Why Borders Failed - IMO

First thing I want to state is that I was one of the legions that loved to go to Borders.  I remember sprawling in the aisles with my shoes off and a pile of books to my side, reading joyfully, with no concept of time, then taking my tower of treasures to the register and buying as many as my allowance would allow (hence the origin of the word 'allowance') and staggering home with them in the white plastic basket with the pink plastic flowers affixed to the front of my Schwinn.  And this was in my twenties.  I loved that bike.  Me and a roommate bought it for $20 at a yard sale and when we had no dough, would ride it to the shops.  And Borders was one of them.  But I digress.  Let me tell you, in my opinion, the one reason why Borders was doomed.

They never came up with an e-reader.

As an ebook publishing gal, that hurts the most.  When Amazon burst onto the scene with the Kindle, the publishing world lost its collective mind and formed its two camps almost immediately.  The righteous lined up quickly on the right, claiming that nothing would ever replace the touch and feel of good old paper and script, while "early adopters" like Stephen King got busy and immediately began publishing astonishing tomes only available to internet purchasers, angering his literati brethren.

Then Amazon began revealing that their kindle sales were demolishing their print sales and Barnes and Noble went "Pardon me? Can you repeat that?" and shortly announced their own e-reader, The Nook.  Determined to one-up Amazon, they then introduced the Nook Color.  While the e-publishing world continued exploding all over the place, Amazon kept introducing slicker, sleeker versions and reducing the price! 

And Borders introduced......nothing.

And then the Queen of all things literary, J.K. Rowling, went back on her own solemn vow and announced that the Harry Potter books would indeed become available in digital version later this year.  The epublishing world went bananas again and finally Borders said, "We give up."  They forgot a business golden rule.  No one will buy a company in the middle of a literary technological revolution that has refused to acknowledge that it is in the middle of one.

And so we say goodbye to what was once a literary powerhouse, a haven for all the glasses geeks we used to be, and I say it is a sad day, but one that a writer of e-books should rejoice in.  With death comes life.  With termination comes rejuvenation.  With surrender, rebirth.  No longer is the ebook the nasty stepsister or forgotten cousin of the revered and lofty printed version.  Now, the ebook can hold its head high.  Even Harry Potter is digital now, damn it.  Does my book come in print?  No, but you can get it at Amazon and Barnes and Noble, and in eleven other digitized formats and they, my friend, they rule the world.

Just pray we don't have a power outage.

Why I Choose E-Publishers

As an author, I am often asked why my books aren't available in print.  I have to admit, there is a small part of me that misses what must be a serious rush experienced by sitting at a table with a stack of your newly-minted print book hot off the presses to the right of you, bottles of water and fresh sharpies in a regimented row to the left and a long, impressive line of panting fans in front of you dying, simply dying to have you, and only you, autograph their barely-a-minute-ago purchased copy of your latest tome.  I mean, COME ONE....that has got to be fraggin' neat-god damn-capital-O!

Alas, that is not the path I have chosen.  Yes, I said it, CHOSEN.  Because I continue to submit my manuscripts to e-publishers and in order for you to understand why, I have to tell you a story.

I have a friend, a really terrific writer, and we had been going down the same I-hope-I-get-published highway.  She went a different route than me.  I chose to submit directly to the publishers I liked and found online.  I WILL admit I was rejected by agents, some who wrote me some terrific rejection letters with great advice, MOST of which I took.  Two I will name here because they are awesome:  I respect and am indebted to Louise Fury and Bree Ogden.  One I met and one I didn't, but both offered the kind of advice and encouragement a debut author can only dream of receiving.  But I digress. 

My friend did get an agent, and they did get a publishing deal and when she told me I was thrilled for her.  In that same time period my publisher released my novel with a killer cover in digital format everywhere.  Then I submitted another manuscript to them and received a contract with them for another novel to release in two months time, and I submitted and received a contract for a novel with another publisher, to be released in another two months time as well.  That meant I would be releasing 3 novels in 5 months.  When I asked my friend when hers would be coming out, she said summer of 2013.

Summer of 2013?  I couldn't help thinking all kinds of macabre thoughts.  What happened if she died?  What happened if they went bankrupt?  And my first thought?  Why did it take so long?

I would still love to be at book signing and it would be cool to see my book on shelves at Target or something, but how hard would it be to wait that long?  At the rate that I write, could a traditional publisher even keep up with me?  Anyway, as promised here are the reasons I choose to publish with
e-publishers:

1. My children will not be in college before my manuscripts publish
2. There is great satisfaction in this process flow only taking two months: Finish-cover art-edit-publish
3. I don't get sick of my own work waiting for the publishing process
4. E-publishing does not add to the carbon footprint
5. The ability to publish frequently keeps your name out there and your fans interested

For the record, my awesome publishers, so far:  for my two YA paranormal romances, www.astraeapress.com and for my upcoming MG horror/thriller, www.aspenmountainpress.com for their new imprint, Aura Speculative Fiction.

No matter what you decide or where you are published, there is only one thing anyone can call you when you publish your work.........Author.  Welcome to the club!