Candice Hughes

The agency model for e-books is out of the gates and off and running as of yesterday. As many expected, there have been some bumps in the road. Some publishers are still working with Amazon. This is all to be expected given how quickly deals had to be put together.

My main concern is communication with customers. This morning I checked the Amazon Kindle blog and noticed a number of customers complaining about the price changes. Some felt that publishers were price-gouging, getting more because they could, etc. To quote one customer “I’m really tired of these publishers jerking me around. Ebooks are almost pure profit since they don’t have to pay anyone to print or ship…”

Very few customers posting recognized or understood that authors need to be paid fairly for their work. The focus was heavily on publishers and lawyers writing up contracts as well as the low costs of producing an e-book versus printing. The truth is that without authors sitting in a chair, fingers to keyboard for months or even years, pouring their heart and imagination out onto their hard drives, there would be no e-books (or any other form of books). The truth is that like other products (cars, jewelry, clothing) some products may have a higher intrinsic value than others.

I believe most people are willing to pay fairly for what they buy when they understand the value of what they’re buying. Few expect to buy a shiny new BMW car for the same price as a Kia.

Of course, why should readers realize or understand the monumental effort that goes into writing a book unless authors, publishers, agents and others in the community engage them in conversation? We are not explaining our side of the story. We’re letting Amazon and others put their side of the story out leaving readers feeling confused.

Yes, e-books are cheaper to produce. But they are part of the set of products an authors produces. In fact, an ever greater part. The pay (or salary, if you will) that an author receives in exchange for sitting at their computer for months and years is based on what all these products (e-books, hardcover, paperback, etc) earn. Artificially lowering the price of e-books to “one low price fits all” means that no matter how hard an author works, no matter how good they are in crafting a story, they’ll earn the same base amount.

Naturally, Amazon and other companies that make the hardware needed to read e-books want low priced content. They want to sell their hardware (e-book readers) for as much as they can. In order to do that, they need to offer customers a carrot. The carrot is low cost content. Their pitch to customers is, “yes, you’ll pay hundreds of dollars for this reader but after that you’ll hardly pay anything at all for using the device.” Fair valued-content brings up the total cost proposition of owning the e-reader. Some customers may then want to pay less for the reader.

E-readers and e-books need each other. Like any relationship, there are ups and downs as well as power-struggles. I believe the agency model is basically fair to both sides. Readers also win because they will keep getting fantastic stories to read in any format they like (print books or e-books).

“It’s all right. I came back.”

Sorry wrong play. In this one, it’s Anne Writer, in a black shift, moaning and pulling her hair out (while rocking on the floor surrounded by fluttering pages thick with type). Anne Writer turns to her mother (in slinky gold gown with black lacquered cigarette holder causally dangling from her exquisite hand). “Why won’t any one read my 500,000 word epic poem on the atomic bomb?”

“The slush pile passed on in 1991, darling. Stop throwing paper into the coffin. It makes you look mentally deficient.”

“JK Rowling was rejected 12 times. I think I can…I think I can…publish.” Anne glares at her mother with a wild look in her eye.

“She had an agent, darling. Now rub the ink stains off your fingers, we’ve a nice young man coming for dinner.”

And there’s the crux of it…Thank you Wall Street Journal for telling us writers we need an agent. Many more thanks for the lovely interviews with Joshua Ferris and Joyce Carol Oates.

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking on pitches recently. You need to pitch to sell your novel. What makes the perfect pitch? Having an attention grabbing hook is key. The hook is a short (1  sentence) summary of the essence of your novel. After the hook, you want to give your audience (either agent or editor) a feel for your characters- who are they and why would they do what they do in the novel. Additionally, you want to summarize the essential plot of your story from beginning to end in paragraph or two of content. The pitch lasts three to eight minutes generally.

Three to eight minutes might seem like a long time if you hate public speaking. (Regardless of whether you pitch one or five people or more, I consider a pitch public speaking. It differs substantially from an everyday conversation where there is a lot of back and forth and generally lower stakes like locating the nearest highway ramp or finding out if a seat in a theatre is taken).

On the other hand, you may feel three to eight minutes will be a breeze. A few minutes- how hard can it be? My advisor once told me, “I can give an hour talk, but I don’t have time for a ten minute talk.” As I began giving presentations myself, I understood how accurate he was. The shorter the presentation, the more critical each word is. Distilling ones thoughts down to a concentrated nectar and then presenting this nectar intact and with style is tough.

The only thing that works for me is the brute force slog. Get the words on paper and rehearse, rehearse, rehearse. After a long time, the words seem to flow naturally. They carry passion and elegance. When a presentation is perfect, it seems to take no effort at all. The words just flow out as though the speaker just stopped in for coffee and just had to put his/her two cents in. But we who present know differently.  We know the secret. Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse.

I had seen Ian Rankin’s stories on PBS. I love the PBS mystery series! Moving with my usual lightening speed (OK, more like static electricity) I have finally (several years later) gotten a couple of his books and read them.

The first thing I thought was “Wow!” these books definitely have “It”. When agents and editors tell a writer they’re looking for a book that has “It” or that they’ll know “It” when they see “It”, some writers may think this is a polite way of saying “Look, I don’t like the color of your shirt, your haircut, etc.”  I don’t. I believe in “It”.

I also believe Ian Rankin’s books have “It”.

So, that said, what is the “It” that these books have? Good question. One of those blue book questions that have no right answer. Here are some of my thoughts on what “It” is for me.

Dialogue: Rankin’s dialogue captures the essence of ordinary conversation. How do I know? Because I don’t notice that it’s dialogue. It just flows.

Characters: I can picture the people in his books. I can hear them talking. And I don’t even live in the UK. I’ve only been to London once. OK, I confess, I do listen to the BBC, watch PBS and work with people in the UK but I don’t believe that has anything to do with my understanding of the characters. I believe anyone can feel as though they know his characters. What’s more, he doesn’t spend pages and pages telling you about every hair on their head and wrinkle on their face. No, it’s a few lines every so often. That’s it.

Plot: I just can’t fall in love with any book without a strong plot. I am an adrenaline junky that needs a galloping plot. Rankin’s book deliver on plot. The charaters face problems that escalate. These are realistic problems an officer of the law could face. The main character, Rebus, works through the problems using feasible solutions. He doesn’t interpret every clue right away. He fails sometimes. This seems to me as close to real life as you can get.

I have one confession as far as Rankin’s books go. Reality is harsh. Rebus’ life is harsh. Often I prefer books that end more pleasantly. Ones where I can close the book humming to myself and think “at least someone’s life is moving along cheerfully.” You won’t feel that way with Rankin’s books. But you won’t care. You will just say, “Oh, that was good!”

So, if you are a writer questioning the existence of “It”, pick up one of Rankin’s books. See if you feel “It”.