The Harlequin Class Action Lawsuit Explained

Claudette Colbert, Harlequin

I read a half dozen articles on the lawsuit brought against Harlequin and became more confused than ever. Then I came across a comment Laura Resnick made on Joe Konrath's blog and the fog cleared.

Emboldened, I went over to the website the defendants put up to inform the public of the suit and read the actual complaint. That's what I'd encourage anyone to do who's interested in understanding this thing. The complaint is well written and anyone can understand it with a bit of perseverance.

Since her explanation was the best write up I had come across, I wrote to Laura Resnick and asked her permission to reproduce the comment she left on Joe Konrath's blog post (Harlequin Fail Part 2), permission which she kindly gave. To put Larua's remarks in context, here is the official response from Harlequin:

TORONTO, July 19, 2012 – Harlequin announced today that they have been made aware of a class action lawsuit brought against them by three former authors.

The publisher wishes to make clear that this is the first it has heard of the proceedings and that a complaint has not yet been served.

“Our authors have been recompensed fairly and properly for their work, and we will be defending ourselves vigorously,” said Donna Hayes, Publisher and Chief Executive Officer of Harlequin. (Harlequin responds to Complaint)

 Laura writes:

Yep, they [the defendants] did try to settle. They tried long and hard.

This filing of a legal complaint comes after months of attempts to negotiate with Harlequin via legal counsel, whose fees have been paid by dozens of involved writers (all part of the "class") pooling their financial resources. The writers' legal representation has been trying to reach an agreement with Harlequin since =last year.=

So if Harlequin is "surprised" by the lawsuit, then it was apparently dropped on its head recently, with tragic results. This is much like expressing surprise when you're ticketed after ignoring multiple warnings NOT to park in that no-parking zone where you're trying to park.

Harlequin's Donna Hayes' statement also describes the plaintifss as former Hq writers. Er, NO. They are current, not former. Since Hayes is apparently fuzzy on these concepts, let me explain.

–I- am a FORMER Hq writer; I am –former- because I got all my rights reverted to all books that I ever licensed to Hq, and I have =no= contracts still in effect with them. (That's also why I am not part of the "class" in this lawsuit. I got all my rights reverted before Harlequin launched any sort of digital program, and so my works were never subjected to the egregious fiscal practices specifically described in the complaint.)

By contrast, the plaintiffs named in the lawsuit are authors who have contracts CURRENTLY IN EFFECT with Harlequin, and whose works =are= being subjected to the egregious fiscal practices described in the agreement. As explained in a post yesterday by one of the authors in the class (one who is not a named plaintiff), these writers would be =delighted= to be "FORMER" Harlequin authors—but to make them "former," Harlequin needs to revert their rights to them, rather than retaining their publishing rights in order to contiunue subjecting their intellectual property to these egregious fiscal practices.

But, wait! There's more. The named plaintiffs are not involved in =new= contracts or =new- releases with Hq for obvious reasons: Wriers with -new- contracts and -new- releases fear retaliation from Harlequin for their involvement in this lawsuit, i.e. attempt to be paid fairly by this company, so they don't want to be named. However, though not -named- in the conplaint, many members of the "class" are what even Ms. Hayes, with her flawed understanding of current/former, would presumably describe as "current" Harlequin writers.

If Ms. Hayes assumes only these three writers are involved in the lawsuit, then she has not been paying any attention (which certainly seems to be the case, based on her "surprise") to a YEAR of writers trying to negotiate with Hq over these issues through their legal counsel, -and- she is also presumably unfamiliar with the phrase "class action" lawsuit.

It boggles my mind that Harlequin would feign ignorance of this suit when so many in the industry were aware of it and that Harlequin would call the defendants former authors when Harlequin is still selling their books! At least one of Barbara Keiler's ebooks (she was writing as Judith Arnold), Married To The Man, is (as of July 24, 2012) being sold in Harlequin's online store. [Edit: Before posting this article I checked this link and Barbara's novel seems to have been taken down.]

If Donna Hayes got those two things wrong, why should we think she has any idea whether her authors were, in her words, "recompensed fairly and properly for their work"?


Just in case all that is clear as mud, Laura generously gave me another example of what's behind this lawsuit against Harlequin, and gave me her permission to use it in my blog post. (She used me as an example, I feel like such a star!)

"Let's say I collaborate on a book with Karen. I make a deal to split the proceeds with her for our book 50/50. The way we structure it, I will receive the advances/royalties income directly from the US and foreign publishers or distributors, and then I will distribute Karen's 50% to her.

But then, in the course of handling the contract and money with the publishers (or, for example, with Amazon and Smashwords), I structure my deals with them to pay the advances and royalties directly to a separate business entity called Evil Mastermind, of which I own 100%, rather than to me as an individual.

Over the course of a year, publishers or distributors pay out a total of, say,$20,000 for the book–to “Evil Mastermind, Incorporated.” Evil Mastermind, Inc., then writes me, Laura Resnick, a check for $1,000 for the book.

$1,000 is all that I, Laura Resnick, have received for the book. And since the collaboration contract is between Laura Resnick and Karen (not between Karen and Evil Mastermind), I pay her only $500, i.e. 50% of what I have received as Laura Resnick. Regardless of the fact that $19,000 for that same book is sitting in an account which I own, which funds I can distribute to myself as “dividends, company profits, and salaries,” from a corporation I own and which corporation isn’t mentioned in any profit-sharing contract or agreement that I have with Karen.

This is more or less how the class action suit alleges Harlequin has been handling the author's e-royalty earnings. (But, Hq being a large multi-national corporations with offices in one country, its bank in another, editorial in another, etc., etc., they can presumably do more complicated juggling than one lone blonde Evil Mastermind can.)"

Thanks Laura!

Laura Resnick was the keynote speaker at a Romance Writer's of America convention in my home town a few years ago. Since then I've read and enjoyed her books, she's one of my favorite authors. I can't recommend her work highly enough.

Links list:
Laura's homepage: LauraResnick.com
- Laura's homepage contains a list of all her work, but don't forget to take a look at the Esther Diamond books, as well as The Chronicles of Sirkara. Don't start any of them if you have an important deadline in the next day or two, they are addictive, but in the best of ways. Just don't say you weren't warned!
- Here are a few of Laura's articles on the business of writing. I cannot recommend these articles highly enough to writers.

Here are a few more truly excellent links Laura Resnick passed along to me, they help explain the current lawsuit against Harlequin.
- Patricia McLinn's response to Harlequin's pulic statement.
- The website set up by the "class" to explain the reasons for their lawsuit.
- A lawyer who'll be speaking at RWA National next week gives a quick four-point analysis of the case (and why Hq, at the moment, appears to have little room for defending its actions)

Thanks for reading!

Photo credit: carbonated

An interview With Jamie Sedgwick: Tinker's War Coming Sept 15th

Today I'm doing something different. Jamie Sedgwick is one of the first people to leave a comment on this blog and one of my first contacts in the indie community. When I heard he was coming out with a new book I knew I had to have him over for a visit.

1. Hi Jamie, it's wonderful to have you on my blog. I've chatted with you through blog comments so often over the last few years I feel as though I know you. Please tell those who might be meeting you for the first time a bit about yourself and your upcoming book, "Tinker's War.” 

Thanks for having me, Karen. Your blog is such a constant stream of information that I check it every day just to what’s news! You’re doing a great job. 

Tinker’s War is the sequel to my novel The Tinkerer’s Daughter, which is by far my best selling book. One reviewer described it as a: “…fabulous combination of YA, Elves, social issues and steampunk, I know go figure but it worked.” That about sums it up. My Tinkerer series is a fusion of high fantasy and steampunk, but clever readers will also find the influence of Japanese anime. 

I approached this series with the main character -a half-breed elven girl named Breeze- stuck in my head. I’ve always been fascinated by the social and cultural clashes over race, and I think this subject lends itself nicely to fantasy. That doesn’t mean it’s the overwhelming theme of the story, but it’s integral to the main character. Take this character and drop her into a frontier setting (like early 1800’s America), add an industrial revolution and a political coup, and you’ve got The Tinkerer’s Daughter. There’s a whole lot going on.

2. How long have you been a writer? What made you want to be a writer? 

2nd grade. I remember the day. I had an assignment to write a one-page story, and our teacher discussed the fact that some people did this for a career. I already loved to read but it hadn’t clicked yet that someone wrote those books. I started dreaming about being a writer that day and in a way, I still do. The reality of being a writer is that it can be real work, but it’s the best possible kind. 

3. I never know which term to use, independent author or self-published. In any case, are you indie and, if so, could you say a few words about why you made that choice? If you could do things over, would you do anything differently? 

I think those terms are two ways of saying the same thing, but I will admit that the self-published moniker brings a certain amount of baggage with it. I think Indie is a nice way to say self-published, but this term also implies that the author has done a lot of homework in the publishing process, whereas self-published draws up images of vanity publishers and people who will pay any price to see their work in print. I think the term Indie implies a certain degree of professionalism regarding editing, artwork, etc. In my case, it also means that I filed for a business license and started my own publishing company. 

I made this decision out of necessity. Sadly, I couldn’t get published, mostly because I couldn’t get a second glance from any of the literary agents out there. I still have several hundreds of rejections stored on my computer and in paper files; rejections for books that have gone on to sell thousands of copies. I may not be buying a new house and paying cash like some Indie authors out there, but I do feel a certain sense of validation from my experience. I’ve proven to myself that I can make a real business out of this, and my books that didn’t fit “in a competitive marketplace” might actually have some life in them. 

4. I noticed you've given your website, JamieSedgwick.com, a makeover. Very nice! Let me ask you, do you think every writer needs a web-presence of some sort, whether that be a website or a blog or simply a webpage with information about their books? 

Thank you! I’ve gone through a love/hate thing with my website over the last few years. I became convinced at one point that blogs would replace websites completely for writers, and I shut mine down. I assumed that readers would want personal contact with writers and nothing else would suffice. I was wrong. 

What I have learned is that the majority of readers do not go to your blog and they only glance at your website. Authors who sell thousand of books rarely have more than a couple hundred followers. Even authors who sell millions never seem to get more than a couple thousand followers. That’s a tiny fraction of their market. In fact, most of those fans seem to be other writers, rather than readers. 

However, readers do expect a website because they consider it a sign of professionalism. Anything less and some people assume you’re an amateur. So the website’s back, but I’ve made sure to keep it very simple and streamlined. Links and info… what more do you need? 

5. One person who has influenced me and my writing is Joss Whedon, Buffy was the first character I remember feeling was a take-no-prisoners kind of person who happened to be a girl. Who are your artistic influences? What authors or cultural figures have inspired you? 

Whedon is a genius, no doubt about it. I’m a huge Firefly fan and I remember seeing Buffy in the theater and kind of staring at it with my jaw hanging open. For me, it was pretty much the first urban fantasy. It was like the next generation of The Lost Boys and I knew then that it was going to be something huge. 

Literarily speaking, J.R.R. Tolkien was my first influence. I started reading fantasy very young and I found The Hobbit at age nine. I devoured it and reread it several times before moving on to LOTR. Of course, I branched out from there and I was probably influenced in some ways by most of the fantasy writers out there. Over time, I did find that movies started influencing my writing almost as much as literature. I love the rhythm of film, and the way the story moves through the acts and keeps our attention with all these little tricks. I keep trying to find a way to integrate some of that energy into my writing. I’m not sure if I’ve succeeded, only the readers can make that decision. 

6. The publishing industry has changed radically over the last few years, what advice would you give to a new writer? 

New is a relative term, I suppose. If you’re really, really new, don’t go Indie if you haven’t gotten some feedback on your work. If you’ve cranked out some work and you feel that you’re ready to face public scrutiny for better or worse, (and you have a thick skin) then go for it. Of course, it’s still not a bad idea to submit to agents and publishing houses. Your chances are one in a million, but who knows? You just might be that one. In that aspect, I’d say follow your heart. 

If you do choose Indie, this is my advice as of right now, but bear in mind this business is subject to overnight change: Write short! Some of the most successful writers out there are doing their books as a series of novellas. If you can capture an audience in thirty thousand words, then you can probably write a new book every month or two. Then you can combine those into a novel-length collection and sell that as well. E-book readers don’t seem nearly as concerned with word count anymore, they want regularity. They want a steady stream of new material. 

7. Here's a fun question -- or at least it's supposed to be! Someone asked me this in an interview and it was a lot of fun to think about. If you could live in one of your fictional worlds would you and, if so, which one would it be? 

That is a good question. My answer is Hank Mossberg, Private Ogre, without a doubt. The setting is San Francisco (which is located less than an hour’s drive from where I live now), but there’s a magical undercity in a cavern beneath the streets, and it’s home to all sorts of fantasy and fairy creatures. The series tries to capture the feel of a pulp/noir detective story and bring that into a contemporary urban fantasy. Elven gangs packing sub machine guns, goblins who are pixie-dust drug dealers, and a stony-faced ogre representing the law… seriously, how cool is that? I have a feeling I’ll be writing that series for a while. 

8. When is your new book, Tinker's War, coming out and where can folks buy it? Also, are you going to have print copies available for purchase as well as digital? If you are coming out with a print version would you mind saying a few words about which POD solution you chose and why? 

September 15 is the official release date for Tinker’s War. It should be available in paperback and Kindle at Amazon.com on that date. I’ve pulled my distribution from other vendors in order to partake in Amazon’s Select program. I’ll probably stick with them through this year, and then reevaluate the program’s value. 

All of my full-length novels are available in paperback as well as e-book, and I publish them through Createspace. There are pros and cons to every P.O.D. service out there, but I found Createspace to be very affordable. They also allow me a great deal of control. Technically, it’s possible to upload and publish a paperback for less than $10 if you do it all yourself. They have a nice website that allows a complete overview of the process, so that you have a fairly complete idea of what you’ll get before you ever even order a proof. 

I do have plans to put out some hardcover work in the future, and I’m afraid that as they are now, Createspace will not be able to fulfill that need. But for trade paperbacks they’re hard to beat. 

9. Coming up with questions is hard work! Is there anything you'd like to say before this interview is over? 

You did a fantastic job, these were some great questions. Thanks for having me here! I would also encourage your readers to visit my blog if they like my books, and to follow it. Those who follow the blog and/or sign up for the newsletter get opportunities for special giveaways regularly. I’m currently publishing three to four novels a year, and most of my promotion goes right there. You’ve got nothing to lose, so swing by and sign up! 

Readers can find my entire collection at Amazon right here!

Thanks for all your kind words Jamie! My cheeks are burning. And thanks for taking the time out of your busy schedule to do this interview. I love your blog! You have eclectic interests and an addictive writing style. I'm looking forward to reading Tinker's War. Best of luck with the release, not that you need it!

Related links:
- Jamie's blog: jamiesedgwick.blogspot.ca
- Jamie's books: www.jamiesedgwick.com/books.html
- Jamie's website: www.jamiesedgwick.com

The Department Of Justice Accepts Publishers' Settlement

I just read this and I must admit I'm jumping up and down. The DOJ rejected objections its proposed settlement with HarperCollins, Hachette and Simon & Schuster. A number of authors I read regularly were singled out for mention in the ruling, among them, Joe Konrath, David Gaughran, Lee Goldberg and Laura Resnick.

This isn't an excerpt from the ruling itself, it's from The Bookseller:

Barnes & Noble's objections to the settlement had claimed it would injure booksellers. The Authors Guild had said the proposed settlement was "not in the public interest". Referring to Amazon, the US authors body had stated: "The Justice Department is sanctioning the destructive, anticompetitive campaign of a corporate giant with billions in cash and boundless ambitions."

In a response published today (23rd July), the DoJ said: "In the course of its investigation, the United States examined complaints about Amazon's alleged predatory practices and found persuasive evidence lacking . . . Even if there were evidence to substantiate claims of 'monopolization' or predatory pricing' they would not be sufficient to justify self-help in the form of collusion."

Responding to Barnes & Noble's comments, the DoJ asserted that Barnes & Noble was "worried that it will make less money after the conspiracy than it collected while the conspiracy was ongoing" and that that was not a matter for the court to consider. Many of the benefits B&N attributes to collusive pricing could be achieved in other ways, such as lowering costs, the DoJ said.

The DoJ also rejected an implication it said it drew from the Authors Guild submission, that price-fixing should be permitted in the publishing industry because of the cultural role books play in society. "An argument that a particular industry or market deserves a blanket exemption from the antitrust laws should be directed to Congress, rather than the United States or the court," the DoJ stated. It also noted that some members of the Authors Guild, including authors Joe Konrath and
David Gaughran, had written in support of the Final Settlement.

The DOJ said that after "careful consideration" of the public comments, it had concluded that the proposed final judgement was an "effective and appropriate remedy for the antitrust violations alleged in the complaint".

You can read the rest of the article here: DoJ rejects B&N/Authors Guild objections to settlement.

Here is the DoJ's entire response. I just finished reading it. It was, IMHO, very well written and what I would call a 'good read'. Joe Konrath, Lee Goldberg and Laura Resnick, amoung others, are mentioned on page 41.

It is worth noting that members of the Authors Guild also wrote in support of the
proposed Final Judgment and against the Authors Guild’s position. Joe Konrath, author of 46 books, clarifies that letter-writing campaigns by the Authors Guild and the Authors
Representatives “did not solicit the views of their members, that they in no way speak on behalf of all or even most of their members.” Konrath (ATC-0144) at 1. He observes that agency pricing has slowed global growth and hurt consumers and writers. Lee Goldberg, a published author and member of the Authors Guild writes, “I believe that it’s detrimental to authors and readers, as well as to the establishment of a free and healthy marketplace, for publishers to collude with Apple to create artificially inflated prices for ebooks.” (ATC-0553). Author Laura Resnick writes, “breaking the law is not a reasonable reaction to being faced with aggressive business competition.” (ATC-0801).

David Gaughran is also mentioned (page 42):

Many comments from self-published authors, in particular, expressed appreciation that
Amazon opened a path to publication that was immune from Publisher Defendants’ hegemony. David Gaughran, writing on behalf of 186 self-published co-signors, writes that “Amazon is creating, for the first time, real competition in publishing” by charting a “viable path” for selfpublished books. Gaughran (ATC-0125) at 1, 3. Mr. Gaughran observes that “[t]he kind of disruption caused by the Internet is often messy,” and those who “do quite well under the status quo” naturally resist change. Id. at 2. He compares publishers and literary agents to “[a]ll kinds of middlemen,” which have “gone from being indispensible to optional” with the rise of the Internet. Id. Writing in support of the proposed Final Judgment, Mr. Gaughran confirms that self-published writers, in particular, see opportunities in a market not subject to collusive pricing.

I'd encourage you all to read at least the summary at the top.

Happy reading!

Related articles:
- Joe Konrath's Letter To The Department Of Justice
- 17 More States Join The Class Action Suit Against Apple et al
- The Passive Guy writes about monopolies

Self Publishing: 3 Steps To Success

I love Kristen Lamb's blog! She doesn't pull her punches. This week she takes aim at 5 common mistakes of self publishers--last week she wrote about the 5 top mistakes that are killing traditional publishing--and that was an excellent article as well.

Kristen's post made me think about what advice I'd give to someone brand-new to self publishing.

1. Master the basics 
As writers we're constantly learning, both about the business of writing and about ourselves as writers. A writer standing at the beginning of her journey--if they're anything like I was!--needs to study both the craft of writing and the book publishing industry.

The craft of writing
There are many things a writer can do to improve their craft. Read books, attend writers' conferences, get together with other writers, just to name a few. If you don't know anyone in the place where you live, search for kindred souls online (I can recommend Critters.org).

You've probably heard that it takes 10,000 hours to master any skill or, in the case of writers, about one million words. That's right, a million! It makes sense, though. At 100,000 words a book, that's 10 books. But you don't have to write 10 books and condemn them to live out their lives beside the dust-bunnies (or dust-ghoulies as the case may be) under your bed.

You can write short stories, blog posts, love letters (always the most fun!), blurbs, critiques, book reviews, and so on. Also, no one is saying that your first 1,000,000 words are going to be horrible, not fit to see the light of day. It will likely take you a while to find your voice but no ones saying you can't have fun along the way.

The publishing industry
It is easy to get taken advantage of. After reading Joe Konrath, Dean Wesley Smith, Kris Rusch, Laura Resnick, and many others, I've ... well, I've probably become cynical, at least when it comes to the publishing industry. But writers as a class seem to be easy marks. It's our responsibility not to be so we need to educate ourselves and help spread the word to our fellow writers.

2. Give it time
Although there's an exception to every rule, even this one, success at anything takes hard work and a lot of time. Don't rush it.

Yes, getting your book edited will take more time but it's worth it. I know some of you don't have the money to pay a professional editor--I've been there!--but you can get a fellow newbie to to look over your manuscript and give you feedback. Ideally many more than one.

Don't take the advice/criticism of any one person to heart, no matter who they are. Ask yourself: What do they know of the genre I'm writing in? Also, if you give your book out to, for example, six readers and they all say different things you know you're hearing their personal opinion. But if, say, four of your readers say the same thing--e.g., the pacing in your second chapter needs work--then listen to this! Even if you think your pacing is impeccable. It doesn't matter what you think about this, it matters what your readers think.

3. Writing a new book is more important than promoting one already written
The pros are agreed: The best advertising is the release of a new book. You'll sell more copies and many of the new readers you attract will be interested in reading a few books from your backlist. Kristen puts this beautifully:

Here’s the thing. Self-publishing, in many ways, just allows us to accelerate the career path of the author. Even in traditional publishing, it usually takes about three books to gain traction. In traditional publishing, this takes three years because we are dealing with a publisher’s schedule.

In self-publishing, we can make our own schedule, but it still takes THREE BOOKS MINIMUM. I know there are exceptions, but most self-published successes hit at about book three. The ability to offer multiple titles is a huge part of why John Locke became successful.

This is why it is critical to keep writing. Not only will writing more books make you a better writer, but once people discover they love your writing, they have a number of titles to purchase. Being able to offer multiple titles is how we make money at self-publishing. It also helps us maximize the whole FREE! tactic. Even I am putting my nose to the grindstone to come out with more books in the next six months. I don’t tell you guys to do anything that, I myself, am unwilling to do.

Above all, remember Heinlein's first rule of writing: Writer's write. Be a writer.

Related reading:
- How To Sell 100 Books Per Day: 6 Things You Need To Do
- 4 Reasons Why Writers Will Always Have Work
- Why Writers Need Editors

Penquin's Purchase Of Author Solutions: Going To The Dark Side?

When I was a child, I dreamt of becoming an author and being published by Penguin. (Yes, I was an odd child, but that's a post for another day!) Even after I was stripped of my illusions about the publishing industry the name "Penguin" stood out for me as the mark of something special.

No longer.

If you haven't read David Gaughran's article on Penguin's purchase of Author Solutions you should. It gives all the facts and in David's succinct and eminently readable style. Here's an excerpt:

Penguin’s parent company, Pearson, has announced the purchase of Author Solutions for $116m – news which has shocked writers, especially given Author Solutions’ long history of providing questionable services at staggering prices.

Author Solutions are the dominant player in the self-publishing services market – via their subsidiaries Author House, Xlibris, Trafford, and iUniverse – and had been looking for a buyer for several months. According to the press release, Author Solutions will be folded into Penguin, but will continue to operate as a separate company. Penguin’s CEO John Makinson stated:

“This acquisition will allow Penguin to participate fully in perhaps the fastest-growing area of the publishing economy and gain skills in customer acquisition and data analytics that will be vital to our future.”

What does Author Solutions bring to the table? Well, for starters, around $100m in annual revenue. Roughly two-thirds of that money comes from the sale of services to writers, and only one-third from the royalties generated by the sale of their books.

Pause for a moment and consider that statistic. Penguin isn’t purchasing a company which provides real value to writers. They are purchasing an operation skilled at milking writers.

This is not a new accusation against Author Solutions. Industry watchdogs such as Writer Beware have received a litany of complaints about Author Solutions and their subsidiaries over the last few years: misleading marketing, hard-selling of over-priced services, questionable value of products provided, awful customer service, and, after all that, problems with writers being paid. (Penguin’s New Business Model: Exploiting Writers)

David gives examples a-plenty to back up his claims. Author Solutions is well known on sites like Writer Beware and Predators and Editors. The news that Penguin purchased the company astonishes me. I can only hope that Penguin discontinues Author Solutions' bad business practices and works with authors instead of preying on them.

Related reading:
- Writers Sue Harlequin For Underpayment
- Publish America: Writer Beware
- Jen Talty: Amazon's CreateSpace Vs LIghtning Source (Not about a scam, just a comparison of two good companies)

Helping Writers De-Stress: Meditation Apps

I got a late start today and have been relaxing in my comfy office char for the past 15 minutes reading my Google Alerts. I have a Google Alert for almost everything--almost everything I'm interested in, almost everything ... well, that would be a lot of alerts!--and I came across a list of meditation apps.

For some time I've been thinking of getting a meditation tape to help me de-stress, or help me get into a certain mindset before writing, and one of these could be just the thing. I've never used an app for mediation before, the closest I've come is the fabulous YouTube video, How To Meditate In A Moment.

By the way, thanks to incomparable singer/songwriter/composer The Land Of Deborah for posting the link to this video, otherwise I'd never have known about it.

All these apps sound cool, but only two of them are either free or have a free version. Since I'm a fan of being able to try something out and getting a feel for it before I buy, I picked one of those two to try out.

Headspace On-the-Go
Headspace On-the-Go is free, and you get 10 short meditation sessions along with over 200 hours of content. I watched the introduction video and decided to try the first session.

Here's the writeup:

With a friendly, positive feeling, Headspace offers 10-minute meditations over a 10-day course. It explains meditation with cute animation of a mind that looks like a puff of cotton candy with legs. You can track your progress as the mind leaps over the hurdle of each day's program. There's no music with the instructions that lead you to focus on your breath, body and environment.

My experience: Wow!

I feel more relaxed, the room even seems brighter. I'm going to try this for the full 10 days. I'll leave an update here about what my experience was like after I've finished.

I'll let Amber Dance over at the Times tell you about the rest of the meditation apps: Meditation apps let the peace flow through the phone, if they are anything like Headspace then they're definitely worth a look.

Further reading:
- Forget NaNoWriMo: How To Write A Novel In A Weekend
- How To Sell 100 Books Per Day: 6 Things You Need To Do
- Fifty Shades of Grey - Oh My!

Writers: How To Keep Your Series Straight

Last year Anne Perry was one of the keynote speakers at the Surrey International Writers' Conference--she was completely amazing--and I had the privilege of attending one of her writing workshops.

Ms. Perry spoke at some length about her Charlotte and Thomas Pitt series and I wanted to ask how she kept track of characters, their arcs and whatnot, over the course of many books. Alas, I didn't get the chance, but the question has stayed with me.

Today, Elizabeth S. Craig blogged about tips and tricks she uses, not to write multiple books in one series, but to write multiple series at the same time. Here's what she had to say (I'm paraphrasing):

1. Stagger your deadlines
You don't want to have each book coming due at the same time. That would be stressful and extremely confusing.

2. Re-read the series
Before you start writing the next book in a series familiarize yourself again with the previous books.

3. Develop a style sheet for each series
A style sheet should include:
- character names, descriptions, ages
- the names of businesses mentioned in your series
- a list of the connections/relationships between your characters, etc.

4. Listen to your readers
Elizabeth keeps a file filled with feedback from readers, what they liked, what they didn't, and she looks at this before she begins the next book in the series.

5. Write quickly
If you write quickly there's won't be time for writer's block to set in and you'll be able to keep everything fresh in your mind.

6. Keep all the facts of a series at your fingertips
Keep each book in each of your series in a searchable file. Not sure which character is allergic to peanuts? If you're writing more than one series at a time small details can begin to blur, or you can mistakenly put a character from one series into another.

Having each of your books on your hard drive enables you to search for details like this and saves you a lot of time in rewrites later on.

To read Elizabeth's article go here: Tips for Writing Multiple Series.

Great tips! One day I want to develop a really good style sheet for characters and their relationships. I find a style sheet is especially handy when something has interrupted my writing mid-way through a story and I need to pick up the thread again. Or, as Elizabeth says, to help me remember characters and their many transformations across the span of several books.

I hope these tips have been some use to you and, if you haven't all ready, don't forget to check out Elizabeth S. Craig's many wonderful books.

Cheers!

Related reading:
- How To Sell 100 Books Per Day: 6 Things You Need To Do
- Why Writers Need Editors
- Scrivener: A Writer's Best Friend

Writers Sue Harlequin For Underpayment

Three writers--Barbara Keiler, Mona Gay Thomas and Linda Barrett--have filed a suit against Harlequin, the world's largest publisher of romance books. They claim that Harlequin has unfairly deprived authors of monies owed.

The complaint is fairly involved and has to do with alleged legal trickery on Harlequin's part. I'll let Joe Konrath explain it:

Now I'm not a lawyer, but I'm pretty sure ... Harlequin contracts state they'll pay authors 50% for foreign and ebook royalties. This 50% is based on the amount they receive. But then they took those rights and sub-licensed them to another company for 6%, which means the author got 3% of the wholesale price, not 50%.

Confused? Here's an example.

Harlequin has an ebook it lists for $3.99. It sells that to Amazon at a wholesale price of $2.00. The author should make $1.00 for each $3.99 ebook that Amazon sells.

But instead of selling direct to Amazon, Harlequin sells the ebook to Company X for 12 cents. So the author only gets 6 cents. Company X than sells the same ebook to Amazon for $2.00, but because they are a sub-licensing company, they don't have to pay the author anything.

Sub-licensing is common. My publisher, Headline in the UK, sold book club rights to my novel AFRAID. The book club paid Headline a flat fee, and HEADLINE gave me 50% of that fee, according to my contract. The book club wasn't required to pay me royalties on each book club edition is sold. Just like Company X isn't required to pay authors anything.

This is all fine and legal. So why are authors suing Harlequin?

Because Harlequin and Company X are the same company.

In other words, it is sub-licensing the rights it holds to itself. Then it only has to pay the author 3% instead of 50%.

That's seems pretty shitty. It also doesn't seem like something a judge or jury will casually dismiss, even if Harlequin made sure it kept the two companies separate through an umbrella company.

No publishing company would ever sub-license rights for a paltry 6%, unless it was selling the rights to itself. Does Harlequin really expect a judge to believe that it sells a $3.99 ebook and only makes 6 cents? And according to the complaint, the 6% was not equivalent to the amount reasonably obtainable from an unrelated party, as required by the publishing agreements.

Ya think?

I love Joe's explanation, lots of flare but with a smidgeon of restraint. I'd encourage you to read Joe's entire post here: Harlequin Fail Part 2

Here is Harlequin's response to the lawsuit:

Harlequin announced today that they have been made aware of a class action lawsuit brought against them by three former authors.

The publisher wishes to make clear that this is the first it has heard of the proceedings and that a complaint has not yet been served.

“Our authors have been recompensed fairly and properly for their work, and we will be defending ourselves vigorously,” said Donna Hayes, Publisher and Chief Executive Officer of Harlequin. (Harlequin Blog)

Passive Guy, a practicing IP attorney, dissects Harlequin's responce:

Let’s see, this lawsuit has been in the works for months and generally discussed among romance writers during that time. PG has no inside information, but it’s not unusual for settlement discussions to precede the filing of a suit. HQ looks either clueless or dishonest when it claims to be surprised.

As far as the core issue of using one HQ company to license publishing rights to another HQ company in order to substantially reduce royalties paid to authors, PG figured that out the first time he reviewed an HQ publishing contract and authors have been complaining about it for years.

HQ’s statement that the complaint has not been served on it will draw a giant “duh” from any lawyer familiar with litigation. You file the complaint, then serve the defendant. Yet another clueless statement.

Since PG is always a helpful guy, he’ll provide Harlequin with a copy of the complaint below so they can read it. [PG put a copy of the author's complaint up on his blog, you can read it here.]

On a more serious note, most companies that are defendants in a major class-action suit incorporate a sophisticated public communications program to show themselves in the best possible light and minimize damage to their reputation.

Evidently, HQ doesn’t plan to do that.

You can read PG's entire article here: Harlequin Responds to Lawsuit by Authors Seeking Royalties.

That's all the information I have at the moment. I use to be involved with the Romance Writers Of America and many, if not most, of the published writers in that group either published through Harlequin, had at one time published through them or were actively submitting work there. I can't imagine this lawsuit will bolster the RWA's shrinking numbers.

If true, Harlequin's underhanded dealings not only hurt authors but they hurt readers as well. Of course I would be surprised if Harlequin was the only publishing company doing something like this. I hope this suit sets a president that encourages all publishers to deal fairly and honestly with their authors.

Further reading:
- Harlequin author Patricia McLinn, one of those involved with the lawsuit, has written about the suit on her Facebook page.

Forget NaNoWriMo: How To Write A Novel In A Weekend

Writing 85,000 words in a weekend gives a new meaning to the phrase "weekend novelist". Honestly, I hadn't thought it possible to write that many words in three days. I'm reminded of the scene in The Shining where Jack Nickleson writes oodles of pages a day but they all say the same thing: All work and no play makes Jack an dull boy.

I could do that. Of course I'd probably develop an unnatural affection for kitchen knives by the end.

Brian Keene did just this, he holed up in his house and wrote 85,000 words over the span of three consecutive days. No, it wasn't a publicity stunt, he had deadlines looming and he needed to write 85,000 words in three days. And, miraculously, he did.

Here's how he did it:

1) No distractions
Pretty much the only thing Brian did for the entire weekend was sleep, eat and write. He didn't do housework, he didn't visit friends, he just wrote. He writes:

All I did was write. And when I got tired, I slept. And when I woke up, I wrote some more. Did my wrists hurt? Sure. Did I give myself carpal tunnel? It certainly seems like it. Do I feel bad that I missed out on things? Of course. But did I accomplish what I set out to do? Absolutely.

2) Know exactly where the story is going
Brian didn't have an outline, but he knew exactly where the story was going. He writes:

Had these been novels I was starting from scratch, or had the subject matter been something I didn’t feel as intimate or close to (Sundancing), or simply frivolous and fun to write (The Lost Level) there’s no way I would have written that many words in a day. Indeed, there have been times (Dark Hollow, Ghoul, and Take the Long Way Home come to mind) when the subject matter was heavy enough that I was lucky if I wrote 1,000 words a day. And you’ll have novels and stories like that. But you’ll also have ones that you absolutely can’t wait to get down on paper (or onto a laptop screen), and it is my personal experience that those types of tales seem to write themselves a lot faster.

3) Quantity over quality
The 85,000 words were for two first drafts. 40,000 words went to the first draft of a novel and 20,000 were of a novella. They are just "the basic foundations of the books to come."

Consider the words I wrote this weekend to be a just-built house. Now, I’ll go back and start the second draft, which is when I’ll run the electrical wires and the plumbing, and hang the drywall and the vinyl siding. Then I’ll do a third draft, which is when we pick out carpet and furniture, and make it ready to show to buyers. But what I did this weekend is just unpainted lumber. It’s raw materials. It looks like a house, but you wouldn’t want to live there… yet.

Brian concludes with some excellent adivce we can all follow:

The important thing to remember is this — writers get too hung up on word counts. It doesn’t matter if you produce 1,000 words per day or 10,000 words per day. What matters is that you produce words. Novels and stories don’t write themselves. Ass in chair, fingers on keyboard, repeat as necessary is the best method I know. If you’ve written 1,000 words today and someone else has written twice that amount, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that you’ve written. Be proud of what you’ve produced.

And now I’m off to dip my hands and wrists in a big vat of Ben Gay…

Basically Brian did NaNoWriMo in a weekend, plus 35,000 words. I stand in awe.

Read Brian's account of his harrowing experience here: How To Write 80,000 Words In A Weekend. Thanks to David Gaughran for the link.

Related reading:
- NaNoWriMo: Why write a 50,000 word manuscript in a month?
- NaNoWriMo: Write A Novel In 30 Days
- SiWC 2011: Character and POV: The Voice of Your Story, by Bob Mayer

International Writers And The U.S. 30% Withholding Tax: Getting It Back

US 30% Withholding Tax

The Problem: 30% US Withholding Tax
If you are an international publisher/self-published author who sells through US companies then you will have 30% of all the money you make withheld for tax reasons. That's the bad news.

Solution One: An Individual Tax Identification Number (ITIN)
The good news is that if you live in the UK, Canada or Ireland then you can avoid this tax entirely by applying for an Individual Tax Identification Number. There are also a few countries that, while they get some of the tax withheld, can receive most of it back. For a full listing of all countries that have tax exemptions read the document U.S. Tax Treaties--and if you can't get to sleep at night, it's better than warm milk and cookies.

Unfortunately an ITIN is difficult to get, and takes a long time, but it is your only option if you haven't started your own publishing company. Catherine, Caffeinated, has written a detailed article on how to get an ITIN so I'll send you her way: Applying for a US Individual Tax Identification Number (ITIN): A Saga in 3 Parts

Solution Two: An Employee Identification Number (EIN)
If you have your own publishing company then you don't have to go through the rigamorole of getting your ITIN, you can just get an EIN. This is good news.

Again, Catherine, Caffeinated has a great post about this, courtesy of guest David Gaughran. His article is informative and funny. You can find it here: Non-US Self-Publisher? Tax Issues Don’t Need to be Taxing.

Another Problem: Getting Back The Tax That Was Previously Withheld
Now that you have your ITIN, or your EIN, and you've filled out the appropirate forms and sent them to Smashwords and Amazon and whatnot, now you're receving 100% of your earnings (big yea!). But you still have a problem.

You sold a few books while the withholding tax was in place and you'd like to get that money back. As always, there's good news and there's bad news.

The good news: You can get your money back.
The bad news: You can't just ask the retailer (for instance, Amazon or Smashwords) for your back tax, you have to ask the IRS.

While you can do everything you need to get your tax back, many folks would rather pay others to get the job done. If you're amoung that lot (Catherine is), there are companies who will get your tax back for you and charge you either a flat fee or a percentage.

One such company is Taxback.com. Catherine writes about her experience with them and recommends them. Her article is here: The Easy Way to Get Your US Tax Back.

That's it!

When you get your ITIN, or your EIN, and your back taxes have been sorted out, fix yourself a nice tall cool glass of lemonade and relax. You've earned it!

Good luck.

Related reading:
- How To Build A Platform: Why Every Writer Needs A Website
- The Business of Writing: Using Google+
- How To Sell 100 Books Per Day: 6 Things You Need To Do

4 Reasons Why Writers Will Always Have Work

Working Writers

Joe Konrath's done it again, this time on the subject of what has been dubbed "the race to the bottom".

The argument du jour seems to be that if publishers do collapse, then all the current bestsellers will have their ebooks available for $4.99 or less, and that will be the end of self-publishing.

Joe gives 4 reasons why, even if the current bestselling authors were to price their books at $4.99 or less, self-publishing would not only be here to stay but would still be a good way for writers to make a living.

1. Ebooks aren't a zero sum game
In other words, if publishing were like a zero sum game then because of Stephen King's deal with the devil--wait, no, I think James Patterson took that over--there would be fewer readers for the rest of us. That is the key point Joe disputes and I think he does an excellent job.

That said, Joe argues that even if publishing were a zero sum game self-published writers could still earn a living because there are so many readers. He writes:

Let's say there are currently 100 million ebook readers, and 1 million ebook titles on Amazon. In ten years, there will be billions of ebook readers (following the path of mp3s). But there won't be a corresponding 100 million ebook titles available--there aren't that many people writing ebooks, and never will be.

If I can currently sell a few hundred ebooks a day in the US alone, what will happen when ebooks become popular in India, China, Japan, Europe, Russian, and South America? There will be a bigger demand than unique supply, and I believe my position will improve.

2. People who are bestselling authors now may not be bestselling authors in the future
Readers have an insatiable appetite for reading. When we've finished reading our favorite best-selling authors we read other things, other books or blog posts. If deprived of reading material we'll resort to instruction manuals or the ingredients list on canned goods. Just as writers write, readers read.

Also, if bestselling books came down in price then readers would have more money to spend and it's a good bet most of it would be spent on buying books. Joe puts in this way:

Ever go into a store to buy a big ticket item, expecting to may more than you did? Let's say you research an over and find it for $699. When you go to the store, it is on sale for $499. And they also have a great toaster oven for $99. You probably wouldn't have bought the toaster oven originally, but now that you're saving money on the oven, the toaster oven becomes attractive.

If all ebook prices came down, more ebooks would be sold across the board.

3. The reason bestselling authors are bestselling authors is because of distribution.

A big part of the reason a bestselling author is a bestselling author is because her books are on sale everywhere books are sold. If, one day, publishers do collapse then bestselling authors will have exactly the same sort of distribution as other authors. Far from pushing other authors out it is just as likely--perhaps more likely--that as their distribution dries up so will their sales. Joe writes:

The market is getting bigger. People with ereaders tend to buy and read more. And authors can make a very nice living selling 100 ebooks a day for $2.99 each. Across multiple platforms, on a global scale, I see this as not only possible, but likely for decent, prolific authors. 

And as far as bestsellers go, they tend to fade when distribution changes or dries up.

4. The more ebooks there are the more ebooks will be bought

If bestselling ebooks come down in price that would make the purchace of an electronic reader an even better deal and the more electronic readers are sold the more electronic books will be bought. Joe writes:

If bestselling authors all dropped their prices, I believe I'd sell more ebooks, not less, because more people would buy ereaders and have more money to spend on content. There's enough room for 300 cable TV channels, and four billion videos on Youtube.

I would encourage you all to read Joe's entire post, Zero Sum.

I like what Joe says about a writer being able to support herself though her writing if she can sell 100 books a day at $2.99 or more. Sounds like a great goal to me!

Further reading:
- How To Sell 100 Books Per Day: 6 Things You Need To Do
- Joe Konrath: Are You Ready To Quit Your Job And Write Full Time?
- Amazon's KDP Select, Kobo & PubIt: Joe Konrath & Blake Crouch Share Their Experiences
- Joe Konrath's Letter To The Department Of Justice

Writers: In Order To Win We Must Embrace Failure

Writers create

I was tempted to title this article, "Writers: Masters of the Universe," but that wouldn't have been very descriptive. Much cooler though.

I was chatting with a friend this morning over email and she mentioned the necessity of embracing failure, the need to allow oneself to fail in order to have the freedom to create that magical first draft.

I'm not saying the first draft is magical because it's so good (although my friend's probably will be, she's an awesome writer) but because it contains in some form--even if it's a twisted, mangled promissory form--the seeds of a story.

It's the morning and I've only had one cup of coffee which means I need at least two more before I become remotely lucid, but it seems to me that the first draft is an act of creation. A writer starts with nothing, not even an idea. Then the idea appears and grows and transforms and becomes a story, something with a theme and a plot and characters and perhaps narrative drive.

To me, all such acts of creation are magical. Something is being created from nothing, ex nihilo.

Years ago another friend of mine introduced me to the term, "dark art". For instance, wine tasting is a dark art, so is picking a stock that performs well.

A successful day trader is a past master of the dark arts.

The idea behind the term is that sometimes there's no straightforwardly algorithmic way to achieve success in a certain field, or at a certain venture. And yet, somehow, people do and they do it on a regular basis. I think calling such people past masters of a dark art sounds cooler than remarking, "They have what it takes," or "They have je ne sais quoi, but it comes to the same thing.

Although there's no way someone can tell another person how to accomplish something for which there is no algorithmic path to success--that's the whole point after all--there are preconditions; requirements that must be met for success to be possible. In the case of a writer one of these requirements seems to be giving oneself the permission to fail.

I came across this quotation yesterday:

'It is perfectly okay to write garbage – as long as you edit brilliantly,' C . J. Cherryh

I needed to look that quote up to make sure I remembered it correctly (thanks Ali Hale) and came across this one:

'God sells us all things at the price of the labor,' Leonardo da Vinci

It might seem as though I'm contradicting myself. On the one hand, I'm saying writing a first draft is a dark art and, on the other, that going on a Dadaistic writing frenzy is the path to success.

Both are true.

As long as the idea--even the minutest, sickliest, germ of an idea--comes out in your first draft, even if it only tangentially gestures at the potential possibility of an idea, that's your lightning in a bottle.

On successive drafts you can hone the idea, get to know it, craft it, explore it, develop it. Perhaps, ultimately, the idea that eventually becomes the soul of your story will be another one altogether and your first idea will have served to merely show you the way.

I think that's part of the mystery of writing, why we fall in love with it. At heart, writers are drunk with the power of creation.

Or something like that.

Before I have my second cup of coffee I have two operating brain cells and they're locked in a death match, so take all this with a grain of salt.

Thanks for reading and remember Heinlein's first rule: Writers write.

(See what I mean? The title, "Writers: Masters of the Universe," would have been much cooler.)

Related reading:
- Jim Butcher: How To Write A Story
- How to build a Villain, by Jim Butcher
- Jody Hedlund: Talent Is Overrated
- Henry Miller's 11 Writing Commandments

"Writers: In Order To Win We Must Embrace Failure," copyright© 2012 by Karen Woodward.