The Writer's Perspective by Maria Schneider

Hi Writers,
Since there seems to be some problem accessing the link posted below, here's the letter Amazon posted re: their stance on carrying POD books:

[posted March 31, 2008]
Open letter to interested parties:

We wanted to make sure those who are interested have an opportunity to understand what we're changing with print on demand and why we're doing so.

One question that we've seen is a simple one. Is Amazon requiring that print-on-demand books be printed inside Amazon's own fulfillment centers, and if so why?

Yes. Modern POD printing machines can print and bind a book in less than two hours. If the POD printing machines reside inside our own fulfillment centers, we can more quickly ship the POD book to customers -- including in those cases where the POD book needs to be married together with another item. If a customer orders a POD item together with an item that we're holding in inventory -- a common case -- we can quickly print and bind the POD item, pick the inventoried item, and ship the two together in one box, and we can do so quickly. If the POD item were to be printed at a third party, we'd have to wait for it to be transhipped to our fulfillment center before it could be married together with the inventoried item.

Speed of shipping is a key customer experience focus for us and it has been for many years. Amazon Prime is an example of a successful and growing program that is driving up our speed of shipment with customers. POD items printed inside our own fulfillment centers can make our Amazon Prime cutoff times. POD items printed outside cannot.

Simply put, we can provide a better, more timely customer experience if the POD titles are printed inside our own fulfillment centers. In addition, printing these titles in our own fulfillment centers saves transportation costs and transportation fuel.

Another question we've seen: Do I need to switch completely to having my POD titles printed at Amazon?

No, there is no request for exclusivity. Any publisher can use Amazon's POD service just for those units that ship from Amazon and continue to use a different POD service provider for distribution through other channels.

Alternatively, you can use a different POD service provider for all your units. In that case, we ask that you pre-produce a small number of copies of each title (typically five copies), and send those to us in advance (Amazon Advantage Program-successfully used by thousands of big and small publishers). We will inventory those copies. That small cache of inventory allows us to provide the same rapid fulfillment capability to our customers that we would have if we were printing the titles ourselves on POD printing machines located inside our fulfillment centers. Unlike POD, this alternative is not completely "inventoryless." However, as a practical matter, five copies is a small enough quantity that it is economically close to an inventoryless model.

Might Amazon reconsider this new policy?

Only if we can find an even better way to serve our customers faster. Over the years we've made many improvements to our service level for consumers. Some of these changes have caused consternation at times, but we have always stuck with the change when we believe it's good for customers. An early example: many years ago we started offering customer reviews on our website. This was a pioneering thing to do at the time. The fact that we allowed *negative* customer reviews confounded many publishers -- some were downright angry. One publisher wrote to us asking if we understood our business: "You make money when you sell things! Take down these negative reviews!" Our point of view was that our job was to help customers make purchase decisions. It made sense to us to stick with the customer-centric position of embracing customer reviews, even negative ones.

Another example: a few years ago, we made the decision to offer used books, and to make those used copies available directly alongside the new editions. This caused significant consternation, but we stood by the decision because we were convinced it was right for customers. Sometimes a used book will do and it can sometimes be had at a significant cost savings relative to a new book. We stuck with the customer-friendly decision.

Our decision with POD is the same. Once a book is in digital format, it can be quickly printed on modern POD printing equipment. It isn't logical or efficient to print a POD book in a third place, and then physically ship the book to our fulfillment centers. It makes more sense to produce the books on site, saving transportation costs and transportation fuel, and significantly speeding the shipment to our customers and Amazon Prime members.

We hope this helps those who are interested understand what we're working to do and why. We believe our customer-focused approach helps the entire industry in the long term by selling more books.

Sincerely,

The Amazon.com Books Team

More on this topic next week...
Keep Writing
Maria

publishing news and views

4/11/2008 2:09:36 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [4]

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Amazon's Response
Posted by maria

Hi Writers,
I'm trying to get you more information about the Amazon/POD situation (see my previous post).

Today, I put in a request for an interview with an Amazon exec. and received this note back from their PR department:

Hi Maria,

We received your request to interview an Amazon executive. Please refer to our open letter here— http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=176060&p=irol-printondemand—as it should answer your questions on the topic. If there's anything else you need, please let me know.

Regards,
Drew

Drew Herdener
Senior Public Relations Manager
Amazon.com

So you can check out that link for the official Amazon response.

I'd like to open up this blog as a forum for all interested parties: POD houses, Amazon and, of course, writers to discuss the issue. I'm neutral on the matter and I'd like to extend an offer to serve as a moderator so that all concerned parties can voice their concerns.

Please post any thoughts, questions and concerns here.

Keep Writing,
Maria

publishing news and views

4/10/2008 11:56:31 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [9]

Tuesday, April 08, 2008

The POD Wars
Posted by maria

Hi Writers,
The publishing community is in a virtual tizzy over Amazon's recent announcement that they will require all POD (print on demand) books to be published by Amazon's subsidiary POD company BookSurge.

Publishers Weekly has been keeping up with the story. Here's the first of a series of articles: Amazon to Force POD Publishers to use BookSurge.

I have no doubt that many of our readers will be affected by this new situation. And because many POD companies, including BookSurge, are among our advertisers, I'm withholding my own opinion on this issue.

But I'm curious to know what you think. Will you be affected by Amazon's recent move? What do you think about this latest publishing controversy?

Keep Writing,
Maria

publishing news and views

4/8/2008 9:54:06 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [6]

Friday, April 04, 2008

In honor of National Poetry Month
Posted by maria

Hi Writers,
It's National Poetry Month, so I thought I'd offer up an excerpt courtesy of our wonderful new Poetry columnist Dorianne Laux. This is from the June 08 issue of Writer's Digest (on newwstands 4/15), from a column on word choice:

There’s something in the name Romeo—those three sweet, open syllables—that our English-speaking ears have come to love. No one-syllable Fred, no matter how beautiful of mind, body and spirit, will do. Even if we substituted another three-syllable name more fitting to the times, Christopher, for instance, we hear right away what it lacks. Partly it’s the erotic quality of the Italian language and its lilting syllabics and luscious Latinate endings. Benvolio and Mercutio, Romeo’s friends, also have poly-syllabic names that end in that lovely, open “o.” But only Romeo possesses the particular combination of the warm romantic “R,” mellifluous “m” and rolling “o’s,” so sensual to say and hear.

To get your full April poetry fix, check out our write-a-poem-a-day challenge on Poetic Asides.

Keep Writing,
Maria

language issues | the writing life | writing technique

4/4/2008 10:17:56 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [3]

Wednesday, April 02, 2008

(Fore)going Postal
Posted by maria

Hi Writers,
Please excuse me for abruptly ending My Archival Wanderings without proper closure, but I have a wonderful excuse: Our managing editor (and contributor to this blog) Kara Gebhardt Uhl had a baby this weekend. Congratulations Kara!

I'll keep posting My Archival Wanderings occasionally, when the spirit moves me.

But just to let you know, I'm now serving as de facto managing editor in addition to my regular gig as the Editor of Writer's Digest. And well, I'm busy. Really, really busy. The managing editor is the key person on staff responsible for all of the editorial trains coming in on time, so to speak.

One of the responsibilities I've had to take over for now is overseeing our general submissions including a two-foot high stack of good-old U.S. mail queries and submissions. Well, to make a long story short, I've had to confront how truly inefficient this system is.

Now because Writer's Digest has been taking mail queries since the days of the pony express, this wasn't an easy decision to make, but I've decided to change our editorial guidelines to state that we're now exclusively accepting e-mail queries. You can read our updated submissions guidelines here.

Here's the list of pros and cons I made to come to this decision:
Pros:
• E-mail queries are faster and more efficient to process
• E-mail queries save writers money (stamps and stationery)
• E-mail queries are better for the environment
• E-mail queries won't make me the victim of a tragic envelope-licking accident

Cons:
• Hmmm...can't think of anything to write here

OK, good decision or bad? Feel free to yell at me in ALL CAPS!!! I can take it--just don't mail it.

Keep Writing,
Maria

publishing news and views | the writing life | Writer's Digest news

4/2/2008 4:00:37 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [9]

Thursday, March 27, 2008

My Archival Wanderings: W. Somerset Maugham
Posted by maria

Hi Writers,
Today, I’m sharing--from our world-renowned archives (see my previous posts)--an excerpt from a piece W. Somerset Maugham (Of Human Bondage author) wrote entitled “Write About What You Know” from the December 1943 issue of Writer's Digest.

The fact is that when you write about things you don’t know, you fall into ludicrous errors. Of course, a writer cannot have a firsthand knowledge of everything, but his only safety is to find out everything he can about the subject he proposes to treat. Sometimes he thinks himself to fake things; but to do that with plausibility needs skill and experience, and it isn’t really worth doing, for it is seldom completely convincing; and if the writer cannot convince his readers successfully, then he is done.

Now, the only way I have ever discovered he can do that is to tell the truth, as he sees it, about what he knows; and the point of this statement lies in the words as he sees it. There are no new subjects… but if a writer has personality, he will see the old subjects in a personal way, and that will give them interest. He may try his best to be objective, but his temperament, his attitude toward life, are his own and color his view of things.

So, with all due respect, what do you think? Do you, like W. Somerset Maugham, believe writers should stick to writing what they know?

Keep Writing,
Maria

Writer's Digest news

3/27/2008 5:40:52 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [6]

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

My Archival Wanderings: Gay Talese
Posted by maria

Hi Writers,
Here’s a very recent entry to the WD archives, excerpted from one of my favorite interviewees of all time—Gay Talese. This is from an interview I conducted with Talese and it appeared in the August 2006 issue of Writer’s Digest.

If you were a young journalist starting out today, what would you be doing?
Well, I’d be doing what I’m doing, which is to try to write really well and trust that there are people who appreciate writing that’s very well done. My father, who was a craftsman with a needle and thread, said, “If you do good work, you’ll find that there are people who are going to support it.” Now, you’re not going to get rich necessarily; I mean, maybe you will, but if you’re a craftsman or an artist, you may not be recognized right away. But there are going to be enough people around who are going to appreciate the craft, who are going to appreciate quality work. So if you make a beautiful pair of shoes, a beautiful dress, a beautiful painting, there are some people who are going to have the eye and discernment to say, “Ah, this is quality work.” They’re going to buy it and appreciate it. They’re going to tell you they understand why you took the time, because it’s worth it to do quality work.

Keep Writing,
Maria

Writer's Digest news

3/26/2008 9:29:35 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [3]

Monday, March 24, 2008

Our New Website!
Posted by maria

Hi Writers,
It's my great pleasure to announce the launch of our new and vastly improved writersdigest.com website. The new site is light-years ahead of our former website in terms of navigability, searchability and overall design. Check it out and have fun with it. We're going to start posting new content on a daily basis, so you'll want to check in frequently.

If you've linked to this blog or any other writersdigest.com blog, there are new URLs. This one is now: http://blog.writersdigest.com/writersperspective.

Also, on another happy note, there's a wonderful article about Writer's Digest running via the AP wire. Thanks to AP writer Hillel Italie for his thoughtful portrayal of our legacy magazine.

The AP story is running all over the place. Here are a few of the links:

International Herald Tribune

Yahoo! News

MSNBC

The Boston Globe

San Francisco Chronicle

The Town Talk (Louisiana)

The Oakland Press (Michigan)

Real Cities (Kansas)

I'd love to know if the story runs in your hometown newspaper. Please leave me a comment.
And I'll get back to my archival wandering tomorrow as scheduled.

Lots of great things happening!

Keep Writing,
Maria

Writer's Digest news

3/24/2008 10:52:33 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [3]

Thursday, March 20, 2008

My Archival Wanderings: Kurt Vonnegut
Posted by maria

Hi Writers,
I was heartbroken when one of my favorite writers of all time, Kurt Vonnegut, died last year. He was a real friend to writers and he granted several interviews to Writer's Digest over the years.

In my archival wanderings, it was especially rewarding to come across this WD interview with Vonnegut (from the November 1985 issue of Writer's Digest; by Michael Schumacher).

It was difficult to choose just one short excerpt because Vonnegut was/is infinitely quotable, but here's one I think especially pertinent to writers. Enjoy.

WD: How do you see yourself?
VONNEGUT: I’ve customarily responded to life as I’ve seen something that made me very much want to write about it—not that it made me very much want to get into the writing profession.

WD: You’ve said that you have to have an ax to grind—
VONNEGUT: Well, you’ve got to have something to write about. I’ve taught writing at Iowa, Harvard, and City College in New York. One big problem is that people don’t have anything on their minds. They’re not concerned—which isn’t to say they need an ax to grind. Usually, a person with an ax to grind is kind of a crank of some kind, or a partisan of some kind. So I reject the ax to grind. But you must be passionate about some aspect of life, because it’s a high-energy performance to create something the size of a book. It takes energy and concentration—not an ax to grind. You should have something on your mind. You should have opinions on things. You should care about things.

So keep caring about things.
And Keep Writing,
Maria

Writer's Digest news

3/20/2008 3:13:03 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [6]

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

My Archival Wanderings: Upton Sinclair
Posted by maria

Hi Writers,
It would be an understatement to say that I learn something new every day that I comb through the WD archives, and today was no exception.

Today’s exhibit: an excerpt from a 1938 essay by Upton Sinclair. A prolific nonfiction author of his day, and—to go along with our running theme for the past few posts—a social crusader.

Did you know Upton Sinclair self-published nearly all of his work? Apparently he had to because of the confrontational subject matter of his writings—exposing injustices and other inhumane activity.

Anyway, here is an inspiring excerpt from his essay entitled: "Changes I have Seen," which expounds on Sinclair's writer as social crusader belief.

Now, again, America is taking heart, and dreaming of some kind of society in which there can be security and freedom for all the people—something which not even the rich can enjoy today. There are millions now who do not believe in money-accumulation as the end and goal of human life. Good reason, you say, because they have no chance to succeed at it. But bitterness about one’s personal fate is the first step to thinking and trying to understand a world in which one-third of the population is condemned to misery, no matter how hard they work and scheme and struggle.

In short people are reading and thinking and talking about economics today. New writers are appearing, and fighting for the right of independence, and to say what they think about the system of exploitation, which has thrown some ten to twelve millions permanently out of work, and is making it necessary for us to heap up a deficit of four billions of dollars a year to keep the ratio of unemployment from doubling itself. Thoughtful books and honest books, fighting books for the cause of social justice are pouring from the presses, both here and in England, and in all the countries where freedom to think and to speak survives. I believe that America and the other democratic lands are soon to see a new birth of freedom, and I believe that the literary critics of that happier time will look back upon this age and call it the time of golden opportunity in the history of literature.

Among those who read these words are young writers who will thrill to the idea that their books may be read and their names be listed in that roll of honor. Get something vital to say, and learn to say it with power and appeal. You may help to make the future of humanity happy and noble.

How's that for inspiration...
Keep Writing,
Maria

Writer's Digest news

3/18/2008 11:51:02 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [3]

Monday, March 17, 2008

My Archival Wanderings: Erica Jong
Posted by maria

Hi Writers,
Welcome to my wild rumpus through the Writer's Digest archives, in which I'm posting an excerpt each day throughout March.

Today's exhibit: a circa June 1981 WD Interview with poet/bestselling novelist Erica Jong, who had no Fear of Flying (interview by John L. Kern).

WD: What are the differences in disciplines between writing poetry and prose?

JONG: They are very different and they don't conflict with each other. There is a sense that poetry comes from the intuitive part of the brain. It is much more pleasurable and euphoric than writing a novel. You feel that you are tapping into the source of unconscious creativity. Nearly every poet that you talk to will tell you that it is, in a sense, an automatic process.

Writing a novel is a much more conscious thing. It's a daily job. You go to your desk at nine in the morning and work until three or four. I would say that one day out of ten you feel euphoric and the words just fly off of your fingers. The other nine days you wonder how the hell you are going to move your heroine from one place to another and what adventures will take place along the way. You find that a good part of your day is taken up inventing and devising and that most of the time you don't think it is any good.

Join me tomorrow when I realize why my job description listed: "must be able to lift 20 lbs."

Keep Writing,
Maria

Writer's Digest news

3/17/2008 3:56:11 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [3]

Friday, March 14, 2008

My Archival Wanderings: Eudora Welty
Posted by maria

Hi Writers,
Welcome to my month-long journey through the WD archives, in which I'm posting (almost) daily offerings from the history of our magazine. There's no rhyme or reason to my choices.

As one loyal reader pointed out, there's been a lack of female voices so far. And sadly, my wanderings have led me to conclude there was a lack of attention given to women writers up until the ‘70s in the magazine—a sign of the times, I suppose.

Ironically, I was able to find a wonderful essay by Eudora Welty, published in the February 1970 issue of Writer's Digest, entitled "Must the Novelist Crusade?" It's about the writer's social responsibility, especially in regards to writing about racism and other forms of prejudice.

Here's a short but entirely lovely excerpt to ponder:

And so finally I think we need to write with love. Not in self-defense, not in hate, not in the mood of instruction, not in rebuttal, in any kind of militance, or in apology, but with love. Not in exorcisement, either, for this is to make the reader bear a thing for you.
Neither do I speak of writing forgivingly; out of love you can write with straight fury. It is the source of the understanding that I speak of; it's this that determines its nature and its reach.

What do you think? Should writers be social crusaders?
Keep Writing,
Maria

Writer's Digest news

3/14/2008 11:43:22 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [8]

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