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Okay, so after a not-long-enough sabbatical from all things writing/editing/interwebs related, I’m back briefly to report in.

ISSUE: Bored and Boringability

I’m not bored, really, though I’m starting to get there. Much has gone on at home to keep me away from interwebby things, which is good, because every time I go near Google Reader and see the mountain of queued TeleRead messages, that old keep-up-with-the-technology stress kicks in, hardcore.

We won’t even talk about the number of unread email messages I have right now, either — I’m wading through them as I can, but I’m slow.

Meanwhile, I’ve done a lot of thinking (and a lot of sleeping). Some long-term goals have been set, and some short-term ones. I’ve a project in the works that I won’t talk about because I’m not 100% sold on the idea yet. It’s a bit different than what I’m used to doing. There’s a need for it, though, so we’ll see what happens.

Otherwise, I’ve not much else to report.  I’ve got boringability covered. =)

And Speaking Of Business Decisions…

I’d imagine most people know by now that I’ve resigned from Lyrical Press. I hadn’t announced it here yet because, quite frankly, I’ve been asleep more than I’ve been awake since it happened.

I know there are rumors flying about various things, and I can’t help that. People react to change differently; to make drama out of every last thing is human. It is, nonetheless, quite annoying and in some cases, insulting (hey, I’m human, too) so today I’m here to talk about the only reasons that mattered when I made my decision.

Tantamount was return on investment, and a big ol’ list of pros and cons. Most of you probably don’t know that since last November, I’ve had a part-time job on the side, working with my beloved shiny things. When weighed against the stress and time demands of my Lyrical job, the jewelry job won, no question.

Of course, over and above that, I still have three school-aged kids and a much-loved husband at home who need a mom and wife far worse than I need to work 70 hours a week in publishing. Opportunity cost = insurmountable.

The physical cost finally forced my hand, once and for all. When I went to the doctor about a cold I couldn’t get rid of, and words like “H1N1 candidate” and “pneumonia” got thrown around, believe me, they got my attention. Hence the massive, luxuriant amount of sleep going on around here.

Beyond that, here’s what I can tell you:

No, I don’t know who will take over as EIC. And I fail to see how that’s any of my business.

Yes, Managing Editor Pamela Tyner is — for the thousandth time — proving herself to be a mensch.

Yes, things will change. How much, I don’t know. My job right now is to keep my nose out of it, and finish the books I’ve presently got in the system.

Yes, it is difficult to kiss off 20 months of sweat equity and fried brain cells, but I did my part to get Lyrical launched. It’s not perfect. No house is, but I can’t name another house that demands as much from itself on its authors’ and readers’ behalf than Lyrical.

No, I am not opening my own house. I’ve no plans right now beyond sleep, uninterrupted parenting, getting some exercise, and spending time just about anywhere but in this chair. Anyone who doesn’t believe that clearly hasn’t seen the flat spot on my butt.

Of course, that won’t stop me from following industry developments. Production turned out to be my great love in this business, and having looked far down the road, I’ve quite a little to say about e-book technology types and the emerging static vs. dynamic content camps.

I’ll say some of it…someday. For now, I’m in wrap-up and shiny thing mode.

QP: Still Doin’ It Right

Maybe it’s not cool or wise to be excited about one’s competition, but from the moment I first heard about Quartet Press, I was revved. Finally, someone with reputation, clout and know-how to make something happen, and maybe even impose some positive change in digital publishing!

Then they hired Angela James — who is the absolute best at what she does — and I thought, “Watch out, world. Here they come!”

And then, in the blink of an eye…there they went.  Seeing as how I’m working on pneumonia atm, I thought for a minute I was hallucinating when I heard the news. But then I hit the blogosphere and learned it was true. There went a whole lot of hope and faith, straight into the toilet.

So now the post-mortem will begin with speculation — some wild, some vicious, some valid — and I’m thinking it might be time for an industry-wide reality check. Because from the start, while I was very excited to see what QP could do for the industry, as someone who’s spent the last 18 months buried deep in the digital publishing trenches, my first reaction was, “That’s awesome, but how the heck are they gonna pay everybody?”

What a lot of authors and indeed some industry professionals don’t understand is that while everyone was filled with “this is the future of publishing” joy and angst, the market was busy reinventing itself into the same old, same old. Digital publishing was supposed to have a much leaner “business model”. The middle man was gonna be cut out, there’d be no or few reserves against returns or returns, and everything was gonna be hunky dory and quick, fast money would be made by all.

[pause for the jaded laughter to subside]

Everything old has become new again for digital publishers. Online vendors — where a vast majority of sales take place due to consumer preference — now take anywhere from 35 to 60% right off the top. Add to that promotional deductions like rewards and other frequent-buyer perks, and the publisher is often looking at 25 – 30% of their list price actually coming back to them in revenue.

These expenses have completely and thoroughly replaced the cost of doing business once mocked as traditional publishing’s convoluted, bloated and inefficient business model. The market allowed itself to return to the status quo, and QP has now become the first very public casualty.

[pause for hats off to EC, for not allowing themselves to be held hostage by middlemen. You, too, have been doin it right for a good long while.]

If I were a venture capitalist or financial backer looking at the digital publishing business right now, I’d run away. The industry is not only at the mercy of the vendors, it’s also under the thumb of device developers who have their own ideas on how to make their investments pay out, including proprietary file types and bizarre DRM practices that pile expenses upon the digital publishers. Say what you will about how “easy” or “cheap” it is to produce quality digital product. I’m here to tell you that sure, if you want to pump out crappy files, it’s both cheap and easy. Hell, it’s free. But if you’re serious about making your product perfectly readable on countless dedicated and multi-purpose devices, digital publishers will have no choice but to put an enormous amount of 1) capital, 2) manhours and/or 3) both into quality assurance.

See, here’s the irony. Most ebook platforms are based on xhtml and, in part, CSS, both of which were never intended to mimic print convention. Never intended to do a LOT of things they’re now applied to, in fact. To make ebooks readable takes skill, time, and money, and digital publishers are shackled not only by coding languages that don’t lend themselves well to the practice, but by the fact that end-user specifications and device limitations can pretty well negate all progress made.

And epub? Digital publishing’s golden child? God love ‘em. Their heart’s in the right place and the device developers are starting to listen, but I still have a great number of reservations regarding the functionality and practicality of this file type. CSS, which ought to offer lifeblood to print convention concerns, just isn’t supported by devices claiming compatability, and…we’ve just got such a long way to go. Such a very, very long way to go in offering consumers something as easy and worry-free as sitting down and opening a book cover. They’re entitled to print convention expectations and ease of use.

Very, very, very long way to go.

At any rate, QP’s the one that got away. I don’t doubt that between non-negotiable vendor revenue-sinks, high-quality production, and an enormous amount of start-up funding needed (not to mention the amount of time it would take to earn that out and show profit), anyone interested in profit — and why would you be in business if you weren’t — would have to  hit the brakes. It’s a good, solid business decision anyone in their right mind would have to agree with.

Of course, I’m not happy about it. I had hopes. And they had Angie James and authors, who did not deserve to be thrown under the bus. I’m very sorry for all involved. I’m more sorry for the readers who will be cheated out of what might have been.

Just Because

New and Improved!

Editor Event

We’ve another live blogcast on the docket tonight, this time for LPI editors. It starts at 6 PM Central.

Click Here to join us.

Authors thinking of subbing can ask questions during the blogcast — I believe we’ll be tackling most of those during the second hour. We’ll also be taking questions throughout the event from readers who might like to grill editors or demand certain types of stories.

Author Event

The End of Summer live blogcast happens tonight at 6 PM Central.

WordPress.com doesn’t support frames, so I can’t drop a viewing pane here on the blog, but you can access the blogcast if you Click Here

Or, you can go to this LPI Blog post and join us there in the viewing pane.

We’re expecting upwards of thirty author panelists, and the interview questions have been kept under wraps so the responses are utterly, gloriously unrehearsed.

My smirk is not at all wicked. Well, okay. Maybe a little…

The Elephantine Corner

How many emails does it take to make an EIC speak out regarding contract kerfluffle?

Fewer than I’ve gotten. I’ve been quiet because because I still have authors expecting edits, authors upset over the muckraking, and a professional policy requiring me never to miss an opportunity to shut up.

Those of you who do want me to make an official comment, here’s the best and most responsible thing I can say: I run the editorial department, not the legal department. Others have pointed out for us that the clause in question is not uncommon, and have done a much better job than I ever would in illustrating its intent and purpose.

Of course, that does not stop me from being sorry this author was unhappy with her experience at Lyrical. I’m sorry if any author is unhappy with their experience with LPI, and I do recognize and uphold their right — and in some cases, moral or professional obligation — to speak out.

Stress levels are high, tempers are running hot. I know myself better than to post when the veins are standing out on my forehead. AND I’ve been online too long not to have learned the lesson that no matter what I say in defense of myself, my livelihood, or even someone I care about, there will always be someone with a different opinion, point of view, or motive — and a great big flamethrower to back it up.

So I’ve not said anything because in the present climate, it’s a waste of my time and everyone else’s.

And now I’m headed back into the copy edits cave in the hope I can salvage some productive hours from this day.

Here It Comes

/enters, panting

The End of Summer event starts tomorrow on the LPI Blog. We’ve put together 58 author and editor profiles for release Monday through Friday. More than thirty ebooks will be given away, along with countless other prizes.

During the week, we’ll be gearing up for the weekend’s live blogcasts. These are shaping up to be very fun (no one warn the authors about my deep bag of evil writer questions), and might become regular events based on this weekend’s results.

In other, glorious news, longtime LPI editor Pamela Tyner has been named Managing Editor. We are very grateful for her support and input.  And I’m sure she, in turn, will be very grateful for any and all chocolate you might send her way as we get her settled into her new position.

I’m off to do something crazy, like sleep.

Say It Ain’t So

Brett Favre. Is a Viking.

That’s like…appointing Dan Brown the next Pope.

Minnesota once again proves that the Vikings pocket is where all used-up quarterbacks come to die.