I wish I could have been a fly on the wall at the Digital Book World Conference last week as Data Guy made his presentation. He brings data to a world still stuck in the 19th century. As I read reports of the reaction to his presentation, I saw continual insistence that publishing is about […]
Continue ReadingWhat a fascinating few weeks I’ve had. At the end of May, I hit most of my major writing deadlines. I’m turning my attention to short stories and to a massive project I’m doing for Baen Books, under the unwieldy title Tough Mothers, Great Dames, and Warrior Princesses: Classic Stories By Women in Science Fiction. […]
Continue ReadingLet’s start with some really cool statistics. The first is reliable. It’s based on daily data received from 70 million retail locations all over the United States. Here it is: In the first quarter of 2013, brick-and-mortar bookstores saw a 27% increase in foot traffic over the same period in 2012. Combine that with the […]
Continue ReadingIf you read mainstream publishing news, like I do, occasionally your head will explode. Or you’ll run around in a panic, turning into one of those long-haired barefoot New Yorker cartoon characters, carrying a sign saying that the world is about to end. For many in traditional publishing, the world is ending. Their clout is […]
Continue ReadingThe Business Rusch: Competition Kristine Kathryn Rusch Just a few years ago, traditional publishers had a monopoly. They controlled the distribution of books. This meant that the publishers dictated terms to booksellers and they dictated terms to writers. What resulted was what happens whenever anyone controls a marketplace: lots of nasty business practices, lots […]
Continue ReadingThe Business Rusch: The Book Trade Kristine Kathryn Rusch It’s amazing how hindsight makes things clearer. Actually, the changes in publishing have brought a lot of things into focus for me. Then I think about those things, and remember conversations or moments when I felt simply astounded at something, but let it pass, not […]
Continue ReadingThe Business Rusch: Bestseller Lists and Other Thoughts Kristine Kathryn Rusch On Tuesday, in my morning business reading, I came across a rather startling statistic: the claim that it only took 20,000 sales of paper books to hit the paper bestseller lists. I’m also assuming the statistic means paper; it might mean that it takes […]
Continue ReadingThe Business Rusch: Modern Writer Survival Skills (Changing Times Part Eighteen) Kristine Kathryn Rusch I was going to title this installment “Beginning Writers Part Three,” but I think that title is too exclusive. Because all writers are going to need the skill sets I’m going to describe below to get through these changes in publishing. […]
Continue ReadingThe Business Rusch: Rapid Change (Changing Times Part Twelve) Kristine Kathryn Rusch Back when I wrote my first post on the changing times in publishing in October, I said that changes were happening so quickly that I knew some of what I wrote at the beginning of the series might not be relevant at the […]
Continue ReadingThe Business Rusch: The Nimble Presses (Changing Times Part Five) Kristine Kathryn Rusch Last week, I wrote about how I believe e-publishing will save Big Publishing and got a lot of great comments. I also got some private letters accusing me of being a “defender” of Big Publisher, a “shill” for Big Publishing, and a […]
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