Comments on: Will Random House Chicken Out Again? http://ereads.com/2010/07/will-random-house-chicken-out-again.html Read the latest publishing news and provocative blogs by top commentators in the traditional and digital publishing fields. Fri, 10 Feb 2012 21:29:52 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Shem http://ereads.com/2010/07/will-random-house-chicken-out-again.html/comment-page-1#comment-1935 Shem Fri, 30 Jul 2010 17:12:38 +0000 http://ereads.com/?p=7786#comment-1935 Given the low barriers to entry to the ebook market what Wylie has done isn't all that impressive. Why doesn't he stop issuing statements and just become a publisher? Oh, right, that thing: money. The banking function. His authors like to get paid, and they like someone else to take the risk, therefore they like an advance. Even if you ignore the amazon exclusivity and other important issues, Wylie just doesn't have the money. if HMH paid Philip Roth over a million for Nemesis, do you think Mr. Roth is willing to take nothing on the next one in exchange for a potentially larger share of ebook royalties? Given the low barriers to entry to the ebook market what Wylie has done isn’t all that impressive. Why doesn’t he stop issuing statements and just become a publisher? Oh, right, that thing: money. The banking function. His authors like to get paid, and they like someone else to take the risk, therefore they like an advance. Even if you ignore the amazon exclusivity and other important issues, Wylie just doesn’t have the money. if HMH paid Philip Roth over a million for Nemesis, do you think Mr. Roth is willing to take nothing on the next one in exchange for a potentially larger share of ebook royalties?

]]> By: Steve Boyett http://ereads.com/2010/07/will-random-house-chicken-out-again.html/comment-page-1#comment-1887 Steve Boyett Mon, 26 Jul 2010 17:41:39 +0000 http://ereads.com/?p=7786#comment-1887 I have to disagree a bit with Mr. Nicholson's comment above. Rather than being an evolutionary footnote, this is a transitional stage, as writers, agents, and indeed readers, begin to understand that digital media -- freely reproducible, freely distributable -- are eradicating barriers erected by a business model based on the production and distribution of a physical object. I have to disagree a bit with Mr. Nicholson’s comment above. Rather than being an evolutionary footnote, this is a transitional stage, as writers, agents, and indeed readers, begin to understand that digital media — freely reproducible, freely distributable — are eradicating barriers erected by a business model based on the production and distribution of a physical object.

]]> By: Steve Boyett http://ereads.com/2010/07/will-random-house-chicken-out-again.html/comment-page-1#comment-1886 Steve Boyett Mon, 26 Jul 2010 17:39:15 +0000 http://ereads.com/?p=7786#comment-1886 "Information wants to be free" is a maxim that doesn't just mean it wants to not cost anything. It also wants to be openly available. The nature of information on the Net is such that a kind of "forced transparency" in ebook accounting and production costs is inevitable, as figures are outed and circulated. I believe that <i>this</i> is what will eventually alter the royalty rates paid by major publishes for e-books. I only wish such transparency would become available for the movie industry. It would be gloriously ruinous for them to have the public become aware of how much money is made by movies that ostensibly bombed. (Here's a hint: if there was a sequel, then the original made money. Period.) “Information wants to be free” is a maxim that doesn’t just mean it wants to not cost anything. It also wants to be openly available. The nature of information on the Net is such that a kind of “forced transparency” in ebook accounting and production costs is inevitable, as figures are outed and circulated.

I believe that this is what will eventually alter the royalty rates paid by major publishes for e-books.

I only wish such transparency would become available for the movie industry. It would be gloriously ruinous for them to have the public become aware of how much money is made by movies that ostensibly bombed. (Here’s a hint: if there was a sequel, then the original made money. Period.)

]]> By: Jack W Perry http://ereads.com/2010/07/will-random-house-chicken-out-again.html/comment-page-1#comment-1885 Jack W Perry Mon, 26 Jul 2010 17:06:22 +0000 http://ereads.com/?p=7786#comment-1885 Thanks for the well-thought out view of the Wylie decision to go direct to Amazon. It will be interesting to see what the next step is in the chess match. I completely understand why 'The Jackal' would go direct with these 20 titles. All are classics of the 20th century and have been selling in print form for years. So there isn't a lot of marketing that needs to be done. But what would happen if this was a fiction debut or a make book that depends on marketing? Is the agent willing to invest to create the buzz to the consumer? It is a much different game trying to convince consumers to read someone they never have -- as compared to classics that they already know. Thanks for the well-thought out view of the Wylie decision to go direct to Amazon. It will be interesting to see what the next step is in the chess match.

I completely understand why ‘The Jackal’ would go direct with these 20 titles. All are classics of the 20th century and have been selling in print form for years. So there isn’t a lot of marketing that needs to be done.

But what would happen if this was a fiction debut or a make book that depends on marketing? Is the agent willing to invest to create the buzz to the consumer? It is a much different game trying to convince consumers to read someone they never have — as compared to classics that they already know.

]]> By: Scott Nicholson http://ereads.com/2010/07/will-random-house-chicken-out-again.html/comment-page-1#comment-1881 Scott Nicholson Mon, 26 Jul 2010 13:20:21 +0000 http://ereads.com/?p=7786#comment-1881 The unanswered question is how much right Wylie has to exploit the talents of his writers? Does he have a carte blanche contract? Can those authors leave Wylie and release their own ebooks and then let Wylie face the prospect of suing THEM? What kind of cut is Wylie taking in addition to his 10 or 15 percent commission? Today these authors can upload their own books at Amazon and get 70 percent, presumably the same deal Wylie arranged, though admittedly without the publicity. This is just a footnote in the evolutionary history of the digital market. Scott Nicholson http://www.hauntedcomputer.com The unanswered question is how much right Wylie has to exploit the talents of his writers? Does he have a carte blanche contract? Can those authors leave Wylie and release their own ebooks and then let Wylie face the prospect of suing THEM?

What kind of cut is Wylie taking in addition to his 10 or 15 percent commission? Today these authors can upload their own books at Amazon and get 70 percent, presumably the same deal Wylie arranged, though admittedly without the publicity.

This is just a footnote in the evolutionary history of the digital market.

Scott Nicholson
http://www.hauntedcomputer.com

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