Today we read Hugh Howey’s blog post ‘Bread and Roses’ on what
he believes the Authors Guild should be focused on and an author’s perspective
on today’s marketplace. His views will not be shared by all, but they convey a frustration
that is often felt by many, not necessarily on the activities of the Guild, but
on their position within the market.
It is a given that we have to both encourage authors and
reward them. Yesterday they often could secure healthy advances and had a clear
measure of their sales and expectation of royalties. If there was an issue they
could instigate an audit. Today they increasingly see a net receipt environment
where they can often lose the distinction of sales and revenues and performance
between the different channels. There is also is an increasing tendency by some
to create a catch all bucket called ‘special sales’ and the author may be left
with a feeling of ‘take it or leave it’ and potential frustration.
Does the reward match their expectation, exceed it, or
disappoint? Some publishers will work hard to manage expectations, communicate
openly and explain the results, but others may only supply consolidated entries
on their statements.
Digital sales in particular should be transparent to all. Everyone
should be able to track sales in real time and calculate revenues accordingly.
However, that isn’t often the case and sales reconciliation across digital
channels isn’t always easy for publishers, let alone agents and authors, and
some publishers even outsource the process to specialist. Imagine, an ebook licence
is sold today. There is no reason why with today’s technology that can’t be reported
either in real time or near time to the copyright owner. There is no reason why
every online retailer can’t supply a standard feed. Alas that isn’t the case.
When we look at Amazon’s KDP self publishing facilities, the
author sees sales as they accumulate and can see payments due, which are then paid
monthly direct into their account. Even if we ignore the percentage of receipt paid
as being significantly higher than that paid by publishers, the transactions
are transparent and the money often flows quicker.
Today we see a growing self publishing movement and although
many make little money, they often feel that they are at least able to seen what
sales they make. In creating an open and relatively transparent service, the
likes of Amazon are also nurturing trust and swaying authors to follow them. Getting
them back into the traditional publishing process may be harder than some imagine.
Customer service and Authorcare begins with communications
and transparency and the one thing that counts is the reward in units sold
converted into royalty paid.
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