Publishing industry consultant Joe Esposito crackles with good ideas and his “Metadatarium” is one of them.  Stop and go back to the word and piece it out syllable by syllable until you’re comfy with it. The root word, of course, is metadata, and if you’re not sure what that means you can look it up here.  Got it?

Okay, on with the concept.

It’s a simple one, somewhere between a mega-bookstore and an e-book kiosk.”We need a utopian solution” to the crisis of our disappearing bookstores,” Esposito says. “We need our bookstores, but we also need Amazon’s inventory. We need libraries–and we need a way to pay for them. We need analog tools for discovery and digital modes of delivery. We need a Third Place for community and a Cloud-based infrastructure to deliver all information to anyone anywhere anytime. And I need a place to kill some time on Saturday afternoons.”

Put them all together and you have a metadatarium: a physical location where books are showcased, but then you point and click your mobile device at the book you’re interested in, review the information, then order it for download. We’ve long dreamed of e-book kiosks (see The Day of the Kiosks is Upon Us) and this is one way the idea might be realized.

Esposito sounds serious about launching not just one metadatarium but a chain of, um, metadataria, and it’s hard to detect any irony when he declares “This chain will be funded through an appeal on Kickstarter, managed with the perfection of Apple, and later taken public on NASDAQ, to the benefit of the 401K plans of its shareholders.“  As of today, however, a search on Kickstarter, the crowdfunding website, was Metadatariumless. But we’ll keep trying.

One way or another the day of the kiosk will be upon us and it just may look like like Joe Esposito’s brainstorm.

Read it in detail: Joe’s Metadatarium: Creating New Forms of Discovery in the Bricks-and-Mortar World

Richard Curtis

I was recently asked if it’s commonplace for trade book publishers to have confidentiality language in their contract boilerplate. The short answer is no, but as this answer is appended by many qualifications, I hope you’ll stick around to hear them.

A confidentiality agreement, also known as nondisclosure agreement (NDA for short) is a commitment by a party entering into a legal relationship to refrain from disclosing confidential or proprietary information without the express permission of the other party. Because valuable trade secrets are involved, violation of the terms of an NDA can lead to serious liability. For the reason we urge you to study this specimen NDA and consult with an attorney before entering into one.

But you don’t have to be a lawyer to identify some troubling aspects in the document. Foremost is the exclusivity of the information that is being shared with you. How do you know that the party asking you to sign an NDA has not also disclosed the same information to dozens of other parties? If there’s a leak that you did not cause, will you be blamed for it? Will you be sued for it?

NDAs cover an extended period of time. But when do they expire? When does the protected information become so public that your commitment is meaningless? If you have signed an NDA as an employee of a company and are then hired by another company that makes the same products, are you in danger of being accused of stealing trade secrets? And the information you’re being asked to protect – is it really confidential or can is it well known? What’s a trade secret and what’s garbage or gossip?

By the nature of the relationship between authors and publishers, it’s clear that confidentiality doesn’t sit comfortably. For one thing, a publisher’s contract boilerplate is general if not public knowledge. And as for specific terms, though there is seldom any legal obligation to hold them confidential, it often serves publisher, author, or both not to disclose them. An author who reveals that his publisher granted him an exception to an ironclad policy, or paid him an unprecedented advance, will embarrass his publisher. Thus there is a natural inhibition about spilling the beans about genuinely significant information.

And when the beans are spilled, such as releasing the price paid for a book, it’s done deliberately with the consent of both author and publisher.  And, as everyone knows, such information is not only unreliable but as often as not grossly exaggerated.

A publisher who requires confidentiality of an author may have valid reasons for doing so, but if you’re presented with an NDA it’s a good idea to scrutinize it and ask a lot of questions.

Richard Curtis

CONFIDENTIALITY, NON-CIRCUMVENTION AND NONDISCLOSURE AGREEMENT

AGREEMENT, entered into as of this __ day of ______ between Company X (“X”) and Company Y (hereinafter referred to as the “Recipient”).

WHEREAS, X has developed certain valuable information, concepts, ideas, or designs, which X deems confidential (hereinafter referred to as the “Information”); and

WHEREAS, Recipient is in the business of using such information and wishes to review the Information; and

WHEREAS, X wishes to disclose this Information to the Recipient; and

WHEREAS, the Recipient is willing not to disclose this Information, as provided in this Agreement.

NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the foregoing premises and the mutual covenants hereinafter set forth and other valuable consideration, the parties hereto agree as follows:

1. Disclosure. X shall disclose to the Recipient the Information, which concerns but is not limited to ____________________________________________________________
2. Purpose. Recipient agrees that this disclosure is only for the purpose of the Recipient’s evaluation to determine its interest in the commercial exploitation of the Information.
3. Limitation on Use. Recipient agrees not to manufacture, sell, deal in, or otherwise use or appropriate the disclosed Information in any way whatsoever, including but not limited to adaptation, imitation, redesign, or modification. Nothing contained in this Agreement shall be deemed to give Recipient any rights whatsoever in and to the Information. Recipient agrees not to directly or indirectly contact any persons or companies which X may disclose to Recipient and which X deems confidential sources or vendors or to enter into discussion directly or indirectly with such persons or entities except with the approval of X. Recipients shall not directly or indirectly provide access to the Information to others unless such persons to whom such disclose is made are approved by X on a “need to-know” basis and are made subject to this Agreement. Upon the request of X the Information shall be returned to X.
4. Confidentiality. Recipient understands and agrees that the unauthorized disclosure of the Information by the Recipient to others would irreparably damage X. As consideration and in return for the disclosure of this Information, the Recipient shall keep secret and hold in confidence all such Information and treat the Information as if it were the Recipient’s own proprietary property by not disclosing it to any person or entity. Information shall not include Information that was in Recipient’s possession or known to Recipient prior to gaining knowledge from X; or is or becomes lawfully available to the general public without the fault of Recipient; or is or becomes lawfully available to Recipient from a source other than X; or is displayed by Recipient under obligations created by court or government action.
5. Miscellany. This Agreement shall be binding upon and shall inure to the benefit of the parties and their respective legal representatives, successors, and assigns and shall be interpreted in accordance with the laws of the State of New York.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties have signed this Agreement as of the date first set forth above.

By Officer of X _____________________
By Officer of Recipient __________________________

When Random House decided to relaunch its Loveswept romance line it sought authors whose gifts matched the company’s ambitious vision. And one of the first authors snapped up by publisher Sue Grimshaw for Loveswept’s list of original e-books was Jessica Scott. Today Jessica debuts with Because of You, an unflinching portrayal of two wounded souls struggling with self-doubt and self-loathing to find companionship, trust and, finally, love. Scott knows her military: she’s a career army officer. Read her unique bio here.

The advance raves for Because of You read like a Hall of Fame roster of romance greats.

# “Jessica Scott is an exciting new voice in romantic fiction who bursts upon the scene with an unputdownable debut novel! ”
New York Times Bestselling Author Robyn Carr

# “Edgy and current—and a truly satisfying love story. Put this book, Jessica Scott’s, BECAUSE OF YOU, on your “must read” list.”
New York Times Bestselling Author Suzanne Brockmann

# “Jessica Scott writes with a soldier’s heart. Because Of You is touching, authentic and a fantastic read.”
New York Times Bestselling Author Cindy Gerard

# “Crackling with realism, sizzling with sexual tension, and pulsing with emotion, Jessica Scott has penned an unforgettable military romance that delivers heartache and hope on every page.”
New York Times Bestselling Author Roxanne St. Claire

# “Authentic, emotional, and edgy, Jessica Scott’s sweeping military romance is a vivid snapshot of love, war, grief and–above all–hope.” –
Allison Brennan, NYT Bestselling Author of If I Should Die

# “Because of You is a powerful debut – emotional, heartbreaking and uplifting all at once, it’s a romance not to be missed!”
New York Times Bestselling Author Stephanie Tyler

# “Jessica Scott has written a beautiful love story filled with heart, tender emotion, unflinching honesty and gritty realism. Because of You is a military romance you will never forget!”
New York Times Bestselling Author Christy Reece

Jessica Scott

# “Jessica Scott writes an intense story, packed with realism and emotion. BECAUSE OF YOU will tug at your heartstrings.”
New York Times Bestselling Author
Laura Griffin

# “In BECAUSE OF YOU, Jessica Scott presents a realistic and emotionally gripping tale of life in and around the military. A wonderful debut, and I can’t wait to read the next in this compelling series.”
USA Today Bestselling Author Julie Kenner

# “Watch out Navy SEALS, there’s a new hero in town and he’s wearing Army gray! Because of You is a beautifully crafted, wonderfully emotional debut.”
New York Times Bestselling Author JoAnn Ross

# “BECAUSE OF YOU is a tough and tender romance that proves the one thing worth fighting for will always be true love. Jessica Scott is a vibrant new voice in contemporary romance!”
New York Times Bestselling author of GOODNIGHT TWEETHEART Teresa Medeiros

# “BECAUSE OF YOU is powerful, timely and wonderfully executed. Jessica Scott should be on every reader’s list.”
New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author Brenda Novak

# Because of You is emotionally heart-wrenching and makes you smile as the characters triumph.
Mandi Schreiner, Happy Ever After – Blog Reviewer, USA Today

# “Military romance just got a whole lot better — Because of You — by Jessica Scott, who has created something sumptuous.”
Anne Woodall, Romance At Random Reviewer

# “I am eagerly awaiting the next installment in her trilogy. I give BECAUSE OF YOU an A.”
E -The BookPushers

Below, a trailer for the book, and an interview with the scintillating author.

Into The Out Of

Earth is being invaded by the shetani—-spirit creatures so small and stealthy that only one man knows about the increasing peril. The potential savior is an African elder named Olkeloki who is capable of fighting evil both in this world and the spirit one. But to be successful he must recruit the help of two others: government agent Joshua Oak and a feisty young woman named Merry Sharrow. Only the three of them can keep the shetani from destroying reality as we know it.
************************
The Man Who Used the Universe
No one knows the true motives of Kees vaan Loo-Macklin. He’s a mastermind criminal who gave up his place at the head of the dark underworld to become a legitimate member of Evenwaith’s cities. But soon he was reaching out to powerful enemies—-the slimy aliens called the Nuel. Loo-Macklin negotiates an illusory peace agreement and gains precious alien secrets in the process. Is he after peace, power or pure evil? With enemy starships beginning to mass, we won’t have to wait long to find out.

***********************************
To The Vanishing Point

The Sonderberg family doesn’t know it yet, but this isn’t going to be any ordinary road trip. After they pick up an unassuming hitchhiker, a quiet drive down Interstate 40 becomes a trip into an alternate reality. It turns out the family has just given a ride to an alien who has the fate of the universe resting on her shoulders. Now the Sonderberg family must fight evil alongside their new alien friend in a desperate attempt to save the world they love.

Are you an artist? Time to pack up and move to California. There, you can take advantage of their droit de suite law.

Vous ne parlez pas français? It’s worth money, maybe a lot of it, to bone up. The closest we can translate is The Law of Followup, and here’s what it means: if the buyer of your picture or sculpture resells it for a profit, you are entitled to 5% of the resale price.

It’s a law in France and will probably be adopted by all the nations in the European Common Union. Except for California no US state has such a law, and of  course its not on the US statute books.  But some big-name artists  like Chuck Close hope to change that, starting with lawsuits against auction baronies Sotheby’s and Christie’s as well as eBay, the Internet auction website. The class action plaintiffs claim they’ve been stiffed.

“The suits do not specify damages, nor do they list particular sales of art by California residents,” reports the New York Times‘s Patricia Cohen. “Rather, as Eric George, the lawyer who filed them, explained, the complaints seek to force the auction houses to reveal the identities or locations of sellers, information that is often kept secret.”

Cohen says that “Most artists and galleries either don’t know about the law or ignore it.” Too bad: those that do have collected over $300,000 in the 34 years since it was passed.

Would droit de suite work for authors? Since most authors get royalties, it’s hard to see an analogy to resale of artworks – with one exception: library use.  In many foreign countries lending libraries are required to pay a fee or royalty to the author every time a copy is borrowed. It’s called the Public Lending Right, and it’s the law in Canada, the UK, Netherlands, Israel, Scandinavia and other lands. The chances of that happening in the US are slim to none, but it’s nice to know there are some enlightened nations that honor writers and artists.

Artists File Lawsuits, Seeking Royalties

Richard Curtis

Though agents and editors are expected to be enthusiastic about books they’re involved with, a steady diet of hyperbole can elicit tedium and skepticism. Of a particularly partisan agent an editor once sneered “He thinks every book he handles is Moby Dick.” For that reason, as regular readers of this column know, it has to be a truly prodigious book to make me depart from my natural caution.

Steven R. Boyett’s Mortality Bridge is a prodigious book.

Channeling Orpheus, Dante and Faust, Mortality Bridge is a stunning, brutal—and surprisingly funny—quest across a Hieronymous Bosch landscape of myth, music, and mayhem; and across an inner terrain of addiction, damnation, and redemption.

Cory Doctorow writes: “Mortality Bridge is a gutwrenching novel about loss and redemption, deserved guilt and betrayal, with an antihero whose quest is at once the stuff of cracking adventure stories and a tragic tale of facing up to one’s own cowardice and weakness…Niko’s race through Hell is one of the greatest supernatural adventure stories of recent memory, surpassing Niven and Pournelle’s classic Inferno (itself a very good novel on a similar premise, even if it does turn on the power of Hell to redeem one of history’s great monsters). It is not a mere allegory about sin and redeption, cowardice and nobility: it’s also a damned good story, which sets it apart from almost all existential allegories.”

Hugo award-winner John Scalzi writes: “Luminously tragic, darkly funny, and deeply moving, all in turns and sometimes all at once. Boyett is one of the very few writers who will make you eager to go into Hell, and not worry about whether you return.”

In a starred review Publishers Weekly declared: “Dark, grotesque, and eerie, Boyett’s behemoth reimagining of Orpheus’ descent into the Underworld blends Faust and Dante with Greek myth… Through unusual turns of phrase, violent and bloody imagery, heartrending introspection, and mythic tone, Boyett (Elegy Beach) explores themes of betrayal, redemption, and personal sacrifice in a tortured landscape of bedlam and pandemonium ”

Fantasy Literature reviewed Mortality Bridge in these terms:”Brilliant. An unforgettable tale of one man’s journey to Hell. The writing is filled with vivid sensory detail. I was pushed to my limits by this one. Immeasurably sad. Moments of transcendent joy and beauty and compassion. A very well-written book that made me feel intense emotion. I recommend it.”

And an Amazon reviewer wrote, awarding five stars, declared: “Mortality Bridge is the Steven R. Boyett book I’d been waiting for. I thought that book was coming last year when I heard a long-awaited sequel to Boyett’s wonderful fantasy novel, Ariel, was coming out. That sequel, Elegy Beach, was good but less intense than the original, like Boyett was trying to rekindle energy for a world that had enthralled him almost 30 years earlier. Like Nietzsche, I love only what a man has written with his blood, which Ariel was but Elegy Beach came a bit short of.

“But Mortality Bridge is the best Boyett so far. It has all the wonderful imagination in its plot as Ariel had, but it is far better written, simply beautiful prose. Boyett fuses two powerful myths, Faust and Orpheus, and sets them in modern times. Like Faust, the rock musician main character Niko has made a deal with the devil that costs him his beloved girlfriend’s life, and like Orpheus he descends into hell to retrieve her. The hell he describes is ghastly and spellbinding, and his journey through it has you turning pages faster than anything Stephen King ever wrote. The passage through hell, which constitutes most of the novel, is so vividly described, so mesmerizing, that I could visualize it as clearly as if it were a movie, and a great movie it would be.

“The best thing about the book, which raises it above even Ariel, is that it is the product of not only an intelligent but now a fully matured mind able to grasp the metaphysical implications of its profound subject matter. It takes on questions of immortality, the nature of the psyche, the forces that may or may not govern the universe and treats each with the astute wisdom it deserves. It seldom insists on any answers to these questions; rather, like all our best teachers, Boyett leads us to deeper questions. The finest book I’ve read in a long time.”

E-Reads is publisher of the e-book of Ariel, Boyett’s stunning debut novel.

Richard Curtis

This just in…

An important message from Kobo

As we get ready for what will surely be the biggest ebook holiday season ever, I am writing to share some exciting news. Kobo has accomplished some incredible things in the past two years: over 5 million users in more than 100 countries, great new devices like Kobo Touch and Vox, top-rated apps and cloud-based reading. And now it gets better…

Today, we are happy to announce that Rakuten Inc., one of the world’s leading e-commerce companies, has entered into an agreement to acquire Kobo Inc. from Indigo Books & Music for approximately $315 million. I have attached the full press release below with all of the details about the transaction, and we will be available to answer any questions you have in the coming days. In the meantime, while the news is fresh, I wanted to personally share a few important points about this exciting next step for Kobo.

Still Kobo – Kobo plans to keep its head office in Toronto, operating under the Kobo brand. Our teams in New York, London, Paris, Hamburg, Barcelona and Melbourne will keep going strong. We will continue to function as a stand-alone operation. Our CEO and senior management team will remain unchanged, and our teams for everything from publisher relations to R&D will continue to be filled with the same passionate collection of technology-obsessed book-lovers. Our daily enthusiastic collaboration with publishers and our ongoing relationships with partner retailers will continue as usual.

More competitive – From the very beginning, it has been our goal to be the world’s leading global eReading company. In fulfilling that goal, we are competing against the world’s largest ecommerce company, bookstore chain, hardware company, and search engine. We need scale and resources to continue our winning streak. Rakuten’s position as one of the world’s top 3 e-commerce companies will allow us to be an even stronger competitor in the markets where we currently operate, with access to new resources so that we can continue to push the boundaries of eReading.

Aggressively global –Rakuten’s growing global network of companies, combined with Kobo’s position as the fastest-moving player in international ebooks, means more Kobo in more countries more quickly. We will continue to build on our partnerships with top-tier retailers like WH Smith, FNAC, Media Markt and Collins and look forward to adding more in the months to come.

Business as usual (even faster!) – You will continue to work with the same great group of people, all deeply dedicated to selling your books and promoting your authors. Over time, our hope is that you see us grow even faster, with a continuing focus on innovation in everything from device design to social reading, all with the goal of putting more great books in the hands of readers

Once again, I want to emphasize our continuing commitment to our publishing partners and our shared desire to continue as an even stronger competitive force in the global market for ebooks. If you have any questions at all, do not hesitate to get in touch with Ami Greko at agreko@kobo.com or email me directly at mt@kobo.com.

Sincerely yours,

Michael Tamblyn
Executive Vice President, Content, Sales and Merchandising
Kobo, Inc.

Full Press Release here.

PRESS RELEASE

Rakuten to Acquire Kobo

Kobo, a Global Leader in eReading Expands Rakuten Offering
to Include eBooks and eReaders Worldwide

TOKYO and TORONTO, November 8/9, 2011 — Rakuten, Inc. (JASDAQ: 4755) and Kobo Inc. today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Rakuten intends to acquire 100% of total issued and outstanding shares of Kobo for US$315 million in cash.

Kobo was founded by and spun out of Indigo, the largest book, gift and specialty toy retailer in Canada, in December, 2009. Since that time, Kobo has become a fierce competitor in the eBook marketplace, with a family of innovative eReaders, a wide range of eReading apps, one of the largest eBook catalogues, an innovative social platform and retail partners around the globe.

The acquisition marks a major step forward for Rakuten, one of the world’s top 3 e-commerce companies by revenue, as it continues to expand its unique B2B2C borderless e-commerce business globally, by adding an ecosystem to provide downloadable media products to consumers, starting with eBooks.

Hiroshi Mikitani, Chairman and CEO of Rakuten, commented on the acquisition, “We are very excited about this next step. Kobo provides one of the world’s most communal eBook reading experiences with its innovative integration of social media, such as Facebook and Twitter; while Rakuten offers Kobo unparalleled opportunities to extend its reach through some of the world’s largest regional e-commerce companies, including Buy.com in the US, Tradoria in Germany, Rakuten Brazil, Rakuten Taiwan, Lekutian in China, TARAD in Thailand, and Rakuten Belanja Online in Indonesia, and of course, Rakuten Ichiba in Japan.”

“From a business and cultural perspective this is a perfect match,” commented Kobo CEO Michael Serbinis. “We share a common vision of creating a content experience that is both global and social. Rakuten is already one of the world’s largest e-commerce platforms, while Kobo is the most social eBook service on the market and one of the world’s largest eBook stores with over 2.5 million titles. This transaction will greatly strengthen our position in our current markets and allow us to diversify quickly into other countries and e-commerce categories.”

Upon closing the acquisition, Kobo will continue to maintain its headquarters, management team and employees based in Toronto, Ontario.
The global eBook market is one of the fastest growing segments of the consumer technology industry, with a compound annual growth rate of 36% through 2015*. The global content market size is also expected to grow dramatically to reach approximately US$10.6 billion per year by 2015 (estimates exclude China).

*Sources: Based on forecasts by IDC, Yankee, BCG analysis & NRI for Japan 1USD= 80JPY

The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including approval by Canadian regulatory authorities in accordance with the Investment Canada Act and is expected to close in Q1 2012.

About Kobo Inc. (www.kobo.com)
Kobo is a global eReading service with more than 2.5 million eBooks, magazines and newspapers – one of the largest eReading catalogues in the world. Read Freely – Kobo believes consumers should have the freedom to read any book on any device and has attracted millions of readers from over 100 countries across the globe. Kobo has top ranked eReading applications for iPad, iPhone, BlackBerry, Android, Windows and MacOS, and is the eReading application of choice for leading tablet OEMs. Kobo eReaders, including the Kobo Touch and the newly launched Kobo Vox are available at leading retailers, including Indigo, Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Target, Future Shop, WHSmith, FNAC, Collins Booksellers and Whitcoull’s. Kobo’s innovative Reading Life is an industry-first comprehensive social eReading experience – Kobo users can earn awards simply for time spent reading and encouraging others. Kobo is backed by majority shareholder Indigo Books & Music Inc., Cheung Kong Holdings, and institutional investors.

About Rakuten
Rakuten, Inc. (JASDAQ: 4755), is one of the world’s leading Internet service companies, providing a variety of consumer and business-focused services including e-commerce, travel, banking, securities, credit card, e-money, portal & media, online marketing and professional sports. Rakuten is expanding globally and currently has operations throughout Asia, Western Europe, and the Americas. Founded in 1997, Rakuten is headquartered in Tokyo, with over 10,000 employees worldwide. For more information, visit http://global.rakuten.com/group.

For investor and media inquiries, please contact:

Rakuten:
In Japan:
Public Relations (Japanese, English)
Rakuten, Inc.
Tel: +81-50-5817-1104
E-mail: pr@mail.rakuten.com

For Investors:
Investor Relations (Japanese, English)
Rakuten, Inc.
Tel: +81-3-6387-0555

http://corp.rakuten.co.jp/en/ir/

In North America
Kelley Joyce
IF Communications
Tel: +1-917-566-0808
E-mail: kelley@if-communications.com

Kobo:
Wendy Zaas
Rogers & Cowan
Tel: +1-310-854-8148
E-mail: wzaas@rogersandcowan.com

Jennifer Weltz

If, at any time after the effective date of this Agreement, US trade publishing industry electronic media royalties paid to authors are a higher percentage of the amount received by Publisher than those paid to Author under the terms of this Agreement, upon written request from Author this subparagraph will be deemed amended to such higher percentage.

The above text is an amalgam of boilerplate provisions found in the contracts of many publishers. It is a compromise reached in negotiations between publishers and agents as they hammered out a modus vivendi between the former’s wish to lock in a low e-book royalty and the latter’s insistence on a higher one. With such language installed into contracts, agents can monitor royalty rates in the book industry and, if it appears they are rising above the current threshold of 25% of net receipts, invoke the language entitling authors to the higher royalty promised in the contract.

Jennifer Weltz, a leading agent, thinks the time has come to invoke that provision and gives her reasons on AARdvark, an online forum of the Association of Authors’ Representatives.  She has kindly agreed to let us reprint it here.

*******************************

Alert – E-Book Industry Standards have Changed!

Dear Colleagues in the industry, remember all of those clauses we have in our contracts regarding e-books? The ones that say that when Industry standards change we will all be renegotiating new e-book rights? Well that time is now. E-book industry standards have changed.

Why have we not heard this news from our publishers?

Think of the number of contracts you have with that clause and then multiply it by x. This is the number of clauses that would have to be modified by publishers if they admitted to this obvious change. From a publisher’s perspective, the only possible change they would concede would be one where they would be raising the 25% royalty rate and overnight their profits would plummet. As you can imagine, this is not an attractive prospect.

Have industry standards changed? Yes

Will we first hear this from the publishers? No

What are these changes?

Well, there are, of course, the many emerging publishers doing business in the publishing world who offer much more lucrative e-book royalties. But they offer low advances or no advances. However we are starting to see that when publishers want a project enough, they find workable solutions with agents that are not the straight 25% we were given to believe was the 11th commandment. We are even seeing, the big publishers, developing creative e-book royalty solutions where rights were not clearly delineated in the original contract. And we are seeing authors make drastic choices, especially if they know that their books perform well in the e-book format – jumping ship, and working with the new publishers on the block who offer them a fairer piece of the pie.

What else has changed?

We are now often at 50% or more of total books sold for a particular title. When e-book royalties were first set at 25%, e-books were a fraction of the market (please refer to the many analyses that have been done over the years on the growth of the e-book industry). E-books are no longer a fringe subsidiary right but an essential format, just like print paperback and hardcover. I would even argue that e-book is the predominant format in the US, because, regardless of whether a book is published in hard cover, soft cover or in print at all, you can bet that practically every single US publisher acquiring rights to a new book today, will be releasing it as an e-book. The e-book format is the one guaranteed format for all of our future books. It has arguably swallowed up the custom of multiple print formats. In other words, whatever the print format for your first publication of a book may be, the future will see e-book as your second and possibly the only other format for your book. This is a major industry shift that has happened this year and publishers are now debating how best to handle it. Does this mean that we should only publish in Hard Cover and E-books or just Trade paperback and e-books? Forget about mass market! What we are seeing here is clearly an industry shift. This is a changed industry. Industry standards have changed.

Now what about the problems our publishers face if they admit to this change? Should we care?

I say yes, because, when we all agreed to these delightful industry standard clauses, we neglected to realize how we were painting ourselves into a corner. As Paul Aiken from The Author’s Guild pointed out in his article “Inertia, unfortunately, is embedded in the contractual landscape. If the publisher were to offer more equitable e-royalties in new contracts, it would ripple through much of the publisher’s catalog: most major trade publishers have thousands of contracts that require an automatic adjustment or renegotiation of e-book royalties if the publisher starts offering better terms… Given these substantial collateral costs, publishers will continue to strongly resist changes to their e-book royalties for new books.”

Should we then accept the status quo and abandon hope of ever effecting change with the big publishers?

This is not a solution because, by not demanding change, we not only create an unfair structure for our authors, we also allow authors to more easily abandon traditional publishers when we know this means losing out on the editorial, marketing and publishing help that these professionals do so well when they try.

Many have examined the e-book royalty math extensively and so I will only say that we must look at the origins of the Hard Cover 15% of list royalty. How did publishers, agents and authors come up with this percentage? Well, when you deduct the discount given to booksellers off the list price and the cost of producing a print book, half of the remaining proceeds roughly comes to 15% list. In other words, 50% net.

Consequently, the concept of offering 50% of the revenue is a long standing industry standard for Hard Cover royalties.

What is the solution?

Let’s take another look at Hard Cover royalties. While the lucky few are able to get a straight 15% hard cover royalty for their authors, this has not become the industry standard. Escalators are the standard and it is in escalators that we find the solution to the e-book royalty dilemma. With escalators, we can at last accommodate books whose sales do not justify a big piece of the pie and should stay at 25% as well as rewarding those authors whose major sales are happening in e-books. Escalators would allow everyone, including the authors and creators of the work, to share in success once the justified overhead costs are amortized.

This should be our new industry standard for e-books and it should not cause a massive shift in revenue for our publishers except for books that have earned it.

Now is the time to call our publishers and let them know. Remember that clause about e-book industry standards changing? Well now they have. That time is now.

Let me know what you think. Send me a Tweet at either @jvnla or @digitaar

*********************

As Vice President of JVNLA [Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency], Jennifer Weltz has sold books domestically, internationally, and for film for nearly two decades. Coming from a mediation background, Jennifer sees herself as a liaison between her author and the editor and publishing house that acquire her author’s work. This role takes on a myriad of forms — business manager, confidant, task master, preliminary editor, and matchmaker — to name a few. Since Jennifer takes up an author’s career and not just a project, she is very careful and selective about signing on new authors.