Hachette vs Amazon - The Flip Side

Now for Part Two – The Flip Side.

I find it interesting that Hachette asked their authors not to talk about the dispute between Hachette and Amazon because Hachette wants to control the message – only have one voice for their side of the dispute. That’s actually a good idea, and I’m sure their lawyers are grateful considering they’re still in negotiations. Although the world is a cynical place and no doubt many see it as akin to a gag order, especially when Amazon has gone the exact opposite route and sent letters to its indy authors inviting all of them to put in their two cents – after carefully telling them what Amazon perceives the problem to be and telling them what talking points to address. Authors clearly cannot be trusted to think about these things for themselves. Ahem.

I posted a link to Amazon’s letter and, while Hachette has made their own statements, I’ll point out some authors aren’t siding with Amazon. Clearly some can think for themselves. Oops. Here’s a link to that letter. It’s worth looking at a list of what some notable authors are crying foul over.

Now, a point was made a week ago when the Authors United letter came out picking apart the argument citing that books from Amazon’s presses aren’t sold at all bookstores, so their authors are as much a victim as Hachette’s and the letter is hypocritical. No. It’s true that books from Amazon’s presses aren’t sold in all bookstores, but that’s a matter of distribution. When you choose a publisher, you are limited to that publisher’s distribution options. What the letter is referring to is a bookstore or retailer having the book on the shelf, having the customer available, and trying to convince the customer to purchase something else instead. That is what Amazon has been doing to some of Hachette’s authors because of this dispute.

Now Hachette, in their ever polite, understated way (which proves my point last week that they’re not living in today’s business world) says the dispute is over Amazon seeking more profit and market share at the expense of the authors, bookstores, and publishers. I hesitate to point this out, but they’re a business. You’re going to have to make a more forceful statement than that to get my attention.

And let’s loop back around to eBook pricing that Amazon says this is over. Specifically, let’s look at allegations of collusion. Amazon didn’t have to dig deep for that little gem, they were involved in the lawsuit, having brought the eBook pricing issue to the DOJ’s attention. Yes, the DOJ went after the Big Six (remember, it’s really only five) but the publishers were the sidekicks in this story, the ringleader was – Apple.

Do I believe the WSJ story? Yes, I always did. Sorry, Hachette, but the Big Six are dinosaurs in their thinking, I’ve been pretty clear on that point, and Apple is historically ruthless in theirs. Apple has been dragged into court many times before for their business practices, this isn’t a surprise. Hachette was one of the publishers who settled, by the way. They learned their lesson, paid their fine, it’s in the past.

By bringing it up, Amazon makes you not like them. Just like Authors United paints a bad picture of Amazon by telling you about what they’re doing to Hachette’s authors. It’s a PR war.

Who’s right? I don’t know everything that is in dispute between Hachette and Amazon. This is about more than eBook prices, or at least it better be. This is about control. In that context, I have to side with Hachette.

Hachette is, in a way, representing the Big Six, and by extension, the publishing industry. Publishing houses, and the extended support staff that surround them, provide direction and structure for the industry as a whole. Even indy authors benefit from it. Lessons and information are frustratingly unidirectional, it seems, but it’s better than not having the information at all. Hachette has a history with publishing. They need to update their thinking, but they understand why books are important to society. Quality is important to them, authors and readers mostly trust and understand it, even if there are growing pains at the moment.

Amazon is a business, period. Granted, they could do less to encourage a quality product, but it wouldn’t take a lot of effort to do so much more. Taking a few tips from competitors such as Smashwords, B&N, or major publishers, could help them and their authors offer a more consistent quality product for their customers. They’re so concerned with pumping out books, making it easy for anyone to publish almost anything and getting their 30-70% that they don’t care when their authors publish a book two chapters at a time and call it a series.

I publish with Amazon. I don’t want them in control of the publishing industry, I don’t want that future. They know how to do business, but not how to promote literacy or artistic expression. There’s no place for literary agents in an Amazon-based future. Brick and mortar stores, then libraries, will shrivel and many will die. Many already have, but more. We’ll lose a lot of young readers when there’s nowhere for them to go to browse and see what simply catches their eye. Children need the tactile feel of books to begin to love them. Toddlers like to touch things and be visually stimulated by the colors and pictures. They can’t get that online. They’ll graduate to eBooks later.

Amazon is a business and it has its place. That place is not directing the future of literature. Leave that to publishers.

Vampires in Literature (They’re Everywhere!)

The companies formerly known as “The Big Six” – AKA the major publishing houses – and a significant number of literary agents have been saying for quite some time they’re not looking for books on vampires. They’re out of style. They won’t stay popular. The market is saturated. Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera . . . Yet we persist in seeing vampires in literature. I’d like to go on record as saying I think that narrow-minded attitude is wrong. And here’s why:

First, I’ve been reading vampire books for thirty years, there’s an increasing amount of variety out there now as compared to what used to be available. They’re not always evil. They’re not always going to kill you, change you, or even hurt you. The sun has lost much of its power, as has religious symbolism. Vampires can be neighbors, family, lovers, or they can still be the violent psychopath lurking in the shadow. An author can say something about humanity by making a main character a vampire. They’re accepted, but with each book a reader picks up, they do need to understand the rules about those particular vampires. They’re like us, just with a condition.

Second, if major publishers or agents refuse to deal with vampires any longer, there are a multitude of small publishing houses now who will happily take them on, some even specialize in horror or paranormal. And paranormal is a genre that can be very successful when self-published. (Which may link back to why there are soooo many small publishers and the major publishers are financially hurting. Hmm.)

Third, vampires are sexy. Come on, who doesn’t go for a bit of necking? They’re seductive, frequently beautiful, powerful, and shunned by society (a classic trait of a romantic hero). A vampire is usually a ‘bad boy’ or ‘bad girl’ type that draws us in. When they’re not, they’re often the underdog, which draws us in.

Fourth, immortality is something that is very attractive (in an abstract sense) to humans. From The Fountain of Youth to plastic surgery, we dream about eternal youth and life. Is it any wonder vampires fascinate us?

Fifth, as I touched on in my first point: variety. Humans come in a range of colors, heights, weights, shapes, with a nearly infinite number of optional features. We speak different languages, have different interests, and range from incredibly intelligent to unable to understand the first thing about any of this post. Vampires encompass all of this, plus whatever bonus abilities their condition allows.

Sixth, right now you see a lot of superheroes in movies. Hollywood is hot for making and remaking movies about superheroes because we love them. Hollywood made it obvious, but it barely scratches the surface of what’s really out there when you look at comics and graphic novels.  Superheroes (usually) have extraordinary abilities, and that is what partially defines a vampire. Without that power, vampires would just be some photo-sensitive geriatric who gets his protein in a really sick way. What sets vampires apart from many superheroes is immortality. (Not all, I know. Wolverine’s a hottie, I can stand to keep him around.) When someone has been around for hundreds of years, I’m confident they’ve picked up a few things along the way.  You get better with time and practice, so what if there’s no end?

Seventh, just as a vampire can be a superhero, they can also be the ultimate villain. All the power of a superhero, plus the immortality I mentioned to learn and perfect your techniques, then add bitterness. I’m just guessing, but eternity could be lonely. Once you’ve seen it all, what have you got left to look forward to? All that power, with only a cold, dark, emptiness inside.

Eighth, vampires may be the ultimate horror monster. It depends on what scares you, obviously, but they can really be up there if done correctly. Blood. Wow. Blood alone freaks some people out and is practically a horror genre staple. They used to be us, it could be you, your friend/family/lover could be hunting you down soon with the quest to drink your blood. Now, this is very similar to zombies as a monster and they’re certainly popular. The difference, as I see it, is their ability. Zombies are actually fairly easy to defeat unless you’re in a really bad position or badly outnumbered. (And I’m thinking I need to do a post on zombies because there’s a lot going on there.) Vampires have few weaknesses and it only takes one to kill you. If you’ve got more than one to deal with, you’re so screwed. With that in mind, I’m a little disappointed we’re not seeing them as much in the horror movies. Hey, Hollywood! Are you listening? (Crickets chirp . . .)

Now with all the vampire novels out there for sale – and people buying them, I know the agents and publishers see even more. I’m confident they see a lot that I’m glad aren’t cluttering the self-published lists. But it’s the same with every genre. There are always good and bad books. You can’t just say “no more of this” without taking into account why there’s so much of it to begin with.

Good guys or bad, I don’t see vampires going to the grave anytime soon.