Name: Caleb J
Bio: Caleb J Ross has been published widely, both online and in print. He graduated with a degree in English Lit and a minor in creative writing from Emporia State University in 2005. Charactered Pieces is his first sole-author collection. Visit his official page at: www.calebjross.com
Posts by caalebross:
It’s not me…it’s the industry!
March 16th, 2010
This, strangely, makes me feel good:
“Good” is not what I should feel. I should be offended by what could be construed as a sexist publishing industry (following the logic that books aimed at males aren’t marketed enough to seed a male audience). Maybe I should be offended that males, if literature equates knowledge, are perceived as dummies. I’m not. The industry isn’t sexist and all men aren’t dumb. I feel good because this statement allows me to reposition my laziness as commercially skirted.
Also, it makes me even more confident of my decisions (I say that like I had a real choice) to place my work with independent and burgeoning publishers. Would I have taken a deal from a large, corporate press? Yeah. But then I would have had to spend all of my time simply claiming street credentials instead of actually earning them.
I may be a writer
March 4th, 2010
Let’s say, hypothetically of course, that the author of this post is a wee bit hung-over. Let’s further that assumption and say that he just ate a delicious McDonald’s sausage biscuit, and though the combination of grease and more grease perfectly nursed that hangover, he still feels guilty about having eaten it. So, in his post-drinking-but-still-drunk haze he vows to remedy that guilt with an evening run. But he knows that promise is just the drink talking. Instead, he’ll write. No calories burned, but that’s how he knows he’s a writer. He trades health for textual posterity. Read the rest of this entry “
The perception of literary value
February 26th, 2010
The price point is the perception of value. So goes the justification for not reducing the price of art to a low, yet still sustainable, rate. Yes, we’re artists, but we’d like to get paid when we can. If we give our work away for free, people may assume it’s worthless. If we price it too high, people assume (probably correctly) that we’re douchebags.
As writing and publishing become increasingly more DIY, the ability to price books at wholesale cost is evermore possible. But is that a good move, either on the part of the author, the publisher (if there is one), or the reader?
Indie press, Schiffer Publishing, is trying something new:
“There’s such rampant discounting. The idea is really to keep the integrity of books alive,” said Schiffer Publishing president Pete Schiffer of the Atglen, Pa.-based company’s decision to introduce a Minimum Advertised Pricing (MAP) program. Schiffer books can still be sold at any price, but the company is asking that the books in its newly launched Schiffer LTD® imprint not be advertised below the price barcoded on the backcover. Advertising includes not showing the discounted price online, unless the customer clicks the add to cart button. The discounted price appears on a separate screen.
Based on what little information I have on this Schiffer Publishing decision, I support it. If, collectively, authors and publishers agree to refuse deep discounting (Amazon…ahem…55% mandatory discount that they don’t pass on to the reader!), I think the perception of worth could help balance the actual intellectual worth of books.
What do you think?
Read the rest of this entry “
