The Alliance of Authors

Posted on January 10, 2012 by Harry Freedman

It used to be said that everyone has a novel sitting in a drawer, waiting to be published. Well not any more. These days everyone has a novel, or three or five, sitting in Amazon’s Kindle Store or on Smashwords. Which is great for all those with literary pretensions. Unless they want people to notice their novel.

New independent authors can hardly contain their excitement. Suddenly they can publish what they want, when they want, without fear of rejection or criticism. They dream of hitting the best seller lists, of giving acceptance speeches at major prize givings, they are liberated by the thought of being able to spend the rest of their lives writing for a living. We live to write as my friend O.G. Tomes reminds me Continue reading →

Why I’m not worried by ebook piracy

Posted on January 3, 2012 by Harry Freedman

It seems that ebooks have become the latest creative medium to be hit by digital piracy. According to one report, ebook publishing is being undermined by pirates in the same way that the music industry has been. Books which retail on Amazon and elsewhere for up to $15 are being given away free by bootleggers.

I have to say that as an ebook author and publisher I am not very concerned about this. On the one hand some ebooks cost too much anyway, principally because of an agreement (which is now being investigated by the European Union) between six major publishers. It seems that these publishers are trying to protect their traditional print businesses by making it uneconomical for people to buy digital editions. Well, if that’s what they are really up to, having their books pirated serves them right. Continue reading →

The Big Boys Are Here- Why Independent Publishers Need To Collaborate

Posted on December 8, 2011 by Harry Freedman

Independent publishers shouldn’t overlook this week’s announcement that the European Commission is to investigate ebook price fixing by Apple and five major publishers. The implication is that the agreement between the publishers and Apple has forced up the prices of e-books in Europe, leading to higher profits for the publishers and book sellers.

You might think this is good news for independent publishers. After all, if mainstream publishers have hiked their prices, then we have a competitive advantage- we can set much lower prices. But it doesn’t work like that. If ebook prices in Europe are high, there is less incentive for people to buy ebook readers. And if sales of ebook readers are sluggish, then the market for independent publishers is smaller, and we sell less.

So the investigation by the European Commission is important for independents. As is the class action lawsuit launched against Apple and the same five publishers in the Northern District of California earlier this summer. After all, we want as big an ebook market as we can get, worldwide. Continue reading →