Guest Post: Tara Lain on Digital Publising

Please join me in welcoming Tara Lain to Friskbiskit. Tara is a new author whose first book, Genetic Attraction, just came out from Loose Id last week. It's a steamy m/m/f about Dr. Emmaline Silvay, her much younger research partner Jake, and his boyfriend, the notorious male supermodel Roan Black. Oooh.

For more about Genetic Attraction, please visit the book page on Loose Id.

Digital Publishing: The Birthplace of New Writers

Jessica asked me to comment on some of the topics you all have been discussing here on the blog. When she mentioned technology and its impact on publishing, my first thought was that I was so new to fiction writing that I didn’t have an opinion yet. Then I realized that was dead wrong, because digital publishing is what has made it possible for me to be a published fiction writer.

You see, I write nonfiction for a living, and have published hundreds of magazine articles under other people’s names, as well as brochures, websites, white papers and such. When you write all day, it takes a real passion to get you to write some more in your spare time. My passion is passion! I love writing erotic romance, mostly m/m and ménage (m/m/f and m/m/m). While today’s supermarket romances are pretty darned steamy, they don’t really fall into the category of erotic romance, and none of them are male/male or female/female. If people like me want to write these subgenres, we’re not going to find a home in mainstream publishing. So, digital publishing by independent publishing houses has opened the world to a whole new group of writers, writers who wouldn’t have the time or the passion, perhaps, to write mainstream fiction. That would be me.

Digital publishing enables me to submit manuscripts directly to the publisher without having to have an agent.  It allows a publisher to take a chance on a new writer without the enormous investment required to develop a mainstream author.  It allows me to meet other authors, polish my craft, and get feedback, all online. And that’s not even mentioning the fact that we can research our books from an armchair with nary a plane ticket in sight.

And then there’s promotion. In today’s tight market, even mainstream authors have to promote their own books. For genre writers who can’t expect huge returns on their writing time, an investment in tons of travel isn’t feasible. So instead, we have online promotion. We have Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, Yahoo groups, online reviewers, blog tours, author communities and workshops. Authors now have this huge wealth of promotional and educational opportunities to call on without ever leaving home.

I have a dear friend who is a very successful mainstream author. She has retired from writing, partly due to the pressures of the new digital world and the decline of mainstream publishing. So I know technology has had a negative impact on publishing for many people. But for us writers of very naughty books, it’s a huge boon.

How do you feel about digital publishing? Love it? Hate it? Share. 

 

Comments

[Kat Duncan]

I love digital publishing because readers (the consumers) are given a huge opportunity to read material that many publishers wouldn't touch for one reason or another (mainly $$). I've heard critics of digital publishing complain that the quality of writing will suffer without the involvement of agents and editors, and while that may be true to some extent, it doesn't seem to bother the book-buying public. To be honest, the quality of paperback books had been dropping steadily. I've been a voracious reader for over 4 decades and I have seen a decline in the editing quality of print books. Digital publishing is changing the way readers access books and changing the landscape of what is an acceptable and enjoyable reading experience. I say yay!

[Tara Lain]

Thank you, Kat. Actually, it's interesting, but my editors at my digital publisher are sooo exacting, so it appears editing, at least for many publishers, is still alive and well. Thanks so much for your comment. : )

[Laurie Sanders]

Everyone points at the errors in digital books as if the errors in digital books are different from the errors in print books, but in reality I don't think that they are. There are editing errors, typos, hair colors that change from chapter to chapter in print books just as there are in digital books.

Publishers are really representatitives -- buyers -- who work on behalf of the readers who buy their books. What publishers do is act as a gatekeeper, selecting the books that they believe the readerships they have built over the years the company has been in business will buy. Different publishers serve different aspects of readerships that often overlap. The readers who read the books we publish at Black Velvet Seductions also read books published by Ellora's Cave, Samhain, Silhouette, Harlequin, Avaon, Bantam, etc. But they come to each of the publishers much the same way they come to each author on their auto buy list -- because there is something that the particular publisher or author does that that particular reader likes. Perhaps it is that they like the m/m/f published by Loose ID, they like the erotic science fiction and fantasy published by Elloras Cave, and they like the plotlines at Black Velvet Seductions. The bottom line is that readers seek publishers because publishers fill niche needs, much the same way that certain authors do.

If I want to read an erotic romance with BDSM elements I might pick up a Richard Savage, a Cherise Sinclair, a Robert Cloud, or a Joely Sue Burkhart. On the other hand, if I want something sweeter, poignant, without kink because that is what I am in the mood for I might look to Christine Anderson or Debbie Macomber. If I want a reunion romance I'll look to the queen of them, Diana Palmer.

You see...as a reader...I know where to get my fix, for the kind of itch I have on any given day. I know at the author level, and at the publisher level.

What digital publishing does is allow more people to have a voice and a platform. I think that's a splendid thing, because we don't all like the same thing. Or we might like a wide variety of things.

Digital publishing is neither hero nor villain, it is a platform that allows a variety of voices, which are enjoyed by a variety of readers.

[Jessica Freely]

Hey everyone! So glad to see Tara's post getting such active responses. I'm away at residency for the graduate writing program I work with, so I don't have time to read everyone's comments just now, but I'm looking forward to doing that when I get home.

Cheers!

[Tara Lain]

Hi Laurie-- Thanks so much for your thoughtful comment. I totally agree that digital publishing allows more people to have a voice and a platform --which portends well for the future of fiction writing. ; )