Beth’s Blog

If you’ve been keeping up with freelance news, you’ve undoubtedly heard that Amazon is planning to remove the “buy” buttons from all books printed by LightningSource and demand that all those titles be printed by their own company, Booksurge.

This news is real. Wall Street Journal as well as Publisher’s Weekly have reported it. Angela Hoy at Booklocker broke the story when a Booksurge rep threatened to remove all of Booklocker’s “buy” buttons.

Already PublishAmerica and Whiskey Creek Press have had their buttons removed.

This move impacts all of us… as authors and publishers. Subsidy publishers, university presses, traditional publishers, we all use print on demand technology. In fact, Filbert Publishing has six titles affected by this move.

With literally thousands upon thousands of titles on Amazon, many of the subsedy POD presses will incur great expense moving all those books over to Booksurge. The squeeze on these companies companies will most certainly affect their freelancers.

Those who won’t move their titles to Booksurge will lose an outlet for book sales. Sure, we can head to other online bookstores, but let’s face it, Amazon is a book selling juggernaut.

So, if you’re an author who is (or who may be) impacted by having the “buy” buttons removed from your Amazon book page, you need to start weighing your options. First and foremost, don’t panic, act professional in all your dealings with this issue, and remain open to directing your potential readers to other outlets.

Whether or not Amazon will remove more “buy” buttons is unknown. I’m the kind of person who watches the world through rose-colored glasses and remain optimistic that everything will turn out just fine… in fact I’m sure it will. I would love to continue to sell through Amazon, but if it isn’t in the cards, so be it, it’s really Amazon’s choice.

And on a personal note, I sell very few copies of my own books through Amazon. I suggest that if you’re an author, get your hands on a few copies of your book and sell them direct on your website. You’ll make more money, you’ll grow your own customer list, and (most of all) you’re not as affected by the whims of retail outlets who can change their terms at a moment’s notice.

But that’s just me.

A fellow freelancer forwarded an e-mail to me. They recently hosted a teleseminar and mentioned that the economy is affecting the profession. One of the callers disagreed, writing:

“I attended a recent teleseminar and was really disappointed that politics was brought into it. I have to deal with political challenges everywhere… I do not want to hear it in a writing seminar, especially when words like “recession” are used inaccurately to promote the viewpoint of one of the presenters.”

Now, I’m not one to open a political can of worms, but I do believe that the current state of the economy does affect the freelance landscape. To ignore what’s going on in the political scene, to pretend the economy isn’t tightening, to be unaware of the plight of the average American would be career suicide.

Now, I’m not advocating shouting your political views from the mountaintops, but you are very wise when you take note of the latest economic news, combine it with real world experience, and draw your conclusions… as well as adjust your game plan… from there.

To think that a writing career is all roses, happy thoughts, and positive intentions is a bit dangerous when you don’t take into account the real world your readership is currently living in.

Truth be told, and you can find a ton of freelancers who agree with me on this, many publishers are tightening their guidelines and accepting fewer titles. Marketing managers are squeezing every cent out of every mailing. In the copywriting world, many mailers are eliminating royalties. Big time copywriting gurus are supplementing their income by selling copywriting “how to” products to aspiring copywriters who are clueless to the reason behind this sudden generosity to “share the craft.” Readerships decline, belts tighten, and it’s getting a bit tougher to earn a living as a freelancer.

The silver lining?

Those who don’t understand how to effectively communicate will drop the profession. Publishing houses that don’t carefully evaluate manuscripts will perish. Authors who go the vanity publishing route will flush their cash.

But the savvy freelancer who develops even rudimentary marketing skills, the freelancer who remains aware, yet positive, the freelancer who takes time to cultivate a career… these writers will do just fine, in my humble opinion.

So yeah. Be aware of the current economic situation, but don’t drown in the negativity of it. If you’re not aware, you will languish in this profession. It’s that simple.

Headline: Harry Potter Magic Spells Losses for Booksellers.

Article says: because of deep consumer discounts, independent booksellers are barely breaking even on every Harry Potter book sold.

Wow.

As a publisher, I know the discounts we have to offer wholesalers and distributors really cut into profits, often eclipsing any whatsoever when we factor in rising postage prices.

I know printers aren’t exactly raking in the dough when you consider their huge overhead.

Author royalties aren’t that great either.

Now bookstores are struggling to break even on a huge title.

It’s a sorry state for the US publishing system.

That being said, both authors and publishers can make some pretty nice incomes if they work smart.

Here’s the URL:

http://tinyurl.com/2s6842

Talk later,

Beth