Independent Publishers, Meet Your Audience. Lessons from Indie Labels

Ken Auletta's "thorough and thoughtful exploration into Kindle-iPad-publisher tensions leaves you with a lot to consider. As he traverses his way through the current e-book jungle, he details publishers' (non)relationship to their audience:

...It would take years for publishers to learn how to sell books directly to consumers. They do not market research, have little data on their customers and have no experience in direct retailing. With the possible exception of Harlequin Romance and Penguin paperbacks, readers have no particular association with any given publisher; in books, the author is the brand name. To attract consumers, publishers would have to build a single collaborative Web site to sell e-books, an idea that Jason Epstein, the fromer editorial director of Random House pushed for years without success.

It's an interesting point; publishers think of retailers, not readers, as their customers, thus many publishers never connect with their authors' audience. Whatever is left of a press's marketing department is devoted to authors without consideration for the company. Yet, independent publishers' potential to draw attention by their own merit is huge.

Perhaps the indie press should take note of their music label brethren. While Warner Music or EMI do not (possibly could not) create their own fans, there are intensely loyal followings for indie labels of every genre. Listeners identify with the indies for the point-of-view, personality and lifestyle that they stand for. Labels directly engage fans as well as form trust through the music they support. A label's fans will try out new artists, check out new releases, and attend record label tours because of the label as well as the musician. Heck, my sister loves Trojan Records so much she had its logo tattooed.

This type of inherent value and trust can be cultivated by indie publishers. Some are starting; more need to. After all, literary aficionados want ink too.

What e-reading means to writing: the iStory

In celebration of its forthcoming iPhone/iPad app, Narrative Magazine is heralding a new genre: the iStory. After indulging in several iStories, it seems that normal challenges of storytelling are greatly intensified inside the 150-word genre.

Challenge 1. Maintain the narrative. With such small space to convey a fully developed narratives, some texts slip into a territory that is more poetry than fiction. While lovely, these texts do not "give readers a strong sense of having read a full and complete story." Certainly, poetic texts have an (e)audience, much of which cross-pollinates with consumers of fiction, but their delivery as fiction to fiction readers could yield an unsatisfying experience, not because of the quality of work but due to a mismatch of text to reader.

Challenge 2. To detail or not to detail. This is not a genre for the descriptive. Too many details suffocate the story line, yet none at all may render a story limp, naked, or worst of all, generic. The potent use of thoughtful details is the strong suit of this genre. Timely, poignant details speak to an author's mastery of the craft. With one well-crafted line, the story suddenly blooms, and we understand Mark Twain's idea that "the difference between the almost right word and the right word...'tis the difference between the lightening bug and the lightning."

Challenge 3. The End. Perhaps the common issue is how to end...cleanly. Some closings are abrupt; others feel gimmicky (read M. Knight Shyamalan's expected twist). While opening and moving the iStory occur fairly successful, a natural close is tough to deliver. Tougher than normal. If this form fosters new techniques, I believe they will occur in this arena as authors look for effective ways to resolve and end a narrative.

Beyond singular creation and publication, the iStory brings new considerations to collecting work into a book. A writer who is organizing an iStories book/collection becomes akin to a poet. Both need to deeply consider the harmony/discord between pieces as a reader transitions from one to the next.

If 150 words still feels roomy or if you don't believe in its possibilities, consider Narrative Magazine's section of 6 word stories. I leave you with one written by the king of literary minimalism Ernest Hemingway: "For sale: Baby shoes. Never worn."

Going Retro. What Internet Reading Means to Writing

This article has had me thinking about what internet reading could mean to the writing process. No one knows what the ultimate results will be, but what does seem to be happening is a revival of previously defunct forms of content delivery. Take the serialized story, for instance. While rumored to have survived in literary nooks and crannies, the serialized story essentially burned out after its heyday in 19th century magazines. Until now. In its new digital suit, the serialized story has returned to us.

Five Chapters is one such site that features quality short stories by breaking them into five parts and delivering them throughout the work week. This site differs from the typical e-reading hot spots in one critical way: it's incredibly quiet: no hyper-linked text, no advertisements, no blog roll. It is, rather, a zen-like reading corner of the Internet universe that presents just enough content for the average person to read comfortably online.

I subscribed to Five Chapters' feed to give the site a test drive, and I must say, I'm really happy with the results. The stories are loving-crafted with the kind of characters that follow you around after you click elsewhere. Having only heard of few of the 192 authors featured, I feel pretty good about myself after I read. This is simple (and, honestly, time-efficient) way to introduce yourself to writers that are normally drowned out by the buzz of big six advertising.

Dave Daley says he designs the content to fit into a lunch break, but, personally, I prefer to wait until the end of the day. Coming home to a new issue gives me that cozy, homey, Americana feeling that I've only glimpsed at in Norman Rockwell paintings. For me, it's a bit like coming home to the afternoon paper.

Amazon strikes again. What's an indie to do?

Just the Macmillian-Amazon standoff cools down, Amazon picks yet another fight. Add threatening independent publishers to the growing list of loss-leader strategies, intentional Kindle incompatibility and removal of buy buttons. Amazon is on a role.

With Apple courting indie publishers as they prepare to launch the iPad and iBookstore, Amazon is attempting to curb any power over ebooks that publishers could possibly retain. While it can't pull these antics with the big six, the company thinks it can push the smaller presses around. Amazon is betting that indies, who rely heavily on internet sales, will not be able to survive without Amazon sales. So, the company is threatening to cut them off at the knees if they sign the (more fair and balanced) Apple contract.

But there are signs of hope. Perseus Books has signed on with Apple regardless of Amazon's threats. As the largest independent publisher and distributor of another 330 independent presses, Perseus is setting up a good line of defense. If most small publishers follow suit, Amazon will have to back down lest Apple appear to offer the broader selection. On its own, an indie is a sitting duck, but collectively, Amazon needs them more than they need Amazon.

Amazon's behavior is appalling. Over and over again, the company flexes corporate muscle in order to force the entire book industry to bend to its will. Simply put, the company is trying to determine how strong its monopoly hold is. It is absolutely necessary that publishers deny this corporate bullying now. If Amazon gets away with its behaviors in these early days of digital conversion, the company will be setting the pace and the unsustainably low prices for a long time. Singlehandedly, Amazon could dismantle entirely an all ready fragile industry.