Cheryl is a science fiction critic and publisher. She is the owner of Wizard’s Tower Press and the Wizard’s Tower Books ebook store. (And she has plenty more feathers in her cap - just go look at her site). I reviewed both Wonderbook & Jagannath last year and for ease I post my reviews below Cheryl's post. (I really recommend Cheeky Frawg so if you're going to get books from them please do use Cheryl's site to do so)
Cheryl tells us:
Why I Publish and Sell eBooks
Most media discussions of ebooks tend to
follow the pattern of false opposition that journalists love so much. Either
you are all for ebooks, or you hate them; either ebooks are destroying the
publishing industry, or saving it. You, the public, should take sides. Are you
Team eBook, or Team Paper?
Well, I don’t have time for such nonsense. I
love books, no matter how they come. And I am adult enough to understand that
both paper and electronic delivery have their advantages and drawbacks. Let me
explain, using some friends of mine from America as an example.
Last year Jeff VanderMeer published Wonderbook http://wonderbooknow.com/,
a handbook for writers working at the more imaginative end of fiction. It is a
big book: over 300 pages printed in full colour on thick stock. It is heavy,
and it is absolutely beautiful. The book also contains sage advice from some of
the giants of the field, including George R.R. Martin, Ursula K. Le Guin, Neil
Gaiman and Lauren Beukes. If you are interested in following in their
footsteps, it is an absolute must read. But frankly it is worth having just as
an objet d’art. The work that Jeff and his co-designers, Jeremy Zerfoss and
John Coulthart, have done is amazing, and Zerfoss’s illustrations are a key
part of the lessons that VanderMeer presents in the book.
Something like Wonderbook could have been done digitally, but it would probably have
had to be done as a stand-alone app, with production costs running into millions
of dollars. And even then you could not reproduce the sheer physical presence
of the book.
And yet, Jeff and his wife, Ann, also run
Cheeky Frawg Books http://www.cheekyfrawg.com/, a small press that
publishes interesting and innovative titles, mainly of weird fiction. The paper
editions are not widely distributed, but I sell the ebook editions in my online
store http://www.wizardstowerbooks.com/collections/cheeky-frawg-books.
Last year a Cheeky Frawg book was the best-selling title in that store.
The book in question is Jagannath http://www.wizardstowerbooks.com/collections/cheeky-frawg-books/products/jagannath-karin-tidbeck,
a self-translated collection of short fiction by Swedish writer, Karin Tidbeck.
A story from the book won the short form category in the Science Fiction and
Fantasy Translation Awards last year, and the book itself went on to be
nominated in Best Collection at the World Fantasy Awards. It is a fabulous
book, and as it relies solely on the words there is far less downside in digital
publication.
Jagannath is by no means the only translated work that Ann and Jeff publish.
Last year they came out with Datura
http://www.wizardstowerbooks.com/collections/cheeky-frawg-books/products/datura-leena-krohn,
a delightfully creepy novel from Leena Krohn, and It Came From the North http://www.wizardstowerbooks.com/collections/cheeky-frawg-books/products/it-came-from-the-north-an-anthology-of-finnish-speculative-fiction-desirina-boskovich,
an anthology, both translated from Finnish.
Translations are a difficult sell. People
tend to assume that the language quality will be poor, or that they won’t be
reading what the author “really” wrote (whatever that means). Also the costs
are higher, because you have to pay the translator as well as the author.
Ebooks, with their negligible variable costs, and no requirement for investment
in a large print run, are ideal for this sort of project. They allow the
publisher to take a risk on something that may only break even, but may, like Jagannath, become a huge hit.
There are other reasons for publishing
ebooks too. Many mid-list writers are finding that their back catalogues have
gone out of print, and while their publishers might take the time to produce
ebook editions of best-sellers, they have no interest is books that only sold
moderately well. Companies like Open Road Media http://www.openroadmedia.com/
specialize in making back lists available again. I’m pleased to say that my own
publishing company, Wizard’s Tower Press http://wizardstowerpress.com/,
is providing a similar service for writers such as Juliet E. McKenna, Lyda
Morehouse and Ben Jeapes.
Finally the low risk in publishing ebooks
makes them ideal for projects that, like translations, are somewhat off the
beaten track. I publish books that showcase local writers from the Bristol
area. I sell a lot of books with feminist and LGBT themes. I’m sure that there
are plenty of other examples that you can think of. In many cases these books
would simply not exist, and would certainly be very difficult to find, were it
not for the particular economics of ebook production. And of course as ebooks
they can be sold worldwide with ease.
So please, next time you see an article
asking you to decide for or against ebooks, take it for the artificially
created controversy that it is. Books are a good thing, and I love them whether
they come on clay tablets, papyrus, vellum, paper, microfilm or pixels.
-----------
Many thanks to Cheryl for providing such an interesting post. Here are my reviews of Wonderbook & Jagannath for ease of finding:
Wonderbook by Jeff Vandermeer & Jeremy Zerfoss
Brilliant
Jeff Vandermeer knows a few things about writing fiction,
especially fantasy fiction and has decided to share it via this stunning book
with artwork by Jeremy Zerfoss. First of all this is a gorgeous book, lovingly
illustrated and great for those who learn in a visual way (some pics from the
book can be seen here http://www.fastcocreate.com/3019333/8-tips-for-creating-great-stories-from-george-rr-martin-junot-diaz-and-more-of-the-worlds-to#4)
in addition it's stuffed full of great writing advice. On top of all that it is has some really cool writing
exercises and as if that wasn’t enough it has a whole gaggle of essays by other
authors who each drop in bombs of inspiration and wisdom. There’s a website to
go with the book too. http://wonderbooknow.com/ I read this from cover to cover without meaning to, it
really should be used throughout a writing project constantly referred to,
re-read and revised. I will be doing that for sure. I think I’ll be referencing
this book a lot. The deconstruction of the first page of Finch was worth
buying this book for by itself! I loved it.
Overall – stunning & useful, what a great book!
Jagannath by Karen Tidbeck
Brilliant
Tidbeck has written a collection of weird fiction that feels both fresh and peculiarly Nordic. There are, fittingly for the 2013 challenge, 13 stories in this collection. In Beatrice we meet a man who falls in (sexual)love with an airship, and this is one of the less weird stories. My favourites here were Pyret, written like a scientific treatise, and Brita’s holiday village where a writer spends some time in a holiday village which is populated overnight by many people claiming to be her relatives and the great story, Augusta Prima, that flips the usual “human meets supernatural and is changed by it” on its head set in a Faerie court. From subtly odd to wildly fantastical this collection is never dull and Tidbeck manages to catch your imagination and take it on a very satisfying journey. There is an interesting afterword by the author also dealing with the challenge of translating her own works and why she needed to.
Overall – highly readable collection of shorts
Tidbeck has written a collection of weird fiction that feels both fresh and peculiarly Nordic. There are, fittingly for the 2013 challenge, 13 stories in this collection. In Beatrice we meet a man who falls in (sexual)love with an airship, and this is one of the less weird stories. My favourites here were Pyret, written like a scientific treatise, and Brita’s holiday village where a writer spends some time in a holiday village which is populated overnight by many people claiming to be her relatives and the great story, Augusta Prima, that flips the usual “human meets supernatural and is changed by it” on its head set in a Faerie court. From subtly odd to wildly fantastical this collection is never dull and Tidbeck manages to catch your imagination and take it on a very satisfying journey. There is an interesting afterword by the author also dealing with the challenge of translating her own works and why she needed to.
Overall – highly readable collection of shorts
Tomorrow I'll catch up with the Silverwood books event in Bristol Foyles I attended on Saturday and coming soon I'll be interviewing David Edison about his new book The Waking Engine and Dave Hutchinson about his new book Europe in Autumn.
I also have a few more authors & guest blogs lined up, so watch this space...
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