The Journal, Friday, 8/4

Hey Folks,

Back in June when I was writing a short story every day, I had a few I wanted to turn into novels. I’m going to glance back over those today.

If I find something that runs with me, I’ll write it.

If I don’t, I’ll start writing a short story every day again (beginning today) until I hit on an idea that wants to be a novel. (grin)

TOPIC: ISBNs, Copyright, etc.

I’m astounded by the general lack of knowledge of writers about the writing business as evidenced by some of the questions I receive.

This morning a friend wrote to ask whether he could use the CreateSpace (hereafter, CS) ISBN if he had the book printed by someone else. (No. Every edition of a book has to have a separate ISBN.)

CS charges no upfront fees. The only fee is a per-book charge of around $2 to $3 per book, and that’s your cost if you order copies of the book to sell yourself. Personally, I see no reason to even do that.

If you charge enough to put the book on Extended Distribution through CS, it will be listed through Ingram et al and offered for sale in all the various catalogs.

It will also show up in any Amazon (B&N, Kobo, etc.) search right alongside the ebook. And THAT’S the main reason I offer my books in paper. For the price comparison.

If you order a bunch of copies because you want to “hold your book in your hand,” you’re costing yourself money. If you have a venue where you can sell them yourself (speaking engagements, indie bookstores, etc.), you’ll make a tidy profit.

But otherwise, for copies sold through Extended Distribution and normal channels, you’ll make about $2 in royalties (about 10%) per copy sold.

Your ebook, on the other hand, will earn you a whopping 70-80% of the list price, depending on the venue.

The paper edition of one of my books sells for $15.99. For every paper copy that sells, I earn about $2.

The ebook edition of the same book costs $4.99, a much more attractive price. For every ebook copy that sells, I earn between $3.50 and $4.00.

In the same email, my friend asked whether he has to send a “hard copy” to the Library of Congress. He said “I know at one time all publishers, including self publishers had to do this.”

Again, no. And no, they weren’t. Nor do you need an LCCN (Library of Congress Catalogue Number).

The LCCN, which by my estimate 99.83652987% of novice authors/publishers fret over, doesn’t even ensure that your work is in the actual Library of Congress.

Most novice writers, from what I’ve been able to discern, believe they either “have” to have an LCCN or that having one will somehow cause their work to be enshrined in the Library of Congress. Neither case is true.

Requesting and purchasing (yep, it costs money) an LCCN only ensures a listing in their catalogue, which again does absolutely nothing to benefit the author or the work.

For questions on copyright, see the US Copyright Office at http://www.copyright.gov/.

Today, and Writing

Got up late this morning (for me) at around 4 and spent the first couple hours doing nothing much. Normal email and FB and the topic above.

Didn’t find a June story to run with, so I knocked out a couple thousand words on a new story. Breaking about 9 to do a little yard work (mowing) on the part that’s dry.

Finished with the yard (it’s probably an acre but mows like 5 acres) in a little over an hour. Now to finish the short story for today. Then I think I’m gonna take some time off to watch baseball. (grin)

Well, the game starts at 11. So I’ll get a shower, watch the game and finish the story later today.

Well, I went back to the story for awhile, but it seems to want to be either a long short story or maybe a novella. We’ll see.

Back tomorrow.

Of Interest

Nada today.

Fiction Words: 3109
Nonfiction Words: 680 (Journal)
So total words for the day: 3789

Writing of “Untitled” (short story)

Day 1…… 3109 words. Total words to date…… 3109

Total fiction words for the month……… 11329
Total fiction words for the year………… 374307
Total nonfiction words for the month… 2270
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 121380
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 495687

The Daily Journal blog streak……………………………………… 617 days
Calendar Year 2017 Novel Goal (15 novels or novellas)………………… 8 novels or novellas
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)………………………………………… 26
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)……………………………………… 4
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)……………………………… 179