To DRM or Not to DRM

That is the question.

If you're seriously considering epubbing, and have been around the block a time or two at the Kindleboards, you are aware of everything there is to know (and then some) about DRM. This, along with "What is Literary Fiction?" and "Why are Sales so Slow?" is one of the most debated topics at the boards.

There are plenty of other people who've tackled this subject more eloquently than I ever could. David Gaughran, for instance, has two great posts on DRM and piracy here and here.

If you want an in-depth look at the millions of attitudes toward DRM, just head to the Kindleboards and do a quick search. 

As for me? I'm going to discuss it here, but keep it as simple as possible.

DRM is short for Digital Rights Management. When you epub your book for Kindle or Nook, you will be asked before the uploading process if you want to enable DRM. It sounds so great: DRM protects you, the author, from people who want to steal your work or use it in ways other than you intended. Once you enable it, you cannot go back and disable it. You have one opportunity. One chance to get it right.

When I published The Guardian, I chose wrong.

Among other things, DRM limits what you can do with an ebook, and where you can send your files. It's annoying to users who pay for your novel and enjoy sharing the books they download (or need to transfer to other devices).

You'll find a variety of opinions on DRM from readers: "I don't even notice it" all the way to "I never buy a DRMed ebook. Ever."

You should also know that the DRM can be stripped by savvy computer users. If someone wants to pirate your ebook, they'll find a way to do it. Some will do it just for fun. So . . . it doesn't *really* protect you. What it does is turn off potential buyers.

In fact, I feel so strongly about not using DRM that I am seriously considering unpublishing The Guardian and re-releasing it without DRM. Will this work? I have no idea. Will I lose my rankings and reviews? No idea. Maybe. But it might be worth losing the handful of sales and "starting over" to get it right. (I'll keep you guys posted re: what I decide to do, and if this is even possible.) 

Cross My Heart was never DRMed, and Vendetta won't be, either.

If you're confused about what DRM looks like to Kindle shoppers, this is what appears on the product page:  

Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited (for no DRM)

The attitude towards DRM is strong, and leaning toward the negative.

Before you epub, do your research to determine what's best for you and your books. As for me, I'm going to err on the side of caution, and stick with no DRM from henceforth.

Lesson Learned.

KK

YA Indie Spotlight: Angela Carlie

After a brief hiatus called JUNE (i.e. Vendetta edits are kicking my tail), I am *pleased* to have a new YA Indie Spotlight for you. Today, I'm featuring the last of the DarkSide girls, Angela Carlie. The other DarkSide author profiles can be found here, here, and here. 

Angela is the author of Dream Smashers, a gritty, YA contemporary novel with heart.

 

SUMMARY

Sixteen-year-old Autumn is a human heartache. Everywhere she turns people are stomping on her hopes and dreams. Her mom’s a tweaker. She’s lived with her chain-smoking grandmother for as long as she can remember. Even her best friend has issues. Autumn seems to be the only responsible person she knows and she’s sick of putting up with it all.

When she meets Evan, a hot guy without a worry in the world, she can only wonder if he’s for real or just another Dream Smasher.

A girl who no longer wants to care and a boy who cares enough for the both of them. Dream Smashers is a love story, but most of all, it’s about letting go.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Angela Carlie writes young adult and middle grade novels. When she’s not writing, she’s playing house with her husband and son, working hard for her money as a licensed massage therapist in a chiropractic office, or escaping the ordinary through reading, hiking, kayaking and traveling. She’s somewhat of a loner who occasionally subjects herself to group settings such as her favorite writers’ groups, critique groups and outdoor concerts. Angela’s also a passionate vegetarian learning to enjoy regular exercise because she heard somewhere that exercise keeps people young.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

"A wonderful contemporary YA novel. . . . It's not a lighthearted read, but there are plenty of funny, real moments - especially between Autumn and Rainy."

"A daring and intelligent contemporary young adult story that features an interesting and likeable heroine."

"A very emotional ride. . . . This is a fantastic debut novel!"

"Angela Carlie's writing is brilliant. I was in awe at the beautifully scripted words from page to page."

Dream Smashers is priced at $2.99 and can be purchased for Kindle and Nook.

You can find Angela on the web or hanging with her DarkSide Publishing partners in crime. She tweets as @AngelaCarlie.

KK

June Sales and Recap

Here they are! June sales numbers have been crunched, and the grand total is:

3,423

Let's break it down. . . .

The Guardian

          Amazon US: 172

          Amazon UK: 3

          Amazon DE: 0

          BN: 19

          Total: 194 (6.4 sales a day)

Cross My Heart

          Amazon US: 3,061

          Amazon UK: 45

          Amazon DE: 1

          BN: 122

          Total: 3,229 (107.6 sales a day)

First, I want to note that, up to this point, I've been able to say I've sold more ebooks this month than all of my previous months combined. I can't say this for June, which means my overall rate of increase slowed. Also, my Barnes and Noble numbers are down slightly from last month.

The good news? It was a great month for UK sales. Breakthrough!

Okay, so let's recap what happened in June. The major griping point for many indie authors was the "Sunshine Deals" Sale on Amazon. For two weeks, approximately 600 traditionally published books were listed at $.99, $1.99, $2.99.

When this happened, I noticed a 200-point discrepancy in my Amazon sales ranking. I was selling more books a day, but fell consistently in the 600-700 point range. (Once the sale ended, I hovered in the 500s, then slipped to the 400s).

The good thing about the sale? It's conditioning Kindle users to seek out books in the "discount" price range (some readers are still turned off by the $.99-$2.99 listings, I think).

The bad news? A lot of indies saw a drop in sales across the board. I'm fortunate that I wasn't as affected by this as the last sale Amazon had (The 200+ indie books that dropped to free in May). My lowest sales day of the month took place toward the end of this sale, though (78 sales two days before it ended). The Amazon "tags" also disappeared during this time.

In lurking on the Kindleboards, I noticed quite a few authors discussing the losses they suffered during the Sunshine Sale. Others saw losses the entire month. (Konrath even mentioned his sales are down 15% this month).

This could be a side effect of summer: kids out of school, more time outside, more vacations being taken, etc. (Konrath goes into more detail about this.)

All this proves is that no two indie experiences are the same. There are highs and lows, lulls and surges. Not every book will see the same success. Not every book is on the same timeline. There is no "one size fits all" epubbing journey. What's important is that you're getting your books out there.

As Mr. Klein says: "You can't win it if you ain't in it."

Speaking of Mr. Klein, we were reminiscing as we were going over these numbers today, and came to the conclusion this entire experience just proves you can never predict what the future holds (we're so brilliant, I know). This time last year, I was about to give up on my agent search. I was completely bummed out, thinking I was a hack wannabe writer and would never make it.

So please know that I will never take your support and generosity for granted. It was on this side of ten years ago we were paying for "dollar menu" cheeseburgers with nickels and quarters. We were beyond broke, and while I hoped that one day I would be able to make a decent living doing something I loved, I also knew there was a risk involved. 

No matter what happens, 2011 is not a year I will ever forget, and while I'd love to wipe away the memory of those early years in our marriage, they played an important part in shaping who I am: someone who is eternally grateful for everyone who gave an unknown indie writer a chance to prove herself. 

KK

A Quick Update

I hope you'll forgive me for the sporadic blog posts, tweeting, responses, etc. 

The truth is, I'm making an insane amount of headway on Vendetta edits, and I'm trying to run with it while I can. This is also my last week of "summer vacation" (I use that term loosely since I work from home). The day job will take up more of my time starting in July, and I would really love to have this round of edits completed before it gets too crazy.

In the meantime, if you haven't already seen it, Meghan Cox Gurdon strikes again. You can read the defense of her last article about YA literature here.

Also, The reviews for Cross My Heart keep pouring in. A special thanks to @windsorstore for selecting Cross My Heart for their "Must Read Monday."

You can read the full review here. 

Be sure to check out their online store. I was totally sucked in last night, shopping when I was supposed to be editing.

Among my favs:

This bolero . . .

This . . .

And this . . .

If you have some time to kill, go shopping. 

And finally, I love that so many of you are reading and liking Cross My Heart (and telling others about it). 

This review (posted yesterday) was especially meaningful.

The reviewer says (among other things):

"What this book does the best though is expressing emotions. It takes you on such an emotional ride, you don't even realise how subtly (and sometimes rather completely) you're tied to the emotions of the characters. Every emotion Jaden feels, you feel in turn, which makes this an extremely powerful story."

Why do I appreciate this? Because writing takes me on an emotional roller coaster. The music I listen to when I'm writing, putting myself into the story . . . it's all emotionally draining. In Vendetta, Genesis is going through a personal hell, and it has been SO HARD to write/edit. I just want to get it right (whatever that means), and a few days have left me so mentally exhausted that I wanted to stay in bed all day, hiding under the covers. Everything my characters feel, I feel. When they're happy, I'm happy. When they're depressed, I'm depressed. It's reviews like this that remind me why I write what I write, the way I write, and why the temporary bouts of insanity are worth it.

That is all.

The end of the month is fast approaching! Be sure to check back on Friday. I'll have my June sales numbers!

KK

YA News

Hi, Everyone! 

Apologizing in advance because I have no YA Indie Spotlight for you today. I'm actually knee-deep in Vendetta edits. This is the hardest round: line by line, word by word. It's *SO* time-consuming, but will be worth it in the end (I hope!).

 

In the meantime, there are some things going on in the YA world (both indie and trad) I wanted to speak of.

First of all, Andi Adams has an ebook out called The Clair Witch Project.

  

It looks so cute, and will be in my TBR pile very soon. You can follow her on twitter at @AndiAdams_YA.

YA author (and friend!) Shana Norris is releasing an ebook as well. The Boyfriend Thief will be available in July. If you've read Troy High and Something to Blog About, you know how excited I am about this. Stay tuned. (She tweets as @shananorris.)

Also, the 2009 Debutantes have news! They released the cover of their YA anthology, which will be available as an ebook this fall. Isn't it gorgeous? 

The list of contributing authors can be found here.

Finally, I have no clue what's up with all these articles about YA writers and books lately, but a new article was circulating yesterday.

The phrase that annoyed me the most? 

"Readers in Y.A. don't care about rumination."

*begin rant* As a YA writer and reader, let me just say that I'm proud of this genre, and it's getting old, the people who refuse to take it seriously. I would love to see a pro-YA article written by someone who actually READS and cares about YA novels. *end rant*

My weekend is already planned out for me. Edits. Edits. Edits. In fact, there's some chocolate ice cream in the freezer. I'm predicting it will be gone by the end of the day. :)

KK

YA Indie Spotlight: G. P. Ching

Hi Everyone!

I missed the YA Indie Spotlight post on Friday, so I'm putting one up today, instead.

Today, I'm featuring another DarkSide Publishing author, G. P. Ching. You can find the other DarkSide girls (Megg Jensen and Karly Kirkpatrick) on the blog as well. G. P. Ching is the author of the YA novel The Soulkeepers.

Summary

There are no accidents.

When fifteen-year-old Jacob Lau is pulled from the crumpled remains of his mother's car, no one can explain why he was driving or why the police can't find his mother's body. Made a ward of his uncle and thousands of miles from home, a beautiful and mysterious neighbor, Dr. Abigail Silva, offers to use her unique abilities to help him find his mom. In exchange, she requires Jacob to train as a Soulkeeper, a biologically gifted warrior charged with protecting human souls. He agrees to her demands, desperate for any clue to the mystery of his mother's disappearance. But soon Jacob finds himself trapped in a web of half-truths, and questions Dr. Silva's motives for helping him.

About the Author

G.P. Ching is a short fiction writer, partner at DarkSide Publishing, and a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. She lives in Illinois with her husband, two children and a very demanding guinea pig.

What People are Saying

"The Soulkeepers burns through the night, keeping you up way longer than you planned."

"The Soulkeepers is an utterly spellbinding, elaborate and spectacularly written young adult novel."

"A true page turner."

"One of those rare stories that seizes your attention from the start and never lets it go."

The Soulkeepers is priced at $.99 (an absolute steal!) and can be purchased for Kindle and Nook.

You can find G. P. on the web or hanging with her fellow DarkSide authors. 

Also, don't forget to follow her on Twitter at @GPChing.

KK