Practical E-Book Justice

Norman Spinrad has a compelling article over at SFWA that addresses a number of pertinent subjects, including the obligatory dire warning over the demise of brick and mortar book stores and the perennial "pusblishers used to care about art" rebuke. However, what intrigued me most about Spinrad's post was the scenario he presented about how the ongoing e-book revolution could radically shift relations between publishers, best-selling authors, and mid-list authors.

It breaks down like this: most traditional literary contracts offer writers 25% royalties on e-book sales. By contrast, Amazon and Barnes & Noble offer 70% (albeit without advances). The only thing keeping major best-selling authors loyal to traditional print publishers is the fact that print books still outsell digital copies. However, it's not too hard to imagine a very near future in which book sales are split 50/50 between print and electronic markets. When that happens, Spinrad argues, major best-selling authors will have it in their best interests to self-publish the digital versions of their books at 70% royalties because they simply don't need advances to finance their work. They can also turn around and sell the print rights separately to a traditional publishing house for a lessened but still substantial advance. This new dynamic could cause a mass exodus of top talent from traditional publishers, who will be made reliant upon their remaining mid-list authors to survive.

Spinrad defines a mid-list author as a writer who can consistently sell ten to twenty thousand copies a year--not enough to make the best-seller lists, but sufficient to keep a beleaguered publishing company on life support. That is, unless, the mid-listers also decide to go into the online publishing business for themselves.

What can save the traditional publishers at this point? Spinrad suggests a reassessment of the industry standard 25% e-book royalty rate. Most publishers can't afford to match Amazon's 70% figure, but compromising on 50% should be enough to keep the midl-listers around while still eking out a profit.

And if traditional publishers reject the path of enlightened self-interest? Well, nothing's keeping companies like Google and Apple from throwing their hats into the epublishing ring, and if they do, they'll be poised to offer what Amazon and B&N currently don't: advances matching or exceeding those of print publishers.

Beta Geminorum Is Online

My first published short story "Beta Geminorum" has been posted to the Jersey Devil Press website.

http://www.jerseydevilpress.com/?page_id=1962