QueryTracker Blog

Helping Authors Find Literary Agents

Friday, May 3, 2013

Publishing Pulse for May 2nd, 2013



New At QueryTracker:


This week we've added one new agent profile and updated two. Publishing is a fluid industry, so always make sure you double-check every agent's website or Publisher's Marketplace page before sending your query.

If you're a QueryTracker premium member, then you can be notified whenever an agent or publisher profile is added or updated. If you're not a premium member, you can just check for yourself.

Today is Good Friday for Orthodox Christians. If you're celebrating the Easter holidays, have a peaceful and holy weekend.

Publishing News:

Hachette will now make its ebooks available to libraries.

Amazon's first quarter sales are up 22% while net income is down.

One year later...TOR announces the results of going DRM-free. No discernible increase in piracy. 

Around the Blogosphere:

The problem with "revealing" information that's already been revealed in your back cover copy.

11 signs you're meant to be a writer.

Wrinkles in time: how to handle flashbacks.

Closure and stakes for your character.

A judge for a literary contest shares the most common error in novels.

Literary Quote of the Week:


"The difficulty of literature is not to write, but to write what you mean."
- Robert Louis Stevenson


Thanks for stopping by, and keep sending those queries!

---
Jane Lebak is the author of The Wrong Enemy. She has four kids, three cats, two books in print, and one husband. She lives in the Swamp and spends her time either writing books or knitting socks. At Seven Angels, Four Kids, One Family, she blogs about what happens when a distracted daydreamer and a gamer geek attempt to raise four kids. If you want to make her rich and famous, please contact the riveting Roseanne Wells of the Jennifer DeChiara Literary Agency. 

2 comments:

CricketB said...

Baen Books has been DRM-free for years, and they carry multiple file formats. Their prediction and experience has been the same as Tor's.

Baen even takes it one step further. They have a free library. Free as in no money for books from Nebula and Hugo award-winning authors. It started in 2000.

http://www.baen.com/library/intro.asp

Their feeling is that even with paper books, most readers borrow from the library or a friend. If those readers enjoy the book, they become buyers and tell their friends.

Usually, authors will submit early books in a series, or books with a significant anniversary, or short stories. The books stay free as long as the author likes. Availability also depends on other contracts the author has signed.

Jane Lebak said...

Thanks, Cricket. For some reason Baen's experience isn't garnering hte publicity that TOR's has. I don't get it either.

I agree that books sell more books. When you're buying a gift for someone, if it's a book, it's probably one you've read already and know is a good book. If the giveaway results in one sale, the author's broken even, and if there's a second sale, the author's ahead of the game. That's on a very small scale, but you can see how it would play out over the longer term.