Are They Publishing Gatekeepers or Publishing Grim Reapers?

Are you really reading the
best book publishers could
have given you?

Many writers are pushing past the publishing gatekeepers already - AND, further, gaining accolades, credibility and success. In fact, the blocking and tackling of the so-called 'gatekeepers' has been going on in greater numbers of late.

Publishing gatekeepers have an overall poor track record of recognizing good content and/or of analyzing the market and the real world emotional demographics.

Tonight's post reads like creative nonfiction and relays a true but scintillating story by an authoritative  author that has published both traditionally and DIY. His recent self-publishing effort came as a last resort but taught him many wise insights, it seems.

So, relax, kick back, enjoy and learn from him:

Blowing Past the Publishing Gatekeepers

By Frederick J. Chiaventone - Published in The American Thinker

Toward the end of a full career as an Army officer I was asked to assist in a test-run of a new course at the US Army's Command and General Staff College. We were going to take senior officers on a new version of the 'staff ride' an established method of examining the actions of commanders on the actual sites of momentous battles. We had done this successfully at Gettysburg, Chickamauga, even Verdun but this time we were going to try it at the site of the disastrous fight at Little Bighorn. The idea was for combat commanders to learn from past mistakes. Well, this exercise was a real eye-opener for all of us. I have addressed the issue of the significance of the staff ride in other forums but in this case the subject of 'lessons learned' has relevance to an entirely different field of endeavor - writing and getting published.

After retiring from the Army it became quickly evident that I should have to find something else to occupy my time. I had done a bit of scribbling for various professional publications but the staff ride experience at Little Bighorn stuck in my mind and so decided to try my hand at reconstructing that fight in the form of historical fiction. The results exceeded my expectations when publishing great Michael Korda called me from Simon & Schuster and said, "Fred, I want to publish your book." As a result my novel A Road We Do Not Know was published by Simon & Schuster, went on to win the Ambassador William Colby Award for Literature, and remains in print.  My second work of historical fiction Moon of Bitter Cold (about the Fetterman fight) won the Western Heritage Wrangler and the William Rockhill Nelson awards for literature. It too remains in print to this day.

Not a bad second career one might think. Ah, but the world of publishing was changing. Shifting focus slightly I decided to take a similar approach with historical fiction to an under-appreciated aspect of the American Civil War - the brutal guerrilla conflict along the Kansas-Missouri border, a theater which was the training ground for such people as Frank and Jesse James, the Younger brothers, "Wild Bill" Hickok, and "Buffalo Bill." A fascinating subject so I thought. I was supported in my delusions by two old friends who read the first draft - General Dave Petraeus and Ambassador Karl Eikenberry - both of them serving in Afghanistan at the time. Karl, Dave and I go back many years to when we were all commanders together in the fledgling Rapid Deployment Force. Both Dave and Karl loved the novel saying "This is great stuff, Fred. It's just what we have had to contend with in Iraq and now here in Afghanistan...the technology has evolved but human motivations and behavior remain essentially unchanged." Well then, thought I, this is a great subject and perfect timing for this book.

Perhaps not. For the publishing industry had changed since my first two, successful books. Agents complained that they were unable to place a manuscript which editors refused to even look at. "No one's interested in the Civil War!" they snorted. After a few years, and three different agents, things were looking a little bleak. There was some small comfort when one considered that the same publishing houses we had approached had all turned away a young woman, a novice writer, telling her that the public had no interest in an aspiring young wizard. "Utter nonsense," they had declared. Fortunately for J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter, and millions of young readers they were quite wrong. Unfortunately for many aspiring writers, most of those individuals who rejected the first Harry Potter novel are still figures of power in the great publishing houses of New York.  The question then became, well, how does one get around the gatekeepers of publishing?

The answer, I strongly suspect, is within easy reach of most would-be authors. Technology. Over the past few years we have seen a phenomenal growth in the reach of computer and internet technology. Now, being a bit of a dinosaur myself, I was quite accustomed to using typewriters (and then computers) to write the material and then embark on a laborious and ofttimes rather expensive round of printing out manuscripts, sending out query letters, mailing out both, with return postage, of course, and then waiting endlessly for a response. Agents too were expected to adhere to these time honored and ultimately fruitless methods. And all too often the publishing houses were hopelessly cavalier in their response, if they responded at all. Thus, when a fellow author suggested another route I thought, "Why not? It's certainly worth a shot." Thus I took the manuscript of my new novel Gone To Kingdom, and turned to another route. This other route was to take advantage of the opportunities provided by the internet. With a completed and carefully edited manuscript ready to go it was a relatively simple task to upload the entire volume to the powerhouse which has become Amazon.com (link here)and wait to see what transpired.

The results were rather surprising. Within days enthusiastic notes started to come in from readers in Ireland, Great Britain, Germany, Belgium and even South Africa and Swaziland (this last stunned me) as well as all over the United States. The reach of the Kindle technology is fairly amazing and readership numbers are going up continually.  Well, there were over 100,000 people at Gettysburg alone for the commemoration, which I suspect gives one an idea of the level of interest in the subject matter.  Shortly afterwards I got a great note from Steve Pressfield (his work includes the books Tides of War, and Gates of Fire etc. as well as The Legend of Bagger Vance -- both book and screenplay). Steve said;

Congrats to you on doing it yourself -- and on the tremendous response! I can't believe any editor told you there is "no interest in the Civil War."  I have a friend who takes me to dinner once a year and bemoans my fascination with the ancient Greeks.  "Steve, put the Confederate battle flag on the spine of a book and ten million crazed Civil War buffs will eat it up." He explains to me the mindset of the Civil War aficionado.  "They do not say, 'Oh no, another book about Antietam.'  They say, 'Oh boy, another book about Antietam!'" All of which bodes very well for "Bushwhacker."  Have you pursued Hollywood with this?  Remember "The Outlaw Josey Wales?"  The scene where Clint Eastwood lines up a barge in the gunsight of his mile-range telescope sniper cannon ...

BANG!

CLINT

Well, Mister Carpetbagger, we got a little thing out here

(spits)

called a Missourah Boat Ride.

Think about Tinseltown, Fred.  There could be something there. Congrats again....you've got following winds!

Similar notes came in from such distinguished writers as Carlo D'Este (Patton: A Genius for War, Warlord: A Life of Winston Churchill at War), W.E.B. Griffin (Brotherhood of War series), and Ralph Peters (Hell or Richmond, Cain at Gettysburg) who applauded the move.  Other marvelous notes started arriving from professors of American and military history such as Edward "Mac" Coffman, Paul Hutton, Jeremy Neely, Reina Pennington, Nichole Etcheson, and others. Folks who study, teach, and write about the period and loved the way the book read and the accuracy of the feel for the time, place, and people.   So the e-book experiment seemed to be working pretty well in its first few days. Civil War enthusiasts were delighted. Copies of the Kindle edition of "Gone To Kingdom" continue to sell world-wide and notes continue to come in from enthusiastic readers.

Thus, the bottom line for aspiring authors is to think outside the box of brick-and-mortar publishing houses and to consider embracing electronic publishing. Consider the above tale as a sort of "staff ride" for writers and learn from the mistakes of others. Explore the opportunities afforded by new technology. Certainly they are not for everyone but they are rapidly becoming viable alternatives to traditional approaches to writing and publishing. It can be ultimately less frustrating and possibly more rewarding.

Self-Publish with Simon and Schuster?

Simon & Schuster hiking
into self-publishing

How's that prospect grab you? It just shouts out publishing intrigue and further delineates the rapid changing world of publishing.

"According to data from research firm Bowker, some 211,269 books were self-published in 2011, up more than 60 percent from the previous year, as reported by Shelf Awareness."

This fact (super growth), coupled with the old TP model crumbling in traditional publishing, shows why you can't blame the publishing 'big houses' for finally pursuing self-publishing.

BUT, are they charging too damn much money for their self-publishing services? Especially when technology has made it so economical for one to directly self-publish?

A hard, detailed analysis of their peripheral benefits is highly suggested :)

Husna Haq writes this for the Chapter & Verse blog of The Christian Science Monitor:
Simon & Schuster will enter the self-publishing world

The publishing giant is teaming up with Author Solutions Inc. to create Archway Publishing, a publishing house which will focus on self-published works.

If there was any doubt in the publishing industry that self-publishing is here to stay, news that a top mainstream publisher is teaming up with a self-publishing company to create a self-publishing imprint should put those doubts to rest.

Simon & Schuster announced Tuesday that it is partnering with Author Solutions Inc. to create Archway Publishing, a separate publishing house focused on self-published fiction, non-fiction, business, and children’s books.

Self-publishing is a booming sector of the publishing industry, and Tuesday’s news reaffirms the significance of self-publishing.

“Self-publishing has become a viable and popular route to publication for many authors, and increasingly a source of content for traditional publishers, including Simon & Schuster,” Simon & Schuster CEO Carolyn Reidy said in a statement, according to the Associated Press. “We’re excited that we’ll be able to help more authors find their own path to publication and at the same time create a more direct connection to those self-published authors ready to make the leap to traditional publishing.”

Simon & Schuster is marketing Archway’s self-publishing offerings as a premium service – which comes at a premium cost to authors. Archway will offer authors a range of packages from a basic $1,599 children’s package that includes “editorial assessment” and “cover copy review” to a $24,999 “Outreach” program for business books that includes an “author profile video,” and a reception at BookExpo America, the industry’s annual national convention.

It might be a tough sell. Archway will be staffed and operated by Author Solutions (not Simon & Schuster) and final products will not have the Simon & Schuster name attached to them. “With no Simon & Schuster personnel involved, and without the Simon & Schuster name attached in any way to the final product, Archway’s prices – significantly higher than the competition – could be a hard sell,” writes the New York Times.

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The Writers Welcome Blog (WWB) is available on Kindle :)))

An 'Old-Fashioned' Publishing Story!

Lately, stories about eBooks and digital publishing models and platforms have been rampant...So, it was a little refreshing to read a story about the firing of a top executive from a large traditional publishing house (Simon & Schuster, to be exact), his mulling over and re-thinking of publishing career directions AND his eventual hiring by ANOTHER large traditional publisher (Penguin, to be exact) as a top executive in a newly created department.

David Rosenthal (pictured) is the publishing exec who fell from the sky but landed on his feet.

Leon Neyfakh of The New York Observer writes this account:

David Rosenthal Puts on His Penguin Suit

The problem with losing your job when you're a high-level executive in contemporary book publishing is that your options are basically to become a literary agent or do something vague and most likely super-boring involving e-books. So one could have forgiven David Rosenthal for feeling a little gloomy this past summer after being fired abruptly from Simon & Schuster and being replaced by Jonathan Karp, a guy 10 years his junior, at the head of the CBS-owned publisher's flagship imprint.

This week Mr. Rosenthal is celebrating a happy landing. On Tuesday morning, it was announced that come January he will be running his own boutique imprint at Penguin Group USA, arguably the healthiest of the big New York houses as well as home to a number of the 56-year-old's former colleagues. Once he gets going, Mr. Rosenthal—whose roster at Simon & Schuster included Bob Woodward, David McCullough, Bob Dylan and Jim Cramer—will be on charge of a small but full-fledged operation at Penguin, with dedicated publicity and marketing muscle and a list totaling somewhere between 24 and 36 books per year.

Over lunch on Tuesday at the Half King in Chelsea, Mr. Rosenthal said Penguin president Susan Petersen Kennedy reached out to him shortly after his firing, and had been "aggressive and enthusiastic" in their talks. He is stoked to go work for her, he said: "People at Penguin don't bitch about their place of employ nearly as much as people elsewhere. Everybody says, 'The only person you ever want to work for in publishing anymore is Susan.'"

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Publishers Weekly at Annual South Korean Book Forum: "Publishing in the Digital World"

This article by Publishers Weekly reporter, Andrew Richard Albanese, gives an insight into how other countries are coping with the changing publishing industry. It seems even high tech societies like South Korea are resisting change to digital:

Just two days after returning to New York from the Middle East, we headed to Seoul, South Korea, as part of an American delegation to the annual Paju Book City Forum, along with Simon & Schuster CEO Carolyn Reidy and University of Hawaii “futurist” James Dator. The topic of this year's forum: publishing in the digital world. And from the opening day, it was clear that the roughly 100 Korean publishers in attendance were anxious about the future and keen to hear how other nations, including Japan and Australia, were handling change. If Korean publishers are anxious, they have reason to be—in 1997, publishing industry revenues topped $4 billion. By 2008, they had plummeted to $2.5 billion. And over two days of presentations, it's not likely that anyone's anxiety was eased.

Built on Books

Paju Book City is a fascinating place. Located about 30 miles from Seoul—the beating heart of South Korea's high-tech society. Paju is literally a city dedicated to publishing, designed to strengthen through architecture and camaraderie an entire nation's collective culture. The city houses everything from the offices of Korean publishers to warehouse facilities, as well as libraries, museums, bookshops, and printers. It is built on land reclaimed from the water at the foot of a mountain. By ordinance, no building can rise above five floors or spoil a landscape. And Paju was conceived with sustainability as an underlying theme.

In his opening keynote, Dator gave an enlightening presentation that put the entire conference in perspective, emphasizing that change was indeed coming—because change always comes. True to his Hawaiian roots, he told conference-goers the best they could do was to try to surf the wave. Of course, ever the futurist, he also sketched out a post-fossil fuel world where society collapses and returns to agrarian culture.

In one of the most engaging presentations, Kate Eltham, CEO of the Queensland Writers Center, closed out the conference's sessions with an overview of new business possibilities. Citing things like mobile devices and social media as opportunities for publishers to innovate, she urged them to deeply examine where they still add value before jumping off the digital cliff. “The challenge isn't technology,” Eltham stressed, “it's strategy.”

Platform for Growth

Certainly, the most eagerly anticipated speaker at the conference was Reidy. As the leader of one of the world's top publishers Koreans welcomed her detailed presentation about the digital marketplace. “E-books are a relatively small, but a rapidly growing, part of our business,” Reidy told publishers, noting that digital currently makes up about 6% percent of S&S's bottom line, but within the next seven years, digital could account for 25%, she said. The following day, a Korean newspaper eagerly quoted the 25% figure.

In his talk, Lee Jung-ho, director of nascent Korean e-book provider Booxen Digital, acknowledged that Korean publishers remain wary of the digital market. “At this point, the most important thing for Korea is that we must change our perception of digital publishing,” he said. “In Korea, the mistrust of e-books is still prevalent and the publishing industry doesn't seem ready to jump.”

In fact, a lack of trust may be the only thing inhibiting Korea—a highly tech-oriented society—from enjoying a vibrant e-book market. One ringing testament to Korea's ability to innovate is Google's weak foothold there. In fact, Korea is one of the few places where Google has but a small slice of the search market, and where a homegrown search engine, Naver, dominates. Touring Paju, one of the highlights was the digital publishing center—which displayed the full array of handheld reading devices, as well as four floors of innovative, book-oriented technology.

If the two-day forum did little to ease anxiety about the future of books, it very well might have been the push Korean publishers needed to face the future. In her talk, Reidy acknowledged the challenges of moving to digital: Infrastructure is expensive. Decisions are complex. Digital must be integrated—not separated—from organizational goals. In addition, publishers already struggling with declining revenues may not see a return on their digital investments for some time. But she was consistently upbeat, too. “Digital publishing is very exciting,” she said. “Publishers should thrive.”

Still, that was cold comfort for one Korean printer. “My grandfather started this business,” he told me wistfully at a dinner reception. “Now, I will probably not have a business to pass on to my children.”