"Subsidy" or "Vanity" Publishing?

Victoria Strauss of Writer Beware has penned a spirited analysis of such terms as "traditional publishing," "indie publishing," and the like here, and I recommend everyone read it. It has much useful information about what to call what in this very confusing time in publishing, and we could all use a little boning up.

There are, however, two things I don't agree with in her blog.

First, the phrase "traditional publishing." As Strauss suggests, I think "commercial" or "trade publishing" are the phrases we should be using. What I don't believe is that this term found its way into the vernacular because of one rogue scam mill infiltrating us with it. (No doubt, they tried.) The phrase "traditional publishing" does reflect some common sense for many writer-publishers, as in the publishing model we think of as traditional, and thereby some publishers and writers, this one included, may have pulled that phrase from their own sense of things. Of course, self-publishing is older than commercial publishing, so technically more "traditional," but no one would confuse the predominant publishing model of the past century with self-publishing. And that's our frame of reference. (Again, I advocate using the phrase "commercial publishing." I simply add that the use of "traditional publishing" didn't derive entirely from one scam mill trying to inoculate us. A small point, but if we're trying to be accurate, one that should be made.)

Secondly, for all of her intent to clarify the segments of the publishing industry, Strauss also seems intent on labeling one segment, those of subsidy publishers, with the pejorative "vanity publishers." That's fine. "Vanity publisher" as a phrase has a certain history, and the companies she's labeling are, by and large, charging too much for not enough service. (I'm amazed, in this day and age, that someone would pay more than a hundred or so dollars to get a book published print-on-demand.) I encourage every would-be writer-publisher to avoid subsidy publishers. For a little more money, you can be a self-publisher.

So, demonize subsidy publishers if you want, but not the writers who have used their services.

As we know from the alarming rate of growth in this segment of the publishing world, many writers have gone the subsidy route. In 2008, the number of books published print-on-demand--a group made up largely of subsidy-published books--surpassed the number of book published otherwise. This is a first, and it isn't likely to change any time soon.

Many subsidy-published writers will take this "vanity" pronouncement as a shot at them--they're working with "vanity publishers," which makes them "vanity writers"--and that isn't the purpose of referring to these publishers as vanity publishers. These writers did nothing but make an economic decision--"this service is worth this much money to me"--and some have been talented--or shrewd--enough to profit from it, or have used the subsidy route as a stepping stone to future commercial publishing success.

Moreover, never would we expect a group, any group, to refer to themselves in the pejorative.

Customer: "Nice book. How was it published?"

Writer-publisher: "Oh, it was vanity published."

I realize this throws another--perhaps confusing--phrase into the soup of public discourse, but if we're making distinctions, we should make them in the clearest ways possible, and in ways that don't shame the wrong people.

Subsidy publishing is here to stay, has led to success, and the writers who choose that path aren't just succumbing to a scam, or to their own vanity. Also, to indirectly slur these writers isn't a way to win friends in the fastest growing segment of the publishing industry.

One final point. What always gets lost in these conversations is the end user: the book buyer. Strauss's blog doesn't pretend to address this, so this isn't a criticism of the ideas therein. But amongst all of the turmoil about "self-publishing" versus "traditional publishing" versus "vanity publishing," the most important person in the equation, the book buyer, is simply buying a book. They rarely care how a book is published. They just want a book that appeals to them. That's something every kind of publisher hopes to deliver, and in this important sense, all publishing, even vanity publishing, is equal.

Yours in laying down the law,

Art

Buy Ghost Notes, the award-winning self-published novel, for only $5!



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A Major Award for Ghost Notes!

Okay, stop the presses.

As you know if you've followed my blog lately, Ghost Notes has had an unusually fruitful stretch of good reviews to start 2010.

First, it received a slam-dunk review at the Boogle.

Then, Ghost Notes the Audio Book received a nice mention at Curled up with a good book.

And now, the coup de grace.

Ghost Notes has won the Contemporary Fiction category of the 2009 PODBRAM Awards.

For those of you who don't know, PODBRAM stands for Print-on Demand Book Reviews and More. They specialize in reviewing self-published books, and whatever else strikes their fancy. They've been at it for almost four years, longer than most of the other self-publishing review sites, and they have a rigorous process for deciding which books to review. Ghost Notes was reviewed favorably there last summer, and now this!

That's three weeks into the new year, and three positive accolades for Ghost Notes. I don't know what I did, but I hope I do it again soon.

And as I mentioned in my last two blogs, Ghost Notes will take on new forms in 2010! First, an ebook, which will come out sometime in the first quarter of this month. Then, sometime mid-year, the audio book will be released serially at podiobooks.

So, very soon you'll be able to buy the book, or the audio book, or the ebook, or listen to the audio book serially.

Mmm, serial.

And remember, folks. You can buy Ghost Notes at my website right now for a mere $5! You will not find a better deal for an award-winning (tee hee) novel anywhere.

Yours in laying down the law,

Art

Buy Ghost Notes, the award-winning novel, for only $5!



Buy Songs from Memory, the album


Buy Stuck Outside of Phoenix, the novel

Another Ghost Notes Review/Podiobooks

You can still buy Ghost Notes, Songs from Memory or Stuck Outside of Phoenix at my website for only $5.

Two weeks into the new year, two reviews of Ghost Notes!

This new one is specifically about Ghost Notes the Audio Book, and it's at Curled up with a Good Book. Here's a taste:

"Art Edwards builds his novel with entertaining chapters dedicated to each character's perspective on the situations unfolding. To build better depth to the characters, Edwards focuses short—but crucial—chapters to experiences in from the past, to understand them better and the characters whom they have greatly influenced. The author is also a musician, and his knowledge and passion for music infuses the story with realism."

You can go straight to the review here.

I really like the audio book format--and not just for my work. It's a great way to take in a book that you might not have the time to read, but nonetheless feel compelled to know about. Audio books work well on long commutes, or during exercise. I always have one in the truck, just in case. Right now, it's Five Skies by Ron Carlson.

I've read a lot of discussion lately about whether listening to an audio book constitutes "reading" that book. I don't think it does--it's closer to watching a play, one where the actors aren't visible--but that hardly means it's not valuable or enriching. The story still unfolds, and you get the flow of the language, just like you would if you read the book. I think of the audio book as its own genre, in the same way a play production is a different experience from reading a play. Related, of course, but hardly the same thing.

I envision doing an audio book for each of my novels, but they take a great deal of time and energy to finish. Stuck? Not this year, but who knows what the future brings.

Speaking of the future, I have one other big event planned for 2010, and it has to do with the audio book. I will release Ghost Notes the Audio Book as a podiobook. This is a company that releases audio books in free segments. You will be able to sample any and all segments of Ghost Notes, and over a period of weeks you will get to hear the whole thing.

Don't expect this soon--it'll probably happen sometime around mid-year--but it's happening. I'll keep you posted.

Yours in laying down the law,

Art

Buy Ghost Notes, the novel or brand new audio book.



Buy Songs from Memory, the album


Buy Stuck Outside of Phoenix, the novel

2010 Already Kicks Ass/Boogle Review

That's right. You've found yourself at the beginning of one humdinger of a year.

First of all, Ghost Notes has already been reviewed in 2010! Mark McGinty at The Boogle was kind enough to start the year with a slam-dunk review of Ghost Notes. Here's a snippet:

"Each word [of Ghost Notes] fits almost perfectly into place. And while we celebrate rock, we also look at ourselves. Where we’ve been. Why we’ve been. And what’s next? There is real feeling here, as if this book has some cosmic purpose."

See, I wasn't kidding. Check out the rest of the review here.

Because this review put me in such a great mood, I've decided to extend the Five Bucks Sale! That's right. You can still buy Ghost Notes, Songs from Memory or Stuck Outside of Phoenix at my website for only $5! Get them while it lasts. I might get ornery and change it back.

So, Kel and I are in our new house, and things have relaxed enough to get back to work. I will (you can feel a New Year's resolution coming, can't you?) finish my third novel, Good Night to the Rock 'n' Roll Era, by the end of the year. It will have been over four years since I started it, and it's time to get it out into the world. This will require a lot of my 2010 attention, but that's not all I have planned for the year.

I also want to release Ghost Notes and Stuck Outside of Phoenix as ebooks. Besides Amazon's Kindle, a device where both novels are already available, this release will allow you to read about Hote's adventures on your iPhone, iPod Touch, Sony Reader or IRex Iliad and (I think) your home computer. Look for these ebooks in the first quarter of 2010. I'll announce their arrivals here and elsewhere.

What else? You'll have to wait until next week to find out. Until then, could someone please tell to me why I can't stop watching this video?





Yours in laying down the law,

Art

Buy Ghost Notes, the novel or brand new audio book.



Buy Songs from Memory, the album


Buy Stuck Outside of Phoenix, the novel

See You Next Year!

That's it for me for 2009, folks. I will be packing and cleaning and moving and unpacking and...until the new year, so no bloggedy-blog next week. Let's recap what's happened in 2009, shall we?

First, you can buy Ghost Notes, Songs from Memory or Stuck Outside of Phoenix at my website for only $5 between now and the end of the year.

Second, you can download Ghost Notes the unabridged audio book here.

Finally, you can buy both Ghost Notes and Stuck Outside of Phoenix for your Kindle device.

Next year, I plan to finish my next novel, Good Night to the Rock 'n' Roll Era, plus I have a few other things planned (ebook, anyone?)

Thanks for keeping up with me in 2009, and we'll see see you again in 2010!

Happy new year.

Yours in laying down the law,

Art

Buy Ghost Notes, the novel or brand new audio book.



Buy Songs from Memory, the album


Buy Stuck Outside of Phoenix, the novel

Homeowners at Last!

Until the end of the year, you can buy Ghost Notes, Songs from Memory or Stuck Outside of Phoenix at my website for only $5!

On Friday, Kel and I picked up the keys to our new home.

It's in Milwaukie, Oregon, just southeast of Portland, and it's the first home we've purchased since April 22, 1998, when we bought one in Phoenix, Arizona, back in the days I played in the Refreshments.

Actually, I played in the Refreshments for only a couple of more weeks after that date. On April 23rd, the band called a meeting where it was decided everyone would take three months off to think about what they wanted from their future in the Refreshments, or if they wanted a future in the Refreshments. We played one last gig at Hayden Square in Tempe, and a couple of weeks later I decided I'd had enough of life in the Refreshments.

So, there Kel and I were, with a new house in Phoenix and no idea how to pay for it.

After some soul-searching, we decided to move to San Francisco, where I would go to school and she would work in publishing. We'd rent out the Phoenix house, enlist a friend as a property manager, and hopefully wouldn't have trouble finding good tenants and keeping up with the mortgage.

In San Francisco, from 1999-2002, Kel and I worked and went to school at night. We had a couple of tenants at the house in Phoenix--one good, one not-so-good--and made it to 2003 without having to reach into our own pockets to pay the mortgage.

Renting that house worked out well enough us, but it caused a lot of anxiety. What if the tenants tore the place up, or didn't pay? Worse, what if it sat dormant for months at a time? There was a lot of shoulder shrugging and leaving things to fate.

In 2003, we moved from San Francisco to Ashland, Oregon, where I wrote and Kel worked to become the independent artist she is today. When our second tenant backed out of the Phoenix house, we decided it was time to sell, and we sold quickly for a modest profit.

We worked diligently for three years, and in late 2006, we decided we were ready to buy in Portland, where we'd always dreamed of living. We got a realtor, a list of properties, and headed to the city ready to make a deal.

We quickly found our expectations dashed when property was way too expensive for our budget, and no one wanted to haggle. We bid on one place, which was in a town we really didn't want to live in, over an hour from downtown Portland, and quickly realized our plan was going nowhere. Home prices were too high for us, and everyone was enjoying seeing their homes double in value. We were left out.

So we went back to Ashland, wondering what to do next. It took a year, but eventually we decided to move to Chicago.

Drastic? Probably. We had family close by in Illinois, much of Kel's work was in the central time zone, and, we figured, property had to be cheaper in the Midwest. We packed up a moving truck with all of our things and drove across the country in December, hoping to rent for a year and perhaps buy if all went well.

All didn't go well. The move didn't really help either of our careers, and in general property was no cheaper in Chicago than in Portland. I love Chicago, as anybody who's ever watched me watch a Cubs game knows, but it's an expensive town, and the winters aren't worth the expense for us. After a year, we packed up another moving truck and drove again across the frozen tundra to get back to Portland, the place our hearts had never left.

In Portland, we waited until May and started once again looking for a home to buy. The climate had changed dramatically with the Great Recession and the bursting of the real estate bubble, so we hoped some of that would work in our favor.

We looked at houses all summer and fall. We bid on nine total--short sales and foreclosures and all the rest--trying to stay within the budget we'd set for ourselves three years previously. We had every experience in the book, from getting outbid, to owners raising the asking price of the home after we bid, to banks raising the asking price of the home after we bid, to banks removing the home from the market in the middle of the bidding process. Very stressful. No fun. I almost had to write a letter.

Finally, we came to an agreement with the seller of a house in Milwaukie. We had a miniscule 12 days to close, but the hoops were jumped through without too much trouble, and we now have the keys in our hands.

The house is over 2,000 square feet, plenty big for both a home and home-studio, 20 minutes from downtown Portland, and we stayed within our budget to get it. We couldn't be happier with our decision.

For those of you who have been in the housing market for a long time, take heart. There were many times in the last few years when we doubted the system, and wondered if we would ever close a deal. Prices are still coming down, and could continue to do so. It worked out for us, and it can for you, too.

Now, we get to pack and move again. Hooray!

I mean, ugh.

Yours in laying down the law,

Art

Buy Ghost Notes, the novel or brand new audio book.



Buy Songs from Memory, the album


Buy Stuck Outside of Phoenix, the novel

Reading Good Night to the Rock 'n' Roll Era

Until the end of the year, you can buy Ghost Notes, Songs from Memory or Stuck Outside of Phoenix at my website for only $5!

A few of you have caught on that, because of the free shipping kicking in at $20, buying the three-pack and adding one more item gets that extra item for free. In other words, if you order a three-pack, choose one more item and give it away for Xmas!

So, I'm reading the manuscript of my novel-in-progress, which is called Good Night to the Rock 'n' Roll Era. At this stage, it's hard for me to see what's good about it--only what's missing--but after three years and maybe four drafts, I can safely say I'll have something that one day will trump Ghost Notes and Stuck Outside of Phoenix both.

It's the sequel to Ghost Notes, but it deviates greatly from my previous two books. There's really only one character who makes the jump from Ghost Notes to the new novel, Betty, and the new novel takes on a great deal of new terrain, from a band's inception to the making of a record to a country-spanning three-month tour.

One of the things I really want to do in the next revision is expand on some of the locales of the tour, making each city rich and authentic and itself. If you have a novel that takes place in a dozen or two...or three...cities, you'd better make sure each place is distinct. One little thing wrong in any one of them and don't worry, someone will let you know about it.

I also have a few interesting characters who in the current draft make just one appearance. Anytime a character has pull with an audience, as these characters do with my beta readers, it behooves me to include them as much as possible. Without it, the reader gets frustrated. Imagine The Big Lebowski with just one Jesus scene:



You'd want to strangle the Coen Brothers for not giving you more, wouldn't you?

I don't want to get strangled, so the bit players come back.

I promise to write more on this novel in the coming weeks and months.

Yours in laying down the law,

Art

Buy Ghost Notes, the novel or brand new audio book.



Buy Songs from Memory, the album


Buy Stuck Outside of Phoenix, the novel