Tag: Castalia House

Mailvox: independent vs self-publishing

An anonymous author writes with an inquiry about the two primary publishing alternatives:

I’ve been following your posts about Castalia House with interest. In the comments to ‘A model comparison’ you mention the advantages of an author publishing through CH are “Awareness, editing, covers, endorsement, and not having to deal with all the business BS. Self-publishing will not suit at least 75 percent of authors.” I’m looking to publish three books later this year that would be nearly impossible to sell to traditional publishers, so even if I was okay with tradpub royalty arrangements, independent and self-publishing are my only real options. Given that, I’d be interested in reading a more detailed post on what one gains and loses with the different models, if you have the time and inclination to write it.

This is the right time to ask that question. But before we look at the advantages of publishing with us, let’s look at the three chief advantages of self-publishing, which are genuine and material.

  1. Keep all the royalty revenues. Amazon takes 30 percent plus a very small delivery fee that usually amounts to about 1.2 percent, so the self-publisher can realistically expect to make 68.5 percent of list on ebooks. That is twice what our novelists make on our standard agreement, (we offer 50 percent on all hardcovers and ebooks, which works out to 34.5 percent of list), and nearly three times what most writers will make from the independent publishers that offer 35 percent. For the sake of reference, it’s also 8.5625x what the traditional publishers pay on hardcovers. (Hardcovers are different; I will break down those numbers in a future post.)
  2. Complete control. The author can decide on his own cover, make his own editorial decisions, price the book as he sees fit, and publish the book according to his own schedule.
  3. Complete information. The author has direct access to the sales data.

Those three things are not nothing. I have nothing but respect for those who go the self-publishing route. That being said, I am certain that it is not the best route for the majority of writers who are good enough to interest independent publishers for the following eight reasons laid out at Castalia House.

There is no question that self-publishing is the optimal financial deal for those equipped to handle it. However, most writers are not equipped to properly handle it either materially or emotionally, observably tend to compromise on the production values in order to reduce their production costs, and will end up selling fewer copies than the breakeven point with independent publishing.

I fully support self-publishing. I think it is revolutionary and an unmitigated Good Thing. But I am aware that most authors, like me, would prefer to focus on writing rather than being distracted by running a publishing business. I chose to publish with Marcher Lord rather than self-publish and I would still happily be doing so if Marcher Lord had not been purchased. So, as a consequence, Castalia House has been set up to be the most author-friendly independent publisher that this author believes it is possible for a publishing house to be.

But there is no need to take my word for it. I recommend talking to our authors and asking them about their experience working with us. I believe you will find they do not regret their decisions to do so. One agent asked me how an author could possibly know his sales numbers when we were not contractually obligated to disclose them for a period of several months. He was a little surprised when I pointed out that the contract was our minimal obligation and it happens to suit us to periodically exceed that obligation so that our authors can know exactly how well their books are doing, and to know when they exceed certain objectives.

CH requests

Three things. First of all, I’d like to find ten volunteers who would like to review my forthcoming short story collection: The Altar of Hate. It’s a 40k-word collection that consists of 10 shorts, including stories from the old EW site, the two stories published in Stupefying Stories,
and a new story that is a Maupassant-flavored one set in the QM universe. The collection will be published
later this month. If interested, email me with ALTAR in the subject. [We have the 10 volunteers, thanks.]

Second,
and more important, I’d like to hear from five homeschooling mothers
who would be willing to beta test our forthcoming Astronomy curricula. [We’re good on the beta testers too, thanks to all who volunteered. Expect the files in about a month or so.] We
sent it to one Very Important homeschooling figure, who informed us that
we had “put together a top-notch astronomy curriculum”, liked how we
“start out with the basics like algebra and metrics”, and recommended
that we “emphasize the large amount of hands-on lab work” involved.

We
also have other curricula in the works, including Newtonian Physics and
Economics. We hope to publish two of them before the start of school
this fall, but we will definitely get the Astronomy curriculum out this summer,
so keep it in mind as you are putting together your plans for the next
school year. We plan to price the curricula at $49.99 in ebook form. If
you’re interested, please email me with ASTRONOMY in the subject.

And
finally, there are no shortage of History curricula available, but I’d like to find someone with either a PhD in a relevant subject or
O5+ rank to help me put together a high-quality Military History
curriculum. [And we’re good here too, thank you.]

An authorial announcement

Fresh on the heels of Castalia House’s release of Mr. Kratman’s latest military science fiction, another author joins the esoteric elite:

We are very pleased to announce that we will be publishing a select collection of John C. Wright’s insightful essays, entitled TRANSHUMAN AND SUBHUMAN: Essays on Science Fiction and Awful Truth, later this spring. Mr. Wright was a finalist for the 2005 Nebula Award for Best Novel and was described by Publisher’s Weekly as “this fledgling century’s most important new SF talent”.

Look for more announcements to come soon. We welcome submissions and have already found one new author with whom we intend to work in the future, so even if you’re an SFWA member, feel free to submit your work to us.

QUANTUM MORTIS The Programmed Mind

In addition to Big Boys Don’t Cry Castalia House also announced today QUANTUM MORTIS The Programmed Mind.  The book is set centuries before Chief Warrant Officer Graven Tower joined MCID-XAR, in a time when the
Greater Terran Ascendancy found itself facing a historic crisis after the
Shiva-class cruiser ATSV Rigel went missing during a routine patrol
through the Kantillon sector. Fortunately for the
Terran empire, the Ascendancy Intelligence Directorate’s top operative,
Daniela York, is on the scene. But is she capable of penetrating the
lethal plot perpetratd by House Dai Zhan’s ruthless assassins,
especially after the Directorate discovers the cyborgs of the
Man-Machine Integration may be involved? 
QUANTUM MORTIS The Programmed Mind is a literary remix of a
true SF classic and is a tightly plotted, intense spy
thriller that lays the deep historical foundation for the futuristic
science fiction world of Quantum Mortis.

I asked a serious fan of the original work upon which QM-TPM is based, The Programmed Man by Jean and Jeff Sutton, to share his thoughts on whether he felt the book lived up to the original, which was a childhood favorite of mine. After reading it, he replied:

“The trouble with “reboots” isn’t that they shouldn’t be done. I’m not terribly sure they can
be done. After all, Tolkien could not return to Middle Earth after Lord
of the Rings. Asimov tried to return to extend his colossal Foundation,
and failed galactically. I can list a score of other examples, and if
the original author is incapable, it seems evident that earnest
successors fare no better. Dune was not improved by re-visits by later
authors, nor was the Hyborian Age, and few Lovecraft pastiches come
anywhere close to the originals.

“That general observation is precisely why you’ll never catch me describing Quantum Mortis: The Programmed Mind with the epithet “reboot.”

“The Programmed Man is among the more memorable science
fiction novels of the New Wave that you have never
heard of. Despite its distribution though young adult book clubs following publication, it was poorly suited
for longevity in the minds of young readers due to its complexity of plot and
its emphasis on intrigue rather than action. The plot is a
galaxy-spanning game of enigmas and deception in the hunt for a lone
individual who may, (or may not), hold the fate of the decline of
humankind in his genes. An extra twist is added to the narrative
in that much of the truth to the labyrinthine plot is concealed in the
words of vested and unreliable witnesses. The book is a lot of things: a
spy novel, a mystery, a nuclear war novel, and a foray into game
theory.

“In The Programmed Man, the core cloak-and-dagger game
structure is analyzed intellectually, and teased out in tantalizing
packets of conversation. The novel’s new successor, Quantum Mortis: The Programmed Mind,
is an explosive action novel that uses the core game structure as the
tinderbox for galactic conflict. It raises the body count and explores
new territory: sexual differences and artificial intelligence, as well as human
origin, awareness and identity. It also just happens to lay some
fascinating and significant historic turning points set within Day’s
Quantum Mortis universe. If The Programmed Man reads like the secret dossier transcripts of the historic event, then Quantum Mortis: The Programmed Mind is the pulse-pounding eyewitness experience.

“Whereas
the typical marriage of public domain works and modern authorship seem
most often to result in those “Jane Austen plus Monsters” semi-parodies, Quantum Mortis: The Programmed Mind breaks new
ground, presenting itself instead as a sizzling collaboration between
two powerful science fiction voices of two different eras.”

From the early reviews:

” Think Hunt For Red October if it was told from Admiral Greer’s perspective instead of Jack Ryan’s.”

 “A great addition to the Quantum Mortis series, highly recommended.”

“Tight story telling. Interesting well thought-out characters… and a fascinating futuristic spy plot.”

Big Boys Don’t Cry by Tom Kratman

Castalia House today announced BIG BOYS DON’T CRY. Now available from Amazon, it is a novella from military science fiction author Tom Kratman, known for
A Desert Called Peace and the Carrera series. The novella follows the
life cycle of a Ratha, a sentient future supertank that dutifully fights
Man’s battles on dozens of alien worlds. But will the massive creature
still be grateful to its creators when it discovers it has a conscience?
And how long will an intelligent war machine with enough firepower to
flatten a city be content to remain Man’s obedient slave?

I asked Tom for his thoughts on the publication of BIG BOYS DON’T CRY:

“Not many people think of it this way, but the Boloverse, as in the late Keith Laumer’s Bolos and the spin-offs, is one of the most liberal themes in science fiction.  It’s especially funny precisely because almost nobody understands that it’s liberal.  Why do I say it’s liberal?  Because it’s all about the easy, certain, and reliable programming of altruistic values in sentient beings.  Brother, sister, that’s the penultimate CORE of liberalism.  Interestingly, since the stories can move even me, it suggests to me that we ALL have some liberal in us.

“Big Boys Don’t Cry isn’t a Bolo story, either in the special military technical details or in the theme.  What it is, though, is a deconstruction of that liberal meme on the easy, certain, and reliable programming of altruism in sentient beings.

“It’s also, I think, a pretty good story.”

From the early Amazon reviews:

“Colonel Kratman, the evil, cruel, soulless, right-wing, misogynistic, war
mongering, homophobe has gone and written a tale of loss and betrayal
and honor and redemption that broke my heart….”

“This is my first time reading Kratman. His reputation suggested he was
someone who could weave clever and hard-hitting military sci-fi prose
and this novella is a testament to that.”

“I can gladly recommend it to all lovers of military science fiction.”

“This is one of the darker SF books I have ever read.”

“This book is brutal and moving and worth every penny spent, every minute reading it.”

Publisher’s Weekly on the indie revolt

It’s not looking good for the traditional publishing industry:

For decades, aspiring authors were taught to bow before the altar of Big Publishing. Writers were taught that publishers alone possessed the wisdom to determine if a writer deserved passage through the pearly gates of author heaven. Writers were taught that publishers had an inalienable right to this power, and that this power was for the common good of readers. They were taught rejection made them stronger. They were taught that without a publisher’s blessing, they were a failed writer.

And it was true. Without a publisher, the writer was doomed to failure, because without a publisher the writer couldn’t reach readers. Six years ago publishers controlled the three essential legs of the professional publishing stool: the printing press, the access to retail distribution, and the knowledge of professional publishing best practices. It was a print-centric world where e-books were but an inconsequential glimmer in the eyes of a few delusional hippies, me included. A writer could self-publish in print, but without retail distribution these writers were destined to fill their garages with unsold printed books, all the while lining the pockets of vanity presses who exploited their dreams of authorship….

Today, the myth of traditional publishing is unraveling. The stigma of traditional publishing is on the rise.

The author community is growing increasingly disenchanted by Big Publishing’s hard line on 25% net e-book royalties, high e-book prices, slow payouts, and insistence on DRM copy protection. The recent news of major publishers touting record e-book-powered earnings only adds insult to authors’ perceived injury.

Authors are also disappointed by Big Publishing’s misguided foray into vanity publishing with Pearson/Penguin’s 2012 acquisition of Author Solutions, a company known for selling over-priced publishing packages to unsuspecting writers. Multiple publishers have formed sock puppet imprints powered by ASI: Simon & Schuster’s Archway, Penguin Random House’s Partridge Publishing in India, HarperCollins’ Westbow, Hay House’s Balboa Press, Writer’s Digests’ Abbott Press, and Harlequin’s Dellarte Press. These deals with the devil confirmed the worst fears held by indie authors who already questioned if publishers viewed writers as partners or as chattel.

Now, one could try to dismiss this because it is written by Mark Coker, who is betting big time on the indie publishing revolution with Smashwords. (Full disclosure, five of my books are available there.) But aside from the fact that he is in an ideal position to see what is taking place and sharp enough to have anticipated events, the significant fact is that Publisher’s Weekly obviously sees the writing on the wall.

The publication of this piece indicates that they have no intention of going down with the traditional publishing ship. Now, there is still a need for publishers; having been through all the headaches of getting set up for distribution, finding the right people with whom to work, and so forth, I would estimate that at least two-thirds of the traditionally published will have zero desire to become self-publishers if they can get a fair deal from independent publishers.

But publishers can’t continue to grab up to 93 percent of the revenue any longer. Publishers can’t live on the fat overhead they have traditionally demanded at the expense of the writers who were never presented with the choice between much smaller advances and significantly larger royalties. As Coker writes: “The solution is for publishers to realize that they are service providers to authors.”

That’s exactly what we’re doing at CH. We provide editing, superior covers, multiple foreign language editions within weeks of first publication, a boosted signal, reasonable rights-reversion terms, and the author receives an equal share of the royalties at worst. We know what authors want and need because we share their concerns and our business model is built on partnering with them, not systematically exploiting them.

Was Robert Heinlein ripped off?

By his traditional publishers, I mean to say. We already know beyond any shadow of a doubt that he was ripped off by the Bernie Madoff of science fiction. At Castalia House, a review of the traditional publishing model, based in part on records from the Heinlein estate, shows that an author with a traditional publisher has to sell at least 12.5 times more copies just to break even with the shared risk/reward independent publisher.

By the way, his advance from Putnam for Stranger in a Strange Land? $3,000. Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.
UPDATE: I think I figured out what happened. In March 1967, Putnam sold the exclusive
paperback rights to Berkeley for $1. This permitted Putnam to reduce the
royalties that came in from Berkeley with Heinlein. As it happened,
Putnam had bought Berkeley two years before.

So, by selling Heinlein’s paperback rights to themselves for $1, they managed to cut his royalty from 12 percent to 6 percent. An examination of the Berkeley reports and a comparison of them with the pricing of their books over the years shows that from 1968 to 1978, Berkeley sold 2,281,668 paperbacks for $3,234,147.40 in retail revenue. Heinlein received  $223,756.29 in royalties for a royalty rate of 6.9 percent. On a contract that called for him to receive 15 percent for sales over 10,000 units.

Traditional publishing for the win! Unless, of course, you’re the author.

New books, new policies

Castalia House has already announced that Tom Kratman’s Big Boys Don’t Cry will be published at the end of this month. In addition to that, we will have another book coming out as well. We aren’t ready to announce it yet, but I will say that it is longer than a novella and the first two words in the title begin with the letters Q and M. So, I’m looking for 20 volunteers, ten for each book, to commit to reading the books and then reviewing them when they go live on Amazon. Please send me an email with either BBDC or QM in the title. And if you aren’t already familiar with the science fiction world of Quantum Mortis, you’ve got a few weeks to read QM: Gravity Kills and QM: A Man Disrupted before the third volume appears.

And in other news, we certainly have not forgotten about Selenoth. If you haven’t already read Summa Elvetica, this is your chance to get caught up since Summa Elvetica: A Casuistry of the Elvish Controversy is free for the first time on Amazon today.

Castalia House has also reviewed its translations policy after speaking to our vast stable of authors as well as consulting with a number of professional translators. We have decided that our standard offering will be a 25 percent royalty to translators and 25 percent royalty to the authors on revenues from the translated editions. This approach appears to be satisfactory for all three parties concerned, as Castalia House now has 20 foreign language translations in progress.

Also, if you’re one of the reviewers of QM:AMD or QM:GK, please note that the missing reviews may have been preserved in your Amazon account even though they’re not appearing on the book’s current page. So, if you don’t mind, please check to see if you still have it and post it to the current book page.

Forthcoming

I have not forgotten that I said there would be fewer Castalia House announcements here and more over there, but this one is simply too big to resist sharing with the Dread Ilk. Castalia House is pleased to announce the forthcoming publication of a Tom Kratman novella entitled Big Boys Don’t Cry, which is scheduled for release on 1 March 2014 and will be available in Kindle and epub format for $2.99.

If you are a Kratman fan and a native speaker of a non-English language, we will be very interested to hear from you and talk to you about translating Mr. Kratman’s work and thereby terrorizing the non-English speaking peoples of the Earth as well. I expect you will understand that the novella contains the occasional difference of opinion, settled, as one might anticipate, in the most civilized and peaceable of manners.

Not bad for week one

Perhaps it’s not the biggest bestseller list to top, but one can’t help but regard this as an encouraging start to Castalia House’s entry into multilingual e-publishing. We may be small, but we’re already massive in Portugal. How do we profit from these bestselling free ebooks? The answer is simple. Volume.