Bacon and Books - bacon and books

Wearing several hats - changes at Bacon Press Books

2/13/2020

Multi-tasking

It makes me think of a juggler trying to keep three balls in the air or four plates spinning. It’s hectic and harrowing. And yet. Sometimes the best way to get one thing done is to do two. (Or am I getting that confused with the advice about how to improve a short story by writing the next one?)

Bacon Press Books is making some changes and they’re all good.

Here’s what’s different

Bacon Press Books is now concentrating only on helping authors re-issue as paperbacks and eBooks, titles that have already been published in hard cover. When the author has regained the rights.

While we’re really proud of the original fiction and nonfiction titles we’ve published and grateful to their authors for taking a chance on us, we want to stick with our original mission.

So with that in mind, we’ve revamped our website so authors can see clearly what it would cost to re-issue a book with us. Check it out.

At the same time, we’re offering another service that’s totally separate from the press.

Book coaching
Fiction, nonfiction, novel, memoir, beginners, pros – I’m happy to help. No matter where you are in your journey, I’ll join you.

Fortunately, there’s no crossover – no promise to publish because clearly you can’t be working on a new book and re-issue it at the same time.

You can read about the service here and if you know anyone who’s looking for help, please pass it on.

No Newsletter

I know. I should have been collecting email addresses and writing a newsletter – but to be honest, the newsletters I receive tend to be a bit disappointing. They’re personal and interesting and I do take the time to read them, but it’s kind of like podcasts, and blogs, and all of these content-heavy new formats for communication. Sooner or later, people run out of material. In my case, I know it would be sooner.

So I’ll update this way from time to time and keep you posted on how these new changes are working.

Writing was never meant to be a beauty contest

2/11/2020

Why it’s not such a bad idea to take a chance on re-issuing your own books

hat's so great about waiting to be picked?

For some people deciding to re-issue your own book is hard. I know, I’m the same way. It’s so much easier if someone gives you an offer. Who doesn’t like to be chosen and to be paid on top of it? Only a lot of us know by now that doesn’t always happen. And yet. If your book was good enough to be published in the first place, isn’t it still good enough to be available to readers in different formats?

Not rocket science, not even brain surgery

I should have numbers and graphs showing how much it costs one of the Big 5 publishers to bring out a book in paperback, but the numbers I keep coming across are misleading. And in the end, does it matter? If your publisher tells you you didn’t sell enough hardcover books to warrant a paperback deal – do you really care how much it would cost them?

It’s archaic, a little medieval, unfair to writers. Just when you thought you’d survived the toughest parts – writing the book, revising and editing, getting an agent, and then a publisher. You’ve even survived reviews or lack of reviews. Readings in empty bookstores or no arranged readings at all. Just when you think there are no more hoops and hurdles, comes the news that your book didn’t sell enough so, sorry, no paperback deal.

Given how easy it is to get books out there using print on demand – this makes no sense. Wouldn’t it be more cost-effective to make your book available at a lower price if you want to reach more readers? How many people are willing to shell out upwards of $25.00 for a hardcover book? And if they do spend the money, how many books will they buy at that price? That’s one of the reasons paperbacks became so popular. Not just at airports or on beach vacations. Serious readers were more likely to pick up a paperback or two at half the price they’d pay for the hardcover.

Your bookshelves might not look as grand. But that kind of thinking went the way of cheap walk-up apartments in the West Village.

The point is: all authors, once they get their rights back, now have the ability to decide for themselves if they’d like to publish their backlist books in paperback and eBook. It’s not hard to do and it doesn’t cost that much.

It's OK to Be Proud of Your Work

Often it’s just a question of getting over the hurdle of being the one to decide it’s okay.
The thinking used to be, if readers read a book by an author they liked, they’d go looking for other books by the same author. I’ve done that. Even when it meant slogging through all of Ernest Hemingway and John Updike or breezing through Alice Adams and Alice Munro. Even when I didn’t love every single book.

But now, unless I’m looking for the work of a popular genre author, I can only find backlist books for sale at used bookstores. Sometimes with very good prices. And sometimes I’ll buy them. But I’m more likely to pick up an eBook, just for the convenience.

I subscribe to a few discount book sites with special offers every day. I’m amazed at how many feature books from 20-30-40 years ago. Now in digital.

What’s the benefit of re-issuing your backlist?

One real possibility - the books might not sell at all. You’ll have spent the money with no return on your investment unless you put some value on the fact that now your books won’t be lost. Your friends and family can find them, anytime. And they weren’t selling anyway.
But I’ve also seen old books get a new life. A new launch. New reviews. New readings. One book went from 2 reader reviews to 102 reviews. Another brought the author a series of readings just when she was feeling a bit lost between books she was writing. And another still, finally got the cover she wanted, not the one the publisher had decided on without her approval.
A little harder to measure but not to be overlooked, is just reminding yourself of your accomplishments. That’s worth something in today’s market where a book is lucky if gets what used to be the usual 3-6 weeks of shelf-life in a bookstore. If there even are bookstores where you live.
Plus. It’s a kick to see your book out there again. No one can put a price on what that’s worth to you, but surely it’s got to mean more than just the idea of being chosen by someone else.

My own rocky journey

I started Bacon Press Books with the intention of helpi ng authors re-issue their out of print books in paperback and digital. Because it looked so easy. And yet. I didn’t have the courage to take a chance.on my own novel.

Even though I had everything in place – an imprint, a stack of ISBNs with Bowker, accounts with Amazon KDP and IngramSpark; a wonderful editor Lorraine Fico-White (Magnifico Manuscripts), a terrific cover designer, and a just as terrific interior designer. An account with the Library of Congress. A few good companies that could scan books. My own websites, blogs, and so many social media accounts I can’t keep track of which ones to use. I even had a YouTube channel. And yet, I didn’t do it.

I didn’t want to spend the money and then I didn’t have the money to spend.
I didn’t want the press to be a ‘vanity’ press. Even though I’ve met other small publishers who do nothing but publish their own books

Here’s my progress so far

First, I had to find some of my old books for sale somewhere since I only had one copy.( I know. D umb.) Then I sent the cleanest hardcover to Blue Leaf Book Scanning.. I’d used them before and had liked their work. I’d also used another company and wasn’t as pleased. blue Leaf returned a pretty clean copy – the proofreading didn’t take long and I resisted the urge to make too many changes. I could save money on editing since my original publisher, Henry Holt & Co. had given me a great copyeditor.

Then I asked Al Pranke of amp13 to design a new cover. The original cover was unusual for its time. All white with the author’s name in large type. Unheard of for an unknown author. Al’s designs are always striking. I confess, I really love this one.

I’ve just sent it off to Lorie DeWorken of Mind the Margins for the interior. This time, I was able to add a few pages upfront with the good reviews I’d gotten. Being able to add reviews friends and family had never seen made me smile.

Now I’m waiting to get back the finished interior. Then I’ll figure out how to condense the jacket copy to fit on the back cover. Set a price. Come up with a short blurb. Decide on a pub date, add it to my website, and that’s it.

I know. There’s all that tacky self-promotion and marketing and begging for reader reviews. I’ll let you know how that works out. If I’ve come this far it would be silly not to try to get some exposure. But I’ve been known to make bad choices before. Especially when it comes to putting myself out there.

In the meantime, I’m actually enjoying the process.
And more convinced that Bacon Press Books can offer a real service at affordable prices to authors who want their books re-issued but don't want the hassle of doing it themselves..

We're working on packages to accommodate as many author preferences as we can. Writing shouldn't be a beauty contest - your work should be judged on its merits and often, authors are the best ones to know what they are. merits and often, authors are the best ones to know what they are.

Writers' Reticence or About That Backlist

1/11/2020

No one needs to tell me writers tend to be a bit reticent.

So I should have known it would be a challenge to open a press for authors who want to decide if and when their books get published. But I still think the idea behind why I started Bacon Press Books is pretty good.

Here’s what I was thinking six years ago:

I knew a lot of writers (myself included) who’d had books published but only in hardcover. We never got that paperback deal. And our books were published way before eBooks. So we were missing out on a whole new world where books are more affordable and never go out of print.

On top of that, many authors who didn’t make a fortune on their latest book, often earned money from their backlist. Only some were discovering their backlist books were no longer available.

At the time, I’d been reading about new ways people could publish their own books. I figured if I learned how to do it, I could teach other writers or do it for them, and we’d all be drowning in sales.

I was excited by the idea that writers no longer had to wait to be chosen, accepted, anointed – we could make our books more available to readers without first getting someone else’s approval. We could do it quickly, fairly inexpensively.

I wasn’t out to compete with the Big 5. I didn’t want to decide who should or shouldn’t be published. I just wanted to make already published books available to readers in other formats.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t rich. The only way I could do it would be to have the writers pay for the interior and cover design and editing when necessary. I would create an imprint, take care of all the little annoying stuff. The authors would file for copyright, keep all rights, and would get most of the sales receipts as royalty payments.

Since I’d be re-issuing books that had already been published and authors would only be paying for services, this wouldn’t fall under the dreaded vanity press label.

Early on a friend put me in touch with another friend who’d been in the publishing business for years. He told me my business model was a recipe for not making money. If books had gone out of print, he said, there must have been a reason. Like maybe they weren’t selling.

To be honest, he was a little smug and condescending with a touch of mansplaining thrown in. I wanted him to be wrong.

My friend, neighbor, and dedicated writer, Judith Podell, had published a small collection of very funny stories. Her publisher had gone out of business. She agreed to let me practice on her book, Blues for Beginners: Stories and Obsessions. It was too short to put out in paperback, but it was perfect for an eBook. She did the artwork for the cover then we had an artist polish it. I found someone to do the interior layout. I learned how to publish on Kindle and Smashwords and I was in business.

The cost wasn’t all that much - I can’t remember what but I’m pretty sure together we spent less than $500.00.

Judith was happy to have her work out there again, and I was pleased that this publishing thing seemed doable.

But the path kind of veered in other directions. There was one nonfiction book I wanted to publish if the author didn’t get an agent. And another author asked about publishing his collection of stories so he could interest a publisher in his novel. Three authors had terrific novels that needed a home.

Three Brave Early Adapters

Six years and fifteen books later, only 3 of the 15 books I’ve published have been re-issues. You Won’t Remember This: Stories by Kate Blackwell; Blues for Beginners by Judith Podell; and Sunset at Rosalie by the late Ann McLaughlin.

Every day I see older books promoted on the two discount lists I receive by email – BookBub and Book Gorilla. I’m often temped to pick up a copy of a book I’d meant to read or an author I want to know more about. Backlists are selling.

It’s a tough business. Unfortunately, so far that friend-of-a-friend has been right – my business model has not led to financial success.

But there were other successes. Some authors have used the re-issue to have another launch which has led to more readings, more reviews, and more exposure while they hammer out their next books.

And along the way I was lucky enough to find an amazing editor – Lorraine Fico-White (Magnifico Manuscripts); a wonderful cover designer – Al Pranke (Amp13); and a terrific interior designer – Lorie DeWorken (Mind the Margins). I’ve worked with some very talented writers. They’ve made this whole journey worthwhile. But I need to do better.

So I’m doing a re-set. Maybe what I should have done at the beginning. I’m taking my own older novel – Waiting for Next Week - published ages ago by Henry Holt & Co. and re-issuing it in paperback and eBook.

In part, I’ve avoided doing this because I was a little reticent. And I didn’t want to run into the accusation of starting a vanity press. But honestly, I’ve discovered all of that doesn’t matter. What does matter is - if I think this is such a great idea for other authors, then I really ought to do it myself. Right?

I’ve taken the first steps – I had my hardcover book scanned. And right now I’m proofing because scanning can be a little wonky. I haven’t read it in years and was a little worried about re-reading and hating it. But it’s like finding old essays from college and being surprised that I ever knew so much about the Renaissance. Some of it’s not bad. Did I used to have a better imagination?

I’ve asked my favorite cover designer for a new, clean, modern cover. And my favorite interior designer will put it all together for paperback and eBook. There are fewer steps with a re-issue since it was heavily edited (I do remember that part); I already hold the copyright; and the book has a Library of Congress number. I’ve got a block of ISBNs and accounts with both Ingram and Amazon.

With any luck, the book will be out in March.
Stay tuned.

A quick note: Right after I published this I read Mike Shatzkin's
2020: Zero year thoughts about the changes in book publishing
https://www.idealog.com/blog/2020-zero-year-thoughts-about-the-changes-in-book-publishing/
that talks about what's happened to backlists over the years.

There's something about summer reading . . .

7/10/2019

What is it about summer reading that can bring out the best and the worst in our reading habits?

There’s that pull toward hedonism – a Kindle full of light reads, grizzly detective stories and heart-stopping thrillers on the one hand. And that tug toward the aspirational reading list – finish Bleak House, War and Peace, read all of Jane Austen, Virginia Wolfe and what about that collected works of William Trevor that’s been on the shelf for ages? And there are all the new highly praised books for the past 5 or 10 years we’ve been meaning to read?

How bad is it when a T-shirt slogan speak the truth? Too many books, too little time.

I confess, my Kindle is stocked with breezy cozies and a few of what’s called Chick Lit, contemporary writers I’m embarrassed to admit I haven’t read yet, and then each summer a project. One year Graham Greene, another year William Faulkner. Don’t ask how far I’ve gotten. I’m tempted by short light reads and determined to counterbalance them with serious literature. Then suddenly it’s the end of August and I vow to do better next year.

So how can I ask you to make room in your reading list and pick up a copy of Sigga of Reykjavik by Solveig Eggerz? It’s an old-fashioned good, serious novel. A strong female main character who endures more hardships than many of us will ever know. In Iceland of all places during a span when Sigga’s fight for Independence runs parallel to Iceland’s fight to break free from Denmark’s dominance. It’s not a book you can read in one sitting.

But. For those of us who don’t have the money to travel, reading is the cheapest way to be transported to another place, another time. And Solveig Eggerz does a masterful job of both.

Sigga of Reykjavik has received great reader reviews

Here are just a few:

Sigga is my kind of heroine: unpredictable, hot-headed, confident yet blind to those closest to her. There is nothing she won't tackle. Her story is atmospheric, full of Icelandic weather, (terrible) Icelandic food, folklore, and fascinating history. I loved being immersed in her world.

Solveig Eggerz is a master storyteller, giving us an extraordinary level of detail and dramatic action. I loved getting a sense for Iceland’s recent history and learning it from the perspective of a woman’s life.

Striking characters, evocative imagery, and vigorous action flow in a torrent as Sigga's story unfolds, impelled by her self-sacrificing determination to make a family and a home for those she loves. The careful historical setting highlights parallels between Sigga's struggles and Iceland's precarious perch at the edge of the violence engulfing Europe as Fascism and Communism simmer and explode. Rich and authentic in its details, its emotions, and its judgments, this book is a very rewarding read.

Of course there are more. But how does an excellent writer with a small (okay micro) press break out and get the attention her book deserves? If you’ve got answers, please leave them in the comments. I know even more people would like the novel if they knew about it.

So we’re discounting the eBook for two weeks.

Starting July 11th, you can pick up an eBook copy of Sigga of Reykjavik for 99 cents.

Even better, if you can get the word out to your friends, we’d be very grateful. Good writers need all the good readers they can get.

Pick up a copy and enjoy.

Thank you.

Photo by Markos Mant on Unsplash

When It Comes to EBooks - Is Discount the New Free?

8/11/2018

We’re willing to try just about anything that’s legal and affordable when it comes
to getting our books in the hands of readers. While we’re still a big fan of doing
free promotions, we understand not all authors like the idea of giving away their work.

So this time, we tried discount instead. Using only Book Gorilla, we set the price for
The Call House by CP Stiles at $0.99 for a week and right now we’re selling
Getaway by Maureen Brady for only $1.99.

Both books have received great reader reviews. We knew they deserved to reach a
wider audience. And we wanted to see how well a discount promotion would work.
While we don’t like to give out exact numbers for the books we publish, we do think
it’s okay to at least mention a range.

In general, even in these overcrowded times, running free promotions both with and
without the help of BookBub and whatever other promotional sites were available,
our books have had between 8,000 and 35,000 downloads.

Each time, we’ve seen follow-on sales. We’ve learned it’s a good idea to keep prices
low for a week or so after a free promotion. But even when we set the books back
to full price, some sales continued.

When you see 8,000 or 10,000 books being downloaded for free, it’s hard not to think -
if I only had a dollar for each one . . .

In the past though, the next thought had been - Yeah, but, those readers might not
have bought the book if the price had been a dollar.

Does Discounting Really Work?

The answer, at least for us, is a resounding No. Discounting is not the new free,
not even close.
Maybe it works for well-known authors with popular books. Often we've
picked up titles we’d been meaning to read but didn’t want to spend $15 or so
on an EBook. When the price was dropped to $2.99 - we didn’t hesitate.

And maybe discounting works if you promote like crazy. Which we didn’t
(it’s summer, we’re lazy and busy, and you get the idea).

So, bottom line. Each book sold less than 25 copies.
Not enough to pay for the promotion because when the price goes below $2.99,
the payment to the author is only 35% of list price.
Plus, there wasn’t much of a bump in rankings.

On the other hand, we did pick up about 20 new readers who hadn’t bought
the books at full price.

Would we do it again? Probably.

Is 99 Cents the New Free?

7/11/2018

I hope we’ll find out.
The Call House by CP Stiles is on sale for 99 cents now through July 26th.

Why 99 Cents?

I’ve written before about why I believe offering eBooks for free for a short period can be a good way to attract new readers to unknown authors.

And then I’ve written about my increasing ambivalence when we ended up giving away as many as 35,000 books during one promotion. Yes, there were follow-on sales after the promotion ended. And yes, reader reviews jumped from less than 10 to more than 100. But 35,000 free books seemed like too much.

Others must have had the same reservations – these days most discounted books are priced from $0.99 to $2.99.

And while as a writer and a publisher, I hate to see a good book selling at a steep discount. As a reader, I confess, I’m more likely to buy a book when it’s offered at a lower price.

Yes. There are times when I want a book right away and I’m willing to spend $8.99 or more. But it never feels quite right to pay that much.

Crazy, right?

It’s the same content, cover and design that went into the hardcover and paperback - only the production and distribution are less expensive. And yet, when the first three books in Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Milhone series were offered at $2.99, I bought all three. But. As much as I wanted to work my way through the alphabet, I balked at paying $8.99 or $9.99 for the next 23 books. I even skipped to the letter T when that book went on sale.

Discounting a book is never an easy decision. Shouldn’t a great book be worth more than a Mocha Latte or an order of Avocado Toast? Shouldn’t a book read on a tablet cost at least as much as a movie or a video game?

Yes, of course. But here’s the thing – The Call House is a great read. If putting it on sale means attracting more readers, I’m willing to give it a try.

Hope you will too.
The Call House on sale for $0.99 July 11 - 26th.

Just Released - Getaway by Maureen Brady

4/30/2018

"A tension-filled yet ultimately humane story about hard-won second chances. Warm and wise, Maureen Brady's Getaway takes the reader on a suspenseful and memorable journey to the tenderest corners of the human heart."
--Aaron Hamburger, author of The View from Stalin's Head and Faith for Beginners

"Sensitive, sensual, and stirring. Getaway is a true page-turner, but one with heart and with context. I couldn’t put it down until I got to the end, not just to find out what happened, but also to discover who these intriguing and complex characters would develop into. An extremely satisfying read!"
--Danielle Ofri, author of What Patients Say, What Doctors Hear, and Editor-in-Chief, Bellevue Literary Review.

After years of living in an abusive marriage, one day Cookie Wagner snaps. She stabs her drunken husband and leaves him dying on the kitchen floor. She flees to remote Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, where she takes on a new name and starts a new life. For a moment, she seems to have gotten away with murder. But is her husband really dead or will he come looking for her and once again ruin her life?

Pick up a copy and enjoy!

Available May 1, 2018
Paperback
Ebook

Next Up - Getaway by Maureen Brady

2/19/2018

Good books are timeless.
And yet.

When a book that was written years (or even months) ago is published and it fits right into our national conversation – there’s a kind of a thrill. How could the author have been so prescient? How fortunate this book is appearing right now.

Or is it that certain themes – like domestic violence – have been and will continue to be part of our national conversation for a very long time?

Either way, you’ll want to pick up a copy of Maureen Brady’s Getaway when it comes out May 1.

In this moment when sexual harassment and sexual abuse have finally garnered much deserved attention, Maureen has captured the story of an ordinary woman – Cookie Wagner - trapped by the threats of her husband until one day she can’t take it any longer – she fights back. Without stopping to think, Cookie picks up a newly-sharpened kitchen knife to defend herself against his drunken advances. She stabs him, then runs away before she knows whether or not she’s killed him.

She flees to Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, where she puts together a new life. But she lives with the constant fear that any day it could all fall apart.

Here’s what some early readers have to say:

"A tension-filled yet ultimately humane story about hard-won second chances. Warm and wise, Maureen Brady's Getaway takes the reader on a suspenseful and memorable journey to the tenderest corners of the human heart."
Aaron Hamburger, author of The View from Stalin's Head and Faith for Beginners

“Maureen Brady's new novel, Getaway, explores wife abuse with surprising delicacy. Her upstate characters have grit and guts. . . .When did your sex last belong to you? is the question that drives the heroine's pell-mell flight all the way to Canada. A compelling read, especially for those who recognize that those whom we love can be the most dangerous.”
Terese Svoboda, author of five novels including Bohemian Girl

Getaway is available for pre-order as an ebook here. Paperback copies will be
available May 1.

The terrific cover was designed by Carol March and Al Pranke

Take A Chance On A New Author - We're Making It Easy - The Call House Is Free August 3-6

8/2/2017

We get it. So many books, so little time. So why should you take a chance on an author you've never heard of?

Because sometimes you just might discover a book you'll really enjoy.

That's why we're offering The Call House: A Washington Novel FREE in eBook from August 3 through August 6.

Even at full price, it's a very good read.

Here's what people have said so far:

Highly recommend if you're searching for a solid summer read.

A delightful comedy of manners.

I loved this novel. Superbly told, THE CALL HOUSE is the story of a small group of "escort" women trying to survive in the high-stakes world of Washington D.C. in the early 1940s, a swamp of competing ambitions and moral hypocrisies inflated by a looming war. A fine plot, excellent writing, and sympathetic characters are all here, along with a quality I rarely find in fiction these days: the novel's spare style, distinctive for its wry humor and lack of gratuitous detail, leaves the reader free to draw her own conclusions about what happens and how she feels about it. I appreciated that freedom.

I can't imagine anyone not loving this book.

Pick up a copy and enjoy.

What to do about those missing reviews?

5/20/2017

If you look at the Amazon page for our latest release, The Call House: A Washington Novel by C.P. Stiles, what you'll see is just like that empty theater. Nothing. No reviews.

Only that's not really true. There have been some great reviews. And they've been taken down. No use fighting it, but what we will do is post them here instead.

"An unexpected story, to say the least. I was fascinated to find that it was based on real events.

Also amazed that the author, in a short book, made so many characters so highly developed. I was interested in all of them, and cared about many. Wanted to ask the author what happened NEXT? (Hey, Ms./Mr. Stiles, there's a sequel in there somewhere.)

The politics of DC in the time period are complex (but not all that different from now, unfortunately). The book moves fast, is fascinating throughout, and I can't imagine anyone not loving it."

And you know all those nice notes people write but then they never put them up as reviews? We're going to string a few of those together here as well. It's a tough slog for a new book and this one is worth knowing about. So here are a few (we're keeping them anonymous, but honest, they're from real reader letters).

It was an easy, terrific read! I loved the structure and while a dossier on each character might have helped at the beginning, I sorted it all out quickly. Cant believe how era specific and well researched. The narration was crisp and the dialog ws great. I hope it makes it to the beaches all over the US. Really really terrific. The characters come alive in the detail.

Now for my take on The Call House, which I have started reading and which is amazing. What hit me first was how smooth it reads, like silk, truly. The short chapters are like small pearls on a string (ok, mixed metaphor); the narrative carries the reader on like a river, which was why I read much more than I planned last night, couldn't stop. The best thing of all, well, one of two best things, is how Ms Stiles trusts the reader to know only the details offered, as they are offered. It's a gorgeous act of compression. The other best thing is that it's about something very interesting -- good people, bad people, in an environment of politics and policing sure to bring out the extreme worst (best?) in everybody.

If you do pick up a copy - and we really hope you do - and you like it, please let us know. We'd be happy to add your comments even if they don't show up any place else.