What's Fair?
I would like to let my cleaning lady go, not because I don't need her help, but the budget is tight. However, she is pregnant. She is living precariously in these economic times, an immigrant. So last week she cleaned my house because I just couldn't . . . let her go. I pay her the same amount I paid her last year when life was a little more flush. She works hard (trust me, in this house!). It just doesn't seem right to ask her to clean my house for less. What I pay her is FAIR. It was fair a year ago. It is fair today.
Which brings me to the publishing business model. (Yeah, quite a transition there.)
Everyone keeps talking about how publishing is broken. About gatekeepers and advances and bookstores and all the rest of it. I know Konrath is trying an e-book experiment. I don't think it's a bad idea.
But recently, I had a major eye opener. This e-house closed before it even started. I have my opinions about a couple of things with them, but I will keep those thoughts to myself. However, when I read through their site, I discovered that APPARENTLY, most e-houses do not pay their editors . . . or, rather, they pay them a portion of royalties of the books they edit.
Um . . . what?
An experienced editor is going to spend 30 hours or so editing your book in the hope of a percentage . . . someday?
I understand that changes are in order, and e-books are cheap to produce and so on. I understand maybe being a partner in an e-house and doing it for the LOVE of art. I understand someone like Starbucks who is passionate about spec fiction. I get that for some of us, it's about a passion for what we do. I wrote flash fiction for Lurker Monkey's site just because.
But I somehow have to think that for all the talk of new business models, if you start a business in which there is a fundamental flaw in how you pay experienced people, then . . . I'm not sure it's the Holy Grail.
I don't know if something that is patently not fair (do the work, don't get paid . . . MAYBE get paid . . .) can succeed.
So it will be interesting, I suppose. After all these years in the biz, I just sit back and wonder where it's headed.
Thoughts?
32 comments:
I was really interested in applying for a position at Ellora's Cave, but it came down to fair pay for me. If you work there physically as an employee, then they pay a fair salary (only if there is possibility for raises during one's career), if not a wonderful salary. If you work from home, they say they expect you to spend at least 60 hours on a book and they'll pay you $300 per book. (It might have been $250, possibly $350.) Whatever, it worked out to be something UNDER minimum wage, and for consulting, with the extra tax you pay, that's working 60-hour weeks and making less than $700 a month. The copyediting pay was even worse, worked out to like $3 an hour or something crazy.
The e-house royalty structure seemed to pay more in the long run (Ellora's Cave didn't do that), which seemed preferable, but at the time, I wasn't interested in making money three-six months later. The nice thing about e-books is you keep making royalties forever; it's like an investment.
Hi Natasha:
I see the ads to write for . . . what the heck is the name of it . . . I forget, but they write content for the Internet. Demand Studios. When you actually visit their site, you discover they want to pay $5 for 500 words. This is less than Charles Dickens was being paid, for heaven's sake. They encourage you to take NOTHING up front and earn for the "clicks" which might, they say, net you about $17 over three years. It's utterly insane.
I think we're entering an era where rubbish is the norm. You can't expect top-notch people to work for peanuts. Ain't gonna happen. They'll just earn their livings doing something else, and the quality of literature and literacy will suffer. If an entire generation grows up eating tripe, they won't know filet mignon if it slaps them in the face.
Jude:
Bravo! Well said. I totally agree.
E
I'm making an assumption here, but don't most editors have a degree in a related field, such as English Lit., or an M.F.A., etc.? And that's the problem I see, that perhaps these e-book editors, maybe, possibly, don't have a degree in the field, but somewhere in their life decided they could edit. I believe those are the ones who accept slave-wages in the e-book industry. Seriously, if I obtained a degree in some sort of creative writing, etc., I'm shooting for a job that's an equal measure to my eduction, not to mention, will help pay the college loans off. Why start a career upside-down?
Here's a case in point: When I briefly belonged to a local RWA chapter, one of its members, a registered nurse, said that she was attending an RWA Chapter convention in the capacity of "acting editor" for a well known e-book company. Maybe she minored in English while in nursing school, or maybe she was an English teacher before changing careers. This I don't know. It just seemed, to me, a little strange that an R.N. was also a book editor.
Going out on a limb here, now that I see the pay scale for e-book editors, I think when my book is picked up by a publisher I hope the editor has at least a B.A. in English Lit, or some other related major...I'm just saying. Greatness deserves a master at the helm. :-)
Hi kath:
Most editors are lit majors, I think, though I have seen editors with other backgrounds. I went through a training program at Simon & Schuster way back when. It was wonderful.
I agree that oftentimes, I think people assume if they can read that they can edit. And some people may be good at "catching" things, but it generally isn't a skillset I think you can wake up one morning an acquire by virtue of reading a lot.
E
I think there are a couple of issues going on, and I can attest to it with my own e-newsletter publishing venture. A lot of start-ups, particularly in e-publishing (although hardly limited to it) are severely under-capitalized. An awful lot of people have decided, hey, I can put together a website and e-publish for a thousand bucks or so. Then my budget's about gone. I can do some marketing with what's left, but I can't pay anyone, so I'll sucker writers/editors/etc. into writing or editing or whatever, and we'll either do it for free, for peanuts, some sort of barter situation, promise of more when we break through.
But we don't. And I'm thinking lately that what we're seeing is an entire system built on free content. Huffington Post appalls me because although she's huge and very well capitalized, none of their bloggers get paid. They're doing it for the exposure (which is considerable), but I feel like it's a very bad precedent. That you've got a wealthy publisher asking people to write for free and many professional writers are doing it. It feels obscene and exploitive to me. She's got the money. The hit count is through the roof. Why isn't she paying appropriately?
I'm with President Obama on this. Change brings unease. I suspect that's true whether you are talking about changes in the health insurance system or in book publishing.
Change also brings opportunity. Some people will perceive what's happening, figure out where to go with it, and enjoy great success.
The E-book industry is so shakey right now, I think I'll be a good five-ten years before it becomes stable. Until then I guess it's going to be a transition period for most people who are already published.
I think I'll be good though, making books more avalible than they have been.
But who knows?
Mark:
That's precisely it . . . lack of any business plan as far as PAYING people. It's a ludicrous model.
E
Joe:
That's what I am hoping!
E
JT:
Unlike a lot of people, I really DO think there are going to be exciting changes. I am not resisting change. I am, though, resisting the idea of not paying people fairly just because something is new.
Your prediction of 5-10 years may be right.
E
After further thought, I have an hypotheses: Maybe many of the start-up e-pubs are relying (exploiting?) on hungry writers, i.e., those eager to be published, no matter the quality or money offered by the e-pub. Also, perhaps some writers don't value the time they've put into their product and/or don't care about the money.
I once thought that the practice of my art wasn't dependent on monetary compensation. But after reading this blog and considering the time and effort I've put into my Epics, hell yeah! I want appropriate compensation. After all the research, self-editing extravaganzas, as well as blood, sweat and tears (God, I used to love that group!), I feel my time is worth more than just a publisher who can't back up their company with reliable resources, proven track record, and credentialed editors. (Been there...)
Time is money. The older I get the more I realize it.
I am trying to formulate intelligent thoughts about the future of editing, but I got stuck on the part about the cleaning lady. Oh, I have such trouble with those situations. I cannot fire someone who needs the money, even to the detriment of my family. Urgh. I feel for you (and her).
Yeah, I've started thinking about how much good could come out of a boom in e-books.
It would be less expensive for the publishers, so some of that money could go towarss pushing the book, or towards the artwork for the project.
First, thank you for the linky love. :)
Every production meeting we discuss how we can pay our writers more. 20 bucks for a short story is shameless - and we're considered mid-semi-pro rate! Now, we do only hold rights for 4 months and we also allow writers to remove their story from archives at any time.
Making it a profitable venture, paying ourselves, would cost thousands of dollars. And we know we're still up against free content. I mean, Baens is closing up shop, SF&F is going bi-monthly...people aren't subscribing to short story magazines. So then we look at advertising, and none of us really want to go there. Not yet. We might look into it at some point, especially if we brought someone on board to manage it.
I'm constantly amazed by not only the amount of subs we get, but the quality. We get multi-published authors sending us stuff. Sometimes it's trunk, more often not. Amazingly enough, I've even had people tell me they want to "break in" to our market.
For 20 fucking dollars.
The industry exploits writers. I think it always has, but now, with the internet, the scope of it has increased.
But it's not limited to just our industry. My husband's seeing it in the tech side. Companies are taking advantage of employees to huge degrees, especially new-hires. Everyone's just so damned happy to have a job.
I'm not scared of change, but the interim terrifies me.
JT,
I'm all for ebooks. Don't get me wrong. I love books. I own thousands of them. But production costs and antiquated time frames has held the industry back for half a century now. A YEAR to get a book out? No wonder the industry is so hit and miss. Who can predict sales and marketing a year ahead? My husband can bring a complicated web-ap to market with just a few programmers in a matter of a couple of months. Editing and formatting an ebook would be about that time frame. I think all books should be offered in both formats, frankly. And I think we'll see it go there, too.
I think it actually will increase sales of hard copies. I'm living proof of it, actually. I've bought several books that I've read in their entirety FREE, online. And yanno what? I bought all those authors' other titles as well.
(Also, I bet ebook sales magically speed up printing time-frames, not to mention the new technology coming available to do just that.)
Kath:
I look at it with compassion, I guess. There are some VERY desperate people who want to say "author" and feel that is accomplished only when pubbed. And accomplishing that any which way . . .
E
I think we're experiencing a painful industry transition ... New technologies are always disruptive, and the Internet is certainly a new technology. Ask the music studios, which watched as several billion dollars worth of music was shared for free over P2P networks a few years ago. And just wait until they figure out how to share movie files easily and painlessly ... same thing will happen.
Fact is, whether we like it or not, the delivery of all artistic product (and that's what books are) is going to be nearly free in the very near future. The barriers to distribution are already dropping rapidly -- with POD first, and then with eBooks. This means that ANYBODY will be able to distribute ANY book, whether they wrote it or not.
I think this will hurt writers' incomes, just as it's hurt everybody else's incomes. But there is no shortage of writers and no shortage of books (to the contrary -- there is a glut of both). So just as musicians had to develop alternative revenue streams to record sales (they tour now), writers and the publishing world will also have to develop alternative income streams to ... writing.
It seems counterintuitive, of course, but I don't think there is an alternative.
I read all the comments and although redundant - my main thought is that e-publishers as well as many ezines and print pubs can pay so little because there are so many hungry writers out there thinking that will be the break they need to get the bigger and better publication. As for editors - same thing. I also looked into editing for Ellora's Cave but stopped before taking the test -- not only is the pay low if you rise to editing on your own -- but there is a three-month trial period where you earn about 3 cents per word. Um no.
I do believe there need to be stepping stones in one's career...perhaps this is what some people consider it.
Dunno!
Heather:
I know I'm struggling in this economy. I can't imagine people closer to the edge.
E
I can't speak for anyone else's experience, but I wasn't hungry or desperate to see my name on a book. A lot of thought did go into me picking an e-publisher. My work wasn't long enough and the publisher I submitted to took short works. Did the e-publisher edit their novels? Yes they did. Did their covers look like someone blind had created them? No. Do they have favorable recognition with readers and their authors? Yes.
My downfall? I was ignorant to the reality of being published with no name recognition. I was ignorant that what really made you sell books had nothing to do with how well you wrote the book. I don't regret my decision. I still will publish the books that are ugly step-children to traditional markets novels with an e-press.
Will I make money on what I write with an e-press? I don't know. Will I aim for a publisher who at least pay an advance? Hell, yes.
What's being overlooked in this discussion is taking a calculated risk. Right now that's what the e-book market is, a risk for authors with no name recognition. I wish that was highlighted more. *Not just here, but whenever e-books/e-press authors are discussed* Authors who already have a fanbase will do better. Authors who hit the lottery with gaining readers early on do better. But there are still authors who won't make enough money to cover the cost of ink. I think that's true for both e-published authors and traditionally published authors. Yes, the latter gets an advance, but there is no promise they will even pay it out or if their next royalty check will bring more money.
Starbucks:
Very insightful comments from the front lines of e-pubbing.
E
Lurker Monkey:
Like I said . . . I'm observing!
E
Amy:
I just find that insulting. Monkeys could be paid more.
E
Melissa:
Well . . . here's the thing. I have NO problem with e-pubbed books. I think if an author is developing a following, bravo. I think there are things I even have on my hard drive that don't neatly fall into a genre that I could see e-pubbing, or regaining rights to older work.
My main point was really about paying people fairly. A living wage. If you read Spy's post . . . editors for some pubs do not even make minimum wage. That's just wrong. And what I find particularly abhorrant (and I knew I would eventually rant), is that I have seen on FB and twitter certain e-book editors who are so UNBELIEVABLY snarky and superior, critiquing someone's beloved and hard work publicly, printing "fail" after queries and so on. Excuse me, but . . . why? You are not paying your people a living wage or ANY wage and you are acting JUST as superior as the gatekeepers you supposedly are bypassing. I find it disgusting.
There is another e-pub--any of you could guess it--who writes something like, "If you are a word over or under 50K or what we ask for, don't bother sending it to us." I mean . . . what? Are you the Holy Grail of publishing.
Rant done.
Melissa . . . I think it's GREAT that you are pubbed. Period. I really do. This is about the worker bees, for me.
E
My main point was really about paying people fairly. A living wage. If you read Spy's post . . . editors for some pubs do not even make minimum wage. That's just wrong.
Yes, and I know I went off on a tangent, but I saw too many comments saying e-pubbed authors are desperate. (sore point for me, hence the soapbox.)
So you can say I'm conflicted. I do believe people should get paid for the work they provide. Snide comments should never enter into the picture, especially for people who don't have the track record to feel even entitled. More so for companies that track records can speak for itself. I'm not sure of the press you are talking about, but I've read some submission guidelines that make me cringe.
Yet I still stand behind making a what others may deem risky decision. If you know ALL the risks involved. I'm sure I get that from my father. We would move at the drop of a hat. The only thing guaranteed was an adventure. Maybe it's misguided. Definitely foolhardy, but you never know what experience, life lesson you'd gain. You can't put a price tag on that.
Now whether or not these pubs should provide fair wages (even dealings) to authors or editors, I don't know. I've gotten to the point in life where I've accepted businesses will be businesses. There are people behind the scenes who know better, but the bottom line comes first. Being an author I feel the same way this writing gig is a business. And, I am the CEO of Melissa Blue.
Anyway, I'm conflicted and finally off my soapbox.
A living wage is necessary for everyone. But some people think they deserve more for x or y reasons. So they get paid more, and the others get what's left over.
That is why I don't have any employees. It would be too tempting to give them the hind teat because I could. I don't think I would, but I don't want to risk it. I know CEOs aren't all evil people, but when given a choice to make the socially fair decision or the self-serving decision, they often choose the latter because they are too caught up in what "they" need (e.g., to make payments on their BMW and their McMansion).
Melissa:
I hear you. It would be wrong to characterize every e-pub or self-pub person as desperate, and if I did that, I did not mean to. That said, I do know there ARE scammer out there and sub-par products and so on because some people do feel it in a manner more akin to desperation, and they are definitely taken advantage of.
E
FF:
I would have the opposite problem--LOL! Overpaying.
:-)
E
To Melissa Blue: My apologies if my comments came off as backhanded remarks that all e-pub authors are desperate. Not my intention. I have many close friends successfully e-pubbed and quite happy with their choices.
Rather, my feelings are that there are many authors who don't check into the credentials of the newer e-pubs and then end up burned in the end because of it. Same goes for those going with new print publishers.
Always know what you're getting into. The assumed risk will be there for everything, same as jumping out of an airplane. No one would do it without checking to see if there is a parachute strapped to their back first.
Dang. A day late and dollar short. :-) Anyway, here's my two cents.
I'm getting great reviews and fan mail for my ebook that was just published. Sure I came up with the story and made it work. However, I can't thank my editor enough for putting the final shine on it. She's part of the reason why I'm getting the great reviews. Without her, there's no telling how my missteps might have cost readers who couldn't get through the book because this, that, or the other, kicked them out of the story. Not only that, but she goes above and beyond by keeping her authors in the loop in terms of what she's editing, what to expect, and is always open to answering questions. I love her to pieces and can only hope that she's getting paid what she rightfully deserves.
But this also brings up a point about epubs that don't pay their editors. You pay for what you get is as true today as when it was first said. If you want quality editing, then you have to pay for it. The sooner epubs realize this, the more the fly-by-night scammers will stand out and not in a good way. Nobody will be willing to pay $2.99+ for a book that could've been edited better by their three-year old.
Post a Comment