Comments on THE GALAXY EXPRESS: 10 Steps To Making Science Fiction Romance A Conte...

Writer and Cat--I hear you. Melisse--cool idea. I...

2010-02-15T21:53:03.308-05:00

Writer and Cat--I hear you.

Melisse--cool idea. I'm wondering if this isn't something digital publishers could do, or something similar, e.g., create a retail section for their SFR books, which should include erotic offerings as well. As long as the metadata allows for ease of shopping, everyone should be able to find the heat level they want. I'm sure there's a risk there, but I say go for it! ;)

Angelia, so sorry that happened to you. That does suck, and it definitely points to the depth of the problem.

Where are the skiffy romance zines?

The closest equivalent--kind of--to a skiffy romance zine was the Science Fiction Romance Newsletter (the link is to part one of a four part feature I did), which ran from 1994-2007. When the print version ended, it became Speculative Romance Online (see link in my blogroll). From the efforts of this newsletter came the 2006 Zircon Anthology of Speculative Romance.

I think a zine is a fabulous idea--who wants the job, LOl?! While it'd be quite an undertaking (who would edit it, for example? And it would probably have to be a labor of love), I think the idea has huge potential. The SFR online community has got the marketing covered--now all someone would have to come up with are the stories, editing, and technical stuff. Er, no small feat, to be sure.

Music sharing was rampant until the music companies started hitting ordinary people.

That, but also two other things: The shuttering of Napster and the birth of iTunes. Before iTunes, it was much, much harder to purchase digital music than it was to grab it for free. Yes, you could still buy the CD and load it onto an iPod, but people liked the convenience of downloading music digitally.

The music publishers actually shot themselves in the foot by waiting so long to provide music digitally. People wanted it, but the publishers didn’t want to provide it. That set up the general feeling of “fine, then I’ll just take it” that still exists to this day. Many teenagers today have been downloading files for free over half of their young lives. Once that mentality sets in, it’s hard to break.

All in all, I think a small percentage are going to pirate something, even if it’s only a nickel, but the vast majority of people will pay if the price and product are right.

At any rate, let's just hope that pirated books does not equal millions upon millions of downloads/illegal sales of every book pirated.

On the piracy issue? Piracy did not begin with ebo...

2010-02-15T20:18:28.438-05:00

On the piracy issue? Piracy did not begin with ebooks. I recently read an interview of a book pirate and he talked casually about scanning print books. Piracy began with scanners, not ebooks. JK Rowling is one of most pirated authors and she refuses to release her books in e.

While I don't believe it, I read one guy who said the way to truly stamp out piracy was to eliminate print books. Now I know there are those who go after DRM like, well, I won't say what. So don't believe that either. I'm not even sure it is a price issue. Because many pirated books are reasonably priced.

Music sharing was rampant until the music companies started hitting ordinary people. I'm sure music is still shared, but not as rampantly as it was before big fines. If people realized how expensie copyright violation really is, they might not be so quick to do it. IMHO.

Cross-pollinate. I found my way to SF via Fantasy...

2010-02-11T23:41:13.156-05:00

Cross-pollinate. I found my way to SF via Fantasy via short fiction--the shorts in Dragon magazine, and then later on the zines that introduced new writers via a sort of "sponsorship" with experienced names--Asimov's World and such. I don't think Romance has the equivalent, except maybe the anthology book, and from what I understand, most are done at the publisher's prompting, or with material that the publisher already owns the rights to. Where are the skiffy romance zines?

Like others, it's the "wading through crap" part that gives me pause. And much of that would be taken care of via price point. If I had some easy way of finding new writers--say, 99-cent short stories, or 1.99 or 2.99 collections, as opposed to 5.99 or 7.99, I'd consume more and not worry so much about ending up with a clunker.

Good point, Angelia, the hundreds of stolen copies...

2010-02-11T21:39:02.701-05:00

Good point, Angelia, the hundreds of stolen copies (supposedly) of one of my inexpensive Samhain titles probably surpass the number of legit sales *laugh*. I know I'm not the only one.

I like the idea of the specialized ebook store!

Stackpole's idea works...if you're Mike St...

2010-02-11T14:53:41.794-05:00

Stackpole's idea works...if you're Mike Stackpole.

I've taken my expired stuff, bundled the shorts into collections and made them available. No sales so far. Mostly, I don't want to be a publisher and an editor and a cover artist. I just want to write and sell the finished product.

There are people who will pirate a $1.29 short story where all the royalties were donated to charity. It's no tied to pricing. It's all about the sport and collecting as many ebooks as possible. I know. It was my short story.

I had an ambitious idea that I wil neer do, so any...

2010-02-11T13:53:12.618-05:00

I had an ambitious idea that I wil neer do, so anyone who likes it could take it!

What about a specialized ebook store? After all there is a Mobi store, a short story ebook store etc.A one stop shopping place, maybe with a forum, author interviews, reader's reviews, coupons, contests, related sales items like coffee mugs,t shirts etc? I know I would hang out there.

Also know it would be a huge undertaking!

I think you know how I feel about the prospect of ...

2010-02-11T09:12:53.706-05:00

I think you know how I feel about the prospect of investing MORE virtual elbow grease doing even MORE things than I already do *sigh*.

Kimber An, well said. What better way to stimulate...

2010-02-10T21:32:02.329-05:00

Kimber An, well said. What better way to stimulate critical thinking as well as a love of math and science than YA SF? Fingers crossed the subgenre sprouts wings.

@JLC Exactly. I for one never want to go back to the terrestrial and monolithic music market of my youth. Same with books (and what Nathalie said).

Mary, I agree that two challenges the digital market has to tackle (at least in the case of self-published books or those published using an alternate model) are editorial and distribution. The solutions may not be solidified yet but is that because they don't exist or because no one's created them?

In my post, I was thinking more of grass-roots efforts (i.e., an author connects with good beta readers and learns to self-edit), but you're right, even great writers can use a second set of eyes. And that service can't or shouldn't always be free. But hmm, what about old-fashioned bartering? Just a thought.

Hey Heather, your list of small pubs was put together before Carina opened

@Angela Oopsie! Lol, I'm so used to Carina being around now that I forgot. Thanks for the heads up--I added Carina to the list.

@Ella I have my go-to authors in the digital realm as well, and have discovered stories that rival and also exceed the quality of books from mainstream print publishers (at least in the case of science fiction romance). However, I agree that one way digital publishers could be more competitive would be to offer quality books more often.

@Donna I agree, piracy is a problem, but one significant way to combat it is to offer ebooks at fair prices. There are people who will pirate books out of spite simply because of outrageous prices (not saying all ebook prices are outrageous, but there is a reason to question the pricing strategy of some print publishers) or in reaction to publisher backlash against ebooks. Immature? Yes, but that's how some of them think.

Part of me questions whether the issue of piracy is, in part, propaganda spread by some within the publishing industry to stem the tide of the digital book market. Piracy is a challenge to face, but so is white collar crime. People can still make a profit even when both exist.

I don't disagree with anything you've said...

2010-02-10T16:55:02.377-05:00

I don't disagree with anything you've said, Heather, and think there is plenty of potential in the digital world. But until the issue of piracy is addressed is some satisfactory way, I don't see how this can yet work to the author's advantage. Even when books are published through well-established and careful e-publishers, titles are ripped off and "shared" openly on public sites. And the more popular the books are, the more it seems to happen. I can imagine the protections will be even fewer for authors who try to go it alone on their own websites. One of the most vocal advocates of e-publishing I know, a prolific and multipublished author, admits she's been pirated a number of times and has made virtually nothing off her sales. I'm not sure I understand Jackie L.'s idea at all, but then, hell, I'm just a writer. Maybe that's the problem. What we really need is a new class of AGENTS who could find us the best deal, NEW AGE digital OR OLD SCHOOL print, or both.

I'm a believer when it comes to ebooks, but I&...

2010-02-10T15:09:25.136-05:00

I'm a believer when it comes to ebooks, but I'm not sure anything I could say in these comments would change anyone's mind about quality of ebooks vs traditional print. I'll just say I have some favorite SFR authors in the ebook/small pubs.

BUT, I'd like to point this out. Ebook and small press publishers do tend to give the reader not just access to excerpts, but many times an entire first chapter, or more. You don't usually get that with traditional print. If you're worried about quality, check the excerpt first. If it hooks you, then not only have you found yourself a good read, but you can download it immediately. If not, don't buy the ebook.

Hey Heather, your list of small pubs was put toget...

2010-02-10T13:26:35.487-05:00

Hey Heather, your list of small pubs was put together before Carina opened, so I'll just remind everyone that we're out there and we're eager for science fiction and fantasy romance. In fact, in addition to myself (and everyone should know by now that I love the genre!), we have a former editorial assistant from Dorchester who's very familiar with the genre, Deb Nemeth formerly of Samhain who's been a champion of fantasy, plus Laura Anne Gilman is now editing for us and I don't think anyone can argue that she knows the genre!

"I do see new opportunity for growth in this ...

2010-02-10T13:11:43.353-05:00

"I do see new opportunity for growth in this new future, but I also see wading through much more crap to find good reads."

I agree with that, except that I'd rather wade through crap to find something I like, than have some big think-tank force-feed stuff I hate. For example, I don't listen to the radio. It's the same songs over and over and over. And OVER. Someone somewhere decided these 12-15 songs would be what I'd listen to for the next 2 weeks, and play them ad nauseam. Me, I prefer to listen to music of my own choosing. So I go online, I buy tunes, or I listen to CDs (old-school, I know). Yes, I wade through some crap, but *I* will be the one who decides if it's crap to me, or if it's good to me, not some music exec in his gold tower.

Plus, big publisher equals not quality read.

p.s. my safe word is "unmula". Does that mean I'm poor? :)

It seems to me in this new publishing universe it ...

2010-02-10T12:56:03.129-05:00

It seems to me in this new publishing universe it is going to be much harder for the reader to make sure they are getting quality for their money. I know that there are good writers out there who don't get published by the traditional system, and there are big selling writers who are not edited at all and could probably get the scratch pad by their phone published based on past sales, BUT the traditional publishing system does act as a sieve that keeps just anything from getting to the shelf in my local bookstore.

Lets face it when anyone can put out a professional looking book or website it make it much harder to tell who has a well written story to sell.

I do see new opportunity for growth in this new future, but I also see wading through much more crap to find good reads.

Personally, I am excited about this change in publ...

2010-02-10T12:13:18.450-05:00

Personally, I am excited about this change in publishing. Music has already started the shift from major record labels to more indie bands. The audience is now exposed to a wider variety of entertainment and this change will require more from the individuals to market their own material and to be in more control of their material. Very exciting!

I think it'd help if more SFR was written to a...

2010-02-10T11:53:00.289-05:00

I think it'd help if more SFR was written to appeal to younger readers too. I love that it leads the Romance genre in mature heroines, but...

...if we don't bring in younger readers the subgenre dies with us.

Remember, girls are still getting the love of Science and Science Fiction peer pressured out of them in Junior High. I think we should champion Science Fiction-flavored YA novels with girl heroes, like SKINNED by Robin Wasserman, and also regular SF novels which appeal to young people and/or have girl heroes, like XOMBIES by Walter Greatshell. If there's romance in them, all the better.

No Babies, No Future.