Changes in Publishing

Publishing is changing, but you knew that. The problem becomes how is it changing right now, and what headlines are we to believe about recent trends. December and January are great months to evaluate the past year and forecast upcoming developments.

Unfortunately, several publishing headlines proclaimed facts that don’t present the true picture. Politics isn’t the only purview of misleading or fake news.

Thank goodness for Hugh Howey and Data Guy.

Articles claimed that ebooks were decreasing and paperbacks were on the rise. Turns out that the rise of paperbacks sales came from several sources. 1: adult coloring books in 2015-16 became wildly popular. 2: Traditional publishers winning against Amazon (remember the big battle for agency pricing?) hiked prices for popular ebooks to sometimes the cost of a paperback. Readers chose the paperbacks when Amazon discounted them almost to parity with the ebook. 3: Finally, the data for these articles came from Bolkers who issues ISBNs. ISBNS are used by traditional publishers to track books. One book could have three or four different ISBNS depending on its format. An overwhelming amount of Indie publishers don’t use ISBNS due to their high cost here in the United States. They are not required by Amazon to publish ebooks. Amazon provides for free their own ASIN to tag ebooks. Indie authors often sell the large majority of their work as ebooks on Amazon and use Amazon’s ASIN. I use both.

Thankfully, Data Guy has a software program that scrapes data from Amazon, and other distributors (Kobo, Nook, etc.) to provide a more accurate picture of what might be happening.

Jane Friedman writes a blog with some interesting comments on the state of publishing.
https://janefriedman.com/9-statistics-writers-know-amazon/.   Check her out.

I believe that politics has impacted sales for January and February by distracting readers from books. My sales have dropped off, and I blame lack of marketing and political distraction, but this is merely my assumption. What about you?

Surprising changes in publishing are Amazon’s foray into brick and mortar to sell books and their new traditional publishing style imprints that are popping up.

I live five minutes away from the mall that houses Amazon’s new brick and mortar store. It’s fresh and new and highly curated. All covers face out and most are selected from Amazon’s bestsellers lists. It’s clever because a reader is presented with books that are proven already successful in the marketplace. No prices are put on the books since Prime members pay less and prices may vary. Will this new Amazon strategy pay off?

As a friend of mine often says, “We’ll see.”

This week I read Charlie Jane Anders’ “All the Birds in the Sky.” The timing couldn’t be better as it has just received a 2016 Nebula Award nomination.

The story starts off with Patricia Delfine’s tortured years at Canterbury Academy. All the angst of junior high school are magnified. Cliques of girls harass her and call her a witch. True, she talks to birds and a rather important tree, but only in the woods where no one can hear her. Nature is sacred to her and often she tries to escape the cruelty of her life by going into the forest behind her house.

Not only is school traumatic, but when she gets blamed for mean girl tricks, the school calls her parents and they lock her in her room for days, only letting her out to attend school. Her younger sister brings her meals, but not before she has poured hot sauce and chili pepper all over it.

Sibling love at its finest.

One day, Patrica literally runs into Lawrence Armstead who also gets pushed around and ridiculed at the same school. He, however, is a computer genius, and through a schematic on the Internet builds a time machine in a wristwatch that can jump him ahead two seconds. It’s not much, but it helps when spit balls come his way. Eventually, he builds a robot from parts and hides it in his closet. Unfortunately, his parents don’t value his geeky genius and sign him up for the Great Outdoor Nature Adventure to get him away from his computer and experiments so he can be more like “normal” boys. He hates it.

Patricia and Lawrence become awkward friends. Patricia is talked into lying about his attendance at nature class in exchange for twenty dollars. Lawrence also provides her with a module so she can talk to his robot and “socialize” it. The AI, in turn, gives out good advice on coping.

The book skips forward to San Francisco and young adults Patricia and Lawrence. Both have survived their childhood…barely. Patricia actually saves Lawrence’s life and, after a traumatic event, Patricia is found by a magician and runs away from her family to magic school.

The second half of the book follows the reunion of the two where they both struggle with lovers, their jobs, current co-workers, and a growing threat to the world. It becomes apparent that Patrica represents magic and nature while Lawrence symbolizes science. Together the two, with their talents, might save the world from a looming doomsday threat.

This is a strange book for science fiction. The early lives of the two main characters makes for agonizing reading and points out the failure of society both in education and child raising. I find the Nebula has often nominated and awarded unusual books that dance between fantasy and science fiction. This is one of those books.

Although the ending rather disappointed, I still recommend reading the book for its vivid characterizations and emotional events. It has a bit of the flavor of the Magicians in it. The trials these two have to overcome endears them and is worth the read.

And while reading this book, if you’re an adult, you’ll be glad you are. If you’re a teenager, you’ll be grateful that your life is better than their early life was… I hope.

Twisted Science Fiction in Fairy Tales

Hope your Fourth of July was all that you wanted. I was just happy to stay home and enjoy our great weather on the deck.

I signed up Caught in Time for an add on Robin Reads for June 30 but was a bit disappointed at the follow on sales. However, the price was right at $25 for science fiction. The site appears to show a lot of romance books and maybe sells that better.

Coming up July 23, I’m offering Cosmic Entanglement free through Freebooksy. This does have romance also, but a young romance. One of the astronaut trainee bets another that he can get a beautiful Ching T’Karre girl to talk to him. Her culture forbids her to talk to males not recognized by her clan. So, the arrogant young man does all sorts of crazy things to get her to acknowledge him…and eventually falls in love. His path of young love gets rocky. A cross between ender’s Game and Tinker, Tailor Soldier, Spy. Check it out

Meanwhile my first book in the Terran Trilogy, A World too Far, will be coming out in August. I’m waiting on the cover at the moment.

As you know, I’m in the Powell’s science fiction book group. Our current two books to read are Uprooted by Naomi Novak and Cinder by Marissa Meyer.

Yeah, I know. I hear you asking where’s the science fiction? That was the question I was asking, too. And what’s with this trend of adapting fairy tales? YA, are you kidding?

Turns out Cinder is a cyborg. Okay, then. That got my attention. As a mechanic by day, she meets the prince who is searching for the missing princess of Luna, thought to be burned in in a suspicious fire. (We can see this train coming a mile away.) But instead of a silly glass slipper dropped on the steps as she runs out of the Prince’s ball, she drops a whole metal foot. Quirky. The story takes place in New Beijing after WWIV during a plague that is devastating Earth. The Queen of Luna is trying to maneuver the Prince into marrying her so she can take over Earth. Meyer is creative with her Cinderella adaptation as she adds futuristic components to a well known fairy tale.

There’s lots more that I don’t want to reveal, and I found it to be a fun read. Meyer has a whole series that follows various familiar fairy tales. The next one is Scarlet that deals with the wicked queen of Luna again, but this time involves a handsome character named Wolf…so guess what that twist might be.

Uprooted by Naomi Novik also got a lot of buzz. It won the 2015 Nebula award and made at least ten best book lists for 2015. Ellen DeGeneres has bought rights for a movie adaption, so you may be hearing more about it in the future.

In this story, we have fantasy with earth magic that loosely follows the Beauty and the Beast motif. Once every ten years a maiden from the peaceful valley of our narrator is selected to serve the cold, powerful sorcerer who keeps in check the malevolent woods that border her village.

Everyone in the village figures the sorcerer,  known as Dragon, will pick the beautiful, intelligent Kasia when time for the choosing comes. In a surprise move, however, he picks our narrator, Agnieszka (that’s the name, all right) who is shy and awkward. With that name, who wouldn’t be?

From this shy damsel to a powerful magician in her own right, the apprentice and magician interact, evolve, and together try to save the valley from the spreading evil of the woods.

Okay, so I liked that one better than I thought I would, and that’s why I have included it in this week’s blog. It’s all about diversity and choice. Something for everyone.

ps. Did you catch the news on the Juno arrival at Jupiter? Awesome pictures of this momentous event and details are online.

http://www.space.com/33375-juno-jupiter-probe-turns-on-science-instruments.html

Next Generation Science Fiction

What science fiction stories are appealing to the new millennium generation of science fiction readers?

My twenty-something daughter came up to me and thrust a book into my hands, saying, “You have to read this and tell your readers about it.”
Unlike me, my daughter reads science fiction only occasionally. She has a full time job and social life…but there are a few authors that have recently caught her attention.

The Hunger Games series opened her up to science fiction. The story of a young girl forced to face and kill others in a post Apocalyptic arena resonated with her. The sequels of Catching Fire and MockingJay also made her reading list.
Now a new writer with a similar storyline is making a big splash, both in a series and on the movie screen. Try over 20,300 Amazon reviews with over a 4.35 average. …amazing!

In Divergent Veronica Roth also writes about post apocalyptic Earth, Chicago in particular, where society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue. These are: Dauntless (courage), Candor (honesty), Erudite (intelligence), Abnegation (selflessness), and Amity (friendship). After testing and study, each new young adult at a given time must step up at their Choosing Ceremony and select which faction they will serve for the rest of their life.
Growing up in the factor of Abnegation, Beatrice Prior’s psychological test is confusing as she discovers that she fits into no one factor, but is “Divergent.” If anyone finds this out, it could be her death for all Divergent are feared by the leaders in her society.
At the Choosing Ceremony, Beatrice surprises and dismays her family by choosing Dauntless as her faction. Her brother also switches his allegiance and picks Erudite.

Within the Dauntless faction, Beatrice changes her name to Tris and begins a grueling series of competitions to prove herself worthy. Although physically and psychological she is not strong or ruthless, she is determined and smart, catching the eye of one of the handsome, male leaders named Four. Four offers advice and encouragement as an emotional attachment soon grows between them. But he is held back by their leader, Peter, who is a ruthless sociopath. Peter enjoys the violence of conflict and targets Tris who struggles to win each challenge as she tries to stay within the faction and not become “Factionless.” These are the rejects who roam the streets homeless and alone.

I found the book well written and interesting, but grueling. Once again, a young idealistic woman is pitted against those in control of her crumbling society. The battles Tris has to fight to prove herself left me a bit battered of spirit. And yet, the series is one of the underdog fighting to make her world better. Is it the best ever break through science fiction? Well, no. But it’s well written with believable character and fast paced action.
Interestingly, the series is being turned into three movies. The first, Divergent was a box office success in March 2014 and is available now in DVD. I watched it and enjoyed it.
The next in the series, Insurgent, just came out March 21 and also did well. May still be at your local movie house. The final in the series, Allegiance, is due out in 2016.

Like The Hunger Games, Roth’s series is directed at a young adult audience who supports such media tie-ins. The main character struggles in a broken world, confronting violence and abuse in order to make it better and find her place. If this style of science fiction appeals to you, then my A Dangerous Talent for Time might also find favor. It’s about a group of young adults traveling across an alien planet in search of answers to a riddle that will save their world.

This style of science fiction appears to have struck a chord with the next generation of readers and brought them to our science fiction table. Let’s hope they enjoy the feast and expand their menu as they taste this interesting genre and enjoy this very successful trilogy.