E-books have and e-rights have been hot topics this year, and with good reason. There’s been Google settlement news, iBooks and iPad news, distribution news, and now Borders is taking orders for a new e-reader. Although e-books are still far from the norm, they’re making a strong showing, and could soon be a proper marketing niche in their own right.
Where Do E-books Come From?
As it stands, anyone can publish an e-book. Write your text, save it as a PDF, upload it to a website, and you’re a self-pubbed e-book author. Though few fiction writers choose to go this route, it’s fairly routine for non fiction writers, with e-books about marketing, SEO, web 2.0, even how to write your novel and get it published popping up all over the interwebs.
Although not a large segment of the market, e-publishers also exist. These are the folk responsible for most e-pubbed fiction (find a list of e-publishers here and here). Because of their low overhead, there’s a lot of diversity in e-publishing–arguably more than in print–and you can find an e-house for pretty much anything, from picture books through serious non-fiction and memoir.
But e-books And e-books have a lot of growth potential. In a piece in The Telegraph, president of Sony’s digital reading division said, “Within five years there will be more digital content sold than physical content. Three years ago, I said within ten years but I realised that was wrong – it’s within five.”
Are E-Agents Necessary? Will They Be?
As it stands, I don’t think agents specializing in electronic rights and publishing are necessary. But things could change. More and more mainstream authors are experimenting with e-books, with science fiction and fantasy writers leading the charge. Catherynne M. Valente, an award-winning author, recently won the Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy (a major award from the SFWA) for her electronically self published novel The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making. Cory Doctorow has offered several of his YA novels as free e-books (find his latest, For the Win, here), and the Baen Free Library has many free titles from authors including David Weber, Lois Bujold, Andre Norton, and Sarah Hoyt. (Learn more about the reasoning behind the library here.) Many, if not all of these books, are or will be available in print.
Why is this even a question if all these books are available in print? Because they weren’t all available in print–not from the get-go, anyway. Valente’s novel, Fairyland, began life as a self-published, donation-appreciated e-book (learn more here). An offer from a print publisher (Macmillan imprint Feiwel and Friends) didn’t come in until the serialized e-novel had neared completion.
Although Valente’s case is not the norm, it could be the harbinger of change in the publishing industry, particularly in the YA and science fiction/fantasy market. These are the readers most comfortable with technology, and willing to move with the times, the folk who made iPods so ubiquitous that while out running yesterday, I passed a 90 year old woman rocking out, iconic white earbuds plugged into her ears. Don’t get me wrong–I love print books. I love turning pages, and holding the weight of a hardcover between my palms. But e-books offer many opportunities, not the least of which is increased revenue for authors and publishers, especially if the much discussed agency model/iPad-iBooks talk grows into something real.
And then there’s Jack Konrath, the midlist author of the Jack Daniels police procedurals, made small waves when he cut ties with his print publisher, Hyperion, earlier this year.
As PW points out, Konrath isn’t an award-winning, top-level author, and his sales, showed neither decline nor uptick prior to the break. PW also notes that his most recent work–and first e-pubbed novel–was roundly rejected by publishing houses.
Still not convinced? Scott Waxman, at Waxman Literary, is also hopping on the e-book bandwagon. His new venture, Diversion Books (separate to the agency) offers authors another, middle-of-the-road option, “somewhere in between the big houses and the lonely road of self-publishing.” From PW:
Waxman said Diversion Books will take on authors who cannot sell books in numbers that make financial sense for the major houses. “If you have an author with a platform who can sell books, we’re happy selling 5,000 to 10,000 copies,” he said. While Diversion isn’t paying advances, it’s not taking everyone who comes in with a manuscript. “This isn’t self-publishing,” he went on. “[With us] you get real publishing support. I know you don’t get that with self-publishing. This lives in between.”
What Would An E-Agent Do?
To me, agents are a lot like lawyers. They’re a specialized position, rather than a one-reader-fits-all kind of job. E-agents would probably be much like regular agents in the same way divorce lawyers are similar to electronic rights lawyers–they’d have a particular interest in things relating to their clients, and maybe some (virutal?) on the job experience at an e-publisher. A few more things an e-agent might know about, or do:
- represent authors in negotiations with e-publishers, or the e-division of a primarily print house
- be familiar with contract law pertaining to electronic rights and web media, particularly grey areas such as distribution and foreign rights
- understand copyright law, and how it affects e-books that are partials of a later, larger print book
- understand the ins and outs of digital rights management (DRM), and actively advocate for the author
- be able to distinguish between electronic formats, browsers, and readers
- have contacts within the e-book industry
- be open-minded–technology moves as fast as dandelion seeds in a strong nor’easter, so being able to think on the spot and move with the groove is particularly important
Would you publish an e-book? Would the house–say an e-imprint of the big six vs. A small time e-only press–make a difference? Would you prefer to have an agent for electronic publications? Or would you be happy to handle them yourself?
I would imagine that, as ebooks become more of a deal, then agents will get more experienced at dealing with them (and younger agents will come up into the industry at the same time).
@Joe – True–particularly with younger agents coming up. But agencies already farm out specialist things, like foreign rights and film rights. Why not simply farm out electronic rights, too? Keeping up with the changes in the Google settlement alone has been difficult, and it’s just the beginning…