Please join us in welcoming author Jessica Scott to Book Binge.
Why I Went Digital
With everyone talking about self pub vs traditional pub, a lot of times, there’s a middle way that’s overlooked. When I first pitched to Sue Grimshaw last year, I had no idea that I was signing on for helping launch the first Random House digital imprint. Deciding to bring back the Loveswept line as both digital reissues and new releases was a recognition on Random House’s part that digital was here to stay.
As a then unpublished author, the decision to go digital first was a no brainer. Honestly, my book was very difficult to classify: a military romance that was NOT a romantic suspense was a tough sell but Sue was willing to take a chance on me. But before I’d pitched to Sue, I’d learned the hard way that the publishing industry was changing and not necessarily in a good way for authors.
Print vs Digital
Let’s face it, every author dreams of being published with a six figure advance and a publicity tour and blah blah blah. Reality is much more sobering. The short version is for a long time, the size of your advance was indicative of what a publisher thought they could make on your book. For me, an advance was not as critical as one might think. For me as a debut author, I was much more concerned with building my reader base than the size of my advance. I wanted a platform to be able to do that and Loveswept was a great way for a publishing house to take a chance on an unknown author and not risk the farm on an unknown quantity.
Also, having watched Courtney Milan’s experience with self publishing and the discussion on print runs, I realized that print was no longer king or if it was, it wasn’t going to be much longer. Granted, print is still where the money is for authors from a simple numbers perspective but again, for me, I wanted to reach as many readers as possible without costing my publishing house an arm and a leg. So settling for a smallish advance, I realized that I had a good opportunity to earn out said advance and thus everyone wins. Yes, I debut author, wanted to make sure that my publishing house was winning as well as me. It does me no good to get a six figure advance only to never earn it out because guess what? Then I’m probably not going to get another large contract and in fact may make it very difficult to sell my next book.
So I sacrificed print to publish digitally. I’ve actually heard from a ton of readers who don’t have ereaders and I’m deeply saddened by the fact that they want my book but don’t have access to it. But my sadness that they cannot read my book does not equal good business sense. It doesn’t mean they will never get to read my book but right now, it’s digital.
I am very happy with my decision to go digital first. I’ve gotten a ton of support from my editor at Loveswept and honestly, I was a little overwhelmed when I learned that my book was going to be the first original Loveswept in over a decade. It was humbling to say the least. My experience as a digital first author has beyond met my expectations. I’ve been able to connect with readers who might never heard of me. I’ve been able to focus on writing instead of obsessing about print runs and preorders. And most importantly, I’ve written a book that people actually like and were able to find.
Ultimately, the decision to go print or digital is, like everything else in this business, a personal one. For me, it met my career goals perfectly and I could not be happier having landed at Loveswept.
Below is an excerpt from my digital first debut novel BECAUSE OF YOU. I’m also giving away 4 copies today to commenters! Thanks so much for having me here today to celebrate the digital first read a thon!
GIVEAWAY ALERT: To be entered in the giveaway for a copy of BECAUSE OF YOU, please leave a comment here letting us know why you love reading e-books.
Good luck!
Thanks so much to Jessica Scott for sharing her story with us, it’s great to know these kinds of things from the authors that we enjoy so much. I’d say that about 90% of my reading is done on my e-reader so I’m glad that Jessica Scott made the decision to go digital. I read and loved her book Because of You so if you haven’t read it, you totally should.
Jessica has a new book coming out on October 8, 2012 so be sure to mark your calendars. It’s called UNTIL THERE WAS YOU.
Check out the cover:
-Rowena & Holly
Congratulations on your ebook. I’ve been hearing about it on other sites.
I must admit that although I have an ereader, I still like holding an actual book. I think I’m in the minority though.
penfield716(AT)yahoo(DOT)com
Hi! Thank you for sharing your story with us. It’s interesting to know the story behind the publication of a book.
I’ve read the excerpt of “Because of you”. I already had it on my kindle but I hadn’t had time to read it. Now it’s done and I’m really looking forward to read the whole story.
aurore.linnea (at) gmail (dot) com
I like reading ebooks because they are so easy to take with you—not much space required.
kissinoak at frontier dot com
There are so many reasons I love ebooks. A reader is much more comfortable to hold than a physical book and I love being able to adjust the font when my eyes are tired. I also love carrying around a whole library in my purse. Finally, I love that authors can now get stories out there that wouldn’t have been published in the past because the publishers didn’t think they had wide enough appeal.
jen(at)delux(dot)com
Love it that people can publish their hard to classify/so much more interesting books now! Jessica Scott is a new name to me, but I’ll be checking those books out.
Congrats on your debut and the upcoming release!
I think that you hit the nail on the head. Times, they are a changin’ and digital is the new wave. I don’t think it diminishes the value of your book at all, it is in the format that pretty much will be the norm for the future. And as a Kindle convert, I love digital! I’ve been able to try new authors at a much great number, mainly b/c of the prices and the reduction of space!
Best wishes for the future and I hope to see more of your work!
efender1(at)gmail(dot)com
hi! it’s simply because it’s easier to haul one reader device than a whole load of books around. but i gotta say, nothing beats the feel of paperbacks in my hands while reading
I’ve just noticed that I totally forgot to say in my previous comment why I like ebooks. I think I like ebooks for the same reasons than everybody else: the price, the constant availability of books, the weight… I also like that I can download a sample which is quite long to have an idea of what the book is going to be like. I’ve got quite a few samples on my kindle, it’s a way for me not to forget the title of a book that I found interesting but couldn’t buy right away.
This story caught my interest. Love my ereader.
The main reason I like reading digital books is because it’s easier on the eyes…and so I read quicker, and therefore, more books. More books is always a good thing!
I love my Kindle. I like the fact I can get get my book instantly. Also, I feel that I read faster and it is much easier for on my eyes.
Thanks for sharing your insights. The book sounds good.
bn100candg(at)hotmail(dot)com
Please dont enter me in the drawing. I just wanted to tell Jessica, Good job. It must be really hard making your way through all this. AND be a writer AND everything else. Good for you.
I love my kindle! The convience of being able to take all my books with me everywhere I go and get new ones in under a minute from any where is the best!
mmafsmith at gmail dot com
E-books are wonderful because you can take so many with you wherever you go.
mce1011 AT aol DOT com
I love reading ebooks because it is so convenient to read on the go with my cell phone as I don’t have an e-reader.
chibipooh(at)gmail(dot)com