The Capitalism of Publishing

 

The public is not typically aware that bookselling is essentially a consignment business. (Not all authors are aware of this, either, though they should be.)

Here’s how it works, in a nutshell. Bear in mind there are others that handle much of the logistics, but what’s here is the core process.

·       The publisher issues a catalog of what books are available to bookstores this quarter.

·       The bookstore orders the books it wants.

·       Customers buy those books from the store.

o   If they buy more than the store ordered, the store orders more.

o   If they buy fewer than the store ordered, the bookseller may return the unsold copies at the publisher’s expense.

·       Booksellers build the ability to return books into their business plans.

·       Publishers go along because they have to.

There are four major publishing houses that operate like this. Don’t be confused by the number of “publishers” that have their names on the spines of books. Those names are generally what are called “Imprints,” and a single house may own multiple imprints. For example, the Hachette Book Group owns Grand Central Publishing; Basic Books Group; Hachette Audio; Little, Brown, and Company; Little Brown Books for Young Readers; Orbit; Running Press Group; and Workman Publishing. Each of these has imprints of their own. If you buy a book published by any of these, the publishing company that runs the show is Hachette. The others in the Big Four are no different.

Since the big publishers can afford to accept returns and pay for display space dedicated to their books, theirs are what you see in your local bookstore. Since the local bookseller depends on this financial support to stay open, they do not as a habit stock books that

·       are put out by publishers that cannot afford to accept returns or pay for display space.

·       are self-published.

Rest assured, if you go into your local bookstore and ask for a specific title by an author not connected to any of the Big Four, your bookseller will order it for you. This is much appreciated, but it also means no one – literally no one – will find such a book by browsing the shelves, nor will it ever appear as a staff recommendation.

Where does this leave the small press or self-published author?

Shit out of luck.

Though it may sound like it, I’m not complaining. I accept this is how things work. I returned to self-publishing because I chose not to swim in the publishing business’s version of the Seine River during the Olympics. I have made my peace with it.

I’m writing here to encourage others to look clear-eyed at their prospects. Examine why you write. What do you want to get out of it? Money? How much? Fame? How much?

Or will the respect of those you would like to think of as your peers be sufficient? The joy you get from crafting something that, while imperfect, came out about how you wanted? The satisfaction of putting together a story others will enjoy reading, no matter how many – or how few – actually read it?

There is no right answer; there are wrong ones. By “wrong,” I mean, if you’re getting into it to make money and you don’t, whose fault is that? Is the system rigged against you? Sure it is, if only because there are more people who want to make money as writers than the industry can support. The lottery’s rigged against you, too, and you don’t bitch about that. (You have one chance in 292,201,338 to win the Power Ball jackpot.)

Telling stories for money is a privilege, not a right. It’s on you to come to accommodation with the industry. If you can’t, don’t bitch; quit. Not being a writer is the default state of humanity; there’s no shame in it. Those who make even a serious attempt are outliers.

“But I can no more not write than I can not breathe!”

Then save your breath and stop whining. No one is owed a living in their preferred profession. No one knows that better than I do. How I came to know it is a topic for another day.

Never Pay to Write

 Gabino Iglesias is becoming my spirit animal. His substack posts consistently teach me something, or confirm something I already knew. Gabino has worked his way up from self-publishing to bestseller status and is a regular reviewer for the New York Times and NPR, so his cred is solid. He’s been on a roll of late with advice to fledgling writers.IO already knew most of what he wrote, but Gabino’s unique perspective makes it that much more effective. ‘

 

Among his recent pieces was one titled, “Don’t Pay to Write.” I’m going to quote from it here, adding my own perspective to what he says, but it’s relatively short and always on point, so I strongly encourage you to read the original. You won’t be sorry.

 

The theme of the article is that writing is work, and people get paid for their work. (“When you get your car fixed, the mechanic doesn’t pay you. You know why? Because they are the ones with the knowledge and the ones putting in the time and work to fix your car.”) I have long believed writers are their – our – own worst enemies, feeding a race to the bottom through a willingness to do anything to get their words on a page or a web site. As a general rule, don’t let anyone publish your stuff unless you get paid. Quoting Gabino: “Exposure isn’t that great, it’s something you die from.”

 

Here's Gabino’s checklist to make sure you don’t get taken, with my comments. (I only lifted the first sentence or two from his post. Again, you should read the whole thing. If you don’t think it was worth your time, I’ll send you a full refund, no questions asked.)

 

1.    Always read submission guidelines carefully.* I see this one as doubly important:

a.    To make sure you don’t overlook some dumb thing that gives them an excuse to reject you. Editors are looking for new voices, but they may get 500 submissions for ten slots, and at least fifty will be good enough to include. They’re looking for ways to cull the herd whether they’ll admit it or not.

b.    To make sure they’re worth messing with. If their guidelines, which they expect you to follow to the letter, are vague, poorly worded, or have multiple typos, they don’t really know what they’re doing.

2.    Do your research. As Butch Cassidy famously said, “Who are those guys?” Check them out on the web. Do you know anyone who has worked with them? When in doubt, check Victoria Strauss’s “Writer Beware” resources, or Preditors and Editors. (New P&E website under construction.)

3.    NEVER pay to get published. Ever. Under any circumstances. Two things come to mind:

a.    What does it say about the value you place on the result of your labor and talent that you don’t even think you can give it away? Which you also should never do. (More on that later.)

b.    What impression does that create? How much can they value your work if they weren’t willing to pay you for it?

4.    Vanity presses are predators. Full stop. It doesn’t matter what they promise you or what kind of contract they offer. They are preying on the members of the herd who don’t know any better.

 

You might be willing to write something for free. You have to be the judge of which of these exceptions apply to you, but I have done two of the following for free:

1.    Charity. I wrote a story to Unloaded 2, an anthology that sent all its profits to a gun control organization. I also contributed a story for Down to the River, which sent its proceed to American Rivers, an organization that works to protect our rivers. I was flattered to have been asked to take part in each of these endeavors and proud to have played some small part in noble causes.

2.    Loyalty. I wrote a story for The Shamus Sampler Part 2 because the editor had extended himself on my behalf in the past.

3.    Making a statement. I haven’t done this one yet, in part because I tend to put my statements here, so I have an outlet. If opportunity presents and I have something I feel strongly about, I’ll line up.

 

Writing is an occupation. It may not be your full-time job – if all you write is fiction it almost certainly is not – but it’s a job. Treat it with the respect you show your day job. If you don’t respect your work enough to demand consideration for it, why should anyone else?

 

(* - This applies to contracts, too. Read every word. I sold what I think is the best story I ever wrote without realizing I was selling the rights essentially in perpetuity. I’ve found ways around this for promotional purposes, but I would have loved to find a good outlet for reprints.)

 

The Evil Empires

 The Beloved Spouse™ and I try to be good citizens. We vote. We pay our taxes. We never shirk summonses for jury duty. We set aside money each month for worthy causes. We make an effort.

 

But it gets harder all the time.

 

I think I’ve bought two things at Wal-Mart in the past twenty years. Even then it was because I needed something right now and couldn’t find it anywhere else. I am aware of Wal-Mart’s historical record with local businesses and their workforce and have little good to say about it.

 

But we buy a lot of stuff on Amazon, which is no better and might be worse.

 

We resolve to do more shopping elsewhere. We’ve begun to find things on Amazon, then look to see if they’re available locally, or online elsewhere. Not as convenient, but if it’s not too much more expensive we can’t afford it, or can’t live without it if it is, we’re walking away from Amazon as our go-to source for a lot of things.

 

But I’m a writer. I depend on Amazon for what passes as my career, especially now that I am self-publishing again.

 

Why I am returning to self-publishing is a post for another day; it’s a saga of its own. Accepting the premise that traditional publishing is not a good deal for me, here’s my conundrum:

·       Amazon makes it easy to create and sell my books. Hell, Amazon makes it possible to create and sell my books.

·       Much as I love small bookstores, they will not stock books unless the publisher accepts returns; they also do not typically host events for books they do not carry. (This is not limited to self-published authors. I had the same issue when I was under contract.) I can interview “real” authors and bring books to sell on consignment, or I can try to join a larger event. I did the latter several weeks ago. The bookstore not only did not promote the event, most of the employees didn’t know we were there, so no potential customers were directed around back where a dozen authors were eager to meet them. In fairness, they did pay promptly for the book I sold.

 

So Amazon is what I have left, despite its failures as a corporate citizen. Well, I guess I could write in a vacuum and deliver the results free as e-books to friends upon request. What would that involve?

·       Writing the book on Microsoft Word. (Or Google Docs or Apple Pages.)

·       Letting folks know about it through Facebook and The Social Media Platform Formerly Known as Twitter.

·       Sending electronic copies via G-Mail.

 

That leaves me to deal with some combination of Microsoft, Apple, Google, Meta, and whatever TSMPFKaT’s parent company is called, none of which are any better than Amazon.

 

Fuck.

 

The problem with trying to have a conscience is how much we are surrounded by people and entities that do not. Tech companies are the worst. No one starts a tech company to build an ongoing enterprise anymore. They start them to get enough of a niche for one of the giants to buy the company – or their company’s technology – so they can cash in. I have firsthand experience with this, so I’m well familiar with it. The situation is as likely to change as Joe Biden is likely to appoint Marjorie Taylor Greene to the post of NASA Administrator.

 

I enjoy telling stories. I enjoy the editing process. Writing posts about the craft on this blog. Doing what I can to promote others. Appearing at conferences and events. I don’t care that I don’t make any money from it. The entire process enriches my soul. It brings me joy.

 

Until, that is, something makes me look at the entities I have to work with for even my small niche. A more soul-sucking bunch of Midases for whom too much is never enough cannot be found outside of Nestle, the CEO of which believes water should be a commodity.

 

We’ve cut way back on our Amazon purchases. As for the writing, I guess this is going to be one of those situations where I need to have the serenity to accept something I cannot change. I’ll try to make up for it elsewhere.