3-color jacket all ready to roll out with the CD's.

All I need now is a couple hundred orders!

Fleataxi

 

[Jmurman]

Is there any chance we will see the rest of your story or are you waiting to
publish it first?
Russ, who is anxiously awaiting... "the rest of the story"

Hey Russ, I know the pain of waiting isn't near the pain of finishing up the story.

At the beginning of the month I decided to do something that I had wanted to do for a year. I held off because I was afraid of offending the owner of a certain website. Well, the desire to finish the book and the "exodus" of a number of guys there has given me the desire like no other to work on my original plan. You'll have to pardon me if I don't share this on an open forum like this.

Now about the book. I started re-writing/editing Troublemaker also at the beginning of the month. I have to tell you that I have rekindled a huge passion for this story again, and you will not be disappointed. The book should be about 450 or so pages when completed, and I have 350 completed in rough form. My editing/re-write is on page 75 now and going smoothly.

Jerry

 

[Oregon Dave]

Jmurman:
I'll buy a copy of your book,and I don't care what it costs within reason, if that's what it takes to get to read the rest of the story, (and a damn good story it is) and I'll be happy to do it. So let's get on the stick and get the job done, there's money to be made here for you.
Fleataxi:
I'd like a copy of your CD also. How do I go about getting one?
Oregon Dave

 

[Fleataxi]

Oregon Dave:

Thanks to Dennis, I've been advertising the CD on the Swaps/Sales Forum, and donating 10% of the action to TB2K Inc.

To save you having to look the ad up, here's the deal.

23 completed stories of mine (Fleataxi)
and
45 completed stories by Tired Old Man

All on 1 CD in Adobe Acrobat PDF format (Includes AA reader Version 5.0 in case you don't have it.)

Price for TB2Kers: $25 per copy plus $5 s/h (up to 5 copies at same address) via USPS.

PM Me for snail mail address to mail check/MO.

Fleataxi

 

[Chartreuse]

What do you consider the acceptable price for a "fiction book" to you?"

With the advent of POD, Publish On Demand companies we now see a larger selectyion of avaiblable titles. For example Jeff Stansfields book "Lost In Alabama" is made this way. POD prices are fairly high as opposed to the "major houses" that produce hardbacked and paperbacked books. However, getting a story that "we" would buy and read is something that the NY publishing houses would avoid.

Have any of you gave any thought to ebooks? ebooks are stories/novels, in their entirety, that are downloaded from a site for a fee?

Any thoughts on this?

If it's a book I'm really excited to read, I don't mind paying $25.00 - $30.00 for a new release. In a very real sense, great stories are priceless, so even that amount seems like a bargain.

HOWEVER, regarding POD publishing, ebooks, vanity presses, etc. First, I do some writing myself so am coming at this from the point of view of someone who has some familiarity with the publishing industry and the issues involved. Here's my honest opinion, and it's not said to discourage anyone:

The fact is that there are a lot of great books are overlooked by the publishing houses, both major and the smaller presses. So the fact that a book isn't published traditionally doesn't necessarily mean it is of lesser quality. Unfortunately, though, what I've found is that a lot of people who choose to go this route overlook other things, like having a professional editor go over their work, or even using beta readers to get some good, honest feedback from people familiar with the genre.

The fact is that a great deal of what is put out there using "alternative" publishing methods just doesn't cut it. It's sloppily put together and hasn't gone through the extensive revision process that is usually critical in turning a first or second draft into material that should see the light of day.

So for myself, I'm far less willing to take a chance on books put out through these channels. Again, I'm not trying to discourage anyone, but IMHO writers in general would be doing themselves and their comrades a great favor by not using alternative publishing methods as an alternative to doing the hard work needed to produce polished, professional novels.

Sorry if this is too much of a rant or veered too much off the topic at hand.

 

[Jmurman]

If it's a book I'm really excited to read, I don't mind paying $25.00 - $30.00 for a new release. In a very real sense, great stories are priceless, so even that amount seems like a bargain.

HOWEVER, regarding POD publishing, ebooks, vanity presses, etc. First, I do some writing myself so am coming at this from the point of view of someone who has some familiarity with the publishing industry and the issues involved. Here's my honest opinion, and it's not said to discourage anyone:

The fact is that there are a lot of great books are overlooked by the publishing houses, both major and the smaller presses. So the fact that a book isn't published traditionally doesn't necessarily mean it is of lesser quality. Unfortunately, though, what I've found is that a lot of people who choose to go this route overlook other things, like having a professional editor go over their work, or even using beta readers to get some good, honest feedback from people familiar with the genre.

The fact is that a great deal of what is put out there using "alternative" publishing methods just doesn't cut it. It's sloppily put together and hasn't gone through the extensive revision process that is usually critical in turning a first or second draft into material that should see the light of day.

So for myself, I'm far less willing to take a chance on books put out through these channels. Again, I'm not trying to discourage anyone, but IMHO writers in general would be doing themselves and their comrades a great favor by not using alternative publishing methods as an alternative to doing the hard work needed to produce polished, professional novels.

Sorry if this is too much of a rant or veered too much off the topic at hand.

I appreciate your honest opinion and I agree with you. A writer should do two to three re-writes/edits before even considering sending it out for publication.

I know guys who are so excited to get something in their hands that they overlook simpe spelling and grammatical errors...or for us gun guys, getting their weapons straight!