I recently received an email from Kate P., asking when my latest Thomas Black would be out. Fear not, when my next book is published, I will announce it prominently on this website. I will scream it to the heavens.
The bad news? It’s going to be a while.
Let me explain. Most manuscripts take anywhere from nine months to eighteen months from date of submission to publication date. I have yet to turn in Monica’s Sister. In fact, I’ve yet to complete it, although it should be done in thirty days or so, depending. At that point I will submit it electronically to my agent, who will read it and make a pronouncement of some sort: She likes it; she doesn’t like it; it needs some work; it’s just fine. Then, together, we will decide where to submit it. According to my last contract with them, Ballantine Books has right of first refusal, so they will obviously get the first look.
After the book lands at a publisher and a contract is signed, the editor will begin work. This editor will — within months, never weeks — do what is called a line edit. I will then receive his or her edit and go over the changes and suggested changes. Then another editor, the copy editor, will do the same and I’ll go through the same dance a second time. Later, we get the page proofs from the printer and we read and correct them, mostly for typos. Somewhere along the line the publisher holds one of their quarterly meetings, where the book is presented and the sales force gets their take on it. A cover is commissioned and approved. Somebody writes cover copy. More meetings.
With traditional publishing, all of this takes months.
If we can’t find a deal we like with a traditional publisher, and I rate the chances of that high to awfully high right now, I’ll go electronic from the getgo and the book will be out on Kindle and Nook, etcetera, within a few months.
If anybody has a pricing structure for a new e-book, or ideas about pricing, I would love to hear it. If we go e-book, I’m determined to keep it below ten dollars, but I’m also seriously considering not violating the five dollar barrier. What would you pay for a Kindle version, or Nook, of the latest Thomas Black? I would like to hear your thoughts on this. Please use the comment section so others can see your views.
This reminds me of a critique I got on Amazon for my last book, Cape Disappointment. Somebody wrote that the Kindle price on the book was too high. They more or less implied that I, the author, was greedy. Note to the uninitiated: when dealing with legacy publishers in New York, the author has no say over the price of his or her books, not in any format. The author receives a percentage of the cover price, but the cover price of all editions is dictated by the publisher. This is not true when an author publishes in e-book format and skips the legacy publishing world altogether, a more common occurrence these days than ever before, but one that I haven’t yet pursued.
I really hope you do get published in book form. I’m one of those that still likes to hold a real book. If it did come out only in ebook form, I’d still buy it. I like the idea of less than $5, but I’d pay as much as $10 if I had to. If it does come out only as an ebook, please make sure it comes out in ePub or PDF format. Those are the formats my reader uses. Can’t wait!
I’m a hardcore fan: I’ll buy the book in any format, any price, so you can’t judge by me. But I’ll sure be happy to see the new book whenever it arrives!
Personally, I would pay full cover for one of your books for my Kindle. However, in general, I like an ebook to be less than the cover price on the paperback of the same title. It just seems fair, since there’s no real material involved, no trees cut down, etcetera. I’m not sure how much work is involved in turning out an ebook, but I suspect it’s a lot easier than publishing a hardcover or paperback. I want your back list, too. When will those be available for Kindle?
I’d gladly pay $10 for a new title of yours in e-book format and $5 for an older title. Can’t wait to see your new one!
Under $10 dollars. Always under $10 dollars.
I, too, would happily pay anything for one of your titles. I think $10 is the going rate for an ebook. I’ve seen the newest titles as high as $15 on Amazon. I’d also be interested in audio versions (downloadable audio) of your books. Several years ago I listened to some Thomas Black titles on cassette tapes and loved how the narrator brought Thomas Black to life. Keep up the good work!
One more thing I’ve been thinking about… since I like to collect signed books how do readers get signed works from the author if the title is only available as an ebook? It will certainly be a different experience at a book signing, both for the author and reader.
I imagine all publicity for authors will change. In the past, most of my public appearances have revolved around talks I gave, usually related to the current book, true stories and people that inspired the novel, problems with the writing, whatever. And, of course, there were book signings. E-books are going to be hard to sign. On the other hand, with e-mail, I can and do have personal contact with readers virtually every day. That’s possible with a ‘cult’ writer. N.Y. Times bestsellers have more volume to deal with and the personal touch inevitably disappears. ee
I would like to purchase all your older books for Kindle. I think a price of .99 would be nice. On the other hand, I’m often put off when I see ebooks for .99, since so many of them turn out to be poorly written and with typos.
I am definitely looking forward to the next Black book! I think for a new book, the paperback book price is reasonable for the ebook edition. Back catalog ebook price of 5 bucks is reasonable too. In all honesty, it is a very rare occasion that I will read a paper book anymore. I would love to see your back catalog of Thomas Black brought out as ebooks. But I understand, that decision is most often in the publishers hands.
Regarding signing ebooks, a year or so ago an author (not a well known one) offered to send ebook copies of one of his stories complete with personalized signings. When you ordered the book, he would sign a 6 inch page with appropriate greetings, scan it and include it in the copy he sent you. A lot of work to be sure, but it was an interesting experiment.
I have a writer friend who has been trying to publish his manuscript, “Buddah In A Business Suit” but it was going nowhere the traditional route. So he e-published on Amazon and since he’s unknown, he only charged $0.99. In the first day he had over 100 purchases. I haven’t heard an update in the 2 weeks since he posted. (Unfortunately he learned someone else had posted an e-book an e-book by the same name!)
Since you’re an established writer and followed by all of us adoring groupies, I’d say start high $10 to $12.99. Then if sales don’t meet your expectations, you can always bring down the price. I too love to hold a book, feel the texture of the paper, and sniff the faint scent of printer’s ink (complete with inhaling dust mites). But I’ve just finished reading John Vailent’s “The Golden Spruce” (AMAZING!) about the timber industry and have now changed to e-books and news. Hopefully i can help save a few trees. The new readers (I use the iPad 2) are pretty wonderful and already the e-advantages outweigh traditional books.
Good luck on your next book! I’m eagerly looking forward to it!
Miriam
Lake Ketchum, WA
please book not e-book…. some of us do not own an e-book and never will and do not want to miss any of thomas black
Puuuleasse do Hardback editions! or at the very least paperback. I really like the look and feel of real books with actual pages!
JA Konrath has alot of advice on ebook publishing. There’s also a new Amazon imprint that publishes in both dead tree and ebook formats. As far as prices go I never pay more than $9.99 for an ebook. For yours, because I know the quality I’ll pay that. For an unknown I won’t pay more than $4.99 andt I’ll drop $2.99 on anything with a decent recommendation and $1.99 if it looks like something I might be interested in. Also remember that once you have control you can change your prices, they aren’t set in stone. I would avoid $0.99 unless it is a short sale, the $0.99 books I’ve read usually are worth far less.
I’m looking forward to the next book, so I hope you take the ebook route so I can read it sooner 🙂
I would pay $10.00 for an ebook only format. I would like to see the paper publishers circumvented, and if I thought that most of the cover price was going to the author, I’d be thrilled.
The publishing industry, like the music industry, is bent on controlling the authors and the consumers. When ebooks cost nearly as much as hardcovers, even though there are no printing, binding, shipping, or storefront marketing costs, you know the authors aren’t getting the money and the consumers aren’t getting the savings.
I want to see the success going to the people who generate the work, and for that, I’d gladly pay ten bucks. L
Good post and a great photo. I grew up just down the road. They couldn’t get anyone to occupy it then either.
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