Is piracy mainstream now? (Anne Rooney)

 Every now and then over the last 10-15 years, there has been a little flurry of panic and outrage as another author discovers there are free downloads of their book(s) available somewhere online. Seasoned authors point out that they can send as many take-down notices as they like, the sites will just ignore them and be unprosecutable because they are always under the non-jurisdiction of some bit of the cyberhinterland. Google some of my books and there are TEN THOUSAND links to illegal downloads.

I could spend my whole life sending pointless take-down notices, so I send none. Lots of those sites don't even have any books; they are just harvesting email addresses or depositing the digital equivalent of doggy dung, not in a plastic bag but on the gullible consumer's device. This style of piracy is part of the landscape. Like shops trying to stop shoplifting, it's a fight that will never be won, though we can possibly pick off a few of the more amateur attempts.

But this year has seen something rather different,involving large and generally respectable organisations from public libraries to the BBC.

The Internet Archive Open 'Library' has been scanning any physical book it can lay its hands on, uploading the files and offering them as a free digital 'loan' through its worldwide library. It's hardly the first attempt to make all books illegally available, but as it doesn't require the potential pirate-reader to register a credit card or any other details, it's probably more attractive to a wary book-thief. It also brazenly declares that it's legal under US 'fair use' rules. Firstly, it isn't — that's just a lie. (The Trumpesque stance of saying something untrue and browbeating people into believing it doesn't actually make it true.) And secondly, not all the world is the US. It most certainly is not legal in the UK. Boston Public Library (shame on them) have been providing physical books to OL to facilitate the theft and defended the practice to the Society of Authors. But it's still illegal.

Another, similar, illegal e-lending site appeared in March. With a little coy request that people don't upload copyright material it claims to have done its bit for protection, though of course it takes no notice if people do upload copyright material. And they are probably perfectly happy with that, as the site would have little appeal if all it hosted was books by long-dead people that have either vanished without trace or are available to own from Project Gutenberg.

Even this is not the worst. At least these are contentious sites and although the public might be duped into theft by spurious and grandiose claims of legality and open access, they are still on the fringe of public engagement and discourse. The last couple of months have seen widely respected organisations — the BBC and LinkedIn — taint themselves.

The BBC news website published a story (in distinctly admiring tones) about teachers live-streaming themselves reading entire picture books for their pupils to listen to at bedtime. Excuse me? Would that be the same BBC that kicks up an almighty fuss when bits of its programmes appear, unauthorised, on YouTube?

I have written to the BBC asking them either to take down the story or at least to amend it to point out that this is illegal copyright violation and harmful to the very writers and illustrators that the teachers presumably admire (or they wouldn't be using their work). So far, they are finding it tricky to resolve. Funny, that. If I were spotted encouraging someone to put unpaid-for goods in their bag at a supermarket and bypass the tills, I don't imagine the supermarket would find it tricky to resolve. I fully accept that primary school teachers may not realise they are breaking the law (though really, they SHOULD know how to use the tools of their job legally). But for the BBC to endorse and applaud criminal abuse is a sad sign of the times.

And LinkedIn. It has a service called SlideShare originally aimed at professionals with that PowerPoint malaise that means they are incapable of talking to more than one person at a time without breaking out in bullet points. If it were for $$geeks to share their 50 points about worthwhile investments or whatever, and they chose to do it, fine. But it's now full of 'slide shows' that are five slides 'about' a book with a link to an illegal download on one or more of the slides. Do LInkedIn care? No reader, they do not. If you wade through their intractable site and find the link to complain, they suggest you send a take-down notice to the original poster. If you write saying 'I don't want to hear your advice to send a take-down notice', they still suggest you send a take-down notice to the original poster. Again, it's a legitimate and respected company endorsing or turning a blind eye to crime on their patch — indeed, hosting it on their platform.

This, by the way, is why we need the new EU copyright legislation. It would make LinkedIn and their ilk liable for these infringements and so give copyright holders a one-stop shop to get stolen content taken down.

Why does it matter? This is our work. We have spent a long time producing this work and are paid, on the whole, very little. Authors (writers and illustrators) are scraping a living. The more stolen copies of our work circulate, the fewer legitimate copies will be bought or borrowed from libraries and so the less we will earn. The more stolen copies circulate, the fewer books publishers will be prepared to invest in producing. Readers will lose out in the end. Quality books are expensive to produce; why bother if it's going to be stolen?

There is a wider issue, too, in that if we allow various types of criminal activity to be ignored, there is a thin-end-of-the-wedge effect. We've seen that with the kind of abuse certain groups of people are now routinely subjected to by offenders who don't fear any consequences, and possibly don't even see anything wrong in it. If a teacher violates copyright reading to her young pupils, where are those pupils going to learn respect for the property of others? And tomorrow's citizens really need to realise that digital property is still property as more and more property is digital every day. Those ££s in your bank account? They have no physical reality, you know. If you can steal my book, how is it different if I steal your digital ££s?

And finally... The pictures I've used here reflect a different, popular narrative. That pirates are an exciting, freedom-loving, bunch on the margins of society. That they are outside the laws of any particular country, seeking adventure and danger on the open seas. Yes — but also they were (and are) violent criminals with no regard for the rights, property or bodies of others, treating rich and poor alike and avoiding all social responsibility. (I used one of my own books* because I didn't want it to look as though I was criticising anyone else's book — there are other pirate books, equally good and better.)

Today's digital pirates cash in on the first bit, the romantic heroes dodging danger. They cite the 'information wants to be free' mantra and claim to be doing public good. But information IS free — it's creative work that is not free. And they are doing public harm. It would help if people remember that pirates routinely slaughter the crew of ships in the Indian Ocean and other places, just to get their hands on some money. They are not figures of romantic heroism but straight-out criminal thugs. It would also help if we started to label the consumers of pirated goods as thieves, receivers of stolen goods, fences, and so on. Public broadcaster tells you how to do crime; network for professionals and thieves; primary-school teacher and stolen-book fence; doesn't sound so good, does it?

*All text and illustrations from Pirates: Dead Men's Tales, copyright Carlton books; illustrations by Joe Wilson; text by me; all these pages are available legally on Amazon Look Inside.

Anne Rooney

Chair, Educational Writers' Group, Society of Authors

Dinosaur Planet, Lonely Atlas
Winner 9-12 School Library Association prize, 2018; shortlisted, Royal Society Young People's Book Award 2018

 

See the Dinos at Hay Festival, 1st June 2019

Selling Seasonal Picture Book Stories - Lynne Garner

A few of years ago I wrote two picture book stories 'Where It's Always Winter' and 'The Perfect Christmas Tree.' As the titles suggest they both have a festive or seasonal link. Once I'd completed them I sent to various publishers who I believed (because I'd researched their previously published titles) might be interested in them. Again and again they were rejected, which is something you sort of get used to as a professional writer. However a couple of the publishers didn't send me the standard rejection letter. They told me they'd enjoyed the stories but were withdrawing from seasonal books so weren't in a position to take.

This is where my journey into becoming a publisher started. MadMoment Media Ltd was set up and with a very limited budget we had these two picture stories (plus a few others I'd received good feedback on) into apps for the iPhone and iPad. This meant a steep learning curve and a fair few hours spent in a recording studio, as yours truly narrated them.  By the end of 2010 they were ready and uploaded onto the iTunes store. A few months later we converted all of the stories into picture eBooks and uploaded onto Amazon (Amazon UK, Amazon US). Our non-seasonal stories sell a few copies all year round. However although 'Where It's Always Winter' and 'The Perfect Christmas Tree' are seasonal we sell as many if not more of them than our non-seasonal titles.

Now you may be wondering why I'm sharing this with you. Well I wanted to demonstrate that just because a large publishing house doesn't see the point of selling seasonal picture books it doesn't mean there isn't a market for them. So if you have a book that's received good feedback but isn't marketable all year round why not give it a go yourself. It's worked for me it could work for you.

Lynne Garner 

I also write for:

The Picture Book Den - all things to do with picture books

Authors Electric - covers digital self-publishing 

The Hedgehog Shed - concerned with hedgehog rescue

Fuelled By Hot Chocolate - my own ramblings

The Craft Ark - craft how-to blog

My online classes with WOW starting January 2014:

How To Write A Children's Picture Book And Get Published (beginners)

5 Picture Books In 5 Weeks (advanced)

How To Write A Hobby-based How To Book   

A Christmas Give-away: Lynne Garner

I wanted to celebrate the release of two new picture eBooks: The Perfect Christmas Tree (UK download, US download) and Where It's Always Winter (UK download, US download) earlier this month. So on the 2nd I decided to give some of my other picture eBooks away for free. 

Sadly you've missed the first two but you can download Clever Rabbit (part of the Burdock the Rabbit series) which will be FREE from tomorrow (15th December) to the 19th December. To enjoy this book download from the UK Amazon site HERE or the US Amazon site HERE.

Finally the third in the Burdock the Rabbit series The Abacus will be available for FREE between the 20th December and the 24th December. UK readers can download by clicking HERE or US readers can download by clicking HERE.

And remember you don't have to have a Kindle to enjoy these books. Just follow this link to download a FREE Kindle App so you can read on other devices. 

I hope you enjoy sharing my books and I wish you the very best for this festive season.

Lynne Garner

P.S. If you do enjoy my books would you be kind enough to place a positive review on Amazon. Such reviews help boost sales. This enables me to write and publish more books, which means I can then release more free downloads as a thank you for supporting my work.   

Show Me The Money - Elen Caldecott

I never studied economics at all, but I have a vague idea that the cost of things, commodities, objects, is determined by balancing what people are willing to sell it for with what people are willing to pay. Plus taxes, of course.

This can be illustrated by my recent decision to buy, on Kindle, Marian Keyes' latest novel The Mystery of Mercy Close. It was £10 as an instant ebook, but only £9 as a snail-mail hardback. If I'd been willing to wait even longer, I could have got it for £7 as a paperback, or 60p from the library (I'd have to reserve it), or, if I waited two years, I could have bought it for 1p plus post and packaging on Amazon. However, I wanted to read it immediately, so, it was worth £10 to me.

More recently, J K Rowling suffered a series (what's the collective noun? A witch-hunt? A mass hysteria?) of 1-star reviews, based solely on the fact that the £12 price-tag of the ebook was deemed too expensive. The convenience of an instant book wasn't worth it to the reviewers.

Of course, much of the vitriol came from the fact that JK is assumed not to need the money (there was little mention of the publishers who presumably paid huge amounts for the rights and need to make back their investment).

So, does the value of a product change if the person selling it doesn't need the money? There's a slim case for that, based on my understanding of how prices are set. But the amount of time spent on making the product isn't any less. The effort and graft are the same.

There seems to be an idea, among the general public, that writers are either starving in attics (which is considered stupid, but morally sound), or greedy fat-cats milking their fans.
I know lots of writers, but I know none who match either image. Most are trying to maintain a modest life-style through precarious means. Like any small-business owners, they have to be mindful of income and expenditure.

Personally, about half my income comes from writing and writing-related activities. The rest comes from three shifts a week selling tickets (so, you can probably make a reasonably sound guesstimate of my level of income! No lighting cigars with hundred dollar bills going on in this part of the West Country!). I write five or six books a year, some long, some short. I teach creative writing. I visit schools and libraries. I work reasonably hard (is it always a self-employed person's curse to believe they are lazy? But I digress...) So, I get cross when people demand that writers subsidise entertainment by producing cheap books.

If you don't think the price is worth it to you, wait until it becomes available in a cheaper format, wait 48 hours for the hardback to be delivered, but don't insist that the seller has to change their position. No-one owes writers a living, but equally, no-one has the right to take that living away. Not even from the rich ones.


www.elencaldecott.com
Elen's Facebook Page
Twitter: @elencaldecott 

Which Side of The Fence Do You Sit? - Lynne Garner

I've been teaching a course called 'Writing for Pleasure and Profit.' This week we discussed the many ways in which the writer can become published. We covered being traditionally published, being published by a packager, getting caught out by a vanity publisher, creating your own books in the form of eBooks and iBooks.

As we talked one of the students said she'd never dream of reading a book on an eReader. She was a book lover and would never change. Another student said they did all their reading on an eReader and didn't miss 'proper' books.

When asked my opinion I must admit I sat on that fence. I love the smell of an old book. I love the feel and sound of the pages as you turn them. When on holiday or out for the day I often pop into an old book shop to 'get my fix.' When you walk in the smell is just wonderful. So give me a good old fashioned paper based book any day.

However I own a Kindle. It was originally purchased to test the eBooks I was in the process of publishing. If you'd like to see my collection of eBooks click on this link.

Anyway I soon discovered I was converted to reading on an eReader. I know my eReader doesn't smell like a book.  It doesn't feel like a book. It doesn't sound like a book. However I can pop it into my bag and take it anywhere. I don't have to worry about the book mark falling out and I can take a library of books with me where ever I go. So if I want to read some fiction I can. If I want to do a little research and read a non-fiction title I can. So give me an eReader and I'm happy.  

So if you ask me which I prefer I'm sorry I simply can't decide. Which got me thinking. If I were to ask you which side of the fence do you sit when it comes to this subject what would your answer be?

A little note:
There is now a product that will make your eReader smell like a book - just click here if you don't believe me.

Lynne Garner

My blog - Fuelled By Hot Chocolate
A group blog I contribute to: The Picture Book Den
Another group blog I contribute to: Do Authors Dream of Electric Books 

What Do You Call A Group of Writers? - Lynne Garner

I used to be a lone writer, tapping away on my computer knowing there were others out there like me but was unsure how to make contact. That all changed a few years ago when I attended a course taught by Julie Sykes, who introduced my to The Scattered Authors Society. Joining has been one of the best moves I've made in my writing career. Since then I have also become a member of The Picture Book Den and Authors Electric.

A few of the members of the SAS enjoying afternoon tea on our Winter Retreat 2011

  

Recently I was talking to a non-writing friend who asked me "So what do you call a group of writers?" I was stumped, so did a little research and found some great names for groups of people including:

•  A 'drunkship' of cobblers
• A 'hastiness' of cooks
• And a 'stalk' of foresters

(Apparently these appeared in a list of 'proper terms' in the Book of St Albans attributed to Dame Juliana Barnes - 1486)

I also discovered a few (I assume) tongue in cheek modern group names including:

•  A 'doddering' of senior citizens
• A 'nattering' of elderly ladies
• And a 'trust fund' of peace marchers

Yet I was unable to find a definitive name for a group of writers. I did find suggestions including a scribble, a sentence, a pen, a composition and a story. Yet for me a group of writers is a support system, an inspiration, a springboard, a font of knowledge and a joy to be a member of - none of these as catchy as the previous I know. From each of the groups I gain more than I could have hoped for. 

For example The Picture Book Den is a group of ten picture book writers which was set up in December 2011. We often ask each other questions and put out requests for advice. We also swap manuscripts once a month and critique each others work. This not only allows us to improve our writing but also learn from one another.

Another example is the group of 28 authors who make up Authors Electric. Last month a member suggested we celebrate World Book Night and William Shakespeare's birthday by hosting our own give-away of eBooks. Between us we managed to spread the word far and wide. We more than doubled the hit rate to our blog in one day and introduced our books to a huge worldwide audience. As a group we support each other by using social media to spread the word about our books, classes we run as individuals etc. and also share our experiences. 

So for me a group of authors is more than a term. However it's driving me crazy not knowing the 'correct' term. So if anyone knows what you call a group of writers please put this writer out of her misery. 

Lynne Garner

Now a blatant plug for my latest collection of African stories retold available as an eBook - Anansi Trickier Than Ever

If you have children please feel free to download my free activity sheets that go with this book and my other: Anansi - The Trickster Spider

Download by clicking on these links: set one and set two.

The Power of Words

I live in Gloucestershire, and recently the courts told my county council that they needed to rethink their library policy on equality grounds. The excellent Friends of Gloucestershire Libraries fought long and hard to get this result, which was won on the very thing that was closest to our hearts. Now, for a little longer the elderly users of the mobile library van service, and the many children in deprived areas of this diverse county will still be able to enjoy their local libraries. For how long we don't know, and recent developments aren't exactly heartening. http://foclibrary.wordpress.com/2011/12/03/unlawful-library-cuts-the-equality-and-human-rights-commission-step-in/ We don't want more precious money thrown away on court cases, but we do want the vulnerable protected.

In a city in the USA my granddaughter and her parents recently joined their local library. At the entrance were notices asking the customers if they'd like to vote for a few cents more to be allocated from the local council budget to the libraries in the area. Usage was steadily growing, and the extra money would enable the service to be improved.

I was quite taken by the idea of voters being able to make such choices. It's interesting to speculate what the outcome would have been if our local council had asked the electorate the same question. Funding comes from several sources at my grand daughter's library. State and county both contribute, and the library isn't too proud to ask for donations either. In fact, they explain on their website which of the libraries they run will accept what sorts of books, and in which languages. But it's not all good in the US. We in the UK aren't the only country with library funding problems. http://www.thenation.com/article/164881/upheaval-new-york-public-library

I don't know enough about the system in the US, but it seems to me that we in the UK need to look at more than one model of provision to give libraries the best chance. A US company ISS, which runs some privatised libraries in the States, has just announced that its stated intent of doing the same in England had been put on the back burner, because it seems we in England aren't ready for privately run libraries. Probably not, even if they would still be 'free'. But maybe we ought to consider more possibilities. I don't think volunteer run libraries are the answer either, but then maybe there simply isn't a suitable one size fits all.

The members of Friends of Gloucestershire Libraries have fought a wonderful rearguard action, to force the council to deliver on its statutory duty, and deserve high praise, but the library service has been underfunded for years. I am hoping that the committee to look into library provision, which was at last announced by the government, will consult and consider as widely as possible, but I'm not hopeful that it will come up with any exciting ways in which libraries can become the vibrant, well stocked places they ought to be, with wide appeal. The very real threat is that councils will tidy up their act, do just enough to be legal, and still find ways to close them.

Meanwhile, across the channel too, books are under threat. I recently signed a petition to the French government asking them not to raise the VAT on books from 5 to 7.50%.

The VAT levied on ebooks in Britain has me worried. How long will it be before some bright spark in government decides that if you can tax digital words without anyone objecting, why not printed ones? And as the French experience shows, once a tax is applied it becomes very tempting to raise it when times are hard. The written word is having a difficult time, and I don't think we can relax yet.

Yet it's not all bad. Libraries are being supported by a vociferous, well informed group of people, many of whom don't actually need to rely on the service, but still understand that for a nation to be fully inclusive, information must be freely and easily available to all, from the smallest child, through the homeless, and unemployed, to the elderly, and everyone else in between. And with youth clubs, pop in centres and other valued places at risk, where better than local libraries to take up some of the slack?

There have been some wonderfully imaginative celebrations of libraries, witness this in Scotland, and appreciated far beyond our shores. http://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2011/11/29/142910393/the-library-phantom-returns?sc=emaf Sometimes it's hard to be optimistic, but people like the library phantom raise my spirits, and remind me that we can't give up now. One battle has been won, but the war is still being waged. And the weapons we have are words.

Books... and more books - Abi Burlingham

Okay, I confess, I am a bit of a technophobe. I am getting around this because I have to,
because that is the way things are, and I am becoming more comfortable with technology, with social media and all that this entails… well, a little bit! But here are some things you should
know: I don’t possess a smartphone (gasp) and I don’t have a Mac (even bigger gasp) oh, and I don’t have a kindle (stop gasping I say!) And here’s the biggy… I don’t want a kindle. No,
really, I don’t. I can see all the advantages that people frequently tell me about, while at the same time still shaking my head… “They’re good on planes”, so’s a book… “They’re good when you
go on holiday”, so are books… “They take up less room in your suitcase”, pack fewer shoes.

My mind resists them.
I can feel the kindle barriers go up at the merest hint of a mention…“Have you got a k….” VROOM! They’re up! But I appear to be in the minority, and feel that, as a writer that I
should embrace what could very well be my future. In fact, WILL be my future. ‘ Buttercup
Magic: A Mystery for Megan’, the first of my new series of books, due out in April 2012, is going to be an e-book – honestly, it says so on the back! Should I be pleased? I AM pleased, of course I am, but only because I know I should be. I have tried to examine the reasons for my resistance. My findings are as follows:

- We always had books at home – lots of them. As a child, my mum would read my favourite,
CS Lewis’s, ‘The Lion, the witch and the wardrobe’ to me night after
night. She would sit on the bed beside me, turn the pages, twist them round to show me when there was a picture, and put a book mark (remember them?) between the pages.

- I loved the Asterix books and comics and would devour them, laying them out at our dining room table and copying the wonderful pictures.

- As a teenager I would spend hours knelt by my parents’ bookcase, pulling books off the shelves, holding my nose to them and breathing in that lovely smell that only books have, turning the pages. Even if I didn’t actually read them, I would explore them and immerse myself in them. I remember as a teenager reading Germaine Greer’s ‘The Female Eunuch’, a collection of Sylvia Plath’s poems, and dibbing in to Gerald Durrell’s ‘My Family and Other Animals’, flicking to the pictures and marvelling at the way the paper became whiter and silkier on the pages
where the pictures were, at the covers and the little illustrations that decorated the spines.

- My mum had, as it turns out, one of the earliest editions of Cecily M Barker’s ‘The Flower Fairies’, and had traced around some of the fairies in pencil, leaving a light pencil imprint on the other side of the picture. This fascinated me, along with the triangles missing from the corners of pages and the pages that slacked as the cotton stretched.

- We had two libraries that we visited when I was a child, that I still have such wonderful recollections of. One was known as ‘The Pork Pie Library’ by all the locals because of its incredible shape, round, like a cake. This library left such an impression on me that I have featured it in ‘Buttercup Magic: A Mystery for Megan’. I still remember being overawed by the shape and size of the building, and remember the first time I ever saw a Miffy book amongst the shelves. I remember where I sat to look through it, how I felt at the time, small details.

Which brings me round to the reason the barriers go up. Fear. Fear that my children’s children won’t have this. That they won’t have book shelves in their houses full of books that they can take off and explore, that they won’t be able to sit on the floor and marvel at the pages with the corner turned over, or the handwritten name in the front, or the smell of the things.

So, you see, I won’t have one. I will remain kindle-less. Am I sad… am I ‘eck! I have my book cases bursting with books and will soon need another one… bring it on!

Kindling - Josh Lacey

I'm sure there's a good joke to be made about Kindles and kindling and book burning and the fact that Waterstones wasn't looted in the riots, but I can't think of it. Can you? If so, please make it on my behalf.

Anyway, in the absence of that elusive gag, I'll simply confess that I've finally got my hands on a Kindle and, to my surprise, and perhaps disappointment too, I rather like it.

I wouldn't say I love it, though. It's certainly nowhere near the electronic book that I've always been hoping for, the lissom screen that could be pulled out and extended to the appropriate size, then rolled up and stuffed in my pocket, a device so small that I won't even notice its presence until I want to use it, and so hardy that it could be dropped in the bath without suffering any damage.

Even if I wasn't really expecting such ebookish fabulousness for another decade or two, I did imagine, after years of using macs, that the interface would be intuitive and cunning and beautiful, which the Kindle's really isn't. It works, yes, but it's clunky and quite annoying. And very grey.

As for reading on it; well, it feels more convenient than pleasurable, more efficient than transcendental.

What the Kindle does really well is encourage you to buy books. The whole process is magnificently smooth and straightforward.

Only one of my own books, Bearkeeper, is currently available for the Kindle, and I'll be intrigued to see how the children's book world adapts to the brave new world of ebooks.

Josh Lacey
http://www.joshlacey.com

From Corpse to Zombie With a Single Shamble - Charlie Butler

There’s been much talk about e-books lately. Wherever you look, authors are publishing their out-of-print backlists and unplaced books on Kindle and other platforms. Agents and publishers, rowsed from their e-slumber, are trying to catch up, wondering what is a fair percentage for e-book rights - or what they can get away with (which is the same thing, so my free-market friends tell me). According to a powerful post written last month by Kristin Kathryn Rusch, we are witnessing a paradigmatic shift in the way that people think about publishing, and about books themselves. Who needs publishers when the internet lies trembling at our fingertips? In the age of the DIY download, need books ever go out of print again? On the other hand, with no quality control mechanism, some fear that e-literature is destined to be no more than a new recipe for spam.

These aren’t questions I feel qualified to answer, but they were in my mind when I visited Hay-on-Wye with my son the other day. As most UK readers of this blog will know, Hay is a small town on the border of Wales and England, just at the northern tip of the Black Mountains. It is also the home of more than twenty second-hand bookshops, the largest concentration in the UK by far. We were only making a day trip, nothing like long enough to plumb its treasures, but we still made some great discoveries, and it would be a poor soul who could visit Hay without doing so. To be tired of Hay is to be tired of life – or at least of reading.

All the same, when I find a wonderful book that’s been forgotten by all but the cognoscenti (who hug their enthusiasms to their chests like so many racing tips), and especially if that book is going cheap, I feel melancholy as well as triumphant. For Hay is, as well as a great shopping experience, a vast Necropolis. It is a graveyard for out-of-print books – and those of us who stalk its chambers, ripping the jewels from bony necks and fingers, cannot help but feel like tomb raiders – and not in a sexy, Lara Croft kind of way. If we are writers, a trip to Hay is also a plangent reminder of our own mortality, and – perhaps worse! – that of our books. Occasionally I meet one of my own offspring, staring back at me from the dusty shelves like a memento mori. “Buy me!” it seems to beg, in mute appeal. I generally oblige.

We all have our unjustly-forgotten writers, and Hay is a good place to find them. Whatever happened to Nina Beachcroft, for example? Her first three books, Well Met by Witchlight (1972), Cold Christmas and Under the Enchanter (both 1974) are a wonderful debut set, showing mastery of a variety of fantasy genres, from comic supernatural to traditional ghost story to occult tale of possession. But her footprint on the literary foreshore was soon obliterated, and although she produced half a dozen more books (many very good), it’s almost twenty years since a publisher put out an edition of any of them. I can see why they wouldn't do so now: to the omnipotent marketing departments Beachcroft's world of middle-class, largely rural childhood would seem dated. And, although I rate her highly, she's not quite good enough to face down such objections. All the same, I regret her absence from the shelves, and not just for sentimental reasons.

E-publishing may allow such neglect to be put right – and if it does, I’m all for it. I doubt whether Nina Beachcroft’s works will ever storm the bestseller lists, but they deserve a second life. It may be only a zombified half-life, subsisting on electronic downloads rather than good honest paper – but then, perhaps it's better to be a zombie than a corpse?

Attack of the Graphic Novel - Elen Caldecott

I have a new book coming out at the beginning of July. The sensible thing to do right now would be to tell you about it. Maybe show a photo of the cover, or quote from a review, or something. If I was a proper businessperson, that’s what I'd do.

But I’m not a businessperson. I’m a writer, a reader and a booklover first and foremost. So, that’s not what I’m doing.

Instead, I wanted to tell you about some books that I’ve recently got excited about. Well, not books. Not exactly. I have stumbled into the darkest recesses of the library and struggled through the angst, boy stench and geek glares to find the graphic novels section. Yes, I’ve been reading comics.

It started at Christmas, when my husband told me that there was a Season Eight of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. ‘Season Eight’? I squealed in a hopeless fan-girl way (knowing full-well that Season 7 saw the end of Buffy's Vampire-fighting days). ‘Yup,’ he said, ‘and I’ve got you episode 1.’ He then handed over a comic. I was wary to begin with. After all, Sarah Michelle Gellar in 2D must be missing a dimension?

It took about three pages for me to be hooked. It was an experience similar to watching TV or reading a book, but not exactly like either. I felt as though the characters spoke and moved in front of me, but with no time taken up with description or linking scenes. I had to work quite hard to keep up, but at the same time it was a quick read.

Since then, I’ve read the first few episodes of the brilliant Fables; the intriguing Y: The Last Man and the deliciously long Walking Dead. I’ve got most of these from the library and the ragged pages and mile-long date stamps suggest that I’m far from being alone. The library only has a small number of copies of each episode and the wait for current lenders to return them is agonising.

It strikes me that if I had an iPad then graphic novel apps would be so easy to spend money on. They have the addictive quality of a good TV Box Set, where you find yourself saying ‘just one more’ even though it’s 11pm and you know you’ll be bleary eyed in the morning. It would cost a fortune, but they’d be available right then and there and wouldn’t smell like teenage boy.

Are there any comics...sorry, graphic novels...that you know of that I should add to my list?




Oh, and in case my editor reads this, then the new book is called ‘Operation Eiffel Tower’, it's out on 4th July and you can read more about it on my website:
www.elencaldecott.com

Kids and Kindles by Elen Caldecott

The Kindle version of my books appeared one day on Amazon. This came as a surprise to me, as I didn't know that my publishers had decided to turn a contract clause into a real live ebook.
I write for 8-12 year-olds, so I was sceptical about the value of ebooks (please read the whole post before throwning the rotten tomatoes of technophobia at me!). I awaited my first post-Kindle royalty statement with interest. Would I be the next Amanda Hocking? Well. No. In April, my statement told me that paper copies outsold ebook copies by a pretty substantial ratio (8000:1 in case you're interested).

Gratuitous picture of my ebook

Paper, it seems, still rules the school.

So, is there any point in bothering to make ebooks for younger readers available? There's a huge product surge taking place right now, not just in publisher produced ebooks, but self-published new works, or authors giving their out-of-print books a new lease of life through the technology. Katherine Roberts has a particularly useful series of posts on how she went about doing just that.
Is this a bandwagon I should be on? Or should I stay on the fence and wave as it goes past like a northern Jenny Agutter?

I took a look at Amazon's Top 100 Paid children's ebooks last Sunday.
It was - almost - wall to wall vampire novels. My suspicion is that even though these books might be classed as children's books, they are in fact being downloaded and read by young adults, or, you know, adult adults. However, that 'almost' is interesting. There were some books in the Top 100 that really were kids books, though probably downloaded by adults as a result of seeing a film or play-tie in (Rosemary Sutcliff and Michael Morpurgo). But once you'd got past those, there were one or two books that made me pause. Lady in the Tower by our own Marie-Louise Jensen was there. Lily Alone by Jacqueline Wilson. The H.I.V.E. series. Were these books being bought by adults? It seemed unlikely to me. So, are some children buying ebooks?

Last year, I had a conversation with my agent about the value of children's ebooks. Her feeling was that it's only a matter of time before the market takes off. There were a few barriers she saw to their success. First, the ereaders. Who would give an iPad to a nine year old? Well, the iPad2 is now out. Anyone who upgrades might as well give their redundant iPad1 to their children. I certainly saw it happen with smart phones.
Gift-giving was another barrier, she suggested. Lots of books for 8-12s are bought by adults as gifts. You can't wrap an ebook. Will Amazon gift vouchers really do as a birthday present?
Then there's actually making the purchase. Once, my 10-year-old brother bought a camper-van on ebay using my dad's credit card. That was a dark day in the Caldecott household. And a valuable lesson in why my dad should keep his credit card hidden in the back of his wardrobe (yes, Dad, we know where it is...) But a PayPal system for children would overcome that difficulty. Are the children who have overcome these barriers buying H.I.V.E? Probably.

Many school libraries are moving away from printed books to ebooks and ereaders. Children who are in kindergarten now might well start High School with a tablet computer in the bag with no need for a new pencil case on the first day of term.

Right now, I feel that my royalty statement is right. Kids ebooks haven't come of age. Not yet. But it's only a matter of time. I best buy my ticket for that bandwagon!

www.elencaldecott.com
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Kindle Guilt - Karen Ball

For my birthday, I asked for and received a Kindle. One day into ownership and I love it. I'm researching a new project and my first task was to wirelessly download a biography from Amazon and a free sample of a second biography. When I go to my writers' retreat next month, I can take a pile of research books with me should I so desire, all in the format of a slim, light device. I've also downloaded the latest novel I'm reading for my reading group and a manuscript I'm editing. I can't 'edit' on the Kindle, but I can annotate.

I was inspired to ask for this gift after seeing how the Kindle transformed my boyfriend's reading. He's gone from someone who read two books a year, to someone who now reads daily. All because he doesn't have to carry a book around with him - just a device that slips inside the inner pocket of his suit jacket. He loves technology, and that passion has made him rediscover the pleasure of reading.

I visited New York recently and saw the Barnes and Noble store on Fifth Avenue. This was the ground floor:

Nary a book in sight.

Nooks are the Barnes and Noble version of Kindle. The adult fiction had all been moved to the first floor and, I have to say, was difficult to negotiate. (For your interest, the YA department was on the lower ground floor and was MASSIVE.)

These devices are here to stay, no doubt about it. So why did I feel a sliver of guilt at joining the Kindle Club? Part of me felt as though I was being disloyal. To my fellow authors? I don't know - I don't have a clear idea of how ebook royalties work or how this development will impact on careers. To my shelves of books? I recently took bag loads to the local secondhand bookshop. To my library? I clock up so many fines that I only really loan reference books now. To the industry I've worked in for half a lifetime? I've just asked for a device that may make or break publishing as we know it.

I can't work out where my ambivalence stems from. Is it the knowledge that I'm taking a big step into a new era? I heard recently that authors are starting to carry a second pen - for signing Kindles, rather than books.

My instinct is that exciting new opportunities will come with this technological revolution. I also believe that books of paper and ink will continue to flourish alongside devices. I look to the future optimistically. But there's that definite twinge of guilt. I wish I could pin it down.

Any thoughts?

Please visit my blog at www.karen-ball.com

It Smells of Books: Lynne Garner

Recently I watched an episode of New Tricks (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006t0qx) entitled ‘It Smells of Books.’ As the story unfolds one of the main characters Brain (played by Alun Armstrong) finds his ‘spiritual home’ in the London Library. As I watch there is a mutter from the other end of the sofa. ‘That’s you that is.” I smiled because that mutter from the other end of the sofa was right. Yes, I admit it I like the smell of old books, I like the feel of an old book, I like the way the pages turn. One of my small pleasures in life is going into a second hand book or antique shop and getting my ‘fix’ of old books. I make no secret of it and luckily those around me indulge this obsession.

Having shared my not-so-secret secret with the world I also admit I understand the written word has to evolve in order to find a new audience. Recently myself and the mutterer from the other end of the sofa set up our own publishing company (Mad Moment Media Ltd - www.madmomentmedia.com). Our first six narrated picture story books (a further six should be up by the end of the month) are available as apps (applications) which can be read on the iPhone, iPad and iPod. We also plan to release these titles as Kindle editions, so they can be read on the Kindle, Mac, PC and Android phones. I’ll admit creating electronic books (apparently known as mooks, makes you shudder doesn’t it) did go against the grain a little. However as the episode of New Tricks highlighted our universities are ridding themselves of ‘old fashioned, out of touch, space wasting, uneconomical’ libraries. (Not my point of view I hasten to add and not a subject I’m brave enough to debate here).

Well why did we decide to produce electronic books? Several reasons:

• Our research showed that unless you are one of the big publishing houses getting into book and super market shops is stacked very much against a small independent.
• The initial cost of printing, shipping etc in large quantities to make it a viable business was outside our limited budget.
• We don’t have the space to store thousands of books or the infrastructure to distribute nationally let along internationally.
• We wanted to reach a worldwide audience which can only be achieved by attending trade shows, working with sub-publishers etc. etc. Again something we were unable to do.
• Our profit margin once we’d given the huge discounts expected today by shops would have been almost non-existent.

The benefits of going digital for us:

• Many of the big publishing houses have yet to discover and take advantage of this new media, so competition at the moment is limited, although this is changing.
• Although we had the initial costs for the development of our apps this was tiny compared to the cost of printing, shipping etc. of a traditional book.
• Via iTunes we can reach a truly worldwide audience without even leaving the office.
• Space is not an issue as all of our books are stored digitally.
• Although we have to pay a commission to iTunes for selling our apps and Amazon when we start to sell Kindle editions we receive all of the profit.
• We have been working on a procedure for the creation of these books and hope to offer the creation of apps to other authors and illustrators in the near future. This becoming a second income stream for us.

The benefits to our customers:

• If a child loves a book then they soon become very ‘dog eared.’ The beauty of an electronic version is that as long as the files are up-dated regularly they will last, in perfect condition for a lifetime.
• They are extremely portable and many, many books can be stored and taken with you in one small device.
• Our stories are narrated, so a child can read along and hopefully start to recognise words and improve their reading skills.
• The cost of these forms of books is less than their paper version cousins.
• Children understand today's technology and find it exciting. So hopefully that excitement will become linked with the joy of reading if presented to them on one of these gadgets.

Now I fully appreciate some will be horrified by the words above and believe this will spell the end of the book. However I don’t believe this is the case. An electronic book doesn’t smell the same (although I have read they are trying to mimic the smell so reading devices can give off a little whiff should you feel the need). An electronic book doesn’t have the same feel an an old book and the feel of turning the pages has been lost. Also I see the delight on my nephews face when he pulls a book from the shelf, shuffles backwards into you so you can lift him onto your lap and then read the book with him. He is beginning to understand when you press keys on a computer exciting things happen and I’m sure as he gets older reading a book on a screen will become second nature. However humans have five senses and we are programmed to use them. So although digital books have their place and become part of the evolution of the book, they are unlikely to be able to satisfy our need to feel and smell a good book.

And is the book dead this time? - Anne Rooney

The other day I was on the bus from Cambridge to Oxford. The bus has wifi (on a good day), and when I got fed up with working, I downloaded free samples of a few books from the Apple app store to look through on my iPad.

I liked the book; I went back to the app Store. There it was, price £8.99 as an e-book. Or I could buy the paper book from Amazon, discounted to £6.59. Of course, I couldn't read the paper book on the bus, there and then. But I would have a paper book that I could flip through, swat flies with and lend to friends. So I ordered the paper book to be delivered for when I got home, and downloaded another free sample for the journey. And that has become my standard pattern. If a book has a sample as a free download, I'll look at it and then buy the paper book if I like the sample. Free downloads serve the purpose of browsing in a bookshop, and far better than Amazon's Look Inside feature ever did. I've actually bought more paper books over the last few weeks than I would have done without the iPad. The only problem for booksellers is that I've bought them all from Amazon. The problem for Apple is that I'm using the iPad to browse, then funding Kindle/Amazon rather than buying from the app store.

I know this might be a transitional behaviour. I might go over to reading more on the iPad (though not while the e-book costs more than the paper book), and other people might never do this but jump straight to reading only on screen. But it might last. I hope so.

I still believe an e-book should be given away with a paper book - if you buy a paper book on Amazon there should be a box to tick at the checkout to say you want to download the e-book immediately, or a unique code printed on the receipt if you buy a book in a shop that gives you 24 hours to download the free copy. That would be a way of keeping paper books at the forefront, and would cost practically nothing if there is already an e-book version. This is important because we need paper books. We need them not to help the publishing industry but for cultural and social reasons.

But I think the most important lesson for publishers is that a free sample in the app store or for Kindle is absolutely essential in promoting books to the book-buying customers who have an iPad and have the disposable income to buy books on impulse. If there is no free sample, I don't even consider the book unless it is something I know I want. And as for Wolf Hall, which I said I wasn't going to read - I've downloaded the free sample, so it's getting a chance.

(Related posts:

Eighteen months ago I blogged on ABBA about the Sony e-book reader; a few weeks ago I blogged on Stroppy Author about writing a picture book app: Going digital - with 26 crows and a bucket.)

Anne Rooney www.annerooney.co.uk http://stroppyauthor.blogspot.com www.thrales.org

A Google-eyed slant on the world - Dianne Hofmeyr

As a break from editing the bare breasts and sex out of my Egyptian novel Eye of the Moon for a US publisher, I’m reading Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall and Jeff Jarvis’s What Would Google Do? simultaneously. The three make very odd companions while I shift from 1500 BC to the 16th century, and then on to the digital world of now.

In What Would Google Do? Jeff Jarvis suggests we have to kill books to save them. He says they’re dead because they’re frozen in time with no means to update except by new editions, they’re a one-way relationship – the author seldom benefits from the reader, they’re expensive to produce, they rely on ‘blockbuster’ economy – few winners/ many losers, they’re subject to ‘gatekeepers’ (do we know this!), they aren’t read enough (according to Jarvis, 40% of printed books are never sold) and then there’s the problem of ‘returns’.

On the other hand books that are digital can be linked and updated, can find new audiences and can grow and live on beyond the page because of interaction and discussion.

I can understand that literacy may be ‘rekindled’ as a result of the Kindle and similar devices being able to offer a rebirth of books that are out of print. But I’m not sure about rekindling ‘visual’ literacy. The fact that we all carry favourite picture book stories around in our heads suggests a strong interaction with the page as a child. I doubt this kind of engagement and a development of visual literacy is possible in a digital format picture book.

So on reading what Jarvis had to say generally about books being dead, my first thoughts were – Why does everything have to be so interactive? Can’t a book just be a book? Why this clamour for digital interaction? Can’t a book, like art, or theatre stand alone? A work of art is still a work of art with only one person viewing it. How would we experience the ‘redness’ of red if we did away with real art and only viewed a Mark Rothko digitally. And theatre doesn’t expect comments to be thrown at it from the audience (except in Shakespeare’s times). Do writers really need interactive audiences drawing on the opinion of everyone, to survive?

Then I reread parts of what Jarvis was saying. And came back to the word ‘re-invention’ – rather than killing the book. What about putting the book online in full for a few weeks? Or serializing extracts from the book for a limited time? (some ABBA bloggers are doing this already and may be able to give feedback). Or putting up a free PowerPoint or video version of the book? (I’ve tried the visual PowerPoint route as a marketing device to get publishers interested but generally they’ve been lethargic and haven’t seen it as a tool to market the book publically.) What about ads in a book?

He cites Paulo Coelho who says ‘blogs’ have given him a different voice that attracts new readers. Coelho invites readers to make a movie of his novels or movies of his books’ characters (easier to do if your fans are adults but some schools have film and photographic clubs). He asked fans to take pictures of themselves reading his books for a virtual exhibition at the Frankfurt Book Fair which was also put on Flickr (it helps to be famous first). The suggestion is that creativity creates creativity. Find a relationship with your readers and you’ll sell more books.

So on first being anti the concept of ‘the book is dead’ I came around to Jarvis’s idea of ‘re-invention’. His suggestion that through the Internet, publishers and authors can reach a huge audience that never goes into a bookshop and can find new ways to bring books into conversation, appeals.

Right now I still believe in ‘print’ but anything that offers hope for the book is fine by me! But for the rest of the day I’m back to editing breasts.

My revamped website is at: http://www.diannehofmeyr.com/

What's a book anyway? Er, a book - Nicola Morgan

What is a book? I just read an interesting article here. Well, maybe not an article, but a list. After all, what's an article? It's the Eleven Axioms of 21st-Century Book Publishing.

It's a list of challenging observations about the future of books. Or it thinks it is. It is designed to question our assumptions about what a book is. In fact, look at the first comment:

As I read these, I find that the word "book" seems out of place. Maybe we need to find another name for written works in the 21st century.

But why? Did we need a new word for books when audio books came along? Did we need a new word for story when stories became written instead of sung or told to a rapt audience in front of the fire?

(By the way, for the record, I found the list interesting and many aspects of it I agreed with, along with many of the comments. But.)

I'm delighted about the rise of ebooks, as new ways to deliver our words to readers. But I don't find the need to call them something different from books. Just as a paperback book is a format, so is an ebook.

In my view there's an artificial argument brewing. Aren't we all just writers? Don't we all simply try to put the best possible words in the best possible order, and who the hell cares whether those words are delivered by paper, screen, bard, or pigeon?

As long, of course, as we get paid ...

If this seems like an unusually short post for me, that's because ten minutes ago Anne reminded me that I had forgotten to do my thing. I'd not even thought about it because I thought it wasn't until the 26th. I'm quite proud of myself for delivering this so quickly but will probably be less proud when you all wade in and tell me I'm talking rubbish.

Still, at least I've not written it in a book...

Beautiful Books - Katherine Roberts

There has been a lot of press recently about e-readers and the long-awaited revolution of e-books. If we are to believe the manufacturers’ claims, people will soon be downloading entire novels to read on these gadgets – not just one at a time, but hundreds of books all on the same handy little electronic device. This got me thinking about what exactly a book is and (more importantly) what makes people buy them.

I sometimes buy books for the content alone. This might be because a friend has recommended a title, because I’ve read some interesting reviews, because I need a certain title for research, or because I've enjoyed other books by that author. In this case, I don’t really care about the packaging and am happy to read it in any form of packaging, however dog-eared. I suppose it’s possible I would read such a book in e-format, though I tend to find print easier on the eye than a screen so it would be no great pleasure for me.

But I also buy books on impulse because I am attracted to the cover image, the title, the colour, the sparkly bits, the fonts used, the illustrations, the feel of the book in my hands, its smell, its age, its value if a first edition, its memories if signed by the author… all the things an e-book cannot deliver. The packaging is especially important if I am buying a book as a gift for someone else.

It's interesting to note that I buy twice as many books on impulse/as gifts than I do because I know I want to read them. So if you are in the business of selling books, removing the packaging that attracts the impulse buyer seems a bit like shooting yourself in the foot. E-books will have no packaging, other than the e-reader itself. Content becomes all. Advertising and promotion will be the only way of bringing such “books” to a potential reader’s attention. The way we buy books will change.

Does it matter? I think it does. I know that as an author my text never feels quite real until the proofs arrive, and if I am disappointed by the production quality of the finished book then I often feel a need to create a more beautiful version myself to do justice to the work. “I am the Great Horse” will one day be a collection of handwritten scrolls kept in a box like Alexander the Great’s edition of the Iliad that he took with him on his epic journey to India and back, and I know many other authors create book art in their spare time, perhaps seeking something more permanent than the electronic text that can be so easily lost, stolen or abused. In contrast, my latest title is a highly illustrated novelty book in beautiful packaging that I keep wanting to pick up just for the pleasure of looking at it - that's the cover above, though a picture can't show you how the actual book glitters and sparkles in the sunlight. Maybe the e-reader will prompt a return to such art, and production values (which have been falling for some time where mass market paperbacks are concerned) will become more important again? I hope so.

As for the e-reader itself, apparently you can get them in pink. But I bet they don’t come in swirly pink and violet with sparkly silver stars and prancing white horses on them. I know which type of book I want on my shelf - and I'm not even seven years old any more!

Get my new book FREE - Nick Green

Okay – here’s a deal for you. Pop over to my website and you can follow a link to download an e-book of my brand new novel absolutely free.

THE STORM BOTTLE is a fantastical adventure crammed with dolphins, boats, bottles, whales, ancient myths and mysterious messages. Check it out, it’s fun.

‘Why are you giving this book away for nothing?’ you may ask. Well, so far, no publisher has been keen enough to take it, but my readers have waited long enough for my next book, and I don’t want you to think I’ve been sitting idly eating fig rolls.

I wonder if I should really be using this blog for such direct promotional purposes, but as this offer is free, I hope my fellow authors won’t mind. In some ways it’s just a practical illustration of a blog-worthy topic: how hard it is to get a book published, even if you are already a published author.

With even a smidgen of luck, there will be a ‘proper’ edition of THE STORM BOTTLE in the shops in due course, but ‘due course’ in publishing usually means two to three years. Which is a long time, IMHO. So, in the meantime, anyone who wants to can download and read the e-book free of charge. I know that reading novels from a screen isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but I’m sure some people don’t mind it, especially if you have a handheld reader. If you like the book, please visit my Message Board and tell me so.

And that’s it! A brand new, exclusive Nick Green book, absolutely free. Beat that, WHSmith.

ePositive - Elen Caldecott

I recently went to an event where there were lots of writers chatting to each other about life, the universe and chocolate (the nibbles provided were very good). And, many people there were concerned about the future. Not the rising flood waters seeping into out repossessed homes, mind. But ebooks. The digital revolution that has changed music and TV and film now really does seem to be headed for the book world.

Now, I understand the fear, I really do. BUT. I can’t help feeling quite optimistic. I quite agree that it might be hard to make money from this writing lark once everything it instantly piratable and downloadable onto your phone. But, on the other hand, it has never been easy to make a decent living as a writer; it’s just a fact of life.

If we ignore the money thing, I can’t help thinking that the growth of different mediums is quite exciting. Like the invention of computer graphics must have been for artists working in paints. I can’t ever see myself loving mini-novels texted to my phone, Japanese-style. But I AM very interested to see how writers are using technology, specifically their websites, to expand the world of their stories. It draws out the lifespan of a book by providing a focus for your fans while you’re away scribbling the next instalment.

For example, Hilary McKay’s wonderful creation Rose Casson keeps a blog. And Mal Peet’s Paul Faustino has his very own website. And I was delighted to discover that one of the minor characters in Michael Grant’s Gone is re-telling the whole story again from a different perspective.

These websites are the DVD extras; places for fans to revel in the world of the books they have enjoyed. They are an exciting symbiosis of traditional books and the digital world. As soon as I get a bit of cash together, my own website will see the addition of a ‘deleted scenes’ page; maybe even an actor’s commentary...

Digitised words are nothing to be scared of – they’re still just words after all. As writers, we should feel, if not at home, then at least eager to explore our new neighbourhood.

Who have I missed out? Which writers do you know of who are using new technologies creatively?

www.elencaldecott.com
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