The New Publishing Paradigm, Part One: It’s Not about eBook vs. Print
The Keynote Address at this year’s Romance Writers of America (RWA) Annual Conference was unusual. Instead of sharing an inspirational or funny story about her trudge to success, Stephanie Laurens essentially gave a lunchtime workshop about the publishing industry, complete with a PowerPoint presentation.
Some were disappointed or bored and left early. I thought she was brilliant.
In the debate about self-publishing versus traditional publishing, many authors have focused on the percentage of readers who choose ebooks versus print. The typical thinking is that if most of their readers are still buying print books, authors need to stick with traditional publishing.
One of the drumbeats of traditional publishing is that publishers can get our books into bookstores more easily. That’s true (for now). The problem is that most people think “bookstores” and “print” are synonymous.
The thinking goes: if our readers buy our stories in a printed format, we need to have our books placed in bookstores. And therefore, we need a traditional publisher.
Wrong.
“Print” does not equal “bookstore.” Think of how many print books we buy online, from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc. We should focus on how readers are finding our books, not the format.
As Stephanie said:
“[W]hile the shift from print to digital consumption is a major driver contributing to the critical transition that’s causing the upheaval in our business, it’s not the critical transition itself – which is the migration of readers from buying offline to buying online. Whether they buy print or digital doesn’t matter – it’s the fact that readers access our works online that’s key, because once a reader is buying online, the author can reach that reader directly, and that alters one critical segment of our business irreversibly.”
In other words, we’re comparing the wrong numbers. And we’re using those irrelevant numbers to make business decisions. Bad us.
I’ve seen the breakdown of x percentage of readers buying ebook and y percentage buying print. I’ve also seen many authors look at those numbers and think they’d lose all those print readers by self-publishing. Not true.
Self-published authors have the ability to offer their stories in print form using POD (print on demand) on many of the online retailer sites, like Amazon. So the issue isn’t ebook versus print.
As Stephanie pointed out, once readers are at an online retailer, if they want a print book, they won’t pay attention to whether the book already exists in a warehouse somewhere, waiting to be shipped, or if a book will be printed and shipped when they order it. All print readers care about is whether they can get a printed book that appeals to them at a fair price from their retailer of choice.
So when we’re analyzing the value a traditional publisher offers us, the numbers of print readers versus ebook readers don’t matter beyond royalty percentage concerns. Instead, we should focus on the breakdown of readers buying books offline (like at a brick-and-mortar bookstore) versus buying books online (like at Amazon or barnesandnoble.com).
Unfortunately, I have yet to see those percentages published anywhere.
We already know ebook sales are gaining ground. If we included print sales made at online retailers, what would we see? Do those numbers change for casual readers (i.e., those we’d like to reach out to for “bestseller” status)?
By no means am I slamming brick-and-mortar bookstores here. I feel the urge to genuflect every time I pass the gorgeously huge, two-story Barnes & Noble near my house. I love bookstores.
Rather, I’m pointing out that our business decisions regarding our publishing options should not be based on our percentage of print readers, but on our percentage of readers who buy offline. There is a difference, and I hope we find a way to track down those numbers. Stephanie believes more than 50% of romance books are sold online, but other genres will have their own numbers.
Just to add more confusion to the mix, those numbers are likely to be different for each sub-genre. Jody Hedlund’s readership for her inspirational romances is probably different from the readership of Kresley Cole’s paranormal romances. Jody knows her readership includes large numbers of women who don’t even own a computer, much less use one for shopping.
Regardless of any numbers relevant to our situation, some of us prioritize publishing options that give us access to bookstores just because we love the idea of seeing our books on the shelf. There’s nothing wrong with that.
I was one of those who saw the ebook vs. print numbers and thought they were the only relevant figures, so I know how much Stephanie’s point can change our thinking. At what percentage of sales should we change our approach? Or do we want to be in stores so much that even the smallest percentage of sales is worth going traditional?
There’s no right or wrong answer. My point is that we should be aware of the real issues behind our decisions so we’re making the best choice for us. And more importantly, that we’re not making decisions based on a feeling that we don’t have a choice if we want to see our books in print.
(And come back next Tuesday for a more detailed look at how the shift to online buying affects authors.)
Have you ever seen a breakdown of offline versus online book purchases? (If so, share!) What do you think is more important to our decision-making—print vs. ebook or offline vs. online? How important to you is seeing your book on a bookstore shelf? Would you be willing to take a royalty rate “pay cut” to make that happen?
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I was one of those people that was bored at the beginning. I know, Bad Buff. I never would have left though. I was glad I stuck around because she had a point that I hadn’t thought about before. The publishing industry is changing every day. It’s a lot to think about.
Hi Buffy,
LOL! Oh yes, I remember your facial expressions. (They were priceless through the whole conference, actually. 😉 ) But I don’t blame you. It was a very unusual luncheon Keynote Address.
When I first saw the PowerPoint, my reaction was along the line of “you’ve got to be kidding me.” But as you said, there’s a difference between having that (very normal) reaction and deciding to leave early. 🙂
I know I learned something new, and that’s always a successful workshop in my mind. It was just a “bonus” workshop that we weren’t expecting, and that’s why it threw us. LOL! Thanks for the comment!
I’m fairly new to RWA, but it only took one afternoon of perusing the RWA message forums to see the tension between writers, the industry and (without mucking up too much here) frustration with a nationally known writer’s association that is hesitant to recognize successfully self-published authors. I agree, the wrong things are being focused on. As a reader, I sometimes buy print, sometimes download to my Nook. It depends; I’m not one or the other. I also still heavily use my library, which is still a way to support an author, especially when you request that your local brand acquire a book you want.
Thanks for sharing thoughts on this. I’m just soaking up all this information as I’m readying myself to pursue publication, however it pans out 🙂
Hi Stephanie,
Oh yes, this was huge! And I say “was” here on purpose. When I went to RWA10 (two years ago), self-publishing (and even epublishers) were persona non grata–not talked about, not acknowledged…ignored in every way.
This conference marked the tipping point. The Keynote Speaker–of all people–was advocating for authors to consider all publishing options. There were multiple workshops about self-publishing tips and tricks. Carina Press (an epublisher) won a coveted RITA award. And during the conference, the RWA Board voted at the Annual General Meeting to approve letting self-published authors into PAN (Published Author Network).
I can’t begin to tell you how much these changes offer proof that the old “traditional publishing is the only respected and viable publishing method” attitude is dead. This is humongous. RWA is the biggest writing organization of the biggest genre, and they now welcome self-publishers and the self-publishing option with open arms. That’s a 180 degree turn around in the past two years. ‘Tis an exciting time. 🙂
Thanks for the comment!
Fantastic post, Jami!!
I think that your quote: “Print” does not equal “bookstore.” Think of how many print books we buy online, from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc. We should focus on how readers are finding our books, not the format.” Sums up my feelings exactly…however, I didn’t even realize I felt that way until you wrote this post!
I’m struggling right now with what I should do with my most recent completed novel. I’ve already sent it to 2 of the agents that had requested the full, but in lieu of sending it to more [agents/editors] I’m wondering if I’m doing myself a disservice. Should I be working harder at self-publishing (and keeping my profits) or should I be busting my butt to submit to NY?
Hmm, I don’t really have an answer to that question.
I do know, however, that one of my dreams has always been to see my book on the shelves of Barnes and Noble or Borders.
But…Borders is gone…
So what does that say about my “outdated” dream?
I wish I had the numbers. I wish I knew which choice would be better FOR ME.
Excellent, thought provoking post, Jami!
Have a great afternoon,
Tamara
P.S.
Oh, and I can’t believe people walked out of Stephanie Laurens Keynote address. Not only is that INCREDIBLY rude, but ignorant as well. Just think of all the great info they lost out on.
Glad you got a chance to hear her speak and got so much out of her topic.
Hi Tamara,
Yes, and I haven’t looked into the royalty rates for POD versus a standard publishing print contract yet either, so I wouldn’t know what the numbers would mean even if I could find them. LOL! Some things I’ve seen say that CreateSpace’s (Amazon’s POD partner) cut is huge, and others say that it varies. I’m sure the numbers have changed over the past couple years, and our options will continue to change as we look at other POD providers too.
Ooo, yeah, I can relate to that. Our dreams aren’t keeping up with reality, are they? 🙂
Heh, about the rude thing. Buffy and I saw a Big Name Author stagger out of the Keynote Address early. I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the traditionally published authors saw the speech as a slam on traditional publishing. I didn’t see it that way, but Stephanie did have more eye-opening concepts to share (which I’ll go into next week) that could have make them think that.
Thanks for the comment!
Thanks so much!
Another thing to consider even among bookstores. My book is in Barnes and Noble brick-and-mortar stores, but it is not in the supermarket and it is not in Walmart. How many print book buyers go to a physical bookstore per se, and how many print book buyers buy them in places like Walmart and Walgreens and Publix? So even having a traditional publisher with print books on bookstore shelves doesn’t mean you’re being exposed to the greatest mass of print-book purchasers. Like you, I’ve never seen any numbers that focus on the POS location rather than format. And I’d be very interested in seeing them! Thanks for sharing that with those of us unable to go to RWA!
Hi Suzanne,
Yes, great point! So as we’re considering our options, we need to look at what brick-and-mortar locations a publisher could get us into, as there is a line between the market of B&N only and the markets of B&N, Costco, Walmart, Walgreens, etc. The latter is more likely to get our books into the hands of casual readers.
POS (point of sale) numbers would be very interesting. 🙂 Thanks for the comment!
Excellent post, Jami!
I have always been an avid reader, so when I decided to write I was actually pretty confused about the arguments going back and forth regarding print v. e-book. Its always been online v. offline to me, and I never understood the other viewpoint.
I am a HUGE HUGE HUGE Stephanie Laurens fan. I think I’ve gushed on that enough, but her Keynote was absolutely fabulous and, in my personal opinion, she nailed the reality of publishing entirely.
K, those are my 2 cents, gotta get back to work lol
Hi Kate,
Ooo, interesting that you came in from the reader side and wondered about that ebook vs. print divide. 🙂
And yes, even though Stephanie’s talk wasn’t what we expected, I think it was a great speech and something we all should hear. Thanks for the comment!
I can see why you found this talk brilliant. I would have been listening intently too because I have to agree–online vs. offline is much more important than ebook vs. print.
That debate even matters when it comes to how we spend our platform-building time. If your audience isn’t on social media, doesn’t read blogs, and may not even regularly use a computer, is it a wise use of your time to blog three days a week and be on five different social media sites? It makes sense for me. I’m a science fiction/fantasy writer. My audience is among those who spend the most time online. But what if my audience was rural farmers like my dad? He only uses the computer to check the weather and he doesn’t even fully understand what a blog is. If he were my audience, my time would be better spent building key relationships offline with organizations who can reach my target audience.
Hi Marcy,
Great point! And since I was hanging out with Janice Hardy so much at RWA, we talked quite a bit about this issue.
She writes Middle Grade and YA, so she’s not going to reach her readers online or through her blog. She occasionally guests on reader (or parent of reader) oriented sites, but the reality is that she blogs because she enjoys it. She knows she’s not platforming for readers (although I did buy copies of her books for all the pre-teen kids I know 😉 ), and that’s her choice–and I’m very grateful for it. 🙂
Those of us who write romance, especially the edgier stuff (whether that means paranormal or spicy scenes), probably have a more-online readership than those who write in other genres. Even though I still buy books in print sometimes, my buying is mostly online. Thanks for the comment!
Wow, while I was enjoying the creme caramel, you were busy writing notes. I’m sitting next to you next time, Jami. You’re a note-taking rock star!
Thanks for the reminder of what Stephanie said. 😀
Hi Stina,
LOL! Eh, if it had been the chocolate dessert of the other lunch, I might not have paid as close of attention. 😉
And really, I have to give credit to Stephanie. In the post above, I link to the full transcript of her speech on her site, so I just needed to take mental notes about which of her points I wanted to delve into. 🙂 I’ll be covering more of her thoughts on Tuesday. Thanks for the comment!
I missed RWA12 (and I’ll probably miss next year’s conference *sad panda*) but someone in my local chapter kindly forwarded the keynote. I admit, my eyes glazed over a bit and I ended up skimming through some of it, but I got the gist-change or get left behind. I love brick and mortar stores. That genuflecting you’re tempted to do? I DO do it every time I step into Powell’s City of Books (which doesn’t happen nearly as often I’d like). I don’t own an e-reader, and I’m too impatient to order books online and wait for them to be shipped. The highlight of an otherwise crappy Tuesday was getting a call from my local Barnes and Noble to tell me Chloe Neill’s newest book (which I’d reserved) had come in a week early. That wouldn’t happen with an e-tailer. I would LOVE to walk into a giant bookstore, or a little bookstore, or hell, even a Target, and see my book on the shelf. But that’s vanity. I’m still at the point where I’ll go for vanity over sales. I seem to run into the type of people who would, inevitably, ask me, oh, have I heard of anything you’ve written? And if I tell them the titles, and they’re only available as ebooks, they’d just look askance like, suuuuure, you’re a writer. *insert eye roll here* Even with all the changes the industry is seeing, making a living as a writer, and only a writer, is a “down… — Read More »
Hi Amanda,
I don’t blame you for the eyes-glazing-over bit. Brilliant doesn’t necessarily translate into page-turningly engaging. 🙂
Ooo, yes, I never made it to Powell’s the one day I was in the area. 🙁 But thanks for sharing your reasons for sticking with offline buying. We have Changing Hands bookstore here, but I don’t live so close to it that it’s a regular stop for me. If it was, I might have more offline habits as well. 🙂
And I understand what you mean about how plenty of people still consider ebooks as “not real.” Especially among casual readers who have no reason to bother with an ereader, real books equals print books. Thanks for the comment!
Good point! That really were the rub is for most of us online or offline, neither is wrong but you are right each genre tends to be more one or the other.
Great food for thought, thanks for the update from the keynote speech.
Hi Melissa!
(I know, I owe you an email. 🙂 ) Yes, this isn’t a question of right or wrong or “better.” This is about knowing our market, our readership, and our desires and priorities beyond the cold, hard numbers. Thanks for the comment!
Jami – Thank you so much for sharing this message! And thank you for the link to the presentation! Can’t wait to read more on this on Tuesday! 😀 This is so incredibly true in terms of knowing where and how to reach our audience, and it’s such an eye-opener because like you said, none of us have actually seen the #’s related to online vs. offline purchases, so therefore we never knew that those are the #’s we should be focusing on. As much as I love going into Barnes & Noble, I usually buy my books online. I’ll go in the store and skim the shelves, find something new and interesting, then I’ll go home and order it online. This is not only because I have a Nook that I absolutely love, but also because the online prices are so much cheaper than inside the store (especially on the print books!), and that’s even with using my Barnes & Noble membership (which I get free shipping with and books normally arrive within a week). So yeah, I tend to always purchase online, and that’s where I mostly spend my time anyway, as both a reader and author. So why wouldn’t my core audience (paranormal romance and urban fantasy) also be spending a large amount of time online? To put it simply: It’s the freakin’ dream. That’s what it is. When we dreamed of being a published author, we dreamed of seeing our book on the shelves in the… — Read More »
Hi Melinda,
Exactly! Since we’ve never seen the offline vs. online numbers, it never occurred to us to wonder about them. 🙂
And you’re absolutely right about how we still want the dream of seeing our books on the shelves, even though the basis of that dream is eroding little by little every day. It doesn’t matter. We still hope there will be enough of the rock left to balance on by the time we get there. 🙂 Thanks for the comment!
Hi Jami! Extremely interesting post! POS numbers need to be scrutinized and the fact that the board voted in the PAN for self-pubbers. This is something I asked the VP of the SFWA about and she never answered me. They still have their list of vetted publishers that count as a valid sell. I hope they step into the 21st century like the RWA, it sounds like they are waking up and smelling the coffee.
Great Post Jami!
Hi Todd,
RWA set the dollar amount higher for self-published eligibility, just to reflect the differences, but I think it’s doable. To put it in perspective, a book published through a publisher has to earn $1000 to make the author eligible for PAN. (I think…I’m going from memory here. 🙂 ) This requirement was put in place to encourage advances among the publishers and to put the focus of PAN on publishing as a career (which means it has to bring in significant money). I know plenty of authors who went with small or epubs and, five books later, still don’t qualify for PAN because they make about $500-600 per book.
Now for self-published authors, a book has to earn $5000 to make the author eligible for PAN. I haven’t read the official documents about this change, but I would suspect that the fact that self-published authors have to pay out money for editing and cover images accounts for the difference. They wanted to make sure that the book had brought in enough income to actually be income, as opposed to just paying back the bills. 🙂 I think it’s a great compromise. Thanks for the comment!
Thanks for giving those of us who want to self-publish more hope! You’ve made a good point that a lot of readers do browse online rather than in bookstores, so we shouldn’t feel bad about our books only appearing in the former. Thus we don’t need to feel pressured to do traditional publishing to be called a “writer”.
I’m still waiting for the prejudice against self-published books to be alleviated one day, and for the success of some self-published authors to be more widely known to the public. For instance, I’ve heard that James Joyce started off self-publishing, and that gave me enormous encouragement.
One reason why I don’t *really* want to do traditional publishing or to find an agent is because I’ll be forced to change my story for them in one way or another: you know how they only accept a particular genre; or if they don’t like something in your story, they’ll demand that you’ll change it–even if it twists your story beyond recognition! I’m a person who wants nobody to tamper with my manuscript, because I demand to have the plot, characters, wording, everything to be exactly the way I want them to be. Making my characters do things that they didn’t do just to satisfy a publisher or agent is simply against my morals. This is only my opinion, of course.
I can’t wait for the world to look upon self-published authors more favorably one day!
Hi Serena,
I’ve seen huge shifts in attitude among the industry. At this point, I think the prejudice comes more from readers than anyone else. And unfortunately, as long as some self-published authors don’t take their work seriously by getting it edited and whatnot, there will be poor quality self-published books out there to reinforce the readers’ attitude.
As for your worries about having to change your story, I can understand that. There are some things I wouldn’t mind changing, and I’m always open to making my story better, but other things are so integral to the story, I wouldn’t want to touch them. 🙂 Thanks for the comment!
Great post Jami! I can’t believe people were walking out during the talk. It’s not only rude, but I would have thought it would have been in their own best interests to learn more about the publishing industry during these changing times. Seeing a breakdown of offline versus online book purchases would certainly put things into perspective. I have to agree it definitely changes the ‘dream’ somewhat! 😉
Thanks for sharing your notes and I look forward to reading more next week.
Hi Debbie,
Yes, well, we’re talking about a roomful of 2000+ people, so I doubt Stephanie saw people leave, and throughout normal workshops, people come and go all the time. So I was less offended and more “their loss.” 🙂 Thanks for the comment!
Hi Jami,
Thanks for sharing what you learned at RWA. I would have to agree that a large percentage of the population is likely moving to buying most books in online venues, including print books. Yes, I still have a percentage of my readership that relies on bookstores. AND libraries. I can’t tell you how many emails I’ve gotten over the past few years from readers who’ve gotten my books at the library. So we can’t forget that aspect of building our readership. We can get “discovered” by having our print books on the shelves at libraries. And most libraries are still fairly closed to self-published books. Just something else to think about!
Hi Jody,
Great point! Yes, it’s harder (almost, but not quite, impossible) to get self-published books in the library, and that’s a great way to gain new readers. Thanks for sharing and for the comment!
I have looked at this issue a lot myself, and it’s why I want to be a hybrid author–some self-published, some traditionally-published. I’m glad that Jody mentioned LIBRARIES because I’ve given that a lot of thought with my YA fiction. My sons read most of their books by checking them out from the library. We do buy books but I couldn’t afford their reading habit if we purchased every single novel they cracked open. Thank goodness for libraries! I do believe that libaries will need to shift their paradigm as well, and I wonder when and how that will occur. Great information, Jami! Thanks for sharing.
Hi Julie,
I figure I’ll end up a hybrid too. I’m not “rah-rah” with any particular option, as I’m going to make the choice for what’s right for each story.
And you’re absolutely right about kids and libraries. The MG and YA readers I know get most of their books from the libraries simply because they inhale books and no wallet could keep up with them. 🙂
The libraries in my area are greatly expanding their ebook options, but I don’t know how/if that affects their policies about self-published authors. Something to think about, to be sure. 🙂 Thanks for the comment!
Great post, Jami!
I’m thinking the POS will eventually be the driving factor and the consumer steering that car one day soon? Will be the upcoming generation. Computer and internet savvy with barely a drop of nostalgia to make them pull-over so they can go into the brick and mortar book stores. But for right now while the industry is straddling the center line? Just paying attention to the road ahead to the “where” and not the “how many” is a wise way to look at things.
Thanks for the info!
Murphy
Hi Riley,
I agree–the online buying percentage will only increase as the generation changes and as other countries increase their internet usage. 🙂 Thanks for the comment!
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Great summary of important information for anyone seeking or already involved in publication. Thanks for writing and posting this, Jami. You took a lot of time to share with those of us who couldn’t make the west coast.
Trad publishing takes on many forms, and the farther one gets from the big pubbers the more difficult to see the return to the author, no? Print or not?
I’m thinking it’s all about the sale. Where no longer matters to me–though I still love holding a hard copy of my debut in my hand. Sure it would be nice to hold more but, as I said, when it’s all said and done, the sale is why I will have gone back in (at least the subsequent times).
Hi Joanna,
As far as your question–how much the smaller publishers can do for authors–I’ve thought about that a lot. I think that’s one of those things that it depends on what we’re looking for. I’ve heard of some small publishers providing things the big pubs can’t, like better royalty rates, more personalized service, more willingness to work with the author on cover image input, quicker times to publication and payments, etc. We’re all going to prioritize things differently, which means there’s no one “right” way. 🙂
You have a great point about how it all comes down to the sale. I agree–no matter how or where it happens, sales are the only thing that counts in the end. 🙂 Thanks for the comment!
I read e-books, dead tree books, you name it. But my concern is not how the words are transmitted, but the words themselves. I’m finding the relatively sudden crush of on-line choices daunting. I can’t parse a good book from a bad book these days! (And by ‘bad’, I mean poorly written and edited.)
Where are the gate-keepers? I wasn’t at the convention but I did pop over to the link you gave for Stephanie’s information. If on-line publishers are catering more and more to the authors, what’s to stop them from being vanity presses? Doing anything they can to appease the author, including blowing sunshine up her skirt, to get her business?
I’m not saying off-line publishers are paragons of perfection, but holy smokes, there’s a lot of digital chaff to get through before a reader hits the wheat!
Thoughts on this? I could use a little guidance…
Hi Cris,
That’s a great question! And for many of the big name authors, the publishers are already doing whatever they can to keep them (think of the bestsellers who write really long, rambling books–like maybe their editor didn’t want to make them cut things). They get the big book tours, promotion, favored contract terms, etc.
So maybe the question is, how much–if anything–will publishers do for the midlist authors? I don’t know their finances well enough to know how much the midlisters are their “bread and butter” income producers. None of that adds up to true “vanity” publishing, however, as vanity publishers take authors’ money, not give them money. 🙂
As far as good vs. bad books, I did a post on how to separate the good from the crap a while ago. For me, it comes down to checking the free sample, like Amazon’s Look Inside feature. I don’t pay money for a book I can’t check out in advance unless I have a solid personal recommendation.
Basic advice, I know, but I’ve saved myself from several bad books that way. 🙂 Thanks for the comment!
Thanks for the reply, Jami. You’re right; they wouldn’t become true vanity publishers and I certainly don’t buy a book unless I can skim a sample. I had a recent misadventure with trying to buy a Western via my Kindle (which is not, I might add, the best way to browse. It’s pretty perfunctory.) The first two search results were the old classics: Zane Grey and Louis L’Amour. And then after that, a gazillion bad erotica offerings, some of which were only barely classified as Western. I gave up in frustration. I missed your post about separating the good from the crap. Guess I’d better high-tail it over there!
Hi Cris,
Yikes at your misadventure! Yes, I don’t browse on the Kindle either. Some aspects of it aren’t user friendly, that’s for sure. 🙂
If you find other ways to weed out the good from the bad, please share them too. 🙂 Thanks for the comment!
This is really interesting to me. I don’t write romance, but I’m assuming that anyone can go to these conferences, yes?
Do you happen to know of any closer to the great lakes? I just can’t make it all the way down to Texas and whatnot, which seems to be where many of them are held.
Or could you give me any advice on how to look them up and find out in advance where they are at, and which ones would be good for a YA fantasy writer to go to? I always hear about them afterward, in blog posts. 🙁
Thank you for any help you can give!
Hi Madeleine, Yes, most writing conferences are open to all genres. RWA members get a discount to their conference, but it’s not much. Thriller author Alexandra Sokoloff just posted about why she goes to the RWA conference. RWA holds them in a different location every year (here’s the list of future sites). There are other conferences sponsored by different groups, and each conference has a different focus. Some are more reader oriented (Romantic Times), some are more industry or professional oriented, and some are very craft oriented. The best conference for you is going to be one that combines the focus you want and is big enough to attract those who can provide that focus. For example, a craft conference could attract good speakers for beginner or intermediate writers even if it’s small, but a smaller conference wouldn’t be able to attract many industry experts/agents/editors for the professional side of things and it’s very hard to find speakers qualified to teach advanced craft techniques (there are fewer of those speakers than those who think they’re qualified–what’s advanced to them might be old news to experienced writers 🙂 ). If your YA has a romantic subplot, you might like RWA. They have local chapters all over the U.S., and those chapters often sponsor local or regional conferences. They have an online YA-specific chapter too. You can also look into SCBWI, as they cover YA in addition to children’s books. Otherwise, I’d Google your state and “writing conferences” or “writer organizations.” If… — Read More »
[…] Last time, we discussed how our decision about which method we go with for publishing should focus more on our readers’ online versus offline buying habits than on their preference for eb…. And we bemoaned the fact that those numbers are hard to come […]
Great post, Jami! Thanks for sharing this perspective. As a writer who is about to take the plunge into POD, it was very timely for me.
Hi Kassandra,
No problem. And good luck with your plunge into POD. 🙂 Thanks for the comment!
[…] Gold examines the new publishing paradigm in a two-part series: it’s not about ebooks vs. print and what value do publishers […]
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[…] Writing Stuff Several weeks ago, we discussed why authors shouldn’t worry about the ebook versus print debate but should instead focus on their readers’ online versus offline buying habits. Shortly after […]