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Ebook Costs and Pricing, Part II: The Pricing

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Publishers and resellers need to give readers value for their money.

Ebook Costs and Pricing
Part I: The Costs
Part II: The Pricing

In the first part of this series, I discussed, in depth, the costs of publishing any book — ebook or traditional printed book. If you haven’t read that, read it now. I think you’ll learn some important things about how the publishing industry works. My hope, however, is that you understand the value of every book that’s published, no matter what format it’s published in.

Amazon’s Macmillan Fiasco

In January 2010, there was a big hullabaloo in the publishing world. Out of the blue, Amazon, the world’s biggest bookseller, dropped titles by the publishing giant, Macmillan, and its imprints. This turned out to be roughly 1/3 of Amazon’s book catalog. The reason for this? Amazon was attempting to strong-arm Macmillan into accepting its ebook pricing model.

You see, Amazon.com wanted all ebooks to have a maximum price of $9.99 with a certain amount of that price going directly to Amazon.com. Macmillan, however, wanted to use the “agency model.” As Mashable reports in “Macmillan CEO Confirms Dispute With Amazon Over eBooks,”

In this model, Macmillan as publisher would sell digital editions of books to customers through retailers, who as the agents of the sale would take the typical 30% commission standard in many digital media industries.

Whereas currently Amazon caps the retail price of e-books at $9.99, Macmillan proposes to set the price for each book individually at price points between $5.99 and $14.99, starting typically on the high end of the spectrum (between $12.99 and $14.99) and dynamically lowering the price over time.

(This is the model currently used by Apple in its iBookstore.)

Flexing its muscles, Amazon chose the “nuclear option” of refusing to sell Macmillan books, thus putting the first battle of the ebook war out into the public eye.

Those of us in the publishing industry sat back and watched the battle of the titans. Amazon attempted to get customers on its side by accusing Macmillan, in a roundabout way, of being greedy. Macmillan, on the other hand, insisted that it had the right to establish its own pricing. Consumers tended to side with Amazon.com. Authors and others in the publishing industry tended to side with Macmillan.

I sided with Macmillan. I believe that the producer of any item for sale should have the right to set its own prices. Amazon was wrong to try to force Macmillan to follow Amazon’s pricing structure. If a publisher has to cut the price, it’ll also have to cut the costs. And where do you think the first cut will be? I can tell you from experience: the author.

So, as you might imagine, I was relieved when Macmillan won the battle. You can read another author’s perspective of this particular battle over ebook pricing in “Amazon, Macmillan: an outsider’s guide to the fight,” by Charlie Stross.

Unfortunately, however, Macmillan’s pricing strategy has serious problems. Not only does it often result in ebooks that are more expensive than their printed editions, but it fails to take into consideration the perceived value of an ebook.

The Psychological Barrier of Ebook Pricing

Although there is a definite cost to publish (as I discussed in Part I of this series; did you read it?), the vast majority of readers feel — and I agree — that an ebook should cost less than a traditionally printed paper book. How much less depends on the consumer, his budget, and the value he sees in the book.

Unfortunately, publishers and resellers don’t feel this way. A visit to Amazon.com tells the story. I pulled up the pages for the hardcover editions of several books currently on the top of the New York Times Bestseller list. In many instances, the hardcover printed book was priced lower than the ebook. Here are two examples:

Sh*t My Dad Says Pricing

Outliers Pricing

While I realize that the difference in pricing is minor — less than $2 in each example — it’s still roughly 10% cheaper to buy the hardcover, printed book than the ebook.

What’s the difference between the two editions of each of these books? The content is certainly the same — the same words by the same author. The less expensive book has substance. I can carry it around, put it on my shelf, thumb through it, write in it, show it to a friend, loan it out, give it away, or resell it on eBay or at a garage sale. This print book is certainly in a flexible format with ongoing future value. The more expensive ebook exists as a digital file that I can only view in one format on one kind of reader. Sure, I can read it on my iPad, my BlackBerry, and my Mac. But I can’t lend it out, give it away, or resell it.

In other words, the more expensive book has more restrictions on how I can use it.

Is that fair? Of course not.

Why would I pay more money for a book with more restrictions on its use?

I wouldn’t. And neither would the majority of ebook readers.

So what happens? Suppose I want to buy one of these books. I don’t want to buy yet another print book for my bookshelf — I’m trying to downsize. I’m not willing to pay a premium for an ebook edition. So I’ll either not read the book or I’ll pick up a copy at my local library. Does Amazon.com benefit from this? No. Does the publisher? No. The only one who benefits is me, because although I have to deal with the inconvenience of two visits to my local library, I’ll save a few bucks on the cost of a book. I’ll also achieve my personal downsizing goal by not adding more books to my library shelves.

The Magic Price

In addition to being less costly than the printed version of the book, to gain wide acceptance, the book needs to be priced to sell. This is where things get tricky. How can the publisher/distributor determine the price of an ebook?

Consider the “magic price” of consumers. What’s the maximum amount a reader is willing to pay for an ebook? For me, that price is $10 for a relatively new book with the price going down depending on the age of the book. I’d expect to pay more for a new book on the New York Times Bestseller list (but not more than its printed counterpart). I’d expect to pay far less for a 5-year-old book by the same author, even if it also once had bestseller list status.

That corresponds with the “agency pricing” model discussed earlier. But what doesn’t correspond is the starting price (as high as $14.99!) and the length of time before the price drops. I think the price should start much lower, perhaps at paperback book pricing levels. If it doesn’t start that low, it should definitely drop more quickly — within three to six months. Or, in the case, of a bestseller, when it falls off the bestseller list.

You might argue that if a reader knows the price of a book will drop, he’ll merely wait until the drop to buy. For a strong title, it shouldn’t matter. Readers will buy at their magic price. Some people won’t want to wait for some titles and will pay the premium. Others who are more price-sensitive will wait and save.

Pure Profit?

Publishers need to understand that the industry is changing. Information is widely available at low-cost or free. People with access to the internet can get plenty of reading material that’s just as good — if not better — than what they can find on bookstore shelves. This is taking a huge toll on the publishing industry.

As all this is going on, however, the publishers are handed a golden opportunity to sell a product with an extremely high profit margin: ebooks.

What the publisher needs to remember is its main goals, which are, in order:

  1. recoup fixed publishing costs
  2. earn a profit on books sold

Once the fixed costs of publishing (again, covered in detail in Part I of this series) are covered, the unit costs (primarily the author’s and retailer’s cuts) are relatively small. The result is a high profit margin product. Publishers should be doing everything they can to sell as many ebooks as the market will consume. Lowering the price is a good first step, as it will make ebooks more attractive to more readers.

As Charlie Stross points out, this is all part of the price elasticity of demand, an economics term that describes the relationship between price and units sold. Generally speaking, as price drops, more units are sold. That means that with proper pricing, the seller can sell more units and, even if the margins are lower, may be able to make as much — or more — money.

With a product like ebooks, which have a low cost to produce once fixed publishing costs are recouped, every ebook unit sold is profit. The more ebooks a publisher sells, the more money they make. So why wouldn’t they want to price ebooks so they sell more?

Who knows?

Short-Sightedness

The main problem I see with publishers is that they’re typically short-sighted. They know print publishing — they’ve been doing it for years. That formula worked for a very long time. But times change and technology marches on.

No one can deny the convenience of having a dozen or a hundred (or more!) books on a handheld device (or computer or cell phone) for instant access at any time. I don’t know about you, but the last time I took a get-away-from-it-all vacation, I lugged four books with me and still ran out of reading material before the end of the week. (I read fast.) I look forward to my next vacation when I can put all those books on my iPad.

Just as computers replaced typewriters, CDs and MP3 files replaced vinyl LPs, and cell phones are replacing land lines, ebooks will replace printed books. It’s inevitable. (Sure, there will still be books out there, far into the future. But they’ll be special books, like the coffee table books with designs and images that don’t translate well into electronic format — yet.)

Why are publishers fighting it? Why don’t they embrace the ebook revolution by hooking us on ebooks with the lure of practicality and cost savings? Get us addicted, make us demand books in this format. Why are they sticking to a pricing model that makes smart consumers feel like idiots for paying more for less?

We finally have three good ebook reader devices — although I believe two will go the way of the dinosaur when more iPad-like devices start appearing — so there’s no hardware excuse. The only thing holding ebooks back is the inflexibility of publishers regarding pricing and format and the limited availability of ebook titles.

Author and Reader

I’m writing this post from two points of view: as an author and as a reader.

As an author, I want to make as much money as I can. It’s my livelihood. You’d think, therefore, that I’d like the idea of high pricing. But I also like to consider what’s fair and I simply don’t believe that it’s fair to charge more for an ebook than a printed book. I also think more books could be sold if the price were lower, thus earning me the same amount of royalties — if not more.

As an author, I’ve had this discussion with one of my long-time publishers. I’ve pushed to create different ebook formats that take advantage of the display capabilities of computers with more attractive pricing. My reward for this: I’m labeled a troublemaker, a whiner, an annoyance. Whatever. It’ll be interesting to see how certain publishers survive the revolution.

As a reader, I want to be able to save money while increasing the convenience of reading. My iPad has given me, by far, the most pleasant book reading experience I’ve ever had. Clear, bright screen, adjustable type size, one-handed operation, the ability to read in low-light conditions. I never thought it would be this good. But I absolutely refuse to pay more for an ebook than its printed counterpart when there are so many limitations on what I can do with an ebook (beyond reading it) once I’ve got it.

What do you think? As author or reader or publisher, I’d love to get your comments.

Ebook Costs and Pricing, Part I: The Costs

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People need to understand the value of what they’re getting.

Kindle

Nook

iBooks on iPad

Today’s most popular ebook readers, in order of release: Kindle, Nook, iPad (displaying iBooks)

I have been long awaiting the ebook revolution. The idea of being able to store dozens or hundreds or perhaps even thousands of books on a device has always intrigued and excited me. If done properly, I could search book contents to find information quickly and easily. I could view full-color images that are part of the book’s content. I could annotate my copy to highlight or make notations about blocks of text. I could synchronize my digital library to access my books on any of my computers or reading devices. I could loan a book out to a friend — and be sure to get it back.

While people have been talking about and experimenting with ebooks for a long time, it’s only recently, through the introduction of modern ebook reading devices such as the Kindle, Nook, and iPad that the things I want in my ebook experience are becoming reality. That each platform supports a different collection of features is somewhat disturbing — for example, only Nook currently supports the [limited] lending of books, only Kindle currently supports a complete range of devices, and only iPad supports full color. But we’re getting there, slowly but surely. High quality, functional ebooks are no longer over the horizon. They’ve almost arrived. It’ll just take demands from serious ebook consumers to get everyone on the same page (pun intended) as far as features are concerned.

But there’s still a serious barrier to full-blown ebook acceptance by folk like me who want to be serious ebook consumers: pricing.

An Ebook is Not a Physical Product

The reality is that an ebook is not a physical product. It’s digital; it has no substance. Suppose you’re a Kindle user and buy books for your device in the Kindle format. What happens when that format changes and evolves? When the Kindle reader is improved to the point where the old format simply can’t be read on it? Or if the Kindle format dies completely? Think of all your VHS tapes and floppy disks. When was the last time you enjoyed using one of them?

Traditional printed books, however, have been around for over a thousand years, in one form or another. They have substance. They can line shelves or live in stacks on the floor. You can pick one up and hand it to someone else, who can then take it home with them and enjoy it. They can be sold as well as bought. They continue to have value after they have reached the consumer and the consumer has read them.

There’s also an undeniable cost associated with a traditionally printed book that is simply not part of an ebook. Paper is the obvious one — printed books are printed on paper. Paper costs money to buy. Printing costs money to complete — after all, it involves supplies such as ink and machinery such as printing presses, binding machines, cutting machines, etc. Other costs of printed books include the cartons they’re packed into (as well as the labor or machinery to do the packing), the buildings they’re stored or sold in, the transportation to move them from manufacturer to warehouse to retailer to customer.

Costs of Publishing

It’s important to note here that there are publishing costs that are shared by both printed books and ebooks. I need to review these, because in the arguments surrounding ebook pricing, many of these costs are overlooked.

Author
At the top of my list is the author, who needs to get compensated for her work. If the author can’t make a living as an author, she’ll stop writing. If all authors do this, there simply won’t be any new books — or at least none of any quality. Writing is a profession, like being a doctor or a carpenter or a baseball player. Who do you think does better work, the professional doctor, carpenter, or baseball player or the amateur? Professionals need to be paid for their work so they can afford to keep doing it. This makes it possible for them to hone their skills and be even better at what they do.

Editor
Although I may criticize the work of some editors — I am, after all, a writer, and that’s what we do — editors are critical to the production of a quality book. I’m talking here about all kinds of editors, from acquisition editors, who analyze markets and acquire authors and titles, to copyeditors, who make sure that the manuscript text is correct and easy to read. These people are also professionals who need to make a living. They need to be paid.

Designer
The need for design varies depending on the book’s format. At the very least, it needs a cover which must be designed. Ebooks have covers, too. If the book is formatted in such a way that it looks the same in print as it does as an ebook — for example, if it’s distributed as an ebook PDF — then it also needs a designer to determine what it should look like as far as fonts and white space and image layout goes. Then it also needs a production editor and layout staff to create the finished pages. Again, this isn’t always the case of ebooks — especially ones that are primarily text — but some amount of design will always be required. And that costs money.

Marketing
How do you learn about books? That’s what marketing is all about. It helps spread the word about new books. Without marketing, you wouldn’t know anything about the books out there. Now you might say that you heard about a book on television or on the radio or in a magazine in something other than an ad. But how do you think that particular form of communication learned about the book? Through press releases, review copies, release lists. Marketing. And it costs money.

Publisher
Publishers are also in the business of making money. So after a publisher has paid the author, editor, designer, and marketing staff — and handled all the other tasks of publishing, such as getting ISBNs, listing books in published book databases, registering copyright, and learning about publishing trends — there must be money left over to add to that bottom line. In the world of ebook publishing, the publisher is the one that stands the greatest possibility of being eliminated. But think of a publisher as a packager — they’ve got the resources to create the book and get it into the hands of readers, no matter what format they’re reading it in. There’s value there and it would be a shame to see it lost.

Retail Distribution
Transportation costs aside, there’s always a cost of distributing a book. Retailers are in business to make money — they’ll get a cut of every book sold. That’ll likely range from 10% to 60% of the book’s retail price. This compensates them for their “brick and mortar” building (think traditional bookstore) or Web-based shopping service (think Amazon.com’s programmers and servers, and don’t forget their warehouses for print books).

These are just some of the costs of publishing that must apply to both printed and electronic books. So when you look at the price of the book, remember that that’s where the money you pay is going.

Don’t fall into the common trap of thinking that because an ebook isn’t printed on paper it has no cost. That is simply not true.

More to Come

Ebook Costs and Pricing
Part I: The Costs
Part II: The Pricing

In Part II, I’ll continue this discussion with a review of current pricing realities and offer my thoughts on some pricing strategies for publishers that can satisfy consumers and remain profitable.

Until then, I’d really like to get some feedback from readers, especially those in the publishing industry. What costs have I omitted that apply to both printed books and ebooks? How about costs that are ebook only? Enlighten us.

Highest Duty

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A book review.

Highest DutyLast night, I stayed up late to finish reading Highest Duty by US Airways pilot Chelsey B. “Sully” Sullenberger. Captain Sullenberger was the pilot in command of US Airways Flight 1549, which landed with no loss of life in the Hudson River on January 15, 2009.

I’d been wanting to read the book for a while but I kept putting it off. I wanted it to be my first purchased ebook experience. I was supposed to get a Nook for Christmas, but the idiots at Barnes & Noble were completely clueless about customer service and timely order fulfillment, so I canceled the order. I wound up with an iPad in April. After weighing the benefits and drawbacks of ebook reader software — iBooks, Kindle Reader, and B&N Reader — I decided to go with the Kindle software and ordered the Kindle edition of the book from Amazon.com. From what I hear from Twitter friends, the iPad makes a better “Kindle” than Amazon’s Kindle.

On Heroes

I’ve always been intrigued by Captain Sullenberger’s modesty and apparent reluctance to bask in the limelight of his extraordinary experience. People call him a hero but he [rightly] refuses that title. He quotes from a letter he received after his Hudson River landing: “I see a hero as electing to enter a dangerous situation for a higher purpose, and you were not given a choice.”

I agree with this definition of a hero. Captain Sullenberger did what he had to do and was fortunate enough to have the knowledge, experience, demeanor, and team to carry it off successfully. His love and respect of life — including, of course, his own — is what motivated him to do everything he could to succeed.

In many ways, that’s better than being a hero. When a terrible situation was thrust upon him by circumstances he could not change, he rose to the occasion and emerged victorious, saving the lives of 105 people. Along the way, he gave the rest of us hope — after the terrorist attacks of 9/11, in the midst of a serious economic recession, with wars going on in the Mideast — he showed us what people can accomplish when put to the test. He gave us the happy ending we all needed.

It Wasn’t a “Miracle”

Another thing that intrigued — and, I’ll admit, pleased — me about Captain Sullenberger was his failure to credit his success to the intervention of some supernatural being. I’m talking about God.

I can’t tell you how sick I am of seeing famous athletes and celebrities and just plain people thank God for something good happening to them. Scored a record number of goals in a basketball game? Thank God! Won a Grammy? Praise Jesus! Tornado took out the house next to yours but left yours unscathed? God was watching out for you!

It makes me sick. People don’t want to give themselves credit where credit is due. They work hard, they train, they practice, but they give God credit for getting the ball through the hoop. They learn music, they practice singing, they get a great producer who helps package their material, but they give Jesus credit for winning that Grammy. They don’t want to admit that luck has a place in our lives — good luck preserves one house while bad luck takes the one next door away. What of the people who lost the basketball game or the Grammy or their home? Did God simply not like them as much? And what about when these winners get their own dose of bad luck — injury, illness, scandal, death? Did God change his mind about them?

Captain Sullenberger, however, did not thank God or any other supernatural being for the positive outcome of his Hudson landing. At least I didn’t hear him do so in any article, interview, or elsewhere. I wanted to read the book to be sure that he didn’t thank God within its pages. He didn’t.

And that just makes me respect him even more.

The Story

The book mingles autobiographical material with events from the day of the landing. The autobiographical material was presented in a roughly chronological order, but did bounce around a lot with side stories, including references to the Hudson landing. I’m not sure that was the best approach, but it did keep me reading.

Captain Sullenberger is clearly a true pilot. He entered aviation because of his love of flying. From his start as a teen, he took aviation seriously, learning what he could to be a better, safer pilot. He understands the importance of knowing an aircraft’s systems inside and out. He understands the value of studying past accidents to prevent future ones. He also understands that all the things that happen in our lives define who we are and how we will react in a given situation.

Flight 1549 from Wikipedia

This iconic photo of US Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River by GregL originally uploaded to Flickr can be found on Wikipedia under a Creative Commons 2.0 license.

A detailed discussion of the events of January 15, 2009 begin about 60% through the book. The story is riveting. He combines his narrative of what happened with references to his past that he believes influenced him to make certain decisions. For example, his knowledge of research into why military pilots sometimes ejected too late is part of why he decided not to worry about saving the airplane by attempting an airport landing and instead concentrate on saving the people by landing in the river. (There’s a lot more to his decision than that; this is just part of what went into it.)

Throughout this part of the book are bits and pieces of the cockpit transcript, recorded by microphones during the flight — the so-called “black box” data. Even though I knew how it would end — don’t we all? — I found the details fascinating. It was a great example of teamwork between Captain Sullenberger and his first officer, Jeff Skiles. Later in the narrative, it was clear that the flight attendants were also part of the team, helping passengers off the plane in as orderly a manner as possible.

The aftermath of the experience also made interesting reading. Getting an inside look at the mail Captain Sullenberger received from people on the plane — as well as many people who had no direct connection to the flight or its passengers at all — revealed the psychology of people. I’m not the only one who appreciated the happy ending to that seemingly doomed flight.

The Soapbox

One of the complaints people have had about the book is the soapbox aspect. Captain Sullenberger believes that airline pilots are not treated as well as they should be by their employers considering the hours and responsibilities of their work. He believes that pay cuts and pension cuts are making it ever more difficult to attract and retain quality pilots who actually care about their work. He suggests that airline pilots are like bus drivers of the sky.

Although I don’t have intimate knowledge of the airline industry, as a professional pilot who has worked for a large tour operator, I know exactly what he means. Aviation employers don’t care how good a pilot is. As long as the pilot meets insurance requirements and can do the job, all that matters is how much that pilot costs. In my experience, many employers would rather hire a cheap, entry level pilot than a seasoned professional who costs more. They don’t see the benefit of the experience. They’re gambling, of course, on the equipment and circumstances of flight — when something goes wrong, will the entry level pilot have the experience and knowledge to bring the aircraft and passengers back safely?

In the airline industry, pilots are locked into their employers for seniority. If they leave one airline, they lose all seniority and start at the bottom at their new employer. This prevents experienced pilots from looking for better jobs. It stagnates the employee pool. And although Captain Sullenberger didn’t mention this, it prevents good ideas from one airline from migrating to another.

Captain Sullenberger does discuss how many airline employees have simply stopped caring about anything other than what’s in their job description. As budget cuts reduce non-essential staff, customer service suffers. Captain Sullenberger talks about his personal experiences going the “extra mile” to help passengers who can’t get the help they need from other airline employees. He talks about how most airline employees are simply tired of doing other people’s jobs. He doesn’t blame them — he hints that they’re underpaid for what they’re supposed to do — but he does decry the system that results in this poor attitude.

He also believes that budget cuts have the potential to reduce safety. A good example of this is the emergency procedures book that his first officer needed to consult on the loss of both engines. In the past, the book had numbered tabs that made it easier to find content. The airline, in a cost-cutting measure, had stopped including the tabs, making it necessary to thumb through the book and look at individual page headings to find content. In the slightly more than three minutes the cockpit crew had to land the plane without engines, every second was valuable. Yes, this flight had a happy ending — but could other flights be lost due to cost cutting measures like this? It certainly makes you wonder.

My feelings about Captain Sullenberger’s soapbox are mixed. I didn’t like reading his complaints, but, at the same time, I knew they were valid. And I know that his experience and the interviews, articles, and books that come from it are the perfect way to get the message out.

While Captain Sullenberger was careful not to criticize his airline, it’s clear that US Airways is just as bad as the others when it comes to matters of pilot compensation and cost-cutting. Perhaps his insight will help make the situation better?

Sadly, it probably won’t.

Thumbs Up

In all, I give the book two thumbs up. While it’s especially good reading for pilots and others interested in aviation, I also think it makes a good guide for young people who want to make something of their lives. And for the rest of the world, it’s a great look at one of the most amazing emergency landings we’ll likely ever see.

The Three Tiers of Writing

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Some thoughts from a top tier player.

Other posts that explore why writers write:
– Why Write?
– Why Writers Write
– BE a Writer

A few weeks ago, I had lunch with my friend and editor — and yes, it is possible to be friends with an editor — Esther. Like me, Esther also writes about computers and computing for a living. But while my audience tends to be end users, hers are of a more technical or managerial nature. In other words, she writes stuff I probably couldn’t understand.

We got to talking about writing and why people do it. During the conversation she (or we?) said something that was so profound to me at the time that I wrote it down on a notepad I’d brought along. It was the only note I’d jotted down during our lunch:

Notes

Why People WriteI see these reasons for writing as three separate but overlapping groups that a writer might be part of.

Do you remember set theory back in high school math? You can have multiple groups of people, some of which belong to more than one group while a limited number belong to just one group. I’ve created this image to visualize what I mean. Keep this image in mind as you read the next three sections.

Write

One group of people write to fulfill a desire or need to write.

If you’re one of these people, you know it. You’ve likely been writing or at least telling stories since you were a child. Perhaps you were the queen of the campfire with your original and frightening ghost stories. Perhaps you told yourself stories to get to sleep. Perhaps you always had at least one notebook filled with the never-ending saga of some characters you’d dreamed up to populate your made up world.

There are many thousands of people worldwide who belong to this tier. They write primarily because they need to. There’s something in their head and they need to get it out.

Some of these people share their work with others, but I’m willing to bet that a good percentage of them — perhaps even half or more — don’t. They don’t need to share. They just need to create, to get the words out.

But some of these people also belong to one or more of the other groups.

Get Published

A large (but not as large) group of writers write because they want to get published. Creating isn’t enough for them. They want to see their work in print. They want to have a book or magazine they can hold in their hand and show off to friends and family.

Although they might not realize it, having a published work is a lot like getting a trophy. It’s a symbol of an accomplishment.

Esther and I talked at length about how easy it is to get published these days. Yes, I did say easy. While vanity presses have been around for a long time, blogging and print on demand publishers make getting published cheaper and easier than ever before. Now anyone who wants to get published can get published — no matter how good or bad his work is.

This just reinforces my trophy analogy. After all, you can get a trophy two ways: by having it given to you by someone else who believes you’ve earned it or by going to the trophy store and buying it for yourself. That’s the difference between being published by an established publisher who is publishing your work because he thinks it deserves to be published and self publishing your work because you think it deserves to be published.

Some people write solely because they want to get published. They have no desire to be writers at all; they just want the end product — a published work — in hand. Who might be in this group? How about a professional in a non-publishing field who wants to look like an expert in that field? A doctoral candidate? A college professor?

While just being published is enough of a motivation for the people in this group, some want to take it the next step and are part of the last group.

Earn a Living

An even smaller group of writers write because they want to earn a living as a writer. Perhaps they are interested in the perceived lifestyle or the ability to earn a living from their creative efforts. They imagine working in their pajamas whenever they feel like it, doing book signings where they’re surrounded by adoring fans, and raking in enough dough to buy homes and cars and perhaps even helicopters.

(Ah, if only it were that easy!)

Some people write soley for this reason. They don’t care about the writing itself and the idea of having a published book is meaningless without the cash. They just think it might be an easy way to earn a living and heck, who wouldn’t want that?

But most really do want to write and do have a desire to be published.

The Reality

Unfortunately, motivation doesn’t always match reality.

You might write because you want to get published, but can you achieve this? Although it’s easier now than ever before, it’s still beyond the ability of many writers.

And what if you want to earn a living as a writer? A very small percentage of writers do.

Why People WriteSo rather than using set theory to illustrate the realities of writing, it might be better to use a pyramid shape with multiple tiers, as shown here.

At the bottom are the people who are writing but have not yet achieved publication.

Next up is a smaller group of writers who have achieved publication but have not yet written or published to the point where they can earn a living as writers.

And at the top is a much smaller group of writers who can actually earn a living as writers.

If you’re a writer, it should be pretty easy to figure our which tier you’re part of.

What this Means

What does this mean to the folks whose circle doesn’t match their tier level? For many folks, it just means you need to keep trying or try harder.

Let’s look at the folks in the Get Published or Earn a Living circle who are in the bottom tier of the pyramid. Have you tried to get your work published? It’s quite difficult to go any further until you do. If you have, but haven’t succeeded, why? Putting self-publishing aside for a moment, are you being rejected because you aren’t meeting the needs of publishers? Is the quality of your work sufficient for publication? Are you being reasonable and understand that an established publisher knows more about the industry and what will sell than you do? Or, if you have a niche market for your work, have you considered self-publishing?

How about the folks in the Earn a Living circle who are in the middle tier of the pyramid. Why isn’t your work selling well enough to earn you a living? Is the target audience too small? The book too expensive? Has the publisher — who may be you! — dropped the ball as far as marketing and promotion is concerned? Is there too much competition? Not enough interest? If a published work doesn’t sell, there won’t be enough money coming in to earn a living.

It all comes down to you. You need to write what people want to read. You need to get it published and marketed in a way that’ll sell it. It’s not an easy task and the work never ends. Unless you’re talented and fortunate enough to write and publish a best-seller, the work never ends.

The View from Near the Top

I’m sitting in the middle of the top tier right now, but I could slip down within my tier — or even to a lower tier — at any time. I have to keep working, keep writing, keep getting my work published by organizations that can sell it. I’m a cog in a wheel and that wheel is changing its shape as the publishing industry evolves.

Yes, I come to work in my pajamas sometimes and yes, I’ve even bought helicopter. But I also work harder than 95% of the people I know — people who whine and complain about their bosses as they stand chatting around the water cooler. People who know at the beginning of the year exactly how much they’ll make by year-end. People who have health benefits and weekends off.

It’s skill and hard work that got me where I am. And it’ll be skill and hard work that keeps me here.

And there’s room up here for anyone who’s not afraid of the climb.

Why I Canceled My Nook Order

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And why I might buy one anyway.

As an avid reader, I’ve been attracted to the idea of an ebook reader for years. But until this past autumn, I haven’t really found one I thought I’d actively use.

Before that were offerings from Sony, which seemed to fall far short of what I thought was a good design. The blinking page turns would drive me batty, since I knew I could go through an average page in 10-20 seconds. (Have I mentioned that I read very fast?)

Kindle came out and lots of people loved it, but I was turned off by Amazon.com’s aggressive marketing, limited format support, and high book prices. (Like many other book buyers, I don’t feel that an ebook’s cost should be anywhere near the cost of its printed version.) And when Amazon snatched purchased books off of Kindles without warning, I started wondering what other kind of access Amazon had and whether it would use it.

Enter, the Nook

NookThen Barnes and Noble introduced its Nook. Or at least it announced it. It seemed more in line with what I was looking for in size, cost (for the unit and books), features, and flexibility. I visited B&N stores regularly to get my hands on one and give it a try. No joy there. Even after November 30, when the units were supposed to be available for purchase, I could not seem to find one. And I certainly wasn’t going to buy one until I either read a lot of reviews about it or had some quality time with a demo unit. I did see a few reviews and they were, for the most part, positive. But I still wasn’t prepared to buy one until I could walk away from the store with it.

Christmas came. My husband decided to buy one for me. Of course, he couldn’t get his hands on one, either. But he ordered one online. They said it would ship in January. He asked for some kind of card he could give me on Christmas Day, in its place. They charged him $4 for a card that looked like a nook. And that’s what I opened on Christmas Day.

A few days later, he checked with B&N again to see when the Nook would arrive. They projected the end of January.

FAIL

An Apple Tablet?

This week, the Apple Tablet rumors have been in full swing. I’ve been wanting an Apple Tablet — or at least thinking I wanted an Apple Tablet; more on that in a moment — since last spring. I actually put off the purchase of a 13-inch MacBook Pro, hoping a Mac netbook would become available before then. Apple kept insisting they weren’t going to develop a netbook. I caved and bought the 13-inch MacBook Pro to replace a 15-inch MacBook Pro and the 12-inch PowerBook before it. (I still have both of those; anyone want to buy one?)

So here I sit, on January 6, expecting a Nook right around the same time that Apple might announce something infinitely better.

Or not.

The way I see it, Apple could do one of two things:

  • It could announce an Apple Tablet that basically reinvents ebook readers and tablet computers at the same time. Kind of like what the iPod did for MP3 players years ago. Something that would blow all the existing options out of the water. Something not only I’d want, but everyone with a need (or desire) for mobile computing or an ebook reader would want.
  • It could announce an Apple Tablet that, although attractive in its design and interface, falls short of what I need or want as an ebook reader or tablet computer. Or marry the device to a partner that I can’t do business with. This is what I thought about the iPhone and AT&T. I might have gone with the iPhone if I could choose my own carrier — without jailbreaking — but the AT&T partnership was a deal breaker for me.

An iPhone-like Situation

Indeed, my situation today has a lot in common with the iPhone announcement and release. Back then, I was in the market for my first smartphone. My Motorola flip phone was four years old (at least) and I wanted to tap into the basic computing power of a smart phone to store contact information, calendar events, and simple applications that would help me as a pilot (weather, flight planning, etc.). It was vital that the phone be able to communicate with my Macs to exchange information. When the iPhone came out, it looked like a dream come true.

Yet just days before people started lining up to buy iPhones, I bought my Palm Treo 700p. At the time, it was a better decision for me. Two years later, I updated to a Blackberry Storm. Again, it was better for me.

You see, unlike so many other people, I don’t buy the hot new gadget just because it’s a hot new gadget. I buy it because it meets my needs. The iPhone doesn’t meet my needs. I need a carrier with coverage in remote places. Verizon is that carrier. (Hell, AT&T can’t even get a good signal at my house.) I’m not interested in dropping $1.99 every few days or weeks on cool apps I don’t need or playing games on my phone. I’m not interested in being able to join wi-fi networks — in the very remote places I go, I consider myself lucky to have a cell signal at all. I need “tethering” to get my computer on the Internet via my cell phone’s Internet connection. The Treo and the Storm both support that through Verizon; I just learned that the iPhone still does not via AT&T. I’m not interested in jailbreaking a phone to add features that the maker and carrier don’t want me to have. I want a fully functioning, fully supported smartphone that does exactly what I need it to do, right out of the box. That’s why I don’t have an iPhone.

Now before you iPhone lovers get your panties in a bunch, just remember that I’m talking about my needs and wants. Not yours. Yes, your iPhone is very cool. Yes, I wish it met my needs. But although it might be perfect for you, it simply doesn’t meet my needs. I made my decision. Don’t waste your time and mine blasting me in Comments because I haven’t drunk the iPhone Kool-Aid and sacrificed my needs so I can be cool, too.

My Point

And that brings up one of two points in this post:

  • Barnes & Noble failed when it introduced its Nook right before Christmas and didn’t have enough units on hand to sell to customers who wanted them. That failure was only made worse when the Apple Tablet rumors starting churning up again. Why would anyone buy now and wait until January month-end for a device when Apple, which is known for innovative, game-changing designs, could announce a competing product around the same time? Hell, if the Apple Tablet is the product I hope it is, I’d buy one even if I already had a Nook. But the Nook hasn’t arrived and B&N has just lost a sale.
  • Although I’m huge Apple fan who has been using Macs since 1989, writing about them since 1990, and, indeed, earning a living as someone who teaches others about Apple products and software, I won’t buy an Apple Tablet if it doesn’t meet my needs. (Maybe it’s because I’d be buying it for me, and not to impress others with it. ) I’d like to think that there are other people like me who feel the same way. Don’t buy it just because it has an Apple logo on it. Buy it because it’s the best product to meet your needs.

It’s because I’m willing to wait and see what might be available soon that I’m in a good position to get what I want instead of compromising on features. I like immediate gratification as much as the next geek, but after buying so many gadgets over the years — heck, I still have a Newton MessagePad on the shelf! — I’ve learned not to rush out and buy what might be the next great thing. I’m willing to wait, at least until April or May, to make my ebook reader purchase.

Whether it’s an Apple Tablet or a Nook or something else that materializes between now and then remains to be seen.

But one thing’s for certain: it will be the right purchase decision for me.