No, I’m not. Making money off my blog, that is. Not that the thought isn’t tempting, but I’m way too lazy to even attempt to drum up the sort of following that it would require to even make adware worthwhile. And I’m quite happy to not spam friends and family.
I have “promoted” stuff on my blogs before—websites, books that I liked, possibly kitchen gadgets or stores that I like. I’ve never been asked to do so. I’ve received free books from contests on other websites, and possibly posted good reviews of them here. But I’ve never been asked or volunteered to do so. If I like something and feel like writing about it, I do. That’s that.
Now, the FTC is considering enforcing new rules that bloggers, like journalists, have to disclose if they’re being compensated.
Its an interesting problem that I’ve been trying to wrap my mind around. Most bloggers aren’t journalists. They don’t promote themselves as being some sort of “unbiased” reporting agency. I would bet that the vast majority of all bloggers are folks like me who write about personal experiences for their own benefit and to share information with friends and family. I think that the bloggers who make an actual living (or even pin money) off of their blogs are the tiniest minority.
But it certainly could affect some of us. I can name a small handful of bloggers who review books on their blogs. They tend to be writers, and usually I gather that they personally know the authors of the books they’re reviewing. I know my RWA chapter has a program where we line up an in-chapter reviewer for members’ new releases. I have not participated in that yet due to timing, but it would involve receiving a free copy of the new release to read (sometimes a print book, an ARC, an e-book, or sometimes a printout of a manuscript, depending on the timing of the review and the release). Would we have to disclose that freebie as “compensation”? Probably.
Do I think that its right to enforce that bloggers disclose compensation or conflicts of interest? Maybe, or maybe not. In real life (the disconnected, person-to-person kind), talking up yourself or your company is called “networking”. Sometimes “self promotion”. And even things like wearing a polo shirt with a company logo is advertisement. We aren’t required to tattoo the word “Advertisement” across our foreheads when we do things like that. Should it be different online, on personal space? If I understand things correctly, the FTC thinks it should. Posting the name of your business or product would require you to state somewhere that you have been compensated or have a personal interest.
There is a fuzzy line where a blog looks like someone’s personal space, but is full of obvious product placement. And even the newspaper reviews books, movies, travel destinations, and products. Are newspaper reporters given free books to review by an author? I think so. And do they explicitly label their reviews with “advertisement”? Not that I’ve seen.
And then there are the not-so-subtle product placements in movies. Camera close-ups of branded soda cans, or whole scenes that take place in real-life restaurants or stores. Are those types of placements paid for by the companies? Undoubtedly. Do they have a flashing “advertisement” sign over them? Nope. Are consumers fooled? Gosh I hope not.
What am I missing in this discussion? Any thoughts? Should bloggers who get freebies or payment have to state it upfront in their blogs?
Monday, June 29, 2009
Thursday, June 25, 2009
E-books and readers
There is a lot of discussion about e-book pricing going on in the news and the blogsphere. I’ve weighed in, recently even, on my other blog about e-book readers. I don’t own one.
I like them. I really do. I’ve fondled a couple, but they always go right back on the store shelf, right next to their $300 price tag.
I’m not a market analyst or a business expert in publishing. I’m not even a published author. Right now, I’m just a consumer. Not only a consumer, but one who probably buys 25-50 books a year, and reads at least that many, or more. Not counting childrens books (if I were to count those, we’re in the hundreds—my kiddos love books). My bookshelves are overflowing, and my library card is as well-loved as my credit card.
All of this might make an analyst think I’m a good candidate for an e-book reader. But they miss the mark.
First of all, e-book readers are expensive. Second, the e-books are expensive. There is no bargain table where I can get last season’s bestsellers for 40% off. And the regular rack is full, hardcover price. Minus the hardcover. For $24.99, I don’t get beautiful, full-color artwork, or crisp paper. I don’t get a tome that I can save for years, or loan to other readers. I can’t resell it. I can’t have an author autograph it. I am, for all intents and purposes, renting the words. I can read them. Once. Maybe a few times if I don’t lose or break my electronic reader, and don’t lose my backed up files on my computer. Can I even back up e-books? What about DRM? If my reader dies and I haven’t read 20 books, are they lost and gone forever? And how does the library fit into this picture? (I’m assuming the children’s book discussion will need to wait for a color e-ink-like technology to hit the markets.)
For $24.99, I can buy 3-5 paperback books. Paperbacks with full color art. That can be shared, loaned, possibly resold, kept for years. They can be signed. They can still be lost, burned, or mildewed. But they won’t get zapped in a lightning storm, or by being dropped by a 2-year old, and if my reading glasses break, they don’t take a whole library with them. And I don’t have to pay $300 for a device to read them in the first place.
I would be all over that $300, space-saving, e-published-enabled device if the book price made up for it. If after 25 or 50 books, the device would have paid for itself. But it doesn’t.
I understand publishers’ reluctance to lower their prices. A traditional print publisher still must recoup the costs for the artwork, the page layout, the product placement, the shipping, the paper and ink. And I doubt they’re printing fewer hardcovers because they expect e-books to pick up the slack. If I could hazard a guess, I’d say they’re printing almost as many, and getting slightly more returns of unsold books as a few buyers opt for digital. A book that is e-published only does not have many of the same costs, so they can be produced for less money, and more of it shared with the author. But a book that is traditionally priced, with e-publishing added as an afterthought would have to be priced like a hardcover to make the publisher money.
This is where the publishers are missing the boat. They will sell more e-books if they price them lower. Possibly a LOT more e-books. Instead of e-books being a little bonus money on top of the print sales, they need to consider the hardcovers to be a premium. Their bread-and-butter needs to be electronic, not print. Some readers, myself included, will continue to pay more money for a nicely-bound, beautifully made, re-usable, durable, print book. So offer it to us with a heftier price tag. I spent $100 on a leather-bound Tales of Beadle the Bard by JK Rowling (its beautiful, btw, and worth the money as a conversation piece)
As a reader, I usually only buy hardcovers of books that I know I want to keep and re-read. I pay discount paperback prices for books that will be a short-lived diversion. Make it worth my while financially to buy my diversion-books electronically, and publishers will save themselves the costs of printing, shipping, and mulching books. And maybe, they might find that there’s a little profit to be made in it.
I like them. I really do. I’ve fondled a couple, but they always go right back on the store shelf, right next to their $300 price tag.
I’m not a market analyst or a business expert in publishing. I’m not even a published author. Right now, I’m just a consumer. Not only a consumer, but one who probably buys 25-50 books a year, and reads at least that many, or more. Not counting childrens books (if I were to count those, we’re in the hundreds—my kiddos love books). My bookshelves are overflowing, and my library card is as well-loved as my credit card.
All of this might make an analyst think I’m a good candidate for an e-book reader. But they miss the mark.
First of all, e-book readers are expensive. Second, the e-books are expensive. There is no bargain table where I can get last season’s bestsellers for 40% off. And the regular rack is full, hardcover price. Minus the hardcover. For $24.99, I don’t get beautiful, full-color artwork, or crisp paper. I don’t get a tome that I can save for years, or loan to other readers. I can’t resell it. I can’t have an author autograph it. I am, for all intents and purposes, renting the words. I can read them. Once. Maybe a few times if I don’t lose or break my electronic reader, and don’t lose my backed up files on my computer. Can I even back up e-books? What about DRM? If my reader dies and I haven’t read 20 books, are they lost and gone forever? And how does the library fit into this picture? (I’m assuming the children’s book discussion will need to wait for a color e-ink-like technology to hit the markets.)
For $24.99, I can buy 3-5 paperback books. Paperbacks with full color art. That can be shared, loaned, possibly resold, kept for years. They can be signed. They can still be lost, burned, or mildewed. But they won’t get zapped in a lightning storm, or by being dropped by a 2-year old, and if my reading glasses break, they don’t take a whole library with them. And I don’t have to pay $300 for a device to read them in the first place.
I would be all over that $300, space-saving, e-published-enabled device if the book price made up for it. If after 25 or 50 books, the device would have paid for itself. But it doesn’t.
I understand publishers’ reluctance to lower their prices. A traditional print publisher still must recoup the costs for the artwork, the page layout, the product placement, the shipping, the paper and ink. And I doubt they’re printing fewer hardcovers because they expect e-books to pick up the slack. If I could hazard a guess, I’d say they’re printing almost as many, and getting slightly more returns of unsold books as a few buyers opt for digital. A book that is e-published only does not have many of the same costs, so they can be produced for less money, and more of it shared with the author. But a book that is traditionally priced, with e-publishing added as an afterthought would have to be priced like a hardcover to make the publisher money.
This is where the publishers are missing the boat. They will sell more e-books if they price them lower. Possibly a LOT more e-books. Instead of e-books being a little bonus money on top of the print sales, they need to consider the hardcovers to be a premium. Their bread-and-butter needs to be electronic, not print. Some readers, myself included, will continue to pay more money for a nicely-bound, beautifully made, re-usable, durable, print book. So offer it to us with a heftier price tag. I spent $100 on a leather-bound Tales of Beadle the Bard by JK Rowling (its beautiful, btw, and worth the money as a conversation piece)
As a reader, I usually only buy hardcovers of books that I know I want to keep and re-read. I pay discount paperback prices for books that will be a short-lived diversion. Make it worth my while financially to buy my diversion-books electronically, and publishers will save themselves the costs of printing, shipping, and mulching books. And maybe, they might find that there’s a little profit to be made in it.
Monday, June 22, 2009
When geeks mate
The Laws of Physics aren't very practical. A truly frictionless surface wouldn't be any fun.
--Quote from my husband this weekend. Immediately followed by very childish giggles from the both of us.
Context:
My husband and I are both software enginners, and many of our friends have computer, engineering, math, or science backgrounds. As the joke goes, when everyone's sober, conversations focus on sex. As the beer flows, talk turns to physics.
Occasionally, obviously, we manage to combine the two....
Monday, June 8, 2009
Inspiration sources
What are you reading? Are you reading? Do other writers read while they write?
I do. I need you, books, like water, like breath, like rain. Ok, that was cheesy. Velveeta even.
I've been reading quite a bit lately. Off the top of my head, here are a few of the titles I've made it through this spring:
The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
Pursuit by Karen Robards
One Real Cowboy by Jeanette Kenney
To Sir Phillip, With Love by Julia Quinn
Every Breath You Take by Hope Tarr
Real Estate Investing for Dummies
Trends? Um, they're all printed on paper....Seriously, I've got a Blaze, romantic suspense, historical fiction (with only minor romantic sub-plots), historical romance...
And today, I scanned my Amazon wish list. Besides the fact that some of my entries have been there since 2000 (nope, that's not a typo), it shows the same variation. About 1/3 of the list are Latin American lit similar to what I read for my Spanish degree in college. And there's a nice collection of professional cooking textbooks in there. And lots of newer releases.
Gee, no wonder I can't decide on a single genre to write. My idea "file" (half of which is purely synaptic and not even digital) runs the gamut from womens' lit to sci fi to historical romance to both light and dark paranormal.
My point? I'm not sure. But, to keep this (loosely) writing related, I am getting closer to the end of draft #1 on my sci fi romance, currently between 70-75k words and counting. And Karen Robards got my thoughts going on the romantic suspense that I put on hold last fall. And I keep popping back to the re-write of my intro to my Contemporary Single title. Then there was a novella idea I had....
I do. I need you, books, like water, like breath, like rain. Ok, that was cheesy. Velveeta even.
I've been reading quite a bit lately. Off the top of my head, here are a few of the titles I've made it through this spring:
The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
Pursuit by Karen Robards
One Real Cowboy by Jeanette Kenney
To Sir Phillip, With Love by Julia Quinn
Every Breath You Take by Hope Tarr
Real Estate Investing for Dummies
Trends? Um, they're all printed on paper....Seriously, I've got a Blaze, romantic suspense, historical fiction (with only minor romantic sub-plots), historical romance...
And today, I scanned my Amazon wish list. Besides the fact that some of my entries have been there since 2000 (nope, that's not a typo), it shows the same variation. About 1/3 of the list are Latin American lit similar to what I read for my Spanish degree in college. And there's a nice collection of professional cooking textbooks in there. And lots of newer releases.
Gee, no wonder I can't decide on a single genre to write. My idea "file" (half of which is purely synaptic and not even digital) runs the gamut from womens' lit to sci fi to historical romance to both light and dark paranormal.
My point? I'm not sure. But, to keep this (loosely) writing related, I am getting closer to the end of draft #1 on my sci fi romance, currently between 70-75k words and counting. And Karen Robards got my thoughts going on the romantic suspense that I put on hold last fall. And I keep popping back to the re-write of my intro to my Contemporary Single title. Then there was a novella idea I had....
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