Eyyyy, it's us pissed off tiny newsies here to tell yous guys about what's going on in publishing. A lot was goings on last week, so let's go through some of the headlines. Read it, or fagetabawtit.
Amazon Taking Over Our Libraries! Next: World Domination?!
Read all about it. Last week Amazon announced that it will be participating with over 11,000 libraries across the U.S. to create e-book lending programs for Kindle and apps everywhere. However, there was a bit of controversy because patrons may be able to leave notes in the books, which only they will be able to see when they check it out a second time.
The problem? Librarians say it infringes on personal privacy, since records of what patrons check out will have to be kept to make that possible. You hear that kids? No more checking out the Kama Sutra: your local librarian will know your dirty secret and give you her patented Evil Eye.
Agent Warns Against Fine Print: Hang on to Your Rights!
Read all about it. Agent Kristin Nelson posted
"Not to be a downer on the Friday but a lot of authors are super excited about getting their rights reverted and then being able to digitally publish those titles themselves. By all means, I’m certainly not opposed but you might want to check that agency agreement you signed before you run out and do that."
Some agencies have something called "in perpetuity" language in their agency contracts which basically states that they get paid forever on your book sales, even if the rights have reverted back to you and you self-publish.
You read correctly. Even if you paid the agent their 15% on the traditional publishing book deal and for all those print and e-sales, when your rights revert back, you get to pay them all over again until the end of time on every e-copy you sell.
Kristin is an awesome agent whose agency (Nelson Agency) never uses this language. She's just warning writers to beware of the fine print! Thank you, Kristin!
Royalty Statements Gone Wild: Do YOU Know Where Your Money Is?
Read all about it. This blog post by author
Kristin Kathryn Rusch stirred the pot AND rocked the boat simultaneously last week when she called out that not only were her royalty statements fishy, but when she compared her e-book numbers as reported by her publishers and the numbers reported by Bookscan and various retailers, they were straight up wrong.
She and other writers looked into their statements, and the general word is that she was not alone. Many have written to their writers organizations and are currently auditing their publishing house's records. It doesn't seem like it's intentional, but it seems like e-book sales are being underreported by a huge margin.
Kristin urges authors to CHECK THEIR STATEMENTS, do the math, and make sure everything is stacking up. E-books are changing the way that publishing houses have to keep their records, and the old formulas may not be working.
Becca Knight Jumps the Gun: Gets Overly Excited, Starts Contest Too Soon!
Heh heh. Welp.
I told you last week that when I have a new project I get *SUPER* excited about it, and, yes, sometimes I go a little nuts ;).
Remember when I started
this contest last week for the launch of my short stories? Well, it's only my second week back blogging, and of course folks are still trickling back in, realizing that I'm back in action, etc, so no one is playing.
I definitely jumped the gun :P. But can you blame me for being enthusiastic? You can?
Crap!
The contest will be back when I am finally ready to launch the real deal:
LEGACY OF THE EMPRESS. There will be partying in the streets, a bigger giveaway, free copies for reviewers, and fun times shall be had!
Until then, the short story contest is postponed.
However, I did upload new cover art, which you can check out
HERE.
Also, please let me know either through the comments or email if you'd like a free copy of either one to review on your blog or to review on Amazon! :) I'd love to hook you up!
That's it for the news this time--
what do you guys think of what's going on in the world of publishing?
