Doing: Writing on this blog; answering e-mails; working out, and well...you know the rest! :0)
Watching: Nothing at the moment.
Listening to: Taped music from C-89.5 (Seattle): "Military Fashion Show"--by And One; "Dead Enough For Life"--by Icon of Coil; "Paper Angels"--by Punta Aga
Reading: Kushiel's Scion. Page 404.
STAR TREK-THE NEXT GENERATION: WAR DRUMS. Page 78.
TOPIC: THE FEW THINGS NOT BEING TAUGHT BY THE MAINSTREAM
In a recent debate of minds with a fellow writera and author over the issue of NCP screwing its authors out of their livelihood--hook, line, and bad stinker!--I posted some things about the relationship between the publisher and the author; and what they should do to ensure that success befalls them both--and not become a one-sided love affair that enriches one lover while spurning the other.
True, I'm always preaching to the choir over matters when it comes to things like business, fame, money, and name-recognition.
But it's always good to try and keep engaging the internet community whenever I can. :0)
***
Sara:
I know that. All I’m saying, is I’m going to try something different with what I want to do. There’s nothing wrong with being a dreamer.
At least I can sit here and say: “I have a vision. I have a dream.”
Most people don’t have them anymore. Everybody is seen struggling to make ends meet–and it’s just…disheartening. To say the least. People have stopped dreaming--for the most part--because their lives have left them feeling empty and without a reason to keep reaching for something special.
Myself? I’ve never had a shortage of ideas, dreams, and what have you. But practicality-wise? Things are a bit more challenging in real life than they are on the surface.
But it doesn’t stop me from trying anyway. It’s what has made my endeavors so interesting.
I get a lot of people telling me: “It can’t be done.”
And I say: “Why not?” And that’s where I have them.
Because no one thinks outside the box. We are so consumed with our linear existances, we never stop to imagine if things can be done differently–apart from the conventional and traditional business models.
You know? Mix things up. Add a little spice to our lives. Shake the tree and see what falls.
But given the odds that very few authors make that establishment of money in the long-term, there’s no real harm in trying what I’ve just discussed and shared.
People tell me: “Sky: You’re nuts.”
And I’m like: “Yeah? So tell me something I don’t already know.”
In order to survive, we have to be a little crazy. I’m sure Nora Roberts and authors like her thought along the same way–once or twice–when they started out writing.
Everyone has to start somewhere. We can’t go on being afraid of our shadows or the unknown every time we come across something we know little about.
That’s what I keep trying to impress upon people.
We’re too terrified a nation to even embrace the possibilities–we are always going back to what’s already been a broken-down system which offers little in return.
But seeing how so many people are being taken advantage of by their publishers or agents (even editors), I’m just going to draw up a simple contract that addresses the rights of the author in regards to the company, and make it pointedly clear that if something were to happen to myself or the company falls on hard times–the rights revert back to the author and any royalties earned for that year shall be paid to that author without delay.
No questions asked. NOTHING to hinder or impede the author. I don’t like dealing with courts and I’m certain that the authors don’t either.
I look at what’s happening here and it just infuriates me that there are some publishers whom just don’t give one whit about author rights and contractual obligations.
I want to change that perception. That’s one of my goals as an aspiring publisher. I don’t think that’s so wrong, is it?
But I won’t sit there in my chair, and pull the same crap over and over again–that NCP and others have–because they can, because they have the money and the power, and because (like I’ve read from Ellen Ashe’s blog entries), these “fakes” think that authors don’t have any real authority to challenge them on the matter in question.
I believe that in order for a publisher to be successful, they have to work with their respective clients, address any problems forthwith, and have a good line of communication open.
I’ve seen how divided this nation has become. One side against the other. Neither one wanting to budge because either side stringently believes that they are in the right.
With this…? The publisher and the author each have their respective obligations. Their respective duties. One publishes the book, one writes the book.
But…
They can work together also, they can bridge the gap of any differences or any problems which often pop up–from time to time.
But it can’t be one-sided–as it has been: Where the publisher leaves the author hanging with little or no “tech support” to help them with getting onboard and going strong–once their book is published.
Nowadays, the top 1% of published (established) authors get most of the lion’s share of the help and the newbies just get screwed, blued, and tatooed.
How fair is that? Does that do anything for the author–let alone the publisher? We all know that advertising and publishing costs are going to infinity and beyond (to coin a phrase), but should that mean that the publisher deep-sixes their new acquisition because times may be tough; and they can only spare enough time, effort, and money for their more priviledged few clientele?
I don’t think so.
But that’s what is happening, Sara. How many of us first-time authors have made a healthy living from our books in recent years? I can’t remember a single one myself. Every new book comes and goes, and very few fresh faces are tagged for a follow up novel.
The success rates for first-time authors is horrendous. Which is why I’ve been pushing for more cooperation between the author and the publisher. Make it mutually beneficial for both parties, so that the pair can win in the end.
We have to get more involved if we are going to survive.
Both sides have to get creative and start thinking about what they want to do, what they want to accomplish, and find a way to get there together.That’s what brings in the money! All this yo-yoing around from one author to the next is just creating unneccessary expenditures for the publisher in question.
And not so much profit towards the end. And while the publisher may--more or less--survive the experience, the majority of authors burned by such dealings (or relationships) do not.
Even in economic tough times such as this one, both parties can still find ways to work together–instead of being driven apart solely on one issue or the next.
This is a team effort after all. Or am I wrong on this?
What NCP is doing is taking a page from Douglas Adam’s Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: “So long and thanks for all the fish.”
Sky
