Who Will Play in The eBook Supply Chain?

ByJohn Brown

I was reading this Konrath post by Barry Eisler on the “Attack of the self-publishing memes” in which he argues that there isn’t an inherent conflict of interest for agents to also help authors epub their books. This got me thinking about the steps (tasks) in the current supply chain, who was going to provide them, and where the biggest value lay.

Here’s the process right now as I understand it from manuscript to reader. The numbers are only task identifiers and don’t represent sequential order in every case, although I did try to sort them that way.

PAPER CHANNEL TASKS THROUGH BRICK & MORTAR OUTLETS

SELL MANUSCRIPT TO PUBLISHER
1. Promote manuscript to editor at publisher
2. Negotiate contract with publisher

EDIT MANUSCRIPT
3. Story edit manuscript
4. Revise for story edits
5. Copy edit manuscript
6. Revise for copy edits

PREPARE BOOK
7. Create cover design and art (a marketing/advertising function)
8. Obtain ISBN
9. Typeset book
10. Print book

MARKET BOOK TO WHOLESALERS, RETAILERS, AND LIBRARIES
11. Establish book selling hierarchy (lead book, second lead, etc.)
12. Obtain reviews from trade publications, newspapers, websites, authors, etc.
13. Create sales catalog and other sales documents
14. Contact book buyers and promote books (calls, visits, conferences, etc.)
15. Take orders

DISTRIBUTE BOOK
16. Ship to retail outlets and wholesalers
17. Warehouse book
18. Process reader purchases & returns

PROMOTE BOOK TO TARGET AUDIENCE
19. Publicity, including free copies
20. Advertising
21. Co-op display purchases

SELF-PUB EBOOK AND POD PAPER CHANNEL TASKS

EDIT MANUSCRIPT
1. Story edit manuscript
2. Revise for story edits
3. Copy edit manuscript
4. Revise for copy edits

PREPARE BOOK
5. Create cover design and art (which you could lump under marketing)
6. Obtain ISBN
7. Format book for ereaders and POD services (CreateSpace etc.)

DISTRIBUTE BOOK
8. Upload book to retail and library outlets
9. Warehouse the bytes
10. Process reader purchases & returns

MARKET BOOK TO LIBRARIES AND TARGET AUDIENCE
11. Obtaining reviews from trade publications, newspapers, websites, authors, etc.
12. Publicity, including free copies
13. Advertising, including website display etc.

AUDIO BOOK CHANNEL TASKS
There are actually two channels here–physical audio books (CDs) and downloads (Audible, etc.).

I would assume the physical audio would follow the marketing, distributing, and promoting aspects of the paper channel tasks and add in the audio production tasks. Downloadable audio would follow the marketing of the ebooks and add in the audio production tasks.

THOUGHTS
I’m sure I’m missing some key steps somewhere. Somebody please supply them if you see gaps.

As for the future, here’s what I see. The paper channel tasks aren’t going to change much. Nor do I think the people performing the various tasks will either. For example, I just don’t think POD machines are going to catch on in stores and wipe out distributors. They may take out printers (#10) of trade and mass market paperbacks. But I haven’t seen a POD machine that can do hardbacks. Maybe the PODs will move to the retail outlets. But I don’t think so. Somebody disabuse me of the notion.

However, I do think there will be some interesting developments in the ebook/POD channel.

Right now a lot of authors are spending time performing tasks 6, 7, and 8. Some literary agencies are wanting to charge 15% forever for those steps with maybe a little cover design. But tasks 6-8 are the tasks that require the least amount of skill and will soon be automated.

Formatting for ebooks now is like coding html was for webpages 10 years ago–people in the code spending hours tweaking crap. Right now it takes you about a day to learn how to format a novel for the various ebook readers. Once you know how to do it, you’ll spend a day, maybe two, formatting your novel and uploading it. Or you can pay someone else to do it–any responsible teenager will do.

But within the next year I predict an application coming (if it’s not already here) that will hook into Word and other programs that will make the labor obsolete. Creating a Kindle document will be like creating a PDF document in Word today—you just click Save.

Uploading could be automated as well across various sites with some application. But it’s fairly easy now.

So for which tasks are these ebook distributors wanting to charge 15% forever? Obtaining an ISBN?

I don’t even think they even do that.

Amazon and the other ebook retailers have a lock on 9 & 10. It would be incredibly hard to dislodge those gorillas. So I think the place where literary agencies and others who want to play in the indie ebook/POD supply chain are going to flourish is in the other tasks that require the most skills–editing, cover art, and marketing, which I’ve marked in blue.

Authors interested in the indie ebook/POD channel are going to want service providers who can deliver great editing, cover art, and marketing. They’re going to want folks who can help them sell into traditional domestic and foreign paper distribution channels. They’re going to want folks who can help them sell rights to other buyers–audio, film, etc.  And they’re going to want help with their contracts.

If I were an agency, graphic artist, editor, intellectual rights lawyer, or some other entrepreneur trying to serve indie ebook/POD authors, that’s where I’d spend my time.

Dystel & Goodrich literary agency recently announced they would do something like this . . . almost.

Over the past months and years we’ve come to the realization that e-publishing is yet another area in which we can be of service to our clients as literary agents. From authors who want to have their work available once the physical edition has gone out of print and the rights have reverted, to those whose books we believe in and feel passionately about but couldn’t sell—oftentimes, after approaching 20 or more houses—we realized that part of our job as agents in this new publishing milieu is to facilitate these works being made available as e-books and through POD and other editions.

Right now, you’re thinking, oh, DGLM is going to be another of those agencies that has decided to become an e-publisher and charge clients whose books they can’t sell 50% of their income for the privilege of uploading their work. Some of you may be mumbling, “Uh…that’s a conflict of interest.” We get it and we understand how that can be the perception. However, we have no intention of becoming e-publishers. As we said above, we have too much respect for the work that publishers do and too much respect for the work we ourselves do to muddy the waters in such a way.

Again, what we are going to do is to facilitate e-publishing for those of our clients who decide that they want to go this route, after consultation and strategizing about whether they should try traditional publishing first or perhaps simply set aside the current book and move on to the next. We will charge a 15% commission for our services in helping them project manage everything from choosing a cover artist to working with a copyeditor to uploading their work. We will continue to negotiate all agreements that may ensue as a result of e-publishing, try to place subsidiary rights where applicable, collect monies and review statements to make sure the author is being paid. In short, we will continue to be agents and do the myriad things that agents do.

Our intention is to keep on trying to find books we think we can sell to traditional publishing houses, to negotiate the best deal (always), and to give our authors as many options as we can. Because we will continue to be commission-based, we will not be automatically pushing authors into e-publishing. Again, we want to give our authors options and empower them to do what they set out to do all along: have their work read by the largest possible audience

However, from what I understand they’re not offering to perform the necessary tasks for 15% forever, only the project management of the tasks. Which means the author will still be paying for the editing and cover art and marketing.

15% forever for project management (a list of to-do’s in this case) and a service provider contact list? Where the author still pays for the editing, cover design and art, and marketing?

Ummmmm, no.

Others like D&G will pop up. But the ones that indie authors will eventually go to will be those that deliver on the high-skill tasks for reasonable rates.  Those will be the ones playing in the ebook supply chain of the future.

Many authors will contract the tasks separately themselves.  But a lot of authors won’t want to do that. They’ll want a one-stop-shop. Or one that does most of it. Some of those one-stop-shops will charge an upfront fee and will probably accept anyone who can pay. Others will make most of their money on a % of the sales to readers and libraries, footing the initial costs of the tasks, and will only work with clients they think will pay out, which if you think about it isn’t really an idie (self-pub) model at all. That’s the space traditional publishers play in right now.

But in the ebook/POD world distribution is no longer a key barrier to entry for new competitors. And so I expect to see a whole bunch of new publishers coming to play in that space. Those that select, edit, and market well will flourish.

Meanwhile, I don’t think most of us authors care which road we take and who we play with. Well, as long as they play nice and don’t poop in the sandbox. We just want to get our stories in to the hands of massive numbers of delighted readers.

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    Speculative Fiction, Gateway Drugs, and Literacy

    ByJohn Brown

    You can read the transcript of my remarks at the American Librarian Association (ALA) conference in Chicago on July 11 below as well as the supporting information.

    IS SF/Fantasy Key to Teen Literacy?

    Intro

    I am so happy to be here. And I’m happy share some good news. David McCollough, the Pulitzer prize winning historian shared this fact in his commencement speech at the University of Utah this spring. “There are yet “more public libraries in America than there are McDonalds.” [Cheering]

    We have not yet been assimilated!

    Of course, this is due in a large part to you, the librarians who care for the collections and take care of the patrons. Which is why I think you deserve a big round of applause. Give yourselves a hand. [Applause]

    Fiction is a literal drug

    I want to start my remarks with two quotes.

    Ray Bradbury was recently interviewed in a NY Times article  He said, “I don’t believe in colleges and universities.” This is what he said, “I don’t believe in colleges and universities. I believe in libraries.” He said this because when he graduated from High School he didn’t have enough money to go to college. So he went to the library three days a week for ten years.

    The next quote is from the great poet Dylan Thomas–“Do not go gentle into that good night, rage, rage against the dying of the light”–that guy. He said,  “My education was the liberty I had to read indiscriminately and all the time, with my eyes hanging out.”

    If you look at Bradbury and Thomas, they read, not because there was some grade involved, not because someone went after them with a stick—they read from hunger. From thirst. They read with wild abandon because they found in reading something they couldn’t find elsewhere.

    I want to suggest one thing they found was a drug. [Laughter] I’m not speaking in metaphor. I’m talking about real physical response. As real and physical as the response you get when you or I take aspirin, brandy, or crack. Well, I hope we’re not taking crack. [Laughter] 

    When we think about drugs we think about pills, smoke, injections. But those are simply one set of delivery mechanisms for chemicals that trigger a physical response. There are other delivery mechanisms. Other triggers. One of them is fiction.

    Now I don’t have time today to detail how this works. But I will write it up on my website for those who are interested. The key thing to remember is that fiction, the kind of fiction we love, the kind that keeps us up at night sitting on the edge of the tub or locked in a closet with a light, the kind of fiction goes beyond cognition, beyond data and facts. We find it so pleasurable precisely because it triggers and guides a physical response.

    So how does all of this apply to science fiction and fantasy? Here’s the deal. And here’s where we come to our topic. Science fiction and fantasy is, for our youth, one of the most powerful gateways drugs into the fictive experience. Of course, there are ideas in science fiction and fantasy that ripple out to the society. But even if there weren’t, the happy side-effect of an addiction to this drug is improved literacy. And we all know how much that impacts.

    Numbas

    Now I know those of you who work with young adult circulation have seen this. But I thought it might be interesting to get some actual numbers so we can start to gauge the scope of the science fiction and  fantasy effect.

    My interest in this began when I saw the results of the latest NEA survey. They have this graph showing reading rates in all age groups dropping horribly since 1982. By 2002 the graph is taking a nose dive.  Then in 2008 everything turns around. And among the young adults (18-24), we see the biggest increase—9%.

    I saw they had a genre preference question in this survey. Of course, I wondered about science fiction and fantasy. So I contacted the NEA and dug into the details. It appears that 34% of the 18-24 group say they like to read science fiction and fantasy. That’s a big number. That’s 1 in 3.

    Of course, I wanted another data pont, so I went to BookScan and asked for data on book sales. Because the wonderful people there love librarians and Tor Books, they said of course. We looked at juvenile fiction sales from 2004-2008. What we saw was that science fiction and fantasy grew 144% during that period. All the other genres only grew 23%. We also saw that science fiction and fantasy currently make up almost 30% of the juvenile fiction market. So about 1/3.

    Now there are some problems with the BookScan data. Yes, it only cover 60-70% of the market. It’s not in Wal-mart, grocery stories, and a few other places. But what’s more problematic for this issue is that they don’t break up the juvenile sales by age. It includes everything for folks one month old to age eighteen. So I’ve got books like Go Dog, Go in the dataset along with Twilight and Go Dog, Go isn’t categorized as fantasy. [Laughter] My suspicion is that if we narrow it down to the middle grade and YA group, we’ll see more science fiction and fantasy.

    So I needed someone who did break it up by age. Well, who does that? You do. Libraries do. Besides, a lot of youth don’t have the $ to buy lots of books. So I went to some libraries in Utah and Ohio and got their YA fiction circulation stats. Here’s what I found: 60-80% of the YA fiction circulation is science fiction and fantasy. This does not include graphic novels or magna. It’s text fiction.

    Folks, this is a big drug. I don’t know what part science fiction and fantasy played in the rise in reading rates, that would require a larger and more rigorous study. But I can tell you this: We want to see the impact of science fiction and fantasy on our society? We’re seeing it right now.

    My Story

    This large effect makes sense because science fiction and fantasy deliver experiences that are intersting to and matter to youth. It’s chock full of and encounter with the strange, weird, and wonderful; adventure and danger; doing something meaningful; being someone special, someone desireable, someone wanted in the group. All that coming of age stuff. So no wonder it’s a huge gateway drug.

    I know that it was in my case. I wasn’t a reader. I don’t think I read more than twenty or twenty-four book from kindergater to sixth grade. I look at the little fellows in my local school today and they read that many titles in the first six months of the first grade. But I didn’t. I wasn’t a reader. I do remember loving the look and feel of these small chubby books. [Laughter]

    I would take them them up to the librarian to check them out. She’d look down at me. “Are you going to read all that?” she’d ask. “Yes,” I’d say. Of course, it was lie. [Laughter] It was a huge lie because I would take them home and put them up on my dresser and just look at them.  Just loving the look and feel. And then when it was time to check them in, I’d take them back and give them to the librarian. “Did you read all that?”

    “Yes,” I’d say. And that’s how I became an author–lying to librarians. [Laughter] 

    Now in sixth grade my sister, we were in the car, I had four sisters and we had one TV, and so you had to reserve the time for your programs. So my sister says, “I have to watch The Hobbit for school.” Now I don’t know anything about The Hobbit. It sounded like a romance. [Laughter] I protested. No, way–we’re not going to watch some dumb kissing thing.

    “No,” she said. “It’s got dragons.”

    “You’re lying,” I said.

    I was convinced I was doomed. But it didn’t matter. We watched it. It had dragons. And I loved the experience so much I wanted another hit. Shortly thereafter my mother and father went on a business trip. I went over to my buddy’s house. So the first day we come up out of the basement to go to school and I said, “Oh, I’m feeling sick.” So my buddy went off to school and I went back down into the basement and played hookie for two days and read The Hobbit.

    It was amazing. More amazing than the movie. I had to have that experience again. And so I read Ursula LeGuin, Patricia McKillip, Donaldson, Terry Brooks. I kept reading because it delivered a cognitive-physical experience I loved. Of course, I didn’t put it that way back then. It was more along the lines of, duuuude. [Laughter]

    Now I got a BA in English and a Masters in Accounting. Those degress required a lot of reading. But I didn’t develop the requisite literacy skills in school. I developed them in science fiction and fantasy.

    And so when I started to write I was naturally drawn to fantasy. Having experienced this wonderful thing, I wanted to produce that and share it with others. So this novel that’s coming out has the gosh-wow I still love. It’s set in a world were humans are ranched by beings of immense power. There’s a young man and young woman in terrible trouble. So it has monsters, magic, and mayhem. But I also found fantasy big enough to let me explore other things that have become more important to me as I’ve aged. Like family, sacrifice, and redemption. And I hope people enjoy all that. But ultimately, I hope this book does for someone else what The Hobbit did for me and opens a door to a wonderful addiction. And, of course, as a powerful side-effect, improves the literacy of some rascal or rascaless. [Laughter]

    Conclusion

    I want to end where we began with that Thomas quote.

    “My education was the liberty I had to read indiscriminately and all the time, with my eyes hanging out.”

    That kind of wild abandon will happen when the drug takes effect. And for many of our youth, probably at least one in three, that’s going to be when they ingest a few ounces of SF & Fantasy.

    Thank you.

    [Applause]

    Supporting Numbers

    How fiction is a drug

    Emotion is not a cognition, although cognition plays a part. It’s not just in your brain. It involves a physical response, which means it involves chemicals. 

    We sometimes forget that our bodies produce a staggering number of chemicals. Sometimes they produce in response to external stimuli—the sun triggers the creation of vitamin D, ingested sugar triggers the production of insulin, the sight of a ravening lion standing not five feet away with nothing between him and me produces, among other things, adrenaline.

    Lots of these reactions, we don’t notice. But there’s a whole group of these physical responses that we do. We lump them together and call them emotions.

    Jenefer Robinson in her wonderful book Deeper Than Reason, explains, “Emotions are our way of responding to events in the environment (either external or internal)” that matter to us. They are “physiological changes that register the event in a bodily way and get us ready to respond appropriately.” Fight, flight, pursue, woo, investigate. They focus our attention, get us ready to take action, and communicate all this to others.

    So while I might not feel the production of vitamin D, I do feel the fear of the lion. Fear is a wonderful thing—it keeps us alive. It raises our heart rate, pumps us full of drugs that prepare us to flee or fight. The emotion writes itself on our faces in order to, among other things, communicate the situation to those around us, warning others and calling for help. It is a physical response. Yes, there are cognitions involved, but there are also chemicals.

    The latest research on emotion shows that emotion is a process that involves three things. (1) An affective appraisal of our environment that signals something important to us—a threat or opportunity. (2) This triggers an immediate physical response (chemicals, galvanic skin response, accelerated heart rates, facial expressions, etc.). (3) At this point cognitive (conscious thought) appraisals kick in and help us monitor the situation and moderate the physical response.

    For example, I go out to the yard and step on this thing that slithers through the grass. The sensory signals immediately trigger a physical response to get me ready to flee or fight–heart rate, adrenaline, etc. Then I notice the snake is far too long. I look closer. It’s the garden hose. My physical response changes. I laugh, feel relief. Research has shown that when we read text, the same process occurs. We do indeed have the same types of physical responses. In some cases they’re more intense.

    Now here’s the thing. This physical response is triggered not just by threats and opportunities we perceive with our senses, things out there. It is also triggered by thought. Thoughts deliver a physical response just as surely as crack does. We have the research to prove it. In fact, sometimes thought delivers a more powerful physical response. Here’s but one example. Did you know that people with a phobia of snakes have a stronger reaction to reading a passage about snakes than they do to the actual critter?

    This is where fiction comes in. As I stated in my speech, fiction, the kind of fiction we love, the kind that keeps us up at night sitting on the edge of the tub or locked in a closet with a light, the kind that lingers in the fabric of our clothes and our hair long after we close the book, that kind of fiction goes beyond cognition, beyond data and facts. That kind of fiction triggers a physical response.

    It does this, and this is one difference from emotion triggered by our own thoughts or the sensory data we pick up from the world, because fiction, by its very nature, its very structure, is actually guiding our emotional response. Our physical response. This management of the response is in fact one of the things that we find so pleasurable about it.

    To find out more, please read:

    • The Science of Emotion by Randolph R. Cornelius
    • Deeper Than Reason: Emotion and its Role in Literature, Music, and Art by Jenefer Robinson

    You may then want to search out texts by Dolf Zillmann, Jennings Bryant, and Peter Vorderer.

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  • The First Thing You Must Learn to Write Killer Stories

    ByJohn Brown

    This is the first “mystery.” It is the grand unifying theory that unlocks everything that follows.

    The key to this mystery can be discovered in the answer to this question: which of the two pictures below most accurately defines lipstick?

    Picture A

    Lipstick in tube

    Picture B

    Lipstick on glamour gal

    Learn more in the writer’s section (okay, so the page is there, but where in the fricken ricken frack can you find it? I’m still learning this dang WordPress thing, so just go here)

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    Science Fiction and Fantasy beat Thrillers?!

    ByJohn Brown

    “More than 50% of all traditionally-published book sales of any format in the US now happen on Amazon.com.”

    That’s just amazing. But I found something even more amazing this week.

    Author Earnings released a report this week of their analysis of a million titles on Amazon. Data Guy, the tech guy behind the software gathering the information and crunching it, posted this graph in the comments.

    Do you see the amazing thing?

    AE-2016-06-genre-units

    Well of course you do, I gave it away in the title of the blog. Science fiction and fantasy sell MORE units than thrillers.

    More.

    What?!

    For, like, ever I thought SFF was a tiny portion of the market. Not so, my friends.

     

    Some may say, well, but this only represents Amazon. What about the channels traditional publishers sell through? Author Earnings explains a way to account for that in their report. Basically just double the size of the purple and red bars. If you do that I think thrillers might just edge SFF out. But it doesn’t dwarf it by any means.

    Furthermore, for an indie author, I don’t worry about those other channels because they’re not really a viable option for me. My world is selling online. And the online market for SFF is the SECOND BIGGEST MARKET after Queen Romance.

    Oh, BTW, next book in the queue is volume 1 of Lord of Bones. It’s going to start with something like this.

    The four men did not leave. Instead, they spread out just a bit in shallow semi-circle in front of Blaze.

    Four of them. One of him. There was definitely going to be blood.

    “You don’t want to do this,” Blaze said.

    The big one drew his sword and swung it a bit to loosen his shoulders.  “Oh, but we do. Because you’re not handing over the blackmeal. And we’re not leaving without it.”

    No, he was not going to hand that over. Couldn’t. Not if he valued the lives of his wife and boy.

    Two of the others drew their swords. The fourth brought his staff up and laid it on his shoulder in a two-handed grip.

    The big one would be the obvious target to take first. But Blaze knew that would be a mistake. The big one was there just to focus his attention. To fix Blaze in place. And then the silent one would slice him up the side.

    The man with the skinny face said, “Old man, the vultures will be picking your eyes out before lunch.”

    Blaze said, “Well, if you’re so determined, let’s not keep them waiting.” And then he rocked forward.

    I’ve not forgotten the Dark God series. I will finish it, but I need to get this smaller volume of Lord of Bones out.

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    Slush I Read by Jim C. Hines

    ByJohn Brown

    Laughs are lovely. I just came across this wonderful parody by novelist Jim C. Hines which will give you a few for free. Enjoy!

    Slush I Read
    by Jim C. Hines

    (Apologies to Seuss)

    I read slush.
    Slush I read.

    That slush I read.
    That slush I read!
    I do not like that slush I read.

    Do you like fanfic with vamps?

    I do not like them Mary Sue.
    Why do these vamps all worship you?

    Here’s a tale from D & D!

    I do not want your D & D.
    I do not like your elf PC.
    I can not stand your purple prose.
    I want to punch you in the nose!

    Would you like a hot sex scene?
    I wrote it for my online ‘zine!

    Go to Hines’ site and read the rest right now

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  • The Novel Writers Academy – Do you want it?

    ByJohn Brown

    Are you tired of being educated ABOUT writing?

    Do you just want someone who knows what they’re doing help you do it?  

    Specifically, do you want to develop a killer story idea, outline it, and write the first 3 chapters with the guidance of a pro?

    If so, then here’s your chance to vote to have me create a course that will do just that. 

    Read on for more information…

    Educating versus Training

    When you’re educated about something, you can talk about concepts and principles. You can recall facts. But most people I know don’t want to be educated about writing. They want more than another class, podcast, video, or book about the topic.

    They want to be trained.

    They want to develop a killer idea, sketch it out, and actually begin writing. Not just watch or read about it. But they want some help.

    I’ve been asked many times if I would teach an online class or workshop, but I’ve put it off for years because I know that I don’t want to offer just another set of videos about writing.

    Of course, I will offer just videos. That’s all some people want.

    But I know there are others out there who want to go beyond that. They want on-the-job training. They want to develop a fun story, but don’t know the process well enough, and want someone who knows it to guide them.

    They want training.

    But training takes time. More than the time it takes to create videos or posts.

    That’s what I do, by the way. When I’m not writing novels, I work in corporate America training people to actually do things. Over the last 20 years I’ve trained people to do everything from give compelling presentations and speak Dutch to plan and schedule manufacturing plants and close their accounting books at the end of a financial period.

    And so I know there’s a difference between being educated about something and being trained.

    Just think about it. Do you want a surgeon who has been educated about surgery or one that’s been trained to perform surgery at a mastery level? Do you want a plumber who has been educated about plumbing, or one that’s been trained to plumb? Do you want your airplane pilot to be educated about flying or trained to fly, in all sorts of weather?

    Going to school and being educated is cool, awesome, and necessary. But we all know we have to go beyond that. We need to be able to actually DO things. Training requires you know concepts and principles, but it also requires you take the next step and actually do something.

    Do You Want Training?

    I’m willing to provide this on-the-job training, but before I develop and conduct this course, I need to know enough people are interested in it for it to be worth my time (it would probably be more sensible for me to focus exclusively on getting the books I need to write out the door, but I love to teach too, and had to figure out a way to do it).

    So here’s the test. If you want to take the class described below, sign up to express your interest.

    This does not obligate you to anything. It simply says that you are almost 100% sure you want to take the class, barring earthquakes, plagues of demons, or crazy in-laws.

    When enough people signup, I know it will be worth my time, and the love of teaching part of me will be able to convince the sensible part of me to do it.

    And then I’ll do a Kickstarter to make it official. Or I may just develop and release. We shall see.

    So, here’s more on the course.

    Your Novel’s Core: Develop a Killer Idea, Outline it, and Write the First 3 Chapters

    The first order of business is to determine if this course is right for you.

    Do you want to write a novel, but feel like you have no idea what you’re doing?

    Do you often get ideas for a character or setting or snippets of scenes and dialogue, but find they just never go anywhere?

    Are you tired of learning about writing, and just want someone who knows what they’re doing help you to do it?

    If so, this class is for you.

    This is not a theory class. Oh, we’ll talk about theory. You’re going to learn a ton of theory. But this isn’t about theory because I don’t care about theory. And neither, I suspect, do you. I care about developing an awesome story experience and sharing it with readers who enjoy it as much as I do.

    So I’m not interested in talking about it. I’m interested in doing it. And having fun.

    Which means that in this course you’re going to:

    • Develop at least 10 story ideas that beg you to write them
    • Select one of those ideas and create an outline
    • Write the first three chapters of that novel

    In order to do that, you will need to learn the secrets to:

    • A story idea that works and how to come up with one
    • Interesting characters and how to develop one
    • Transporting your reader to the story so they feel like they are witnessing the whole thing
    • Keeping readers on the edge of their seats
    • What story and plot are really about
    • Writers block and why it’s a gift (no, really, it is)
    • Knowing what comes next
    • Getting feedback from beta readers that’s actually helpful (and if you don’t know this, much of what you’ll get will be worthless)

    These secrets and many more. But remember: this isn’t a course about secrets. It’s a course about you actually improving your ability to generate story ideas, develop them into ideas worthy of a novel, and then write them.

    This means you need to not only produce, but also have someone who has the ability look at your work and guide you along. It means getting feedback.

    So I will be there helping you every step of the way. And if you’re writing in a genre I don’t know as well, I will loop in working authors who are successful in that genre to add their two cents.

    Fumbling in the Dark

    I started my novel writing career when I received a three-book, $50,000 deal from a major publisher. I am now an indie author with books that sell thousands of copies each year to readers all over the world. I’ve had publishers purchase and produce my books in audio. I’ve sold story rights to foreign publishers. I love developing and telling stories. And I love teaching others how to do the same.

    But when I started, years before that novel contract, I had no idea what I was doing. I didn’t know where to start stories, how to develop them, or even where they were supposed to end. And I didn’t have anyone to really help me. In fact, I remember asking one of my creative writing professors after class how you knew where to end your story. He looked at me, shrugged, and said, “I don’t know. I just end them.”

    What the heck?

    It was all a vast mystery. I loved stories, but I was clueless about what they were, how they worked, and how someone went about developing and writing one. I had a lot of fun, enjoyed my writing teachers (they were all great people), but I was never able to write something that hung together and felt like something you’d see in a movie or read in a book.

    But that didn’t discourage me. I kept at it. And over the years, I made a number of breakthroughs.

    What I discovered was that there are three things you must learn to write killer stories. You must learn:

    • What stories do to the reader
    • How they do that
    • And effective techniques for both developing and telling the story

    In this class, you’re going to learn those three things and the key principles for each, saving yourself all the frustration and discouragement that comes from trying to discover these insights by stumbling around on your own in the dark. With this class, you can cut years off the time it takes to learn how to write.

    When you know these three things, you will be able to write stories on purpose, instead of by accident. You will have power over your craft.

    You will see that instead of trying to remember a list of hundreds of “writing rules” or use “writing formulas,” many of which are nonsense, you’ll write by focusing on the simple and fundamental heart of what storytelling is all about.

    Course Outline and Price

    Below is a more detailed view of the course. My lessons are called quests because I’m expecting you to actually do something, not just watch.

    Quest 1: Discover what stories do, then create your personal story profile

    • The three things you must learn to write killer stories
    • Your personal story type
    • The three main reader responses you must generate
    • The big secret: trigger and delay
    • Genre
    • Sensitizing yourself

    Quest 2: Discover what you need at the core of your story, then perform a craft analysis of 2 of your favorite novels and report your findings

    • The story engine (without this, your story goes nowhere)
    • What makes characters interesting
    • The vital THOMR
    • The desire to gain or retain something specific
    • Formidable obstacles
    • Uncertainty
    • Surprise
    • The same but different
    • The 3 grunts

    Quest 3: Discover the secret to developing ideas, then develop 10 fully-formed story ideas that beg to be written

    • The 4 main creative principles you must follow
    • 5 super productive techniques for generating ideas
    • Creating a schedule and goals
    • Using the story engine job aid
    • Using the setting job aid
    • Using the magic job aid
    • Using the world building job aid
    • Using the character job aid
    • Using the formidable obstacle job aid

    Quest 4: Discover how to figure out what comes next, then develop your story sketch (outline)

    • The number of scenes for your story
    • The story cycle
    • Story turns
    • Trigger and delay
    • Structure, and why structure models so often fail to help

    Quest 5: Discover how to transport your reader to the story, then write your first three chapters

    • Techniques for telling your story so it’s vivid and clear
    • Narrative summary versus narrative detail and when to use  each
    • Effective description
    • Writing point of view, hot and cold
    • Orienting the reader
    • Transitions

    Quest 6: Discover the three main effects you should read for, then deliver a reader report for the first chapters of seven different novels

    • The 3 grunts (the secret that allows you to learn from other novels)
    • Reader report rules
    • How to get feedback for the rest of your project

    Quest 7: Discover your next steps, then create a plan

    • Methods to write quickly
    • What you need to do to publish independently
    • What you need to do to publish with a traditional publisher

    As you can see, in this course you aren’t going to just hear someone go on about theory. You’re going to define your type of story, surprise yourself by developing at least 10 solid story ideas that beg to be written (by you). Then you’ll select one of those ideas, sketch an outline, and write the first three chapters, all under my guidance, using the same practical, simple methods I use.

    Most important of all, you’ll actually stop thinking about writing and be well on your way to finishing your novel with a clear path to the end.

    Instead of dreaming about someday, you’ll enjoy the excitement of writing a novel right now.

    The cost of the course depends on what you want:

    • Access to all of the videos: $199
    • Access to all of the videos and two rounds of coaching on your story idea, outline, and first three chapters $399

    Not for everyone

    Having said that, you need to know that this class is not for everyone. If you are not willing to actually make time to do the work I ask, you will find no benefit.

    How much time will you need to spend?

    With all of the videos, reading, and development you’ll do, you should expect to take 30-40 hours. You can move through it at your own pace, but I strongly suggest you spend at least five hours per week. Any less than that, and you’re going to find it very difficult to keep your creativity hot enough to make dinner.

    Also, if possible, I recommend you take the course with a friend. You will progress so much more quickly when you discuss the lessons and insights and bounce your ideas off of each other.

    If you want to just watch the videos, that’s perfectly fine. If you want to actually develop a story and learn on the job, then you have to make time to do this awesome thing, just as you would if you wanted to learn how to dance, quilt, race cars, rappel, or paraglide.

    So if you aren’t in a position to make the time, I understand. Please don’t sign up.

    But if you’re interested, then click below to raise your hand as someone who is definitely interested. Once I see there are enough people interested, you’ll get the class.

    Yes, I’m definitely interested!

    If you’re interested, let me know by filling out the form below.

    This does not obligate you to anything. It simply says that you are almost 100% sure you want to take the class, barring earthquakes, plagues of demons, or crazy in-laws.

    * indicates required



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6 Comments

  1. I think your blue highlighted items are correct, John (with the caveat that the formatting tool may not come as quickly as we’d like), and I’d say that those self-published authors who get the help they need (no matter how they pay for it) in those areas will stand out quite a bit from those that don’t.

    I work in marketing and public relations. People who can truly edit, project manage and/or art direct are generally more expensive for a reason — and it totally shows in the final product. The same is true of executing a publicity campaign. Even with something as simple as writing a news release, it’s very clear who knows their stuff and who doesn’t — not to mention putting together an excellent pitch.

  2. Okay. Just read your comment on the Eisler post, John. I think you make a good point about the 15%. I think that I make a good point about the true professionals. I think what we’re looking at is the wrong person to help the author — it shouldn’t be an agent. Not if by agent we’re talking about someone who mainly sifts through queries and then sells books (with maybe some editing of manuscript to get in to shape to sell to the publisher).

    It needs to be, really, somebody to do account management. Yes, you could do some internet research and make some calls. But are you sure you’re going to get quality work?

    For example, in the business/non-profit world the reason to pay an agency to do marketing and advertising (and perhaps public relations, but I think that traditional media relations is dead and that might be better done in-house) for your organization is that they have the contacts and the bundled scale. That saves you time and money because you’re going to get reliable creative out of them. And it saves you money with things like printing and media (ad) buys because they have knowledge of the market you don’t and deal with volume (because they have several clients) or at least repeat business so they can get better rates than you can if you do it yourself. Yes, paying that agency fee for account management (in addition to the ) is a bit painful and for some organizations might not be worth it. But if the end result is a better advertising and marketing campaign with solid creative then you’re sales are going to be much better.

    So what I think is needed is someone who is almost like an indie publisher (but without the print pretensions) who can edit and project manage and do some basic marketing and publicity and then has a stable of freelance designers, formatters and publicists that he or she can bring in. And that the payment model is either the author pays an agency fee for certain work done. Or the author provides a percentage of sales for a fixed time period that the book is on the market with perhaps, boosters if certain sales goals are met and with the option to renew the deal for future maintenance on the book/property.

    That’s all very roughly thought out, but my point is that I’m not sure it makes sense for authors to look to agents to help them self publish.

  3. I agree with you. Doing these tasks well requires some savvy. When you find someone good, they’re certainly worth the higher price. But, as you said, one of the key things authors are dealing with is good information on who you can trust to do quality work.

    As far as agents go, I don’t think it matters if a literary agency hires resources or developes the necessary capabilities and morphs into something that provides all the skills and resources you and I mention. Their incentive is still to sell gobs of books, which is perfectly aligned with the author’s best interest.

    However, the moment they begin to purchase rights, that’s the moment they introduce a conflict of interest. Because then they have the whole buy the rights low, sell ’em high thing going on, which works against the author since she’s the one selling. But up until that point, I’d say anyone who has the ability is what an author would want, regardless of what they’re called and what other functions they may perform.

    You agree?

    I like your payment options.

    It really does start moving toward and advertising service, except for the editing. Although, I’m not sure how effective advertising is in the book world. You’ve got to have a good cover. Okay, that’s advertising. But that’s worthless without some visibility.

    The right kind of endorsement/recommendation visibility is key, which is why best-seller lists are important, and Oprah, and book placement in stores, and the “this person also bought this” feature on Amazon. Good reviews by Booklist and Library Journal and PW perform this function for libraries.

    These service providers would have to be great at getting this kind of visibility, which I think is probably very different from marketing and advertising with other products, say cars or dish soap. Maybe I’m wrong about that. Or maybe it’s just that the average payout of the average book isn’t near enough to cover the cost to create a campaign that would acutally have any effect.

  4. Good analysis. And I sort of agree. I every much agree that authors are smart to hang on to their rights.

    In regards to whether literary agencies can morph and whether advertising and public relations services are worth it and who can effectively provide them. Well, it all depends. The field of marketing — especially advertising and public relations — is going through a huge change now. Some firms and practitioners are making the change; some aren’t. It’s no longer enough to buy some print ads and send out some news releases. I can describe what’s needed. Who would be best at delivering these services is a bit up in the air, I think.

    1. A good novel that appeals to a large enough audience that there’s a good chance of sales that lead to a decent ROI. That usually means that it needs to pass through the hands of someone who can provide good feedback on developmental edits as well as be thoroughly proofread.

    2. A book cover that not only is pleasing to the author but is also going to attract sales and that works in all the various sizes and formats where the book is going to be sold.

    3. Presence of the book in all the physical and electronic formats that it needs to be sold in to reach readers. And it needs to be formatted and packaged correctly for each of those formats. This may mean, going forward, additional elements from a premium hardbound book package that includes extra *stuff* to an enhanced ebook experience (which is what David Farland’s company is betting on).

    4. Related to #3 — Presence in all of the stores, physical and electronic, where it is most likely to reach potential readers. And not only present, but priced correctly in each of those venues with the right meta-data, categorization/shelf space, etc. This would also include continual monitoring of sales to tweak metadata and pricing to try to optimize sales, and that should be pegged to both analytics data based on trends, but also to take advantage of any changes related to publicity.

    5. An ongoing marketing campaign that may or may not include advertising (paid ads) but should definitely include an active ongoing social media conversation (with advice and analytics on which platforms are the best use of the author’s time); media pitching (reviews, Q&As, profiles, top ten lists, etc. — and to both traditional outlets and bloggers/social media stars); search engine optimization (SEO); giveaways/contests; appearances at bookstores, cons, etc.; and all of those need to be tied to actual data where possible and benchmarked with other authors where possible.

    6. Active reaching out to sell/lease/cut a deal on foreign rights/translations, film rights, game rights, etc. and then management of those deals so that there’s the best chance possible for a decent ROI (or at least a ROR — a Return on Rights) as well as preservation of the author’s brand which means any further iterations of the book/story have to be of a certain quality.

    That’s a lot. And it requires someone or some people with creative, analytical, managerial and relationship skills. It’ll be interesting to see who emerges with the ability to do all of that (and obviously execution of the above can be grander or smaller/deeper or shallower depending on the author, the book and the ability to provide an initial investment. And this is why many authors prefer to have publishers. The problem is that neither publishers, nor agents, nor marketing/pr firms really have a grasp on it all (or at least few do). And the bigger problem is that, as you mention, all of this can lead to significant costs and some of it may not have much of an effect on sales.

    It’s going be tempting for authors to trade rights for services (which is essentially what they do now when they get literary agents who then sell to publishers). I think the more authors can hold on to rights and either DIY or contract out or collaborate with other authors (co-ops) to make it happen, the better. But if the right agency (literary agency, marketing/pr agency, publisher that turns in to an agency) with the right fee structure and expertise were to be able to provide some or all of these services, I do think it would be worth looking at. Ideally, it would be one that doesn’t invest in huge overhead (authors don’t want to be paying for that) and could even be, as you mention in your comment on Barry Eisler’s post, a virtual marketplace where you can select and pay independent contractors.

  5. “Amazon and the other ebook retailers have a lock on 9 & 10. It would be incredibly hard to dislodge those gorillas. ”

    I don’t know. Disk space is awfully cheap.

  6. Servius,

    You’re right on #9. They could easily outsource it. But I don’t think you can replace #10. There’s a lot of tech put into Amazon’s venue. But it’s more than that. It’s all of the contracts they have with vendors and other sellers and the habit of customers etc. Amazon is an experience and a brand. And they have the first slot in the mind share for that. There’s more than just the simple order taking in #10.

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