“Declan Burke is his own genre. The Lammisters dazzles, beguiles and transcends. Virtuoso from start to finish.” – Eoin McNamee “This bourbon-smooth riot of jazz-age excess, high satire and Wodehouse flamboyance is a pitch-perfect bullseye of comic brilliance.” – Irish Independent Books of the Year 2019 “This rapid-fire novel deserves a place on any bookshelf that grants asylum to PG Wodehouse, Flann O’Brien or Kyril Bonfiglioli.” – Eoin Colfer, Guardian Best Books of the Year 2019 “The funniest book of the year.” – Sunday Independent “Declan Burke is one funny bastard. The Lammisters ... conducts a forensic analysis on the anatomy of a story.” – Liz Nugent “Burke’s exuberant prose takes centre stage … He plays with language like a jazz soloist stretching the boundaries of musical theory.” – Totally Dublin “A mega-meta smorgasbord of inventive language ... linguistic verve not just on every page but every line.Irish Times “Above all, The Lammisters gives the impression of a writer enjoying himself. And so, dear reader, should you.” – Sunday Times “A triumph of absurdity, which burlesques the literary canon from Shakespeare, Pope and Austen to Flann O’Brien … The Lammisters is very clever indeed.” – The Guardian

Monday, June 1, 2009

Publish And / Or Be Damned

Further to yesterday’s post, I’m thinking seriously about publishing to Kindle …
The Upsides:
One less manuscript in the bulging manuscript drawer;
An opportunity to explore a new medium;
Increased word-of-mouth (theoretically);
Increased profile in the industry (even marginally);
The possibility of a traditional publisher picking up the book for traditional publication and – theoretically – an actual money-shaped advance;
People reading the book, and giving feedback (hopefully);
It’d be another caper.

The Downsides
There isn’t a lot of money to be earned;
Your potential readership is limited to Kindle owners;
Erm, that’s about it, really.
  At the moment I’m looking at uploading the second Harry Rigby novel, which is a sequel to EIGHTBALL BOOGIE and is called THE BIG EMPTY, probably in about a month’s time. There’s also a chance I might get to upload CRIME ALWAYS PAYS, the sequel to THE BIG O, although that’ll depend on permissions from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Feel free to start a petition …
  Meanwhile, and while we’re on the topic of e-publishing, this sounds potentially intriguing …
Google appears to be throwing down the gauntlet in the e-book market. In discussions with publishers at the annual BookExpo convention in New York over the weekend, Google signalled its intent to introduce a program by that would enable publishers to sell digital versions of their newest books direct to consumers through Google. The move would pit Google against Amazon.com, which is seeking to control the e-book market with the versions it sells for its Kindle reading device …
  Mr. Turvey said Google’s program would allow consumers to read books on any device with Internet access, including mobile phones, rather than being limited to dedicated reading devices like the Amazon Kindle. “We don’t believe that having a silo or a proprietary system is the way that e-books will go,” he said.
  He said that Google would allow publishers to set retail prices. Amazon lets publishers set wholesale prices and then sets its own prices for consumers. In selling e-books at $9.99, Amazon takes a loss on each sale because publishers generally charge booksellers about half the list price of a hardcover — typically around $13 or $14.
  For the rest, clickety-click here

11 comments:

Evil Ray said...

"Aye" for epublishing, but Kindle's not the only ebook reader or format. Forex, Mobipocket can be read on a desktop app, a PDA app, or more than one dedicated reader.

More on formats.More on devices.

Stuart Neville said...

I know one other person who's considering the Kindle route, and personally, I think it's worth taking a punt on. I'm also considering putting my short story collection (that will be a free download from my website soon) on the Kindle too - even though it's free elsewhere, apparent some people will pay up the 99c just so they can read it on their device.

I really don't see that there's anything to lose.

Donna said...

At first I thought "Yay - I can get the sequel to Eightball Boogie" and then I realised that I'm one of the downsides. I have a Sony eReader, not a Kindle :o( "Balderdash", I said to myself.

Anonymous said...

And as the third of your three regulars I have to point out I'll be left out in the cold.

Joe Barone said...

I have a Kindle and would like to read the books on Kindle.

Declan Burke said...

I'm starting to think yon 'Evil Ray' isn't actually evil at all ...

Slight glitch in the programme re: Kindle, given that you need to have an American bank account to be able to register before uploading ... we'll see how it goes. If anyone knows a way around that, without making me out to sound like a Nigerian scam artist ("No, really, all I need are your bank details"), I'm all ears ...

Cheers, Dec

Stuart Neville said...

Does it have to be an account actually in the USA, or can it be a dollar account with an American owned bank elsewhere? It's just that Citibank do a free dollar account - I've been looking at opening one for other reasons.

Josephine Damian said...

What about a paypal account? I've used it to buy and sell stuff on ebay, nationally and internationally.

For the record, Dec, I'm in the minority for your not putting the book out there, kindle or otherwise.

Eimear said...

Could you also publish with Fictionwise? They often have books that are also on Kindle. They've been around for years now so not likely to disappear.

Stuart Neville said...

Dec,

Thought you might find this interesting - http://denniscass.com/2009/06/01/question-should-i-offer-my-book-for-free/

Declan Burke said...

Much obliged, folks ... I'll look into those post-haste.

Josephine - I appreciate the sentiment, I really do ... but the question is, What if no one wants to publish your book? What then?

Cheers, Dec