Atomic Fez Publishing

Below the image is the text which accompanied it on Facebook, and it’s things like this that Atomic Fez has strived to achieve. The ‘Small Press’ has let too many people down over the years, and we need to re-​​earn the trust of people with their money. Thank you for your support of us, Paulo Brito, as well as your support of Rhys Hughes.

Copy of “Twisthorn Bellow” received by Paulo Brito

Order placed and paid on March 3. Order placed in the mail on April 16. Order received today. As you can see by the dates the order took more than a month to be processed which is very bad. If I was disappointed, of course. If I will buy more books at Atomic Fez Publishing, yes I will. Reason? I have to highlight the excellent professionalism and posture of Ian Alexander Martin that solved this abnormal situation. The small publishers should be congratulated.

Yes, you read the title correctly: eBooks are expanding their market share but Independent Book Stores are doing quite well, thank you very much. This is as I predicted, but I’m not going to be smug about it as, about a year ago, it looked very, very bleak for the one-​​location shops going it alone.

The first article, from North American industry bible Publishers Weekly, provides an incredibly lengthy list of the top sellers in the eBook format for last year. So lengthy I haven’t a clue how many there are mentioned there. Yowza, is it ever long. Still, a scan for the names you recognize will come up with at least one title for each author, often several. Stephen King, a long-​​time advocate and fan of the eBook (and considering the size of Under the Dome, fans ought to keep that in mind before investing that volume of space on their shelves) even makes an appearance with his novel about the Kennedy assassination. The Fifty Shades of Grey series is predictably at the top, proving the anonymity of a eReader is something people take advantage of; and the Game of Thrones series is also scattered through the top of the list. Tom Clancey shows up a few times, as does John Grisholm. So do other authors, but it seemed best to get those out of the way right off the bat.

The point here is that people like to read, and the thing that I started hearing when the Kindle first came out–I’m reading more and more now–seems to be continuing un-​​abated. The more they read, the more they read; tautology aside. 

The second article is something that I hoped would happen: people running their own bookstores are learning to turn lemons into lemonade (sorry about the hoary old phrase) and are turning their businesses struggling to compete with the large chains, into more successful places to get people in in order to enjoy the book as a destination. Celebrate the book, they cry, here we are to act as your enabler! Given the large chains have fewer and fewer locations – and those locations have fewer and fewer employees – the independents aren’t in competition with anyone who provides an actual browseable inventory of titles. The automatically generated suggestions on line where “if you liked Guy Adams’s Sherlock Holmes: The Breath of God, then you’ll also enjoy Accountancy for Cornish Tin Mining, 1845 – 70 (Vol.3)” clearly has never worked no matter how many times they change the calculations. In the shop, however, Lucy or Andrew (or whoever), will point you instead at either Warren Ellis’ Gun Machine or  Andrey Kurkov’s Death and the Penguin and you’ll be far better off as a result. This is something that the local stores have always done very well, and the modern reader – possibly having grown-​​up in an on-​​line world – knows not the joys of having someone point them at their new obsession of an author. Thus, the indies are playing to their strengths, this time with a whole new generation.

• The Bestselling E-​​books of 2012
  Jaw-​​dropping numbers in digital sales
  By Daisy Maryles, Publishers Weekly | Mar 17, 2013
  • http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/bookselling/article/56408-the-e-book-explosion-facts-figures-2012.html
• The Novel Resurgence of Independent Bookstores
  Defying the onslaught of the e-​​book revolution, many small bookshops see a rise in sales, aided by savvy business practices and the ‘buy local’ movement.
  By Yvonne Zipp, Correspondent, The Christian Science Monitor | March 17, 2013
  • http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2013/0317/The-novel-resurgence-of-indepndent-bookstores

The following notes were sent by myself to a book retailer who questioned the charging of a price on this site which is somewhat less than the “cover price” or “Recommended Retail Price” as stated on the back of the books and in all official listings of the books’ details.

THE HOUSE THAT DEATH BUILT, by John Llewellyn Probert [cover by Stephen Upham]

They are reproduced here in the interests of “transparency” for the benefit of both retailers and readers alike. It is hoped that this clarifies the matter, and that further understanding might be gained by it. The more all of us knows about how the world’s economy works, the better we can work within it for the benefit of us all.

My first reply was as follows, replying to the suggestion that I was charging the retailer the full RRP whilst selling here for less than RRP.

Actually, you’re being charged 40% less than the RRP (or 30% for Limited Editions), so you’re still making money. You’re entirely free to choose whatever price you wish; as is anyone, for that matter. It’s hoped that I’m not right when suggesting the above has a certain whiff of  “collusion” to it. Publishing is already altogether too rife with that just now, and the public deserves far better from everyone in the industry at the best of times, never mind these trying economic times of ours.

Be assured that your order is, in fact, far larger than the number of copies I’ve sold at this slightly discounted price, so it’s unlikely that you will feel a reduction of any sales figure due to my efforts. It’s probable that none of the people who purchase from you are even aware that Atomic Fez has a web site, never mind is offering prices lower than the RRP, and any print or internet advertisement I run does not include the fact, leaving it to the visitor to discover as “an added bonus” and thus not directly competing with your offering in any way more than someone comparing prices might do with Amazon and Waterstone’s .

I am aware of the difficulty of an independent book shop competing with others’ deep discounts, having worked quite some number of years in retail, including about five in a single-​​location book shop.

If the Internet is a shopping mall, yours is a full retail bookstore with the positive aspect of a massive selection as its approach. Atomic Fez’s selection has the vastly limited “only a few titles” approach of a wholesaler, thus making selection only a few things, thus the only advantage is one of a slight discount, presuming someone wants a copy of one of the handful of titles in the first place. Your customer base is vast and eclectic, mine is “folks what know me”. So, you see, I’m still in a position of struggling and limited appeal.

But, speaking of presumption, this publishing nonsense is in fact my only income, so the “other reasons” you allude to are of little relevance to me, yet aren’t entirely clear to me either. This is a business I’m running here (although my bank management might disagree).

Your order and continued customs is valued, as is your position. Please let me know if you have any concerns.

That then got me wondering about things, and thus I tweeted as follows:

Let’s say, for the sake of argument, a retailer wanted me to stop charging less than RRP on my site. That would be “collusion”, wouldn’t it?

— Atomic Fez Pub. (@AtomicFez) January 9, 2013

Which didn’t elicit any response, but I did a bit of research in order to know that I was actually headed in the right direction and found both the one in the Oxford English Dictionary (Concise) and THIS DEFINITION of “collusion” to be applicable, both with the “overt” and “tacit collusion” uses of the word.

This notion of collusion – coupled with the widely distributed (widely on Facebook, anyway) image to the left encouraging people to buy local, support the arts, and coming at the same time as people are wanting to not support the National Hockey League’s Board of Directors after screwing the fans through the Players’ Association – got me tweeting this:

So… there’s this meme about “buy local…” and we all agree, but what have you *done* about it? facebook.com/AtomicFezPubli…

— Atomic Fez Pub. (@AtomicFez) January 12, 2013

The retailer then got back to me in response to my original note, asking the following:

I am sorry but collusion between who and who?  I have spoken to no-​​one about this.  I have no idea if anything else is stocking it.  Or (again) am I missing something?

One might suggest that he’s missing the fact that he spoke to me about the price being charged here on Atomic Fez site, which is precisely the point which had attempted to be made.

So, after saying the news that further orders weren’t going to be placed by them was surprising and disappointing  I took another run at explaining the position which they were placing me in.

The suggestion of “collusion” is a considered one, in that you seemed (and that word is also carefully considered) to be suggesting we both need to charge the same rates, even though we serve entirely differing markets. Additionally, whenever any product is offered for sale in the marketplace for an identical price no matter who the offering business is, then the consumer is ill-​​served as competition is not engaged in. Your tacit suggestion that my rate should be identical to yours, thus equal to the RRP, despite the differing markets and situations, amounts arguably to a mild form of collusion. I cannot tell you what price to charge, nor would I expect to do so; the closest being the recommended retail price. This principle is why the old Penguins and Corgis have the statement about how the RRP isn’t valid in Australia because even suggesting a price to a retailer was frowned on there.I’ve no idea what the feeling in [your area] is about it, nor the local regulations, but in the USA there’s a massive broo-​​ha-​​ha about “price fixing” using the “agency model” in an alleged arrangement between Apple’s iBooks Store and the major publishers. Their purported discussions and operating principles behind that situation sounded to me like just about every single principle which has driven the publishing industry since day one. The one thing which did stick out was the aspect that the publishers and the retail outlet of the iBooks Store were coming to terms regarding the final selling price to the customer, and that’s not on. The retailer sets a price at which the product is offered for sale to the customer, who then has the right to either accept it or offer a new one for the retailer to accept. No one is going to walk into a drug store and start haggling over shampoo, but that’s the theory.

What it comes down to is this: I sell to you at the RRP, which is there for anyone to sell at: Amazon, Chapters, WH Smiths, yourself, or whoever. You are charged 40% (or 30% for Limited Editions) less than that RRP for your wholesale chargeable cost. What you actually charge your customers is entirely up to you, and I’ve no part in that beyond the original RRP. If Amazon or Chapters or [another independent book dealer] decides to deep-​​discount my titles, I can’t stop them, just as when the Amazon retail partners “thebookcommunity_​ca” or “Vanderbilt CA” decide to charge several times the RRP (it’s happened several times, and is likely a money laundering scheme which doesn’t involve a single copy of the book).

My slight discount at the “manufacturing source” is not meant to approach the added value that your carrying of a broad selection of titles and authors which rightly justifies whatsoever price you seem appropriate independent of any wishes I may have.

It’s simple free market economics.

THE DESIGNATED COCONUT by John Travis [cover by Sunila Sen-​​Gupta]

It’s entirely probable that the individual hasn’t read anything of my notes beyond the first paragraphs of each of them (which is suspected owing to none of the later points made are even mentioned in passing). This is not something I have any influence over.

Honestly; I don’t expect to become Midas doing this. I don’t even expect to become able to buy a new car each year after throwing away the one from the previous year. I’m simply trying to find ever possible way I can find an advantage both ethically and economically, in order to pay authors a decent royalty and cover the simple cost of production of the books. I also have a need to pay my own bills (heat, light, food) which aren’t a part of the actual price of publishing eclectic, genre-​​busting fiction. So far, the bills for printers and author’s royalties have been always paid, and most of those and further costs have been borne by means other than revenue.

When someone suggests that someone’s slight advantage is something that they themselves cannot condone, then one should be a bit concerned about what sort of influence they feel is right. As it’s certainly not helping me anyway, then it seems even the potential of competition isn’t welcomed, and one wonders if this is the sort of world one wishes to be a part of in the first place.

Atomic Fez continues to support the selling of its books by anyone and at any price they see fit. If books are sold, then they are read; or what’s a Heaven for?

The title is as it is due to just about anyone I’ve come across in the last little while being well and truly tired of hearing either of those phrases. If you’re in Canada, a close third is “Grey Cup”, or “Presidential Election” if you’re in the USA, or any use of the words “phone hacking” if you’re in the UK. So let’s move on before we all acquire a case of the dry heaves, shall we?

Ah… the open, airy, spacious experience that is the new paragraph… ahhhhhhh.

This is a bit of a “catch-​​up”, “bits and/​or bobs*  which got missed”, word about some “new stuff”, plus a bit of news about pricing.

First: NEW STUFF!

Let’s say, for some reason, you think the world of Atomic Fez, and love it so much you’d like to declare to the world your support of it. How might one do this, you ask yourself? Why, by ordering something with the mighty logo of Atomic Fez Publishing†, that’s how! Shirts, mugs, bags, caps, beer steins, glasses, hip flasks, cocktail shakers, even “unmentionables” for both ladies and gentlemen!

There’s two shops on the interwebs, in order to increase your options for the sake of flexibility.

So if you are already thinking of getting one of Uncle Warren Ellis’s shirts on Café Press, there are options for Atomic Fez to add to your order and make your shipping charge go farther.

On the other hand  If you don’t want to tell people that “Warren Ellis put his disease in me”, then you can head to the Spread Shirt store and fill your life with all sorts of Atomic Fez stuff! I’ve not yet located other worthwhile things in Spread Shirt. No doubt they are there, they just haven’t been found by me yet. 

Here’s the two options: 

Spread Shirt

or

Café Press

So… there you are.

New Books Fully Available!

After some nagging and sorting and more nagging and some payment of bills, there are the full range of both The Designated Coconut and The House That Death Built available in the shop (click the cover images or the titles for the particular pages).

While the print runs for the North American market won’t be done until the spring of next year, those of you in Canada or the United States of America can order copies today if you just can’t wait until then for your very own copy, you’ll just have to pay the shipping cost for the extra distance to your address from the United Kingdom (which, honestly, isn’t that much or a rise in charge). 

If you prefer your books to be electronic, however, WAIT NO LONGER! as those editions are available in all three flavours: locally sourced, the international Kobo store, or your nation’s Kindle Store (there’s seven to choose from)! All are available now, just remember that the most money ends up in the hands of authors with the “direct from Atomic Fez” option, and you can still load those on any device you own that displays eBooks, and they’re always DRM-​​free for your technological and “future-​​proof” convenience. The authors thank you for supporting their ability to have real roofs under which to eat actual food (greatly increased health has resulted in extensive lab testing when including both these things in a writer’s environment).

Most Prices Newly Reduced!

After some time has passed after initial excitement over a title, people need a little incentive to re-​​awaken their interest in a book they might have passed over initially. Thus, some alterations on some prices for earlier titles in a rather downward direction (IE: old books cost less). Also, the new books available here are at special “direct from the publisher” prices, even when brand new.

The third thing that’s changed is the “one penny less than a full, round number” is gone. Honestly, who are we kidding here? Yes, there’s the famous idea of if it’s priced at $19.99 people don’t think of it as $20, that seems too expensive idea, but it’s probable that everyone is entirely wise to that by now. If a book is £8.99, I suspect that all of your are saying to yourself “right, so that’s just over a ten-​​pound note by the time there’s postage added” just the same as if it was priced as “nine pounds”. So, when the prices being charged went down, the rounding was included along the way.

Here’s an example of how this works, in case you got lost along the way of my oddly constructed explanation.

Wicked Delights by John Llewellyn Probert

Recommended Retail (or “Cover”) Price $39.99 (Canada) £22.99 (UK) $39.99 (USA)

Old “Atomic Fez Direct” Price $39.99 (Canada) £22.99 (UK) $39.99 (USA)

New “Atomic Fez Direct” Price $30 (Canada) £15 (UK) $30 (USA)

So much easier, isn’t it?

The buttons for the various editions and nations have been moved over so that it’s more obvious as to what’s applying to which thing, so that ought to go some distance to helping everyone understand what’s available. 

Conclusion

There’s not much point in me forcing people to operate under my rules if they don’t either make sense to you or you think they’re stupid. After all, you’re supposed to want to buy these books and navigating your way through complications and mystery options isn’t going to do anything for your happiness, which is going to have a damaging direct effect on the number of those books being read by people… which is not what any writer wants. 

Thus, please let me know what you think of all of the above, either by replying directly to me through  or by commenting below, whichever you’re most comfortable with. 

Thank you for your time reading this, your custom, and your support of independent authors and their publisher.

* I’ve always wondered, if a table is covered with ‘bits & bobs’, and all of them but one fall on the floor, what’s left? A ‘bit’, or a ‘bob’? Answers on a postcard to the usual address.‡ [ ↑ return ↑ ]

† The Mighty logo of Atomic Fez Publishing logo and colophon designed and Copyright © 2009 Martin Butterworth of The Creative Partnership [ ↑ return ↑ ]

‡ Anywhere but here. Thanks. [ ↑ return ↑ ]

People initially pooh-​​poohed the electronic book format as being “a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist”. Admittedly, the eBook for the first decade or so basically sucked donkeys, but those days are over. Nearly. Any day now. Trust me.

Cartoon by Tom Gauld for the “Guardian” (Saturday Review letters page)

Okay, they’re not really all that bad, but they could still do with a step-​​up in the break-​​through department. Doing everything exactly as well as a printed book isn’t really enough of a draw to convince the doubters that eBooks are even worth consideration. I’m not sure what ‘the tipping point’ might be – dancing video? free drugs? full sensual experience with 50 Shades of Grey? no idea – but we’re not there yet. There are times that even simply going to the next chapter of the book I’m reading seems a task (I’m looking at you Terry Pratchett YA titles!), but the affordability of hardware and lack of really good colour eInk video rendition seems a bit of a downer. It can’t be the price of the things anymore, as there’s a good number under $100 now, and there’s even one coming for less than €10!

Anyway… where was I…?

Oh yes! eBooks! They’re popular! Really! Look at this:

• E-​​books Grab 16% Share of Canadian Book Purchases; Publishers Weekly > “Industry News” > “Financial Reporting”; October 10^th

So the first interesting thing here is that the Kobo is seen as the ‘go-​​to device’ for their eBooks, rating “27% saying they plan to use a Kobo device to buy their next e-​​book followed by Kindle at 19% and the iPad at 14%.” Given the delay on Amazon getting clearance for a Canadian version of AT&T’s ‘WhisperNet’ connection in the USA, it’s not too surprising, but it’s still surprising to me. Possibly heart-​​warming, given how much I’ve been rooting for Kobo since Day One when they were ‘ShortCovers’.  

The second thing here is that the paperback is still holding its own with 57% of sales (hardcovers had 24% of unit sales), which I’ve always seen as the one format that eBooks will supplant for popularity; Mass-​​Market Paperbacks especially (you know, they’re the really crappy ones that last for one or two readings at most and are smaller that most others). 

But wait! There’s more from the mighty offices of K0bo! Big stuff! So big you’ve got four! (4!) links from which to choose! Behold!

• Busy Kobo to Acquire Aquafadas, Raise Self-​​Pub Royalty and More; Publishers Weekly > “Digital” > “Retailing”; October 10^th
• Kobo Acquires French Digital Service Company Aquafadas; Expands Self-​​Publishing and Adds New Zealand Partners; Publishers Lunch; October 10^th
• Kobo buys Aquafadas; The Bookseller; October 10^th
• Kobo acquires French digital software company Aquafadas; paidContent (a GigaOM outlet); October 10^th

The one thing that might get people shifting to eReading – if not for the Madefire application – is the ability to read graphic novels on their devices, especially if they can get hold of content that either does things otherwise impossible (such as the aforementioned Madefire material for iOS devices), and/​or material that hasn’t been available for awhile. I can imagine a complete run of the entire Marvel or DC catalogue would be something incredible (although some of the mid-​​WWII stuff might raise more than an eyebrow or two). 

The expansion of the Kobo catalogue to New Zealand means that the unsuspecting Antipodean readers shall find themselves exposed to the crazy world of Atomic Fez’s genre-​​bustin’ fiction! HUZZAH!!!

Beg pardon. [:: polite cough ::]

Kobo’s acquisition of a ‘digital service company’, as well as its continued geographic expansion, is quite large a development, announced now no doubt in order to be a part of the Frankfurt Book Show on right now. This is the perfect time for anyone to shout about their European Business Developments, what with them being in Europe, obviously. But it’s also a way for the gathered business leaders to take encouragement from each other with new industry ideas, business plans, and general re-​​assessments of goals and methodology.

• Frankfurt 2012: CEO Panel Discusses ‘Lessons Learned’ from Digital; Publishers Weekly > “International” > “Frankfurt Book Fair”; October 10^th
• Digital First Isn’t an Option for Media – It’s the Only Way Forward; GigaOM > Tech News and Analysis; October 10^th

This is encouraging, as it details the discussion of Big Publishers approaching the format from a business model which isn’t based on the one adopted about a century ago. given the non-​​physical delivery system of the product, as well as a non-​​geographic-​​based market, it’s surprising that it’s only now that the fresh approach is being taken. That said, it’s excellent that it’s being done, never mind the delay involved. Hooray! Perhaps we can start moving forward for the sake of everyone involved?

Please?

“This Week’s Fish Wrap” is an on-​​going series of posts summing up the news of the previous seven days in the publishing industry, and/​or announce the latest news Atomic Fez has about the publishing house, and appears here each Monday. It’s also quite possible that the posts merely serve as a dumping ground of links so that Atomic Fez Proprietor Ian Alexander Martin can find articles later to include in his occasional rants about how ‘EVERYONE ELSE IS ENTIRELY WRONG’ about various things.

So… that went well… I think.

The actual financials are yet to be examined, especially the ones from the BFS FantsyCon 2012 in Brighton, as Christopher Teague is still probably trying to remember what he did most of the week-​​end. 

All my bags are packed…

It seems, however, that the BFS FantasyCon has once again been rocked – ROCKED! I SAY – with controversy. I’ll say no more, pointing simply to THIS POST over on Joe Abercrombie’s blog. 

Much like Chris Teague does, I approach a convention or similar event an opportunity to remind others that Atomic Fez exists, and to share information with readers, authors, and other publishers; not as an opportunity to make lots of lovely lovely money! I wouldn’t say ‘no’ to money, obviously, it’s just not the principal reason I’m there.

VCon 2012 was the thing for me here in Metro Vancouver: a chance to have a good visit with the brains behind Gaukler Medieval Wares [ :: waves at lone visitors to blog :: ], trade well-​​meaning insults with Brian Hades of EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing, and generally wonder when can I run away and get some decent coffee? I did a couple of panels – one about eBooks v paper ones, the other about submitting material to differing markets – but wasn’t able to check-​​out any others, owing to being on my own in the Dealers’ Room. Ah-​​well.

Next year you’ll probably find Atomic Fez at more events, and in more locations than normal! Additionally, it looks likely you’ll see the Publisher /​ Proprietor at all those events too, as the dates don’t over-​​lap for any of them! Look forward to more details about the following events (mark your calendars now):

• When Words Collide; Calgary, Alberta; August 9 – 11, 2013
• VCon №38; somewhere in Metro Vancouver, normally the final week-​​end in September
• World FantasyCon 2013; Brighton, Sussex, UK; October 31^st-​​November 3^rd, 2013

Now please excuse me as I try to catch-​​up on some orders that have been ignored for the last week or so. Plus some sleep that was over-​​looked. Thanks. 

Let’s try this once more, shall we? Earlier today this appeared, only the text was entirely made-​​up of quotes from roles played by Samuel L. Jackson in various movies, courtesy of the web-​​site SAMUEL L. IPSUM (Mother*cking Placeholder Text, Motherf*cker!), which generates far more interesting text than the classic “Lorem ipsum” material used by most layout people.

So… erm… Basically I created the post, put some text in to hold some space where the actual content would go, put a in image in, then some relevant links at the bottom, and then… walked away and forgot about it. More fool me. :: ahem ::

Amazon [he says, rapidly changing the subject from the previous one of “just how daft is Ian getting in his middle-​​age?” to a more news-​​worthy one] has recently been getting a fair bit of flack from all sides for their decision to become ‘a real publisher, just like Atomic Fez’, although the last part of the phrase isn’t one that’s commonly a point made by anyone. Not only are they to be the original publisher of works, they will be publishing these works in electronic and printed formats, as well as selling the books through a distributor so that the books will be on shelves of bookshops the world over. In theory, anyway.

WWI War Financing Poster (by Haskell Coffin, 1918)

The problem with the plan is quite simple: the same businesses that Amazon is in direct competition with are now to be their retail partners. One minute they’re crushing Barnes & Noble, Borders, or everyone’s favourite local independent book shop; the next minute they’re saying ‘look, just before you go completely bankrupt, could you do a big display in the window with our new titles?’, and wondering why they’re getting the stink-​​eye from everyone in the place including the university kids on holiday fill-​​in duty.

If you’re thinking “no no, Jeff Bezos and his crew surely wouldn’t be that insane, would they?” let me assure you they are either filled with so much chutzpah they don’t think they can lose, or they’re really oblivious to anything other than that which is the nano-​​second of existence of “now”.

Or, possibly, they’re on so much cocaine their irises are white as snow. After all, they do seem to be far more focused, energetic, and enthusiastic about everything than just about anyone else in the entire world, short of seven-​​year-​​old boys on a sugar high let loose in a LEGO Warehouse.

The enabler in this little affair is Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s “New Harvest” imprint, which will be exclusively dedicated to the release of Amazon.com’s titles, including upcoming titles by James Franco and Deepak Chopra. Clearly these are not merely Poems About My Cat (A Collection) we’re talking about here, but potential ‘hot titles’ by people the common reader will be interested in, or at least be aware of (which is far more than could be said of about 98% of any books released in a given period of time).

Amazon are the same people who released a smartphone ‘app’ prior to Christmas which permitted the user to scan the barcodes of up to three books in a store, thus providing the user with a guaranteed discount on the price of that book (up to a maximum of $5 per item, I think) as long as that same book was ordered through Amazon instead of buying the ‘over-​​priced’ book in the store they had in their hands at that very second. ALL HAIL duplication of effort! Not only do you choose a book by going to the bookshop and are reminded they still exist, you then guarantee you contribute nothing to its existence by literally going out of your way not to give it your custom! Hurrah! Let us all go to Cloud Cuckoo Land where books are cheap and plentiful, and no one needs to look further afield than Amazon for all ones worldly needs!

Now, given the above, you would think that Amazon would pooh-​​pooh the notion that getting copies of their own publishing house onto shelves in real bricks-​​and-​​mortar shops, wouldn’t you? “Stores?” you might be forgiven to presume they would respond, “do they still exist? Why would you want to go to one of those? Just sit in your chair, move the mouse around a bit, click a few times, and we’ll bring the world to you!” Oddly, this is not what they’re doing. No no.

Through Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s distribution network, they are attempting to get their books into the very same shops they recently sent people into with their smartphone apps, possibly in an effort to get every single dime available in the book industry chain. The only thing they haven’t got – in addition to the eBook hardware, eBook software, print-​​on-​​demand via Lightning Source and Create-​​Space, plus now the actual publishing house, and a host of other ventures under their vast umbrella – is actual retail outlets. According to the New York Times, that’s possibly next. If true, perhaps this is a test of how much they can use books to lure people in as a loss-​​leader for their other products like shoes (Amazon now own on-​​line shoe-​​retailer Zappos.com, by the way), BLU-​​RAYs, and iPad accessories. Who knows?

Personally, the thing I find most surprising is the sheer unmitigated gall and blatant effrontery of them expecting to get a piece of the action they’re attempting to reduce to rapidly diminishing returns. It’s a bit like acting as a real estate agent in the area in which you’re also enacting a policy of lebensraum, and you’re actually re-​​selling the land to the people who are already living there. Plus, you still get a commission on the sale, any the tax on the transaction itself, plus future property taxes for maintaining your now possessed territories. Win!

Honestly, what part of this whole thing made someone think “yeah, that’s a great idea; let’s do that!”…? 

The cocaine suggestion doesn’t seem so ludicrous now, does it?

• MediaBistro.com’s eBookNewser, “Author’s Guild Argues That Amazon’s Dominance Comes From Antitrust Laws”; Wednesday, February 1^st ~ READ THIS POST
• MobyLives, which is the blog of Melville House, “Amazon finds a beard to sell books from its publishing unit”; January 25^th ~ READ THIS POST
• Publishers Weekly, “Books-​​A-​​Million Won’t Carry Amazon Titles”; Friday, February 3^rd ~ READ THIS POST
• Globe & Mail, “Indigo joins growing boycott of books published by Amazon.com”; Friday, February 3^rd (and correction on the following Monday) ~READ THIS POST
• Publishers Weekly, “End of the Line for Dorchester?”; Friday, February 3^rd ~ READ THIS POST
• The New York Times, ‘Bits’, “Amazon Has Tried Everything to Make Shopping Easier. Except This.”; Friday, February 3^rd ~ READ THIS ARTICLE
• Publishers Weekly, ‘PW Tip Sheet’, “This Has All Happened Before”; Friday, February 3^rd ~ READ THIS POST

“This Week’s Fish Wrap” is an on-​​​​​​going series of posts summing up the news of the previous seven days in the publishing industry, and/​or announce the latest news Atomic Fez has about the publishing house, and appears here each Monday. It’s also quite possible that the posts merely serve as a dumping ground of links so that Atomic Fez Proprietor Ian Alexander Martin can find articles later to include in his occasional rants about how ‘EVERYONE ELSE IS ENTIRELY WRONG’ about various things.

It seems fairly often that Steve Jobs Apple brings out something that changes the face of the world – or at least what its face is pointed at – inexorably. They’re infrequently the first to do whatever it is that now has a lower-​​case letter “i” slapped on the front of the name, but they are typically the first ones to get it done the right way. For example: the tablet is finally done right with the iPad, after Microsoft tried to get manufacturers to figure out how to do it for most of the ’90s and ‘the noughties’; personal music players worked fine as cassette machines like the Walkman™, but it took the iPod to get the digital file format taking off; and the smartphone was clunky, awkward, and difficult to use for the acquisition of basic information until the introduction of the iPhone.

Beckman RIIC advert (“New Scientist and Science Journal”, Apr 1^st 1971)

Thus, the iBook 2 (not to be confused with the PowerBook, which is an old Apple laptop model) now presents textbooks in a far better, cheaper, and easier distribution model. HOORAY! say I. This is one of the best applications of the eBook format, as it drops the cost of the most expensive part of the production cycle for text-​​books: printing. Most text books have, at the very least, graphs and charts as illustrations. Anything used for science and artistic pursuits have colour illustrations or photographs required to properly explain matters of any complexity, be they medical matters of the body, or painted representations of the body. This need for acceptable colour reproduction – while both less expensive and less complicated than even two decades ago – still requires a hefty increase in costs than if there were nary a graphic included. The fact that a text book typically requires up-​​dating two years after its release only adds to the necessity of developing a way to reduce costs as much as is possible. Thankfully, the eBook is the answer.

No doubt the tales I could tell of the cost of my Geography text books in the mid-​​1980s would be enthusiastically laughed at by today’s students, and I don’t wish to consider what the cost of them are today.  But,  given the charges for typical education at any level are increasingly beggaring those who administer the provision of learning today, at any level, the method of providing texts at a fraction of the cost to the student is welcome indeed.

This is not without some valid considerations, however. Is the so-​​called “walled garden of Apple” too limiting for the freedom-​​loving world of academia? Will university and college lecturers and Deans of study find they are no longer able to regulate themselves or exercise their creativity within the technological constraints placed upon them by DRM and geographic distribution agreements? Will the publishers find increased revenue from their titles, rather than what trickles of cash they get from the photocopying licenses for ‘course packs’ used in a majority of higher learning institutions?

Do publishers even have the balls to make the sea-​​change of their entire business-​​model to this new platform? Are they just in time to make it, or are they merely trying to sort out how to rearrange the deck chairs on a rapidly sinking ship? Do we even care?

Lastly, what of the printed book – whether a textbook or simply a novel – being released with an electronic copy as a bonus? When buying a DVD or Blu-​​Ray disc, one often gets a “Free Digital Copy” for use on one’s smartphone or tablet, so why not extend this to books also?

Would Atomic Fez readers wish to receive an eBook copy of the book they just purchased in paper format? I’ve often seen it as an either/​or situation, mostly because I’ve seen eBooks as mostly a new reader market. Perhaps I’m wrong, though, and you want the option of having increased access to the book, as this means you can start reading on your iPhone the novel you left at home this morning. Let me know! Atomic Fez is here to help you enjoy reading more, as well as helping you enjoy more reading!

• “Apple Launches K-​​12 iPad Textbooks, New ‘iTunes U’ & Self-​​Publishing Platform”, PaidContent.org | CLICK HERE
• “Pearson Made $3 Billion From Digital Content Last Year”, PaidContent.org | CLICK HERE
• “Apple Move Will Spark Flurry off New Companies, Content in Education Market”, PaidContent.org | CLICK HERE
• “New Stats: 2011 Libraries’ Digital Check-​​Outs Up 133% Over 2010″, PaidContent.org | CLICK HERE
• “Do we want textbooks to live in Apple’s walled garden?”, GigaOM | CLICK HERE
• Confessions of a Publisher: “We’re in Amazon’s Sights and They’re Going to Kill Us”, PandoDaily.com | CLICK HERE
• “ECW Press Experiments with Free eBbooks for Print Customers”, Publishers Weekly | CLICK HERE

“This Week’s Fish Wrap” is an on-​​​​​​going series of posts summing up the news of the previous seven days in the publishing industry, and/​or announce the latest news Atomic Fez has about the publishing house, and appears here each Monday. It’s also quite possible that the posts merely serve as a dumping ground of links so that Atomic Fez Proprietor Ian Alexander Martin can find articles later to include in his occasional rants about how ‘EVERYONE ELSE IS ENTIRELY WRONG’ about various things.

Early last week, the Canadian Distributor of Atomic Fez titles – Author’s Choice – received an order from Chapters /​ Indigo /​ Coles for a substantial number of copies of Terribilis and Dirk Danger Loves Life. Huzzah! Exposure in shops at last!

Metrotown location of Chapters/​Indigo

Well, actually, possibly not; plus it might not be the best time to break out the champagne and caviar and dispense with the beer and hot dog budget either. You see, this isn’t anything quite like a “guaranteed river of money” situation. In years past I’ve sometimes been surprised at the seniority and years of experience which authors and readers alike might possess, yet they’ve not much idea of the business specifics of the retail selling of books. So as to further the understanding of all, here’s how things come top play in this daft publishing life thing. Besides, it’s something that I have to remind myself of in order to keep in mind how insane this whole notion is to begin with.

Also, please note that all Atomic Fez books have been in the Chapters/Indigo/Cole’s catalogue since the agreement with Author’s Choice about a year ago (click here to see the titles). Due to the same agreement, you can also locate Atomic Fez books in the Amazon.ca (click here to see the titles) and Amazon.com catalogues (click here to see the titles). So, this isn’t a change, except for the actual quantity of copies ordered.

Here’s how these things work: Chapters calls the distributor in Ontario with orders for books they’d like in the warehouse, and then either the distributor tells me to ship them a big shed-​​load of boxes like last week, or – more frequently – the distributor parcels-​​up the four copies of some title and those get sent to Chapters’ warehouse. Typically Author’s Choice has no more than one box of anyone’s book in stock, as they are only a small distributor, and not a warehousing or storage firm. Once the books head to the warehouse of Chapters/Indigo/Cole’s for their inventory, anything can happen and I’ll not know a thing about it. Yes, copies could be sent to some of the 247 Indigo, Chapters and Cole’s stores across Canada, or they could merely hang-​​on to them in the warehouse to supply their on-​​line orders through Chapters.Indigo.com (the same as I do through this site’s ordering), or they could do a little of both. Again, I have no idea what they’re doing, and I won’t ever know until either someone stumbles across copies on a shelf and tells someone, or I stumble across an inventory entry on their web-​​site (and that would take a concerted effort of experimentation with searching through the item’s status using major population centres). So, basically, if someone sees some copies, they really ought to take a picture of them, then send me a copy.

This is the first time – as far as I know – that a shop has ordered copies ‘on spec’ of an Atomic Fez title. I’ve sent occasional copies to wholesalers and shops both in the UK and in North America, but as they’ve been very small amounts, they’ve probably been ordered by customers. I’ve never, never seen any book I’ve published on a store shelf, either in person or even in a photo, with both outfits I’ve worked with. So this is an excellent thing.

WH Smith Train Station shop (c. 1933)

But.

Here’s where things get stupid with this publishing industry thing.

All 268 books that were just sent to Ontario could very well be returned to me come April. Because all Atomic Fez books are “returnable” by retailers (as most publishers do), shops are more interested in carrying them, because their risk having them is eliminated. Likewise, their costs are further reduced by the fact that I pay for the shipping there and back, plus they get charged 40% or so less than the RRP so that they can sell at a profit (which is a business-​​like idea, obviously). Likewise, shops pay when they’ve actually sold the books; although not by design, but due to the delay in paying happening to fall outside the point at which they’ve returned the un-​​sold ones.

now keep in mind that I’ve not only paid for those books to be printed months ago, plus get them shipped from the printers to the house here, I’ve also just paid about $300 to ship a bunch of them to Ontario to the distributor. the distributor will now get those boxes to Chapters/Indigo’s Distribution Centre, at a cost which will be deducted from any sales earnings. Once the books are decided to be “too old” and the remaining amount is sent back, once again the cost of transport is borne by the Distributor and Publisher. Yes, I get to pay for shipping in both directions, and that’s an industry standard arrangement for a large chain. You should hear the sorts of things that Amazon.com fully expect to be done at a minimum for them by the bog houses like Random House, Simon & Shuster, and so on. It’s a wonder there’s not sacrificing of pets and virgins involved sometimes, given the lengths of demands.

It used to be that books could prove themselves on the shelvesas being “something that sells” through a three-​​month period or longer, which would permit reviews as well as ‘word-​​of-​​mouth’ to drive sales, plus the staff would get to know the book at least by reputation. Early this year Chapters/​Indigo changed their period to only 46 days, which doesn’t even give books a chance to actually gather dust. Honestly, the notion that this is enough time for someone to read a review, decide they want a copy for their birthday/​Christmas, tell a relative, the relative then gets time to go to the store, then remembers the name of the book… it can easily be out of stock in the store. This is another reason why the on-​​line reviews excellent people do works wonders, as the text on various web-​​sites – Amazon, Goodreads, LibraryThing, and many of the new Canadian public library sites – acts as further advertising and proof that ‘someone actually read this book’, thus encouraging others to try them out.

Bottomless pit of books

The reason Chapters/​Indigo changed the length of the shelf-​​life for titles, in my opinion anyway, was due to reduced floor space for books when they switched to being a Home Design Shop as well as a book store. Thus, inventory they haven’t invested money in building themselves (as all the rugs, clocks, pillows, candles, etc. are designed and created by Indigo) needs to work harder to keep their space, or ‘earn their space’, if you will.

And therein lies the under-​​pinning problem of the whole thing that really needs a re-​​think in not just publishing, but just about any manufacturing industry. Publishers pay authors, artists, printers, distributors, shippers, eBook formatting people, and everyone else in advance of even taking a single order, never mind making a sale. The best comparison here is the lottery: you buy some quantity of tickets and hope that one will return more than the amount you spent, but there is no guarantee of any return. I publish books with the hope they will sell, but I front the cost of printing as many copies as I can spend money to get, and then do what I can to ensure people will part with their cash so that I can then publish some new titles, with exactly the same principle guiding the manifestation. That’s fine, really, and it’s the same as if you were paying the ante for a poker game, and that is another good comparison to this. 

But, when the big retail stores get involved, it’s even more serious an ante, as the combination of shipping charges and wholesale discounts on large orders (which may not ever sell a single copy) mean that I not only pay for the production of the books that never sell, I get to pay for moving them all over the place because they didn’t sell, thus losing even more money than just the cost of manufacturing. Remember, once a massive order is placed by Bob’s Big Book Box, say 1,000 copies (which is insane compared to my situation), then those thousand are tied-​​up in the warehouse of the store, leaving me with whatever I got printed over and above the thousand I just sent to Bob’s. So, do I run another 250 or 500 copies of the books, and gamble the thousand at Bob’s won’t all return to me in a few months’ time so I then have 1,500 books filling the basement, or do I run the risk that a bunch of people will order copies from me direct and I’ll not have any more left because I didn’t order a new run of copies? Besides, those thousand copies  Bob’s won’t pay me for any sooner than about four months from the day they take delivery, and even if they did pay me for the whole lot immediately, if they all get returned un-​​sold, then I have to return those funds as they were for “books sold” which didn’t happen in the end. See?

Books heading for the trimmer at MPG Biddles

The entire thing is a daft notion. Lord knows why anyone would want to even try this, never mind keep at it, which is obviously why I need to get a day-​​job. The ‘cost of doing business’ is always something that makes or breaks a business, but it really feels like the book trade has it staked against itself even more than others do.

This is another reason that the entire supply-​​chain of books needs a complete re-​​think, as well as who knows how many other manufacturing cycles for goods. As far as I’m concerned, the eBook is perfect to replace the obscenely wasteful production standards of the Mass-​​Market Paperback, for which many publishers pre-​​determine the amount of copies in a run which will be pulped at numbers typically around 33% and 45%. Yes, they actually budget throwing away nearly half the run, knowing that they’ll be damaged on shelves, and then not be bought, or they’ll get dinged in transport to and from various distribution centres and warehouses. the additional reason is that the price for running ten-​​thousand copies of a title can actually sometimes be less than printing 7,500 copies (or at least it’s often a good third or more per unit to run the larger figure), thus making the throwing away of part of the run actually cheaper than printing less of them in the first place.

There’s so much in this industry which works on the basis of the economics of supply and demand of the late-​​1800s, as well as the levels of available resources of that period, it’s a wonder that books are even still available in the same form as that time.

But, we continue. Onwards!

“This Week’s Fish Wrap” is an on-​​​​​​going series of posts summing up the news of the previous seven days in the publishing industry, and/​or announce the latest news Atomic Fez has about the publishing house, and appears here each Monday. It’s also quite possible that the posts merely serve as a dumping ground of links so that Atomic Fez Proprietor Ian Alexander Martin can find articles later to include in his occasional rants about how ‘EVERYONE ELSE IS ENTIRELY WRONG’ about various things.

Not so much of an ‘up-​​date’ as a “here’s something you’ll like” sort of post this week.

Lobby of Atomic Fez HQ (or JFK’s Terminal 6, it’s tough to tell the difference sometimes)

Carol Weekes, the author of Terribilis, has posted a couple of short stories on her blog. This gives you the chance to read some of her other work either after you’ve read her novel, or as an “enticer” for it.

The two tales are:

• “Neurosis”, which first appeared in 69 FLAVOURS OF PARANOIA, Issue #4; and
• “Snowfall”, which first appeared in THE EDGE, Issue #7, edited by Greg Gifune

Also worth noting is that her novel is available on Kobo at the sale price of $4⁹⁹ as part of their “Great Reads for $4.99 or Less” category. HEAD HERE to locate that on their site.

ONE FINAL NOTE ABOUT 'THAT HOLIDAY'

Deadlines for ordering of printed books from the North American Shipping Depot in time for the 25^th of December are as follows:

• INSIDE CANADA: December 10^th
• TO THE USA: December 6^th
• UK & OTHERS: November 29^th (although much of this last category is covered from the UK Centre; those dates to come soon)

Thank you all for your continued support and interest.

“This Week’s Fish Wrap” is an on-​​​​​​going series of posts summing up the news of the previous seven days in the publishing industry, and/​or announce the latest news Atomic Fez has about the publishing house, and appears here each Monday. It’s also quite possible that the posts merely serve as a dumping ground of links so that Atomic Fez Proprietor Ian Alexander Martin can find articles later to include in his occasional rants about how ‘EVERYONE ELSE IS ENTIRELY WRONG’ about various things.