ePubDirect sponsored our event on Pricing and sent us the following note to pass on to attendees of February's Byte the Book event:
Just a quick note from us to say thank you for coming to the Byte the Book event, it was the first we'd sponsored and we were impressed by the format and contribution that everyone made. As mentioned on the night we hope to meet some of you again at the LBF on stand Y605.
Like many digital companies, we're continually trying to help publishers sell more books and to that end we've produced an eBook on "How to Triple your eBook Sales" based on our experiences of a publisher using our service.
ePubDirect worked with the publisher on a backlist title resulting in a 300% increase in sales. Everything we did to bring about the increase in sales was done through metadata only. There was no money spent, no social media magic, no giveaways, no wooing of online or print media, just time effort and some creativity.
You can download a free copy of the eBook here. (http://info.epubdirect.com/how-to-triple-your-ebook-sales)
We look forward to meeting everyone at the next Byte the Book event.
Roger Miah
Sales Director | ePubDirect
Tel: +44 (0)870 8200049 | www.ePubDirect.com
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The relationship between the creation of artistic works and the sale of those works has always been an uneasy one, and it seems to be a particularly thorny issue in publishing. Experienced industry panel George Walkley (Head of Digital at Hachette), Jo Henry (Director of Nielsen Book Research) and Nicholas Lovell (Director at Games Brief and author of The Curve) met at Byte The Book’s February event to thrash out the issue...
Host Justine Solomons thanks February sponsors ePubDirect (sitting on the pink sofa in the front row).
Discussion began with the question ‘What’s a fair price for e-books?’, to which George Walkley rather succinctly replied ‘What the consumer is prepared to pay’. He noted that publishers are of course freer to experiment in the eBook market than they historically have been in the traditional one, and that the majority of eBook titles fall between £3.99 and £4.49. This was ‘fair’, he suggested, since it’s less than the average paperback and if you were to nominally break down the cost to the reader in entertainment hours, at 20-25p per hour an eBook works out significantly cheaper than cinema, theatre, music or indeed almost any other art form. Generally speaking, he concluded, a fair price is a relatively low one, but equally readers ought to be grateful that they can buy a bestselling novel for the price of roughly one and a half Starbucks...!
Justine Solomons with panellists, right to left, George Walkley, Jo Henry and Nicholas Lovell.
Jo Henry then introduced some research statistics to the discussion, opening up the controversial subject of 20p eBooks. Research has shown that people will happily spend small sums of money on something they know nothing at all about, and for which they have no particular guarantee of quality. Nielsen has found that twice as many readers will take a punt on a book if it costs less than £1 (as compared to when it’s averagely priced), and in fact the evidence is that recent 20p bonanza sales have actually helped to fuel several bestsellers in their early days of publication. However, when half of people buying 20p eBooks apparently say that they would have bought them anyway even at a higher price, publishers may be looking at a win-some-lose-some dynamic on that front.
Nicholas Lovell asks who is in the audience plays Candy Crush?
Gamer, business guru and author of The Curve Nicholas Lovell was full of vibrant sound bites and a no-nonsense approach to building a brand. His book essentially poses the question ‘How do you make money when everything’s going free?’, and one of his central principles seems to be: don’t fight it. If it’s possible to give something away free, explained Nicholas, somebody will do it, and your job as a content creator is not to resist this but instead to find other ways to monetise your brand. The threat, he underlined, is not from piracy - it’s from competition. The answer to surviving on these mean streets, therefore, is identifying your small core of superfans and then creating product that they will happily pay a premium for. Kickstarter has proved that this works in music, with artists using their albums almost as a promotional tool (with next-to-no profit margin) while at the same time charging high fees to perform private concerts in the living rooms of their superfans. Crucially, concluded Nicholas, people don’t value content itself, but rather a collection of emotional responses connected to that content. If you can tap into that, you can rise above digital piracy of your work.
Another full to capacity crowd at The Club at the Ivy.
In summary, there was an optimistic atmosphere amongst the panel and the audience, as well as a feeling that while the industry has been somewhat rocked by the sudden onslaught of free and reduced-price content, the opportunities for connecting with readers in the future - whether superfans or casual fans - are exciting and wide-ranging.
Words by Chris Russell, photos by Daniel Solomons.
If you enjoyed this report why not book to join us at The Club at The Ivy on Monday 24th March 2014 .
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We are very excited to hear about the launch of a brand new writers' conference which is to take place in June of this year, here are some more details: Royal Society of Literature and Alliance of Independent Authors join together for first time at 2014 Writing in a Digital Age ConferenceFRIDAY 13TH – SUNDAY 15TH JUNE
The Literary Consultancy is delighted to announce the third year programme for the Writing in a Digital Age Literary Conference, with author and campaigner Cory Doctorow delivering the opening keynote, addressing head-on the thorny question of ‘Intellectual Property in a Digital Age’, and bringing us up to date with his own pioneering brand of publishing. It will set the scene for debate and discussion over two days, with more than 30 writers, journalists, publishers, literary agents, and digital pioneers taking part. In a new development for 2014, conference ticket holders will also be entitled to a third bonus day which will include a Masterclass from the Royal Society of Literature (RSL) in association with Booker Prize Foundation and a dynamic session with literary agents, trade-publishers and author-publishers. A revamped Pen Factor competition, supported by Kobo Writing Life, offers the chance for 15 writers to benefit from professional feedback on their writing and in-group critiquing on June 15th.
PROGRAMMING HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:
In addition, this year’s Pen Factor Writing Competition is open to all attending writers who do not have work currently in print with a commercial publishing house. With the help of Kobo Writing Life, the winner will be offered a year’s access to TLC literary and publishing events at Free Word Centre, alongside editorial and advisory support. KWL will also present the winner and two runners-up with e-readers, and a professional photo shoot session. 15 writers will also benefit from advice given during a direct pitching and feedback session with agents. TLC Director Rebecca Swift said: “We couldn’t be prouder to announce our key associates for 2014, The Royal Society of Literature, and the Alliance of Independent Authors. We feel that this combination, of old and new, represents what’s best of traditional literary values as digital publishing moves forward, as well as the most visionary of what’s to come.” Location Free Word Centre 60 Farringdon Road London EC1R 3GA Tickets All tickets are for full access to the conference. Media queries contact: Jon Slack, jon@amphora.org.uk; 07747 732995
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.Review by Tracey Sinclair
I’m not usually a fan of crime books where we spend too much time in the killer’s mind – too often it seems these chapters are there simply to show off the novelist’s ability to write different kinds of prose, and I find myself speed reading through them until I get to the meat of the action. I don’t care about the bad guy, I just care how he is caught. I was therefore pleasantly surprised by Lauren Beukes’ novel, which splits its narrative primarily between two main protagonists – a time travelling, Depression-era serial killer and his only surviving victim – without ever losing its grip on the attention.
Obviously any book that has time travel as one of its main themes is never going to be straightforward, and if you like your plots strictly linear this isn’t the book for you. Like The Time Traveller’s Wife, it expects you to keep track of several characters across several different times but, like that book, it rewards your perseverance, here giving you a meaty story of survival, an engaging, if understandably damaged heroine and a genuinely creepy killer. Beukes is also at pains for none of the victims – the shining girls of the title – to be simply bodies; they all have their own stories, small triumphs and tragedies that make their deaths sorely felt.
Given the central premise, a degree of suspension of disbelief is required, and Beukes never explains the existence of the mysterious House that facilitates the killer’s travels, or gives any wider sense of purpose to his ‘mission’. Fans of her earlier work may miss her richly imagined world building and the vivid South African backdrops she previously favoured, here abandoned for a slightly generic vision of America that, while well-drawn, inevitably feels like a well-trodden landscape. But a tightly paced plot, elegant prose and an original idea beautifully executed make this a treat for crime fans willing to try something a little different.
Tracey Sinclair’s second novel in the Cassandra Bick Chronicles series, Wolf Night, was self-published earlier this year and can be purchased here.
So I've kept a list of books read since 1995, I may have mentioned that before, I'm quite geeky about it, if you're interested the list is here.
I've listed my favourite reads of the year below and if you buy copies through the links you'll be supporting Byte the Book so if you fancy giving them a go please do click away.
Here are my top reads of 2013:
Novels (traditionally published)
The Circle by Dave Eggers
Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter
Kiss Me First by Lottie Moggach
Harvest by Jim Crace
The Mistress's Revenge by Tamar Cohen
The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers
Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt
Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple
Apple Tree Yard by Louise Doughty
Ten Things I've Learnt About Love by Sarah Butler
The Anchoress by Paul Blaney
Still Alice by Liaa Genova
Before I Met You by Lisa Jewell
Novels (Self Published)
Feral Youth by Polly Courtney
Dear Sister by Judith Summers
Non-Fiction/Biography
The Trip to Echo Spring: Why Writers Drink by Olivia Laing
Bedsit Disco Queen: How I grew up and tried to be a pop star by Tracey Thorn
Running Like a Girl by Alexandra Heminsley
A Greedy Man in a Hungry World: How (almost) everything you thought you knew about food is wrong by Jay Rayner
Non-Fiction/Biography (Self Published)
A Month In Music by Alex Watson
Letters
Here and Now by Paul Auster and J.M. Coetzee
Poetry
The Customs House by Andrew Motion
Review by Tracey Sinclair
Fans of Ian Rankin’s creation John Rebus were thrilled when the cantankerous old copper came out of retirement, and though his debut return Standing in Another Man’s Grave wasn’t quite as gripping as it might have been, just having Rebus back in action was reason for rejoicing. In Saints of the Shadow Bible, though, Rankin has really hit his stride again, and delivers a solid and enjoyable crime thriller.
A man out of time in a world where policing is as much about politics and procedures as it is about catching bad guys, Rebus finds the ghosts of his past catching up with him when a revisited murder case throws suspicion on some of his former colleagues, and Rebus finds himself torn between old loyalties and a need to uncover the truth. He’s even forced to work alongside Malcolm Fox, the internal affairs investigator who has plenty of doubts about the skeletons in Rebus’ own cupboards. While I found Fox unexciting as a protagonist in his own books – the underwhelming The Complaints and The Impossible Dead – he’s a perfect foil to Rebus, and the pair’s thorny relationship is one of the novel’s main pleasures. It’s also great to see how Siobhan Clarke, Rebus’ former partner, has flourished, and she never feels like simply a sidekick.
As ever, Rankin’s work is grounded in the realities not only of modern policing but also of modern Scotland – the two figures at the heart of the book’s main crimes are on either side of the Independence movement – so the story always feels utterly believable, avoiding the wilder flourishes of many contemporary crime writers, for whom a serial killer lurks in every shadow. Rebus might be feeling his age these days, but here’s hoping he doesn’t go back into retirement for some time yet.
Tracey Sinclair’s second novel in the Cassandra Bick Chronicles series, Wolf Night, was self-published earlier this year and can be purchased here.
Review written by Richard Wood.
You can buy this book here.
Hancock paints a cloying backdrop of South London to frame a gripping and fraught examination of the power struggle between employer and employee – a timely examination of the role and repression of women within the construct of the modern home and their voice, or lack thereof.
Told in dual narrative by Theodora, jaded middle-class mother, and Mona her Moroccan hired help, the two women are thrown together into a mutual dependency that quickly begins to stagnate and ultimately leads to the tragic conclusion. Hancock presents a relationship of suspicion and envy as both women struggle to protect their loved ones as the power in the household constantly shifts between them.
The Darkening Hour, as the title suggests, presents a real sense of urgency as the narrative speeds along offering up the differing voices of the two women and how they see the world through vastly different eyes. It is a study of race relation and class struggle, a damning narrative of how these social constructs fail to coexist within the household. There is a sense of the world closing in, the dying of the light – a suffocating sense of inevitability which made The Darkening Hour a book that I couldn’t put down.
“Books, films, music, these things fucking matter; and by that measure I was having one of the best dates of my life.” — Rob Gordon, High Fidelity
We were really excited to hear recently about Byte the Book member John Ngo's latest project Books and Conversations.
Here is what he told us about it:
While certainly a superficial means to gauge a person’s worth, pop culture is nevertheless one of the most delightful conversations I can have with stranger or friend alike.
And it was for these very conversations that I wanted to create a website dedicated to bringing people together to talk about books.
Introducing Books & Conversations… http://booksandconversations.com/
Who knows in what direction this project will go but it certainly looks interesting and we implore all of you to get involved!
Review written by Rebekah Lattin-Rawstrone.
Buy this book here.
The Medici Mirror is Melissa Bailey’s first novel and it is a gripping one. Hidden in the basement of an abandoned Victorian shoe factory is a sixteenth-century mirror, cursed by the Black Queen, Catherine of Medici. When Jonny, a twenty-first century architect charged with renovating the factory, stumbles across the mirror his life is threatened by its dark reflections. Will he unravel the past before it unravels him? Will his love life end in triumph or murder?
Catherine of Medici’s story is a compelling one and I would have liked to hear more from her. With the added history of the factory and its hidden love affairs, sometimes there is almost too much past. Without the mirror, these other histories remain unfettered to the present-day characters making me question what, ultimately, the book wants me to go away thinking about. But I am driven by the plot and despite wishing there were slightly fewer sex scenes, the characters are connected through a curse that turns desire into possession making The Medici Mirror a sexy, scary ride that stays with you long after the book has been put down.
If you like spooky, sexy mysteries with a historical flavour then The Medici Mirror is for you. Melissa Bailey’s is undoubtedly a name we will all become familiar with.
I literally cannot wait for the final instalment of Salon London's Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll salon-tryptic. The line up includes my all time favourite singer, bar none, Tracey Thorn, who as well as having the most beautiful voice in pop, has also penned a fabulous book - Bedsit Disco Queen, which everyone should read now, because it's brilliant and because you've just enough time to read it before the event on 7th November 2013.
Here's some more information from Salon organisers Juliet Russell and Helen Bagnell:
Rock and Roll is Salon's November theme and what a line up we have... Tracey Thorn lead singer with Everything But The Girl, Lloyd Bradley author of Sounds Like London and Xidus Pain, a Hip Hop artist delving into the psyche of Hip Hop
Salon XLVIII - Rock and Roll
7th November 2013
Adam Street Members Club, London WC1
7.30-10pm
Admission price £15 Tickets from http://www.salon-london.com/content/Tickets/
Website www.salon-london.com
