You know I've never been very good at introductions. My answer to "Who are you?" is usually "Me, duh. I don't have to define myself." But that doesn't help you aut very much does it? I am hardly going to be able to convery every aspect of myself on a wee little blog. Heck if I even know half of my possible facets (is that a word? Oh well. It is now)Therefore I will greet you with telling you who I am as a writer. Sicne, you know, this is a writing blog.
Mostly I write fantasy. Actually scratch the mostly. Every once in a while I get an idea that doesn't involve fighting over the rulership of kingdoms or the fey folk or dragons but once I touch my pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) magic takes over and I have another fairy story on my hands. I can't help it. I think I have pixie dust in my blood. Also never ask me to stay in one character's head the whole time. i think i have protagonist ADD. There are always so many interesting perspectives to tell a story from.
That being said I read pretty much anything and so, while I will sometimes ramble about folklore, medivial history and how novel writing is really just a continuation of the ancient art of poetry, you may also hear tangents about murder mysteries and Russian literature.
Oh and my name is Taryn. Taryn Tyler *lowers shades over eyes and looks all cool and spy like * (yeah I know, that was backwards and I don't even wear shades)
But enough about me. I want to know all about the lovely readers I will be brainwashing *ehem* --blogging for. How do you usually answer the question "Who are you?" What do you read? What do you write?
And before I go thank you Allirati for granting me access to your secret society! (oh the power mwhahahahahahahHA!)
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
We interrupt our regular programming to bring you this bulletin ....
So Apple's being sued for price fixing, along with five of the Big Six publishers -- HarperCollins Publishers, Hachette Book Group, Macmillan Publishers, Penguin Group Inc. and Simon & Schuster. The class action lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court in Northern California by a Seattle-based consumer rights firm, claims that the named companies "colluded" on book prices in order to force Amazon to change its own pricing model.
You can read a more detailed story over at GeekWire if you're interested, by the way, since I'm not going into tremendous background here. And I've written about the Agency Model of eBook pricing before as well, in the July issue of Independent Publisher magazine, which is another topic I'm not going to delve too deeply into.
Now, I haven't read the text of the filing itself, but the press release the law firm (Hagens Berman) put out clearly states their position that Apple and the named publishers made a backroom deal with each other to force Amazon -- here portrayed as the champion of the consumer -- to raise prices on its eBooks rather than face windowing of the electronic versions of the title. The suit also claims that Amazon's business practices were eating away at the publisher's business model.
Steve Berman, one of the founding partners of Hagens Berman, goes so far as to mention that an eBook of The Kite Runner is $12.99 while the paperback is $8.82. Pretty big price difference right? Enough to make you angry?
Well here's the problem -- Berman conveniently leaves out the fact that the list price of the paperback copy of The Kite Runner is $16.00. So that $8.82 Berman mentions? Yeah, it comes down to the traditional discounting of books by retailers. This is particularly striking in Amazon's case because of the wholesale discount they get on physical books (which I think is 50% off the list price).
Looking at it with a comparison of list price to list price, the eBook of The Kite Runner is sold at a price that's $3 less than the paperback version. But of course, this discounting of books by Amazon in order to drive sales isn't even mentioned. Berman makes much of Amazon being "pro-consumer" and proclaims loudly that Apple and its publisher cronies were terrified of Amazon's dominance and so needed a way to stymie competition. Essentially, Berman is painting Amazon as a friend to the consumer and saying that the Big Bad Publishers are profit mongers who want to destroy all competition to their bloated and outdated business model.
I have one honest to goodness question for Mr. Berman and his lead plaintiffs -- Anthony Petru and Marcus Mathis -- though: Why did they wait so long to file a lawsuit?
The Agency Model has been in place for more than a year. I know it takes awhile to prepare a case, but for something this big you'd expect the filing to come much sooner than 20 months out. The only thing I can think of is that the firm needed time to make absolutely certain they had a case and didn't end up sounding frivolous taking on such massive companies.
Because see here's the thing: eBook sales have been on the rise in the 20 months since the agency model took effect. Sure, it's a case of these 5 publishers controlling 85% of the market of new titles, but the funny thing about consumers is that they won't file lawsuits to change things most of the time -- they'll go buy something else if they don't agree with the price. I've seen this happen so often before that it's become something truer than the sunrise for me. Heck, when I worked for Sears I once had a woman refuse to buy a $200 jacket because she had to pay $1.57 worth of tax on it*.
The lesson of that story is that the consumer and not lawyers should determine how much something costs. If people didn't purchase eBooks at the $12.99 to $14.99 pricepoint then I can guarantee you that major publishing houses would've dropped the price back to $9.99 quicker than a $2 hooker. And to people who complain about the pricing of an eBook, I have it on good authority that many libraries offer eBooks that you can check out. Or ... gasp ... you could get a real book.
Most telling about the suit is that the firm acknowledges that Amazon used proprietary technology with its Kindle device to capture much of the market and drive prices down. However, it's Apple and the 5 publishers that are at fault for deciding free market competition was to be disallowed. Never mind the fact that the Kindle holds so much of the eBook market as to almost be a monopoly by itself. No, it's Apple and the 5 publishers that are creating a monopoly and discouraging free-market competition.
Riiight .... sure they are. By demanding that eBooks be priced at $9.99, I'd argue that it's Amazon who's discouraging free market competition. If the publishers want to set their prices higher for eBooks, I say let them do it. If consumers don't want to pay that price, then they won't pay it. It's a simple fact, and one that does not need to be put into a lawsuit.
What's your ta
* Clothes aren't taxed in Massachusetts, unless it's a single item that costs more than $175. The state calls that a "luxury item," and charges you tax on whatever dollar amount is over $175. The customer was being charged tax on $25 of coat.
You can read a more detailed story over at GeekWire if you're interested, by the way, since I'm not going into tremendous background here. And I've written about the Agency Model of eBook pricing before as well, in the July issue of Independent Publisher magazine, which is another topic I'm not going to delve too deeply into.
Now, I haven't read the text of the filing itself, but the press release the law firm (Hagens Berman) put out clearly states their position that Apple and the named publishers made a backroom deal with each other to force Amazon -- here portrayed as the champion of the consumer -- to raise prices on its eBooks rather than face windowing of the electronic versions of the title. The suit also claims that Amazon's business practices were eating away at the publisher's business model.
Steve Berman, one of the founding partners of Hagens Berman, goes so far as to mention that an eBook of The Kite Runner is $12.99 while the paperback is $8.82. Pretty big price difference right? Enough to make you angry?
Well here's the problem -- Berman conveniently leaves out the fact that the list price of the paperback copy of The Kite Runner is $16.00. So that $8.82 Berman mentions? Yeah, it comes down to the traditional discounting of books by retailers. This is particularly striking in Amazon's case because of the wholesale discount they get on physical books (which I think is 50% off the list price).
Looking at it with a comparison of list price to list price, the eBook of The Kite Runner is sold at a price that's $3 less than the paperback version. But of course, this discounting of books by Amazon in order to drive sales isn't even mentioned. Berman makes much of Amazon being "pro-consumer" and proclaims loudly that Apple and its publisher cronies were terrified of Amazon's dominance and so needed a way to stymie competition. Essentially, Berman is painting Amazon as a friend to the consumer and saying that the Big Bad Publishers are profit mongers who want to destroy all competition to their bloated and outdated business model.
I have one honest to goodness question for Mr. Berman and his lead plaintiffs -- Anthony Petru and Marcus Mathis -- though: Why did they wait so long to file a lawsuit?
The Agency Model has been in place for more than a year. I know it takes awhile to prepare a case, but for something this big you'd expect the filing to come much sooner than 20 months out. The only thing I can think of is that the firm needed time to make absolutely certain they had a case and didn't end up sounding frivolous taking on such massive companies.
Because see here's the thing: eBook sales have been on the rise in the 20 months since the agency model took effect. Sure, it's a case of these 5 publishers controlling 85% of the market of new titles, but the funny thing about consumers is that they won't file lawsuits to change things most of the time -- they'll go buy something else if they don't agree with the price. I've seen this happen so often before that it's become something truer than the sunrise for me. Heck, when I worked for Sears I once had a woman refuse to buy a $200 jacket because she had to pay $1.57 worth of tax on it*.
The lesson of that story is that the consumer and not lawyers should determine how much something costs. If people didn't purchase eBooks at the $12.99 to $14.99 pricepoint then I can guarantee you that major publishing houses would've dropped the price back to $9.99 quicker than a $2 hooker. And to people who complain about the pricing of an eBook, I have it on good authority that many libraries offer eBooks that you can check out. Or ... gasp ... you could get a real book.
Most telling about the suit is that the firm acknowledges that Amazon used proprietary technology with its Kindle device to capture much of the market and drive prices down. However, it's Apple and the 5 publishers that are at fault for deciding free market competition was to be disallowed. Never mind the fact that the Kindle holds so much of the eBook market as to almost be a monopoly by itself. No, it's Apple and the 5 publishers that are creating a monopoly and discouraging free-market competition.
Riiight .... sure they are. By demanding that eBooks be priced at $9.99, I'd argue that it's Amazon who's discouraging free market competition. If the publishers want to set their prices higher for eBooks, I say let them do it. If consumers don't want to pay that price, then they won't pay it. It's a simple fact, and one that does not need to be put into a lawsuit.
What's your ta
* Clothes aren't taxed in Massachusetts, unless it's a single item that costs more than $175. The state calls that a "luxury item," and charges you tax on whatever dollar amount is over $175. The customer was being charged tax on $25 of coat.
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Introducing ...
 |
| Well, hello there. This smile is for you. |
THANK YOU so much to the Alliterati for inviting me to join the Archives as a permanent member. It's like being invited to join a (not so) secret club and be part of the "cool kids."
To give you a little idea about who I am, I am a total nerd and proud of it. I absolutely adore the Harry Potter series. I reference it often. Can I get a "EXPECTO PATRONUM" from all the other fans out there? I have a husband (whom I call Hubs on the interwebs) and a cat, and we live a quiet life in the San Diego area.
I will post here at the Archives on Tuesdays, but you can also find me on Twitter (@keri_726) or on my blog Novel Beginnings. I don't have a set schedule on my personal blog, but I do try to post once a week. We have some fun ideas for the Archives (including an upcoming contest), so come back and visit us!
I would love to get to know you all too, so feel free to ask me any questions in the comments and tell me a little bit about YOU.
Monday, August 8, 2011
This is not my panic face. Also-- NEW! EXCITING! COMING NOW-ish!
August seems determined to be the month of trials. I'm determined to mean-mug my way through it. Whatever, August. You don't scare me.
In other excitements, you may remember that last week, Marie and I took turns announcing there would shortly be two new writers joining us here at the Archives. I'm very pleased to announce that we will be joined by Keriann Greaney Martin of Novel Beginnings and Taryn Tyler of Taliesen, two very extraordinary writers and very close friends of mine. Please join us in saying hello to Keri and Taryn this week and next, which we will celebrate with an awesome contest, and some happy dances. (Note: I will come back and edit this post to link to your blogs later, ladies! I can do just about anything from my phone, but much like Meatloaf, I can't do that). (Note note: post edited for linkage, but I've decided I like that line enough that I'm going to just leave it in there).
Hurrah! Stick around for more news, folks! It's only going to get awesomer from here!
Friday, August 5, 2011
Making up people
Once upon a long time ago, I went to college. All was fine and dandy until my friend and roommate discovered that I liked to write. Once that tidbit of info was out, she began to demand that I write her "really awesome stories" every day. I guess that she knew--before even I knew--that my calling in life was to be a writer. Not, as I proclaimed my freshman year, a lawyer or a diplomat or a psychologist. (Heck, writing encompasses all of that anyways, am I right?)
It had always been a passion, but I really started getting serious about writing in college largely due to the stories I opted to keep writing to please my roommate. (Best writing prompt ever? "Write me a story where I'm a beautiful princess and DON'T MAKE ME A DITZ.")
However, sometimes my dear friend saw herself in places where she was never meant to be. She has red hair, so when I wrote about a really mean person with red hair, she'd immediately ask, "Wait...is that me?!" She was also a biology major, so all mad scientists also got a "Hey! Is that me?!" Even if she was very obviously written as a beautiful princess, the antagonistic dragon I had in the background was pointed out with a "WHY'D YOU MAKE ME A LIZARD?"
Sigh.
The point is that despite any authorial intent, we may see ourselves in various characters from time to time whether it's flattering or not. And once our written work has passed into someone else's hands, whether it be a crit partner, beta reader, agent, editor or a someone who got your book for their birthday, people will start seeing themselves in YOUR characters. Exciting, right?
Of course there are thousands of ways to get inspiration for characters (I'm gonna leave this link right here so don't blame me if you click on it and wake up four hours later from your trope-coma: CHARACTERS) But how you come up with your characters--whether it be from personal inspiration or, like Athena, they pop out of your godlike-head fully formed--is a completely personal process.
Any cool character stories? How did you come up with your hero or your villain? Are they an amalgamation of every awful gym teacher you've ever had or a thinly veiled college roommate or someone completely new? Let's hear it!
True story*: The Rise of the Planet of the Apes was based off of Romeo and Juliet. James Franco and Shakespeare were roommates in college.
*this is not a true story
It had always been a passion, but I really started getting serious about writing in college largely due to the stories I opted to keep writing to please my roommate. (Best writing prompt ever? "Write me a story where I'm a beautiful princess and DON'T MAKE ME A DITZ.")
However, sometimes my dear friend saw herself in places where she was never meant to be. She has red hair, so when I wrote about a really mean person with red hair, she'd immediately ask, "Wait...is that me?!" She was also a biology major, so all mad scientists also got a "Hey! Is that me?!" Even if she was very obviously written as a beautiful princess, the antagonistic dragon I had in the background was pointed out with a "WHY'D YOU MAKE ME A LIZARD?"
Sigh.
The point is that despite any authorial intent, we may see ourselves in various characters from time to time whether it's flattering or not. And once our written work has passed into someone else's hands, whether it be a crit partner, beta reader, agent, editor or a someone who got your book for their birthday, people will start seeing themselves in YOUR characters. Exciting, right?
Of course there are thousands of ways to get inspiration for characters (I'm gonna leave this link right here so don't blame me if you click on it and wake up four hours later from your trope-coma: CHARACTERS) But how you come up with your characters--whether it be from personal inspiration or, like Athena, they pop out of your godlike-head fully formed--is a completely personal process.
Any cool character stories? How did you come up with your hero or your villain? Are they an amalgamation of every awful gym teacher you've ever had or a thinly veiled college roommate or someone completely new? Let's hear it!
True story*: The Rise of the Planet of the Apes was based off of Romeo and Juliet. James Franco and Shakespeare were roommates in college.
*this is not a true story
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Multiple Balls in the Air, Or Why Multi-Tasking is Essential
If y'all happen to follow me anywhere on the Internet, then you've probably seen the dozens of announcements I've been making about Doctor Fantastique's Show of Wonders moving from being a web-only ezine to also having a print edition. Along with that, I'm moving house this week to a larger place that HHTM are hoping to stay in for a few years. And then there's also the freelance writing I've been getting deeper into what with publications in The Maine Sunday Telegram, The Salem News, my column in Independent Publisher magazine and a whole bunch of other stuff as well.
So yeah, the life of Matthew. It is busy.
All that said, I find myself extremely invigorated (and yes a tad overwhelmed) will all the craziness going on in my life. My days are pretty much chock-full of stuff to do after I get out of the dayjob, and even on weekends I find that I can't really spend the time to lay about the house because OMG THERE'S SO MUCH TO DO!!
I'm trying to fit in working on my fiction (so far I'm failing in that regard), and I find that managing to get everything done I need to get done becomes harder and harder on more days than others. My answer to this is quickly becoming developing a schedule around my dayjob, cleaning, and spending time with HHTM during the evening hours.
Of course I also luck out because dayjob has some dead time during the day where I can work on editing, writing, and whatever other random tasks I need a computer for. Having a netbook as a secondary computer also helps in that regard, because when I'm doing laundry at home I can sit on the couch downstairs and do some work while I'm waiting for the washer or dryer to finish. I also tend to have the netbook powered on and in the kitchen while I'm cooking dinner -- yes, I'm tied to my computer I know.
It's quickly coming to the point where I need to actually write a schedule out for my time when I get home from work. That'll probably end up seeing me get more done, but I'll see how that works out after HHTM and I move this weekend.
How do you handle your to-do list?
So yeah, the life of Matthew. It is busy.
All that said, I find myself extremely invigorated (and yes a tad overwhelmed) will all the craziness going on in my life. My days are pretty much chock-full of stuff to do after I get out of the dayjob, and even on weekends I find that I can't really spend the time to lay about the house because OMG THERE'S SO MUCH TO DO!!
I'm trying to fit in working on my fiction (so far I'm failing in that regard), and I find that managing to get everything done I need to get done becomes harder and harder on more days than others. My answer to this is quickly becoming developing a schedule around my dayjob, cleaning, and spending time with HHTM during the evening hours.
Of course I also luck out because dayjob has some dead time during the day where I can work on editing, writing, and whatever other random tasks I need a computer for. Having a netbook as a secondary computer also helps in that regard, because when I'm doing laundry at home I can sit on the couch downstairs and do some work while I'm waiting for the washer or dryer to finish. I also tend to have the netbook powered on and in the kitchen while I'm cooking dinner -- yes, I'm tied to my computer I know.
It's quickly coming to the point where I need to actually write a schedule out for my time when I get home from work. That'll probably end up seeing me get more done, but I'll see how that works out after HHTM and I move this weekend.
How do you handle your to-do list?
Monday, August 1, 2011
Excited Excited Excited
There's a lot going on at Casa L.T., folks. Man.
Right now I'm all hopped up on lemonade and Ben and Jerry's. Otherwise I'd be a melty puddle of anxious. There's so much coming up this week that I can't even seem to think straight, which is awesome, because I only have twenty kids I need to herd around a 900-acre zoo for seven hours a day.
But I'm actually ridiculously excited right now, aside from even the lemonade and ice cream. Why? Because we have two new writers joining us here at the Archives, of course! We will do their official introduction soon, but right now let's just say... you will LOVE them. Also, in case you hadn't noticed, K.M. Criddle gave us a brand-spankin' new look that's pretty sharp, if I say so myself. And we've got PLANS for the future. PLANS, I tell you!
All in all, things are looking pretty up-and-up around here! Stay tuned, Alliterati, and thanks so much for sticking with us through this bumpy ride called... life. Or something like that.
Right now I'm all hopped up on lemonade and Ben and Jerry's. Otherwise I'd be a melty puddle of anxious. There's so much coming up this week that I can't even seem to think straight, which is awesome, because I only have twenty kids I need to herd around a 900-acre zoo for seven hours a day.
But I'm actually ridiculously excited right now, aside from even the lemonade and ice cream. Why? Because we have two new writers joining us here at the Archives, of course! We will do their official introduction soon, but right now let's just say... you will LOVE them. Also, in case you hadn't noticed, K.M. Criddle gave us a brand-spankin' new look that's pretty sharp, if I say so myself. And we've got PLANS for the future. PLANS, I tell you!
All in all, things are looking pretty up-and-up around here! Stay tuned, Alliterati, and thanks so much for sticking with us through this bumpy ride called... life. Or something like that.
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