Almost a week from the day I heard Dorchester, the publisher for my November paranormal romantic suspense, decided to take their releases beginning Sept 1st direct-to-digital, and I’m approaching a place where I’ve worked through enough of the adjustment to think clearly about my growing list of questions.

Questions all authors immersed in this situation are facing, and non-Dorchester authors considering the growth of publishing’s interest and investment in the digital format(BTW, you’ll see these are market questions, not publisher-specific questions–as I said in earlier posts, my business with Dorchester, a publisher I respect full of editors I love to work with, has to stay my business until I’ve worked my way through the transition):

1) How long will it take mass market readers to shift to digital, the way LP and CD buyers have moved to digital music to the point that music producers by and large no longer cut albums? (more…)

Let’s do some analysis today. I’m providing links to other articles out there (bloggers with interesting takes, though as you’ll see, opinions I don’t necessarily agree with).

1) Is print publishing dead, and is digital going to rule the world?

This guy (the self-appointed “king” of digital book sales) thinks so:

http://www.jimchines.com/2010/08/death-of-print/

Read the comments on this one to see a great discussion from both sides of the issue.

For me, I’m buying my first reader later this year after watching them fight each other for market position (and I’ll be buying the iPad once they work the kinks out and get the second generation going, because it offers so much more than just a reader for the same price). But I won’t be giving up my “keeper” shelves of books. Ever. We’re looking at merging markets, folks. (more…)

There was plenty of social media chatter over the weekend about Dorchester’s decision to go direct to digital. If you’re looking for more scoop or skinny or super secret insider info here, let me redirect you to others already rushing to share how much they’re in the know (although, when you look closely, you might find there’s a whole lot more speculation than knowing being shared). This blog has always been about writers and readers and sharing how our lives intersect and mirror one another. My posts about this key transitional time will be more of the same: how one author sees the world around her, and how my observations might help other writers and maybe even readers as they face their own challenges.

You’re not going to hear me bash professionals or point fingers or rant and rave. There will be no rush to hypothesise, predict or leak juicy bits of gossip. I respect this business and my partners in it too much to sensationalize something that is already difficult enough for everyone. 

What you will see out here on Day 3 of Dorchester’s change, is me talking about an emotional dynamic that is very similar to what I’ve seen fellow authors go through for years– (more…)

Day 1 into the odyssey of my publisher (Dorchester Publishing) switching from mass market to direct-to-digital/POD, and my response to the influx of emails and texts and tweets and so forth that I’ve received is that all I can process at the moment is the business side of this.

So, as a Dorchester author with a degree in business and 5 years as a published author, writing organization board membership, writing craft teacher, mentor and romance publishing advocate behind me, here’s what I see on Day 1:

1) Anyone who thinks this latest shift is just about a small New York publisher named Dorchester needs to research, as I have, the changes in our industry over the last two years. The current mass market business model has been broken for some time (long before the shrinking economy played its hand). It’s never going to work again on any sustainable level. It’s only a matter of time before even the largest publishing house must face the decisions Dorchester has had to. The only variable in this evolution is how long each house has before they have no choice but to act in some significant way. (more…)