tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7396137415213652776.post3127120086568573655..comments2024-03-10T00:20:21.089-08:00Comments on Relentless Writers: Want to Understand the Publishing Industry? A Few ComparisonsLiv Rancourthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13171029958375171223noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7396137415213652776.post-9496309743935712222015-09-11T14:00:03.591-07:002015-09-11T14:00:03.591-07:00Yes. That's subversive. In the IT biz we...Yes. That's subversive. In the IT biz we've always liked to call our clients 'users'. Fitting. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11308686155320978819noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7396137415213652776.post-62857431864865158632015-09-10T18:38:41.548-07:002015-09-10T18:38:41.548-07:00I think the most intimidating thing right now is t...I think the most intimidating thing right now is trying to keep up withwith the expectation that an author will have a new release every three months. That's just brutal, especially when you're not earning enough to justify quitting the day job so you have the time to write the stuff to feed the machine.<br />It's tough.Liv Rancourthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13171029958375171223noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7396137415213652776.post-7296282502216275742015-09-10T14:54:43.148-07:002015-09-10T14:54:43.148-07:00I love this part "I want to make money ~with~...I love this part "I want to make money ~with~ you, not ~off~ you." It's a fantastic way of putting it. I've been a writer my whole life (mostly nonfiction, until I took up fiction a few years ago). Sent hundreds of queries. Built a website, etc. But it wasn't until I started working for a small publisher that I really began to understand the business side of things. Besides the Big Five, publishers everywhere are going out of business because the publishing industry is in an extended phase of transition and the old models don't apply anymore. So it's really a matter of survival. But I'm not a fan of "brutal." I think it's important to produce a quality product that gives people their money's worth, and cut the price every now and then when the budget allows. And btw, your brother sounds like a character! <br /><br />Fantastic comment. Thanks for stopping by.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16884267076174932989noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7396137415213652776.post-9325938943660588702015-09-10T09:53:20.531-07:002015-09-10T09:53:20.531-07:00I love subversiveness and such pithy comparisons. ...I love subversiveness and such pithy comparisons. I might have made the same observation at some point. Very acute and astute.<br /><br />I struggle with this as do most semi-successful authors. You begin writing as a hobby, for fun, then realize you really enjoy it. Then you think you'll write more, and this grows organically into a book or books, and before you know it, you've launched a second, very time-consuming career.<br /><br />Then you realize your checks don't have very many zeroes in them. And it took a lot of work to earn those missing zeroes.<br /><br />So you do some math, and realize the only way to really move that decimal point to the right is by understanding the marketing aspect of your craft. How do you get your goods on the street, in front of your clients, and how do you keep them hooked and coming back?<br /><br />It's a bit sinister to think of it that way, but as a small business owner already, I've put lots of thought into this. I have found that my soul wears and apron and stands behind the counter of the local grocer's store. If you don't have the money today, I'll wave it off and you can pay me next week. I'll figure it out. I'll never get big, but I'll never sell a piece of myself I marked unsaleable. If I ever get big, I want to be that guy like Steven Tyler I saw on the morning show today -- a genuine, authentic, be-yourself human who happens to love things other people really love, too.<br /><br />I see my brother, on the other hand, who also has his own business. He is doing very well. Big house. Cute wife who is incomplete without shopping bags and shoes that cost about what I was hoping to earn this week. He is brutal in his pricing. If you cannot pay, he cannot service. If you call, he may or may not answer. If you miss a payment, he cuts you off. In other words, he's the scumbag landlord who throws out the tenants on the street where I have my little grocery.<br /><br />Brutal, but that's a fair comparison between our business tactics, and is why we could never do business together (we tried -- it ended with him trying to extort money out of ~me~).<br /><br />The point is that your point is very true, but it does not mean you need to turn brutal. I tell people this: I want to make money ~with~ you, not ~off~ you. In this way, I find myself a bit on the progressive side, such that I don't like to leave anyone unsatisfied after a good comfy exchanging of wages.<br /><br />Anyway, consider that as you move forward, too. I love your analogy and will plagiarize it often with no credit to the source. ;)<br /><br />(jk -- I will give you credit)<br /><br /> - EricEric W. Tranthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13842968931062056407noreply@blogger.com