Writers Tricks of the Trade January-February 2015

PRESS “CONTROL” THEN CLICK BUY TO PURCHASE THE BOOK Mark Coker’s 2015 Publishing Predictions (Cont’d) All of the new subscription services are in a race for the readers. The question is. “Will Kindle remain at the front of the pack?” Read the full version of Mark Coker’s 2015 Publishing predictions in the Huntington Post, and then draw your own conclusions. The publishing business model is definitely in constant flux these days. 7. FREE will lose more mojo - Since 2008 Coker has encouraged authors to utilize free as a price point to turbocharge downloads, build readership and reader trust, and drive readers to priced titles. Authors who followed this advice early on reaped the most benefit. Despite the anticipated drop in effectiveness, free remains one of the most powerful merchandising tools for indie authors, especially when applied to series starters. This also means that authors who utilize free today will get much more mileage from it than authors who use it a year from now. 8. Many indies will quit in 2015 - Authorship is tough work. Discouraged by weak or slumping sales, many indie authors in 2015 will either give up on publishing or will decrease their production rates. Indie authors will be forced to take honest stock of their dreams, motivations and commitment. What drives them? Is it the joy of writing, or the necessity of putting food on the table, or both? Either reason is respectable, but if an author's family's next meal is entirely dependent upon their book sales, they're under enormous pressure. 9. Time management will separate winners from losers - If you're a writer, are you optimizing your time so you're spending more time writing and less time on the nonessentials? 10. Amazon Will Use Kindle Unlimited to Pay Authors Less - Whether you love it or hate it, Kindle Unlimited is a massive disruptor in the world of ebook publishing. Many writers are claiming it caused their sales to plummet, while others say it has helped them reach new readers. You can check out my prior analysis of KU here and here, or check out David Streitfeld's recent story on KU in the New York Times. KU will have broader impact in 2015. Unlike its ebook subscription competitors Oyster and Scribd which allow authors and publishers to set prices and receive retailerlevel margins on qualifying reads (KU pays from a shared pool, which means the author/publisher is compensated based on a book's prorated share of readership multiplied against the size of pool. The size of this shared pool is determined by Amazon the month after the book is read. It's like Amazon sells your book today but tells the author, "I'll decide what I feel like paying you in a few weeks." (This is just a fraction of what Mark Coker has to impart about KU. Read the full article for the rest.) 11. New VAT rules in Europe will put a damper on European ebook sales Indie authors will suffer a drop in earnings from European ebook sales in 2015. The cause? New European Union VAT (Value Added Tax) rules. On January 1, 2015, new VAT rules go into effect in the European Union. JAN-FEB 2015 PAGE 18 WRITERS TRICKS OF THE TRADE

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