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Will the Kindle win the e-reader war?

April 27, 2011 in Reflections | 5 comments

In a two-part post, I’ll show why the Kindle seems set to dominate the e-reader market … perhaps driving all its competitors out. And then I’ll explain why, despite the advantages of consolidation, we may have reason to fear an effective monopoly.

Taking the publishing world entirely by surprise last week, Amazon announced that it had signed a deal to make its Kindle list available to 11,000 US libraries later this year.

Commentators, like TeleRead’s Paul Biba, are still busy piecing together the implications of the news and its impact on the market. But essentially the agreement seems to be between Amazon and OverDrive, the major supplier of books to US libraries.

On the face of it, this is good news. If you’ve been following this blog, you’ll know I’m a big supporter of book-lending and library systems. Most of the authors I love today were first introduced to me as recommendations from other people; very often I was first a borrower, then a convert, and finally a regular purchaser. That’s why through my own Author Associates scheme, I’m allowing those who enjoy my writing to gift an e-novel to their friends. Although I’ve chosen not to publish in print, libraries are very much in my plans.

Most libraries will probably welcome the announcement as well. Librarian Andy Woodworth wrote recently of the difficulty explaining to a would-be ebook borrower why a book might be incompatible with a reading device. Or if the book could be downloaded, how to organize all the permissions and programs needed. ‘I am the de facto technical support,’ he grumbles. How much easier it would be if, as Amazon no doubt intends, there was only one reading device to worry about. Particularly if it’s probably already the most popular e-reader available for seriously committed readers. (Don’t start growling, iPad fans. I haven’t forgotten you.)

Until now, the Kindle and libraries haven’t seen eye to eye. The Kindle’s proprietary AZD publishing system will not run ebooks published as ePub files, the free and open e-book standard. Other devices don’t read Amazon’s special AZD files. OverDrive meanwhile has always distributed ebooks to libraries as ePub files, using Adobe formatting to set borrowing terms. So Kindle books were out in the cold. (If this all seems too technical, bear with me and just think of it like this: the Kindle won’t read non-Kindle books, and non-Kindle devices won’t read Kindle books. It’s just like trying to run Mac software on a PC, or vice versa.)

But with the new agreement, the whole Kindle library will be accessible. Are you worried, libraries, that your previous investment in non-Kindle ebooks might be wasted? You needn’t be: OverDrive assures you that existing arrangements will be honored and you won’t have to re-purchase books that you already hold.

So, this author is happy that his book can be borrowed; the library is happy that ebook lending will become so much easier – and therefore that libraries can keep up with the digital times; the borrower’s happy that the ebooks she wants will now be available. Everybody’s happy.

Aren’t we?

Let’s look closer at where the Kindle seems to be going in the longer term. A good starting-point is the announcement from OverDrive’s’ manager for content sales, Karen Estrovich:

Your library will not need to purchase any additional units to have Kindle compatibility. This will work for your existing copies and units.

A user will be able to browse for titles on any desktop or mobile operating system, check out a title with a library card, and then select Kindle as the delivery destination. The borrowed title will then be able to be enjoyed using any Kindle device and all of Amazon’s free Kindle Reading Apps.

So, she’s saying existing copies of library ebooks (published in an ePub version, remember) will work on a Kindle. Does this mean that the Kindle will soon be able to read ePub files? I suppose it’s a possibility. But I’d be very surprised. Why would Amazon want to help promote ePub when its own best interests are served by delivering books in its proprietary format? Much more likely is that a major conversion program is underway to get existing OverDrive-distributed titles available in the AZD format.

Estrovich’s assumption seems to be that the Kindle will quickly become the library’s e-reader of choice. I think she’s right, because the Kindle has three important competitive advantages:

  1. It’s easy to download and use. Most readers and writers aren’t especially technical, and librarians are tired of explaining.
  2. Amazon has spent years building its book catalog. Back in 2005, Tim O’Reilly in his landmark article ‘What is Web 2.0?‘ advised: “For competitive advantage, seek to own a unique, hard-to-recreate source of data.” That’s exactly what Amazon has done. Virtually any title will be available.
  3. The Kindle will cost next to nothing.

OK, perhaps I’m jumping the gun on Kindle pricing. True, there’s been web speculation that the reader will be free by Christmas, but Amazon have stated nothing of the sort. Yet all the indications are that further price reductions are in the offing. Already in the last 18 months, Kindle prices have halved, and there was another important announcement last week. Users in the States will be able to buy at a price as low as $114 if they’re prepared to accept advertising.

My view? The price slide won’t stop there … because Amazon, unlike Apple, is essentially a sales and marketing operation, not a hardware manufacturer. They make their money taking a cut on the sales of 900,000 books to a few million readers. But suppose they could drop the price of the hardware low enough so that, say, every school kid and college student carried their text-books on a Kindle? Suppose it became just as indispensable to us as a calculator? Suppose they do exactly what the manufacturers of ink-jet printers did, selling the hardware cheap and maximizing their profits on ink cartridges, selling to a captive market. Because of the strength of their catalogue, that’s exactly what Amazon could do. And their competitors would be left floundering.

If that’s the plan, the libraries initiative makes absolute sense. It’s not the sales of hardware to the libraries that Amazon are interested in. It’s another step towards establishing the Kindle and the Amazon brand as the only viable e-reader in the market. To create an unassailable monopoly.

But of course the Kindle won’t eliminate the competition, you say, you technistas. How could it, when The iPad is packed full of features, offering so much more than the Kindle?

If you were around at the end of the 80s, maybe you’ll remember those feature-full, multimedia-capable home computers, the Commodore Amiga and the Atari ST. Alongside them the clunky IBM PC, with only 16 colors and a few beeps – fine for business applications, but also trying to push into the home market with pricing at less than $1000. I remember attending a conference of leading British leisure software publishers as late as 1990 and debating: Was the PC a serious contender? The answer was a resounding ‘No’.

Yet a couple of years later, the PC was almost the only show in town. Not the IBM model though. Manufacturers in the Far East managed to reverse-engineer the machine and flooded the market with cheap clones, with prices at or below the cost of the best home computers. The combination of keen pricing and a wide, versatile software range – including proven business and productivity applications as well as games – made the PC clone the perfect family computer.

What happened back then seems to be characteristic of emerging technologies. In the early days a number of manufacturers struggle for pre-eminence, each of them with a slightly different system and standards. Before the PC clones, there were at least half a dozen serious contenders for home computer leadership, all with their own operating systems and their own software. But eventually a point is reached where one of them wins out, and a single standard emerges. It happened with home computers. It happened with video – when JVC’s competitively-priced VHS machines eventually triumphed over Sony’s technically superior but more expensive, Betamax. And I think it’s about to happen with e-readers.

I’m not saying that the iPad isn’t a wonderful machine, or that its success will be short-lived. It offers tremendous potential for so many different activities, which users love. But if we’re talking specifically about the world of digital books, it’s the Kindle which seems poised to assert its supremacy and consolidate the market.

Which will make a lot of people happy.

And which fills me with concern.

Next time, I’ll explain my concerns, drawing on my experience as an independent software publisher working with another company that built a monopoly – Microsoft.

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A Wedding, a Politican, and the Pursuit of Happiness

April 25, 2011 in The TwitFace Project | 1 comment



I’m beginning to wonder whether this week’s Royal Wedding in the UK is one of the most audacious feats of political skulduggery ever.

My suspicions were alerted when I saw a headline in the Daily Telegraph this morning.

Archbishop of Canterbury hails plan to measure national happiness

It wasn’t the normal Easter address from the head of the Anglican Church, calling on Christians to celebrate the Resurrection of Christ. Instead Dr Williams used the occasion to praise Prime Minister David Cameron’s proposal to replace GDP with GWB (= General Well-Being) as the primary indicator of the nation’s progress.

And then he called on us to celebrate the union between our future Defender of the Faith and his Kate, proclaiming ‘Let a thousand street parties blossom!’

Is it only your TwitFace correspondent who has noticed that hard on the heels of The Wedding – just a week later, when we’ll probably still be trying to find our shoes before we stagger home from the party – comes one of the defining moments in our political history? What defining moment? You’d forgotten? May 5th is the date set for our referendum on AV, the Alternative Vote, possibly changing the way we elect our politicians.

Every time I turn on the TV, I hear people talking about street parties. And what parties they’ll be! Starting on Friday, running all weekend, and continuing on Monday, MayDay. How do I read the timing of The Wedding and this incessant call for partying? Surely it must be an elaborate collusion between Church, State, Monarchy and Media to ensure that not a single person votes in the referendum? ‘Politics – blah! Pass me the Alka-Seltzer.’

A conspiracy? But of course. After all, AV goes against everything our Big Society stands for. The current system is monogamous: a voter chooses a single politician and pledges loyalty. But AV – ranking the candidates on a list – is designed to encourage open relationships with multiple partners. Some would call it a loosening of our moral standards. Some would say that at best it’s a ‘least worst’ electoral system.

Ever since he was hustled into his shotgun marriage with Nick Clegg, it’s been clear that Mr Cameron has regretted his vow to put AV to the public vote. And now I see that the Royal Wedding is simply a plan to scupper the referendum.

Some would call this plan devious – evil even – but not me. I’m full of admiration. It’s been brilliantly conceived, carefully concealed, and skilfully executed. And I’m sure that our Prime Minister will take no pleasure in the thought of those millions of people waking up with a headache after a week of partying, far away from their polling-station, and trying to remember why May 5th was important. I’m confident that his motives are exemplary because he’s a forward-thinker and a democrat. How else could you interpret his quest for General Well-Being?

I’m convinced that, like me, the PM realizes none of the current proposals for electoral reform address the fundamental flaws in our democracy. Which isn’t democratic. He’s done his sums, I’m sure. He’ll know that even when a candidate secures a 50% majority, the voting turnout is rarely more than 70%. What does that tell us? That there will always be a majority of people who either actively oppose the winning candidate – or could care less. Surely there must be a better way.

And of course, there is.

Tell me how many people in your household voted in the last national election? How many in the last local election?

Now tell me how many people in your household use one of the social networks – Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, for a start? And how many of them have registered a vote for something they’ve Liked in the last 24 hours?

No contest, is it? You may have exercised your chance to vote in an election once every few years. But here on the web we do it several times a day. The beauty of it is that we don’t even have to read more than a few words. As soon as we see a smart headline or a face we recognize, all we need to do is click on the ‘Like’ button. Surely that’s how democracy was always supposed to work!

It’s only unfortunate that having reached this conclusion, Mr Cameron then commissioned a quango – the Office for National Statistics – to carry out a £2 million, 9-month research project to give him the answers he already knew. I know! I know! Old habits die hard.

But with respect, Prime Minister, may I suggest that the time for action is now – or at the latest May 6th – the day after nobody has voted in the referendum. Close down the Office for National Statistics immediately, demonstrating your firm yet even-handed control of the nation’s purse-strings, and implement these reforms. The country will thank you.

1. Abolish elections

Let the people’s representatives be those who garner the best support in the social media. Those who are most followed, most Liked. Or perhaps you could use The Independent‘s clever algorithm, which ranks Twitter users by Authority, Audience and Activity.

With your 1 million plus Twitter followers, you need have no fear for your own seat, but abolition would result in the de-selection of almost all sitting MPs. At a stroke, you’d remove the lingering public suspicion of expense-mongering. And instead of Vince Cable, Ed Balls, Theresa May for company, you’d have Stephen Fry, Russell Brand, Rio Ferdinand … luminaries whose voices and opinions the people really trust.

Think of the change as a move away from end-of-year exams and toward continual assessment.

2. Abolish campaign funding

Approximately £67 million was spent on campaign funding in the UK during the 2010 election year, money that could be usefully diverted to other urgent social causes (such as my upcoming sequel to “The Social Network” – “Birdman of Folsom Street“).

Not one of The Independent’s influencers owes their position to external funding. Surely this must also increase public confidence in the integrity of our representatives.

3. Abolish parliament

My proposal is actually that we should restrict political statements to sentences of not more than 140 characters. Twitter has shown how completely unnecessary longer utterances are, and it provides the perfect platform for debate. I had a concern that replacing parliament with Twitter might lead to a devaluation of content, but research from Pear Analytics shows that in fact, the two forums are virtually indistinguishable. Analyzing Twitter content over a 2-week period in 2009, Pear organized tweets into 6 categories:

  • Pointless babble – 40%
  • Conversational – 38%
  • Pass-along value – 9%
  • Self-promotion – 6%
  • Spam – 4%
  • News – 4%


4. Sell off the Houses of Parliament

Since our representatives will communicate in cyberspace, there’s no further requirement for a property which occupies a prime development site in the heart of London on the bank of the Thames. No longer will Members need to maintain a second home in London (no more expenses scandals!), and the money raised from the sale could also be used to support my film.

5. Re-brand democracy.

The public is tired of hearing the same call to action for over 150 years – ‘One man, one vote’. That’s why turnout is often so low in elections: people expect different these days, people expect more. My suggestion is ‘One man, 104,000 Likes’.

The number has been carefully calculated. In a single week, each person would be allowed a maximum of 2000 Likes, in my view perfectly sufficient to express a point of view. More than that, and there’s a danger that campaign farms could be set up by candidates eager to wield influence, persuading followers to Like them day and night.

I’m not quite comfortable with ‘One man’. It cleverly builds on the original campaign, but perhaps we should make it clear that women have the Like too. Your suggestions would be welcome.

I’m quite certain that Mr Cameron’s thinking will be far in advance of mine. That’s what you’d expect from a man who has stated that the National Well-Being scheme should ‘lead to government policy that is more focused not just on the bottom line, but on all those things that make life worthwhile’. That he wants Britain to be ‘in the vanguard’ of efforts around the world to change the accepted measures of national progress ‘rather than following meekly behind’.

But he needs our support. So if you believe this plan could reawaken the public’s interest in tired old politics and politicians, then please click on the Like button below. Remember that in Egypt, it took only a month for social media activists to transform the political landscape. With your help, Mr Cameron could do the same.

Recent posts in The TwitFace Project:

Entertrainment
14 Ways To Make Friends With Americans

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Myths at Easter

April 24, 2011 in Reflections | No comments

I was reading spiritual activist Michelle MacEwan’s thoughts on myths and story-telling this morning:

Every mythology has to do with the wisdom and magic of life related to a specific culture and a specific place. These mythologies are timeless narratives handed down from generation to generation.

And I was reminded of something my protagonist, Richard, writes in The Lebanese Troubles:

I’ve always thought the best part of an adventure comes with the telling. That’s when myths and legends are born – out of the ordinary actions of ordinary people. In a way, it’s the story that really is the adventure, not the events at all. It’s the story-teller who collects the incidents, shapes them, colours them, decides which to keep and which to discard. He can make a hero out of a bystander, a villain out of a man acting under orders. He can make the trivial significant, the accidental planned, cowardice an act of bravery. The wonderful thing is, it’s all true – just because he tells us so, and the story is his invention.

A fictional character reflecting on myth-making. I guess that makes it untrue.

But a myth doesn’t need to be true; it needs to be Truth.

Somehow that seems appropriate on Easter Sunday.

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7 Way To Engage Readers

April 24, 2011 in Reflections | 1 comment

Here’s a post from a year back on reader engagement. It’s a little dated – who remembers Tony Blair and Brangelina now? – but the advice still holds. Maybe I should re-read it too.

# # #
Fame Costs - Book cover

This is the book I’ve been reading lately. Bet you didn’t think I was into that kind of thing. To be honest, nor did I, when Lena set it down next to the computer a couple of weeks back.

- It was only 20p at the stall in the market.

- Was it?

- Thought it might give you a few ideas.

Uh-oh. Been spending too much time on the damned book recently and not paying enough attention. So she buys me a Mills & Boon. Why didn’t she just say something?

- Look here – under the smiley man. ‘A true story of the author’s struggle to break into print.’ Useful?

- Um, yeah. Maybe.

Humour her.

 

Fame Costs is the true story of F.T.Unwin – or Pimbo, as he liked to call himself. He was from these parts, a Cambridge man, and it was Cambridge he wrote about. Not the university town. Not the tourist town. His books were full of stories of the people who have always lived here, and probably always will. Sentimental, nostalgic stuff. ‘He was, undoubtedly, an awful writer – which is all part of his naive charm’, that’s how he was remembered recently. Not much to appeal to today’s reader.

Unless that reader happened to be me.

Pimbo had a life-long ambition to be a writer, paid for writing courses, submitted to magazines, and after 30 years of rejections decided to go it alone with his first novel, using a vanity publisher. He managed to place a few copies in local shops, did some signings, and sold less than 100 books. So what to do with his stock?

Here’s what. He gets on the bus with a bagful of books, heads for one of the outlying villages, and starts selling door-to-door. Sets himself a small target every day and doesn’t take the journey home till he’s hit the target. Writes in the morning, gets the bus in the afternoon. He’s around 60 years old.

The first year was hard, but he began to attract attention, with a little press and radio coverage. Then it was local TV. Pimbo did it his own way. He was a character.

And the next year, when he took his new book on the same routes, people remembered. They invited him in, told him their own stories – which of course were then featured in his next novel. Pimbo’s readers began to have a personal stake in his books.

By 1987, with around 20 titles to his credit (nobody seems to know exactly how many), he had sold 80,000 books. Did his readers love them? Well, just about every review I can find includes the word ‘awful’, but as one commentator puts it:

Fred Unwin probably had a larger readership amongst local people than any better known author, and certainly amongst those who might not normally read books … He built up a list of regulars, brought great pleasure with his visits, and when he had made enough money from selling one book he would write another. He commands huge respect for that.

 

So what am I recommending? Write slush? Get out there selling door-to-door? Neither. But the lessons of reader engagement in Pimbo’s story still hold true today just as they did then, 30 years ago. Just one thing has changed. We don’t have to wait for the bus any more. Because we’re on the magic bus – the web – and we all have a free pass. This bus is especially magic because although you still need to start by going out to find your readers, you can soon get them coming over to your place – it takes just a second – if they enjoy spending time with you.

This is what I’ve learned from old Pimbo:

  1. Know who your readers are. For him, it wasn’t people who went into bookshops, or the city’s temporary residents, but the people who had lived in Cambridge all their lives.

    2.  

  2. Go find those readers. We shouldn’t expect people to buy our books just because they’re in the bookshop. Once we’ve identified our typical readers, we need to find where on the web they hang out, and spend some quality time with them. Not selling all the time: people hate that. But chatting, discussing, commenting, sharing, becoming one of the gang. And then when it’s time, inviting them back to our place – or places. (Different places for different types of reader.)

    3.  

  3. Make the visits frequent. Pimbo’s visits were once a year. Everyone would know when he was due back in the neighbourhood. Times have changed, and now our visits are two-way. When your friends drop in to visit you on your blog or website, there needs to be something new every day. Maybe not a major new post like this. But latest updates, new links, anything to keep the content fresh. And you need to be going out visiting every day, too, or people will quickly forget you. Of course, there’s not time to visit all those great sites you’ve bookmarked and leave comments. Only the key ones. But you can remind friends of your presence by posting regularly to Twitter or Facebook, at least a couple of times a day, maybe three or four.

    4.  

  4. Make every visit pleasurable. Sounds obvious, doesn’t it, if you want people to come back to your place again? But how? There are some great ideas from Misty Belardo in The 8 Types Of Posts That Get Maximum Comments. She suggests how-tos, competitions, personal experiences, showcasing your work, resource lists, thought provokers, creative work, humor. I’ll add only two things – there should be a place for most of these in your website or blog – and that the content needs to change quickly enough to keep it feeling fresh. Nothing turns people off faster than a static site.

    5.  

  5. Keep it personal. Pimbo met people face-to-face. We’re not actually going to meet most of our readers, but we can still engage with them personally, by encouraging questions and comments and reactions. I don’t think it’s necessary to respond to every comment individually – not if you’re busy – but we should be acknowledging the feedback we get, and we should aim always to answer questions. Within 24 hours. You might want to encourage readers to post their questions via Twitter – because all interactions will be less than 140 characters long. Nobody will expect long email answers.

    6.  

  6. Make the experience interactive. For Pimbo, this meant gathering stories from those he visited. In A Real Writer, I want to encourage everyone to assist with the research – by helping me, everyone helps themselves. And if readers do get involved, they’ll feel they have a stake in my success.

    7.  

  7. Remember that you’re part of the story. Pimbo’s novels were pretty awful, remember. And yet he sold 80,000 books. Let’s face it, my writing friends, a book very rarely stands or falls on its quality alone. Pimbo sold because he was a character. Then there’s this Tony Blair fellow – the one who’s book has won him a £4.6 million advance because, as his US publisher says, he’s ‘such an exceptional writer’. Would anyone have given him £1000 for a book in 1982, when he stood for Parliament in a by-election, won only 10% of the vote and lost his deposit? Unlikely.

    For your book to succeed, it really helps if you have a compelling story for yourself. I’m not suggesting that you necessarily need to start a war or two. And please don’t start telling your readers what you had for breakfast this morning, unless your name is Brangelina. But what is it that makes you stand out from the crowd? Start preparing that story too.


Have you found any new ways to engage with potential readers recently? Did you actually engage with any new readers today? How?

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Entertrainment

April 21, 2011 in The TwitFace Project | No comments

Spring

On a dazzling blue summerish spring day like today, there are few pleasures to match a train journey through the English countryside. Our green and pleasant land is awash with color. Bluebells and primroses cluster on the embankment; in the meadows, dense white sprays of blackthorn and cow parsley rejoice in the sunshine, while horse chestnuts have spired and turn to flower; in parks and gardens, there’s delicate pink cherry blossom and stately copper beech; and we slice through famland impossibly yellow with rapeseed.

But of course, you wouldn’t expect your roving TwitFace correspondent to notice any of that. As I travelled by rail in the late morning, my interest was in communication, the effective use of media, the quality of engagement and the return on investment.

Since my journey took me through London, I was able to observe the current status of social marketing for both the overground and the underground service. The rail authorities have kindly requested me to submit a full report of my findings ( – “If you have comments on our services, please contact us at …”). But in the meantime, here’s an interim summary.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

While rail seems to understand the importance of social media and has significantly increased its output and improved its content for travellers, there are still too few opportunities for genuine interaction, as my suggestions will indicate.


Factual information and reminders.

Accurate but uninspiring. The correct routes and stations were pre-announced, and doors were there to be minded when we were told to do so. I always remembered to collect all my personal belongings when instructed.

Suggestion: work on the style of the scrolling marquee text in the carriages. Instead of:

The next station is Charing Cross

try:

OMG. Charing X next. LOL

Length

Generally acceptable, though an occasional tendency to ramble:

Good morning. This is your train controller. I’m sorry to tell you that I won’t be issuing tickets on the train today because my ticket-machine is broken. But I have alerted the main-line stations and … use your tickets … buy new … blah … blah … Thank you.

After starting well, he quickly lost our interest, and well before he came to the end, we were all back to sending our own text messages.

Frequency

I timed the silences between platform messages at an average 1 min 35 seconds (slightly shorter on the underground), which is acceptable. No travellers complained that they’d been left unattended.

But a real opportunity has been missed on the in-carriage information boards on mainline trains, where the distance between stations is considerably longer, yet no new messages are displayed for several minutes.

Suggestion: Link the information boards directly to Twitter. Then maximize exposure and feedback by creating the hashtag #amtravelling.

Originality

Poor on the underground with frequent repetition of the colourless – A good service is available on all lines.

Surprising creativity on the main-line station platform:

Parents and guardians are requested to keep children under supervision at all times. Trains may pass through this station unexpectedly and at high speed.

‘Unexpectedly’ made the announcement instantly memorable – and I duly Liked it.

Linking

Some evidence of both internal and external links.

To ensure your safety and comfort on this journey, please observe the instructions posted in the carriage.

On checking, I was pleased to see notices pointing accurately to the fire extinguisher and the alarm bell at the door of the carriage.

More ambitiously:

We would like to inform passengers that services on this line will be disrupted at the weekend due to planned engineering work as we seek to improve our services. For further details, please check our station noticeboards or visit our website at xxx.com.

Suggestion: make it possible for travellers to Like these improvements to the service.

Entertainment value

Strategically placed – right in the middle of the main-line carriage – was a woman’s group on a day-trip to the city. This was pure social marketing genius: the group was loud, brash, on-topic and ready to share with everyone.

For example, here in the UK we have a royal wedding coming up next week – everyone’s talking about it. From our women, I learned the secret history of Royal Icing – on the outside of the wedding cake. Unfortunately I can’t tell you here … because it’s a Royal Secret. But I also learnt that another way to say 2:30 is ‘visit to the Chinese dentist’. (Two – tooth … you see? Never mind. I’ll save it for Twitter.)

Suggestion: This experiment would have worked even better if fellow-travellers were able to give feedback. A button perhaps, on each seat-rest allowing us to Like or Rate each story, joke or phone conversation overheard in the carriage. Think of it as a social icebreaker.

Retweets and Mentions

The system clearly works well on the underground, and in fact I’m presenting the Samuel Beckett RT Award to the oldish gentleman with electric gray hair, gray shirt, loose-fitting trousers over loose-fitting legs, and a brown paper bag in his hand. He lurched across the platform in my direction, shaking his fist at the arriving train and all its well-socialized passengers.

Mind the gap. Stand clear of the doors.

- Min’-the-gap. Stan’ clear o’ the fuckin’ life!

Other TwitFace Project posts:

The TwitFace Plan
7 Health & Safety Tips For Bloggers
Donate A Family. Save A Writer
14 Ways To Make Friends With Americans
Shiny Happy People
What Is Web ME 2?
How To Hypnotize Readers
One Of Our Tweeps Is Missing

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Hunting Down Writing Talent

April 20, 2011 in Rapscallion | 2 comments


Rapscallion

In yesterday’s post, Read it – Love it – Forget it, I suggested that the best way for a creative writer to find new readers was … to be a creative writer. And that, since digital readers are changing our way of life, making it easy for people to grab half-an-hour’s content at the break-points in a busy day, the short story is an ideal platform.

There are certainly other ways to stay in the spotlight. Constantly showing up on message-boards for example. Participating in writer groups. Pumping a novel on Twitter, Facebook. But as Joy Campbell commented not long ago, sometimes writers begin to feel they’re pimping their books. And if they think that, then it probably won’t be long before readers notice too.

Even if the writer’s self-publicity campaign is discreet, comments on a forum show who they are, whereas a free short story shows how they write. There’s a much better likelihood of a good match between reader and writer if the reader’s already familiar with the likely content, style and interests before she pays her money and downloads the novel.

And that’s why I’m planning to reduce my blog posts somewhat, aiming instead to publish one or two free shorts per month.

But it won’t just be my short stories I’m featuring here. I’m planning to point you towards other emerging writers you’ll probably enjoy if you like my work.

Let’s be honest. My motives are not entirely altruistic. Right from the start of this writing adventure, I realized that with a million other novelists out there, my chances of making an impression on readers were somewhere between nil and infinitesimal. But maybe I could do better if I carved out my own niche, and filled it with writers, readers and reviewers who shared a common interest: searching for new writers whose work we’d be proud to display in our permanent libraries. Timeless books and stories that we found first.

What exactly am I looking for?

Stories that:

  • transcend or transform their genre (or perhaps have no genre at all – personally, I’m something of a genre-jumper).
  • leave an indelible impression – I know I’ll still remember them in a few years’ time.
  • twist the kaleidoscope, revealing new patterns, shapes and dimensions.
  • compel me to participate, not just observe.

Writers who:

  • paint a whole picture with just a few deft brushstrokes.
  • write their characters so large on the page that I’m only dimly aware it’s a fiction, or that a writer even exists.
  • craft every word with care, yet never try to overwhelm me with technique.
  • push the envelope, showing new possibilities for the short story or the novel.


Perhaps an example helps. I introduced you to Suki Michelle‘s work a couple of day’s back. ‘Daddy’s Machine‘ is a short story told from the viewpoint of a Down’s Syndrome sufferer – but with an IQ of 165. The story is multi-threaded with issues: the balance between intelligence and understanding; scientific research and morality; our responsibilities as carers; how we assess criminal responsibility. But what I find extraordinary is Suki’s ability to put us in the position of the sufferer – we look out on the world as a Down’s Syndrome child. In other writers’ hands, it might have become mawkish; not a chance of that with Suki, who just tells it like it is.

It’s hard to believe that the story I’m introducing today, ‘Mirage‘, could be from the same writer. In an edgy black comedy set in a post-apocalyptic world, Drew Randim, a smooth-talking reality show host is down on his luck. But maybe there’s one last payday. It’s a totally different genre, world, and character-set. Suki’s there, masterfully pulling the controls to make unlikely circumstances utterly believable, yet she hides like a chameleon behind her characters. Where’s the author’s voice? There isn’t one. She just lets her people do the talking. And then asks us draw our own conclusions, compelling us to think.

Notice that both these stories, like my published work, bear the Rapscallion imprint. I don’t intend Rapscallion to be a publisher, although I did contribute a little towards the editing – Suki’s so good that not much input was required, and it was more a question of a second opinion; and I did help to get the stories into their e-format. I’ll continue to use Rapscallion as a marque ( – there’s been a recent design-change, as above) which invited writers can use if they wish to, indicating that a story’s got the full five-stars from me.

The stories I feature here in the blog don’t need to be from Rapscallion, but there are a couple of other considerations. My interest is in discovery, so I generally won’t be featuring writers who already get plenty of coverage elsewhere. The recommendations need to be complete short stories, take 30 minutes or less to read, and be available as free ebook downloads – as you’d expect for a sample of work.

Do I want writers to send submissions? Absolutely not. I don’t intend to get into the business of disappointment and rejection. I’m simply doing what I believe agents and publishers should: scouting for talent, not waiting for it. My objective is to find work that sits well alongside mine, so that we can begin to build the outstanding team of writers, reviewers and readers I described in Listening to Lombardi, drawing strength from one another.

But I can’t do it all alone. So if you’re a reader or a reviewer and you’ve come across writing that meets my criteria, then I’d love to hear from you.

Scroll back to the top of the blog and Click on ‘Talent Hunt‘ to keep up with the complete list of writers worth discovering.

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Read it. Love it. Forget it.

April 19, 2011 in Reflections | 7 comments

“My impression of kindle … is that most readers have a very fast cycle of Read it. Love it (hopefully). Forget it.

The one-click buying is very instant gratification. Unless you’re a prolific writer of formulaic genre books, turning out 2 or 3 a year, I don’t see much opportunity for building up a readership. Unless you are constantly on the forums you will quickly be forgotten.”

So said fellow lit fic author, Ali Cooper, on a Facebook thread a couple of days back, sparking a stream of comments from other writers. Many of them saw this as the fatal flaw in digital publishing. The ebook is a fad. Most serious readers will turn back to print for their serious reads.

People probably said the same when the motor car was invented. Just think of the inconvenience. Someone walking in front of you waving a red flag. And besides, our roads aren’t wide enough for them. Noisy smelly things too. It won’t be long before everyone goes back to the horse.

Like it or not, digital is here to stay. It doesn’t mean the death of the print book. People will always love them, just as they love horses. But while we may still stroke real books and allow them to nuzzle up to us, I suspect most of us won’t actually own one.

The truth is that we always adapt to new media – and quickly. New roads are constructed, pot-holes covered over, speed-limits put in place, pedestrian crossings and traffic-lights invented.

And our lifestyle evolves too. Car ownership made society more mobile. We moved away from friends and family, and started commuting to our jobs, miles away. Homes became a commodity and a housing market emerged, as the pace of our vehicle-driven job-hopping increased. Suppliers became national instead of local. Even our towns and cities shifted, as malls clustered around available parking space for the delivery trucks and shoppers.

Is life better? Debatable. Are our behaviors different? Undeniably. Was change inevitable? Irresistibly.

I’m pretty much in agreement with Ali. Yes, Kindle readers – and all digital readers – do tend to read, love, forget. And there’s a reason. Our reading behaviors are changing in response to the new media. Mine are anyway.

Let me borrow an image from Seth Godin: the purple cow. Godin says that if you’re in a herd of cows, people won’t remember you unless you’re different. Purple. But let’s develop his analogy. Imagine you’re in a herd of a million cows – and there’s a green cow too, and a blue cow, and a polka-dot pink cow, and several varieties of stripy red. The other cows don’t say Moo! – they say Me! – and they’re all trying to push to the front.

Here’s how it is for readers. I remember seeing a funny cow last time I came this way … purple, I think it was. Can’t see it now though. Maybe over there. Ah, there’s a pink one. Look, that one’s cute …. OK, kids, time to get moving.

That’s how we read, most of us, much of the time. Scan. Stop. Sample. Maybe Like. Move on. It’s how we use Twitter and Facebook. It’s how we read blogs. It’s not hard to find the evidence. As I write, one of my posts, One of our Tweeps is Missing, has attracted 143 visits today, largely as a result of a Facebook link from Ommwriter, which was featured in the post. On the face of it, a success. Until I look more closely. Google Analytics reveals that only 10 visitors spent more than a minute on the page, and 80% of them flashed past in less than 10 seconds.

But what about the readers who do engage, the ones who take the time to read and absorb and then open other pages? Or in Ali’s case, the dozens of people who cared enough about her excellent first novel, The Girl On The Swing, to write reviews. Now that she’s just published her second, Cave, where are they? They’ve probably not forgotten her: it’s just that right now they’re all tied up with the stripy cows.

So, what does the forward-thinking, market-oriented, technically-adept purple cow do? Figures out the media. Fits herself with a GPS tag, and hands out scanners to fans.

Or something like that.

Again I think Ali gets it right: it’s all about being prolific. She suggests that writing two or three books a year or pounding the Kindle boards will keep you in the public view enough to build up a following. Like Barbara Cartland, who published 723 books … averaging 20 books a year from the age of 77 to 97 … and sold over a billion books! Probably having a few royal connections didn’t do her any harm either. (Most of us prefer to keep that sort of thing quiet.)

Now I couldn’t possibly hammer out a novel a fortnight, but I can still learn something from Ms Cartland. I’ve been blogging for the last 20 days, putting on a live creative writing gig most days. It’s keeping me in front of my readers, and showing them how I write. I’m not sure I’ll have the energy to keep it up too much longer: I’m not a spontaneous writer, and coming up with the story-line and writing with as much care as I’d take in a novel often expands out into an all-day job. But I could, relatively easily, write a 20-30 minute short story every couple of weeks.

How would the short story help? Well, I have good evidence that in our changed reader market, the demand for short stories is strong. A year ago, as a trial, I published three free shorts on Smashwords under my Rapscallion imprint – two from Suki Michelle and one from me. Without any effort at all, we’ve had 2500 downloads. You might argue that the majority of our readers have been greaders – they took the stories and never read them – and you’d probably be right. But it only takes one or two reviews like the wonderful, thoughtful piece from eCapris yesterday to start showing the discriminating reader that we mean business. That we’re trying to raise the bar.

In our mobile world, and with the reading tools we have in our pockets, the 30-minute read is likely to become ever more important. Commuting. The lunch-break. Between classes. In the waiting-room. The moments we snatch in our busy day. The free short story and smart essay fit perfectly into this window. And if the reader learns to love a writer at lunchtime, she may end up with his novel in bed that night.

Of course other social marketing tools will continue to be important, not least the Kindle message-boards. But while my comments there may show people who I am as a person, my short stories show who I am as a writer. That seems important.

And there’s one more thing. Remember the cow’s GPS tag? Here’s my version. When readers sign up as members for my blog, my (still-to-be-launched-but-coming-soon) Associate scheme will allow them an email notification option every time a new short story is released. This purple writer means to stay found.

Am I right about changes to our reading behavior? Has the way you read changed in the digital age?

Related posts – both written a year ago:

12 Reasons Why Printed Books Will Survive
With A Little Help From My Friends
Seth Godin’s now saying that purple cows need to be in reinventable fields. Me, I’ll stick with the GPS tag.

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One of our Tweeps is missing

April 18, 2011 in The TwitFace Project | 2 comments

Ommwriter message

A disturbing message

I’m locked into a world where there’s only a blank screen.

Nothing else.

No buttons. No menus. No pop-ups. No tabs.

Blank.

Alone.

No Twitter. No Facebook. Nothing

Friendless.

Likeless.

My head is ambient. Random patterns of sound, swirling, surging, repeating, fading. Electronic leaves falling. Electronic pulse. Electronic argeggios. Going nowhere. Piped into my brain, inescapably.

- You’re a writer? Then write. It’s your only escape.

I press keys. Thinly, they echo back, as shards of sound explode around me.

The page begins to fill, as I write my way back to reality.

How did I get here?

It was Joel Friedlander, The Book Designer, the writer’s friend. I trusted him. I’ve been greading his articles for years, meaning to look at them some day. Until, one day, I did.

When? I can’t remember. There are no clocks in this place, no sense of time.

I can’t even remember exactly what he said. There’s no window to the outside world, no point of reference, no way to send messages.

He said something about a writing tool. Something about concentration and focus. A recommendation. OmmWriter. Omm.

Omm.

There’s a sound sequence I recognize. I’ve been here before. The landscape becomes familiar. A friend. My friend.

- Is it enough? Have I done well, my friend?

- You must write. Always write. Only write, if you wish to escape.

They lied, and it’s a trap. They want to keep me here forever. Just writing. Word after word after word, tumbling out in arpeggios, falling like leaves.

Unnoticed.

Unfriended

Untweeped.

Help!

—————


This was the disturbing message I received, unsigned, this morning.

At first I thought it might be a hoax. You never can tell with the web. But I checked the references, and it’s true that Joel Friedlander posted an article a week back: OmmWriter Dana: My Second-Favorite Writing Program of All Time.

Now Joel’s credentials are of course impeccable. He’s written thousands of articles helping independent writers. Surely no ill can have been intended.

But I followed the trail back to the Ommwriter site, and my fears began to mount:

As mere mortals, we also face the usual challenges of daily life: a multitude of windows open on our computer desktops, messages, emails, calls, meetings, and those crazy thoughts that pass through our minds. OmmWriter emerged as an internal tool to help transport us away from the humdrum noise …

What else is this but a thinly-veiled attack upon the things we value most? Humdrum? Twitter? Facebook? Say it isn’t so. And look carefully at the name of their text editor: Ommdata Dana. Why Dana? Could it be “Download And Never Associate”.

And why are they so insistent on their mortality? Why do they claim to come from Barcelona? My mind is full of questions.

I’m convinced that my message was a genuine cry for help. So what if there was no signature, no avatar? Perhaps this hapless tweep has already been stripped of his – or her – social identity.

We’re a caring community, and I believe that we have a moral obligation to mount a rescue – to save this poor soul from a lifetime of perpetual writing. I would volunteer myself … but Monday’s always such a busy greading day for me, after the weekend.

If you’re as brave as I am, please do what you can … but perhaps you’d be advised not to go in there wearing headphones.

More from the TwitFace Project:

The Twitface Plan
Donate a Family. Save a Writer!
Shining Happy People
+ follow the Twitface Project tag.

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13 considerations when setting up an email subscription service

April 17, 2011 in planning | No comments


There’s no way for me to subscribe!

Time to restructure my blog.

A few days back I described plans to offer a sign-up option for those who wanted to register as one of my Author Associates. As an Associate, you’re entitled to:

  • purchase my published ebooks at discounted prices
  • get special offers for your friends or reading-groups
  • make sure you never lose the copy you’ve purchased when you change your computer or reading device
  • participate as a reader/reviewer as I release early chapters of my next novel.

All well and good. Except there’s nowhere really for you to sign up. Or that’s what one of my readers told me the other day. In fact, that’s not quite true: you can subscribe to an RSS feed of the blog by clicking on the folded newspaper at the top right of the screen. Huh? RSS? There’s the problem. Many readers aren’t familiar with RSS. And even if they are, maybe they won’t spot my subtle signal. And then, even if they do, will they actually read my posts?

Let me be honest. I’ve subscribed to several blogs via RSS – I request a download to my Google Reader … and then I hardly ever read them. It’s another example of ‘greading‘, acquiring more reading matter than I could ever hope to read in a lifetime, let alone a single day. It’s not that I mean not to read these blogs – I set out with the best of intentions. But there’s just never enough time.

What do subscribers want?

What I do read every day is my email. Email’s important. It includes messages that I probably need to respond to, and which I can’t afford to miss. For that reason, I’m much more selective when I subscribe to a blog via email. Before I sign up, I ask myself these questions:

  1. Is it content that really matters to me – or could I afford to live without it?
  2. Is there any tangible benefit I get as an email subscriber?
  3. Is a digest offered, so that I can scan the main topics and see what I need to read?
  4. Do I have the option to receive new mails at the pace I choose? Is there a weekly as well as a daily option?
  5. Am I likely to be spammed with offers or content that I don’t want – and am I sure that my email details won’t be passed on to others who may send spam?
  6. Is there an easy option to stop subscribing if things don’t work out?

If I’m going to offer my readers the option to subscribe via email, I need to be sure I’m treating their inbox with the same respect that I expect others to show mine.

What does the blogger want?

But now let’s turn things round and look at my requirements as the provider of the service. For a couple of years I’ve been using Google’s Feedburner to allow readers to subscribe to the blog. It’s been a useful basic tool for promoting the blog, but it only really shows me how many subscribers have looked at a post. There’s no kind of interaction with them.

I also need to distinguish between different types of subscriber. My blog serves three purposes. It’s a place where, most days (but not today), I indulge my love of fiction – I try to put on a live writing show. Second, the blog allows me to interact with supporters of my ‘permanent’ writing, the published work. And third, I intend it to be a resource center for those who like me, are hunting down emerging writers who excite and inspire. (More about this in the next post.) So this is what I need to ask:

  1. Can readers specify the type of content they want to see? For example, if they’re interested in emerging writers but not in signing up as an Associate, can they do so?
  2. Can I then group members by their interests, so that they only receive notifications about the content they’ve requested?
  3. Whenever new subscribers sign up, can I be sure that they’ll receive all the necessary instructions to make the best use of the blog, depending on the content they’ve requested? For example, if they sign up as Associate, will they receive posts describing how to apply for discounts or gift-vouchers on my ebooks?
  4. Does the subscription list allow me to maintain my own database, making it easy for me to contact individual members or for them to contact me, when, for example, they apply for special offers?
  5. Will all this integrate seamlessly with my WordPress blog – so that once the system is set up I never need to worry about email notifications again?
  6. Does my email marketing service give me statistical analysis, so that I can easily see the impact of a post on readers – whether it’s moved them to take action or not?
  7. Can I afford the email marketing service I choose?

The last question is critical. When you live by your writing, you very quickly learn the importance of running a tight ship. As I’ve researched, I’ve already found powerful email management systems – costing hundreds of dollars a month. A great idea – for insanity publishing! It may be necessary to sacrifice some of the bells and whistles I’d like for something that fits my budget right now.

As ever there’s lots of guidance on the web: I’ve started with the Email Marketing Services Review from TopTenReviews, and I’ll be checking out each of the providers there in the coming hours – I’d like to have the system up and running by tomorrow.

But perhaps you’ve already been through this process and can point me in the right direction. Or maybe I’ve missed something important. Either way, I’d like to hear from you.

References:
Danielle McGaw, also running the Ultimate Blog Challenge marathon, has been showing us how to minimize expenses if you want to live without a salary. A recommended series for hungry writers.

Here’s the earlier post I refer to at the beginning of the article: Introducing the Author Associates Scheme

Or if you’re new to my blog, and you want something a little lighter for the weekend, try this: 14 ways to make friends with Americans (If you are an American, this post is for you too!)

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Listening To Lombardi

April 15, 2011 in Rapscallion | 3 comments



- Hut-THREE!

Before the word died I was across the line of scrimmage, neatly dodging my marker, heading for the line. Faster. Break. Shoulder down and cut inside. Now turn! Keep your eye on the ball. Let it come to you. Perfect pass. Now go. Run till your lungs are bursting .. TOUCHDOWN!!

And in that vast arena the only voice I could hear was my father’s, shouting:

- That’s it son! Show’em what you can do!

It was the only voice because he was the only spectator. Him and Lombardi, our faithful old dog.

It was the best present I’d ever had. A brand new writing-kit, helmet, pants, jersey with my own special number – ISBN 978-1-4523-3709-8 – but more than that, the chance to play at Kindlestick Park, home to 5 million fans. This was my chance to make it into the Big League.

As the day I’d always dreamed of drew ever closer, I was the envy of all my friends. Woo-hoo, you made it, you really made it. Gee, I really wish I could be there. I prepared a press-pack, posed for publicity shots – the all-American hero. Yes, I knew it was a lie, but somehow all-British didn’t really work; surely I could be a virtual American, couldn’t I?

But now, as I sat in the locker-room before my big game, I had my first misgivings. Sure, I was just happy to be there and on the team – except there was no team. Plenty of other players, but each one of us scheduled for our five minutes of glory out there alone on the field. Imaginary glory, an imaginary game, imaginary supporters. Except for my dad and Lombardi.

I ran. I dazzled. I scored. I wept.

My father patted me on the helmet.

- Never mind, son. If only the scouts had been here. With a performance like that, you could have been a contender.

And then, for the first – and last – time, Lombardi spoke:

- The achievements of an organization are the results of the combined effort of each individual.

At the time, it didn’t seem to make any sense. But somehow, I couldn’t shake those words out of my head.

I was out there on the practice field with a few of my friends. Back to earth. We were choosing sides for the game, and it was my turn to be captain. Who would I pick first? Suki Michelle. There was a writer I truly admired. A player who hid behind her characters so you’d hardly know she was there, but then when she came running at you, boy, she packed a punch. Like with her short story, Daddy’s Machine: the first time I read it, I didn’t know quite what had hit me.

So who next?

Maybe it was because Lombardi was sitting there, tongue lolling, head cocked, his eyes bright and staring at me – was that a wink? Suddenly I realized exactly what he’d meant. If we were going to win big-time, it wasn’t just about finding the best players. I needed to build an organization. People working together.

Who next? David Baboulene. Player-coach. David’s a strategist, a student of the game, and he teaches his distilled knowledge in The Science of Story. But like me, he’s a performer too, blogging live on how he’s turning a 25-word synopsis into a film within six months. (We still need to teach David a bit about the American game – he thinks he’s Georgie Best, and insists on kicking the ball every time he receives a pass.)

And then? Well if we were going to find talented players, then we needed scouts. First up, I chose eCapris, who reviews ‘ebooks that are shorter than usual’. That’s smart. With so many writers to choose from, it makes sense to spend an hour or so with them and see how they perform. If they were rated by eC, then I was ready to take a closer look.

Next? Cheer-leaders and supporters. Now I know supporters usually choose the team, not the other way round. But there were a couple who’d been particularly loyal, reading everything that came their way. I wanted Niki and Stuart on my side. And I wanted them to know that their efforts to support the team and spread the word were as important as anything else we did.

And now my mind was racing. It wasn’t enough to be a single team. We needed to play in a league. To associate with other teams who had great players too. Teams like 40kBooks perhaps, producing ‘smart books for smart people’. Was I thinking right, Lombardi?

I glanced across at the old dog. He nodded.

# # #



Today’s featured short-story comes from Suki Michelle. A native of Chicago, Suki’s one of the most versatile and exciting writers I’ve met. You’ll find Daddy’s Machine free at Smashwords. It’s a disturbing story about the consequences of intelligence without understanding, and knowledge without wisdom.

If you enjoy this sample, then head on over to her Facebook page for The Apocalypse Gene, something completely different, as is the way with Suki. It’s a novel co-written with partner Carlyle Clarke that ‘breaks convention, combining the magic of urban fantasy with the swagger of near-future cyberpunk’, scheduled for publication in the fall by Parker Publishing Inc.

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