Looks like the Kindle Elves were hard at work last night, because I woke up to a nice surprise this morning: my e-book debut His Forbidden Touch is now live on Amazon. I have officially joined the digital revolution. Today is 11-11-11, which I’m choosing to interpret as a sign of good luck, rather than an omen of the end of the world as we know it.

I actually uploaded the book to Amazon and B&N on Tuesday, so the official pub date is 11-8-11. It went live on B&N within 24 hours, but there was a three-day delay at Amazon. Seems they’re being extra-careful about copyright these days: they requested documentation that I own the rights to the book before they would proceed. I was not only happy to comply, I commend them on their caution. We authors take copyright seriously, and I’m glad they do, too.

I’m already enjoying one of the happy differences between being an indie author and being a trad-pubbed author: real-time access to my sales numbers.

When it comes to sales figures, New York publishers treat their authors like mushrooms: keep ’em in the dark and feed ’em a lot of…organic fertilizer. In my trad-pub days, getting sales figures required repeated demands by my agent and months of patience. Even when we did pry loose a number or two from my publisher’s cold, hard grasp, we had no way to verify the accuracy of their figures.

But now I’m an indie. And we indies have live, 24/7 access to our sales figures. No agent required, no months of waiting — and no more manure. One click, and I’ve got my exact sales numbers. I’m already addicted to hovering over that Month-to-Date Unit Sales page and hitting “reload.” I’m hoping the novelty will wear off. Maybe in a week or so. I’ve got books to write.

Meanwhile, I want to share every nitty-gritty twist and turn on this indie road — and that includes hard numbers. So here’s where I’m at on Day One of this new adventure:

Number of titles on sale: 1 book priced @ $3.99
B&N sales: 3
Amazon sales: 3
Total royalties earned so far: $16.15
Twitter followers: 174
Facebook page “likes”: 44
Newsletter subscribers: 10

Hmm, this is hardly what anyone would call a splashy debut. But this isn’t the trad-pub world where an author has to go big or go home. E-books are all about the slow build, the “long tail” of sales over the long haul. Right now, I’m just happy to be back in the game. It’s a genuinely joyous feeling to have my work available for readers again, after years of gathering dust on the bottom shelves of used bookstores. I just have to find ways to help readers find me, one book at a time.

Which reminds me, I need to get back to work on my next book. Right after I go hit “reload” on that Unit Sales page one more time.

Pricing is a hot topic of conversation among e-book authors and readers right now. There’s a lot of myth and misinformation bouncing around on some reader forums, and I’d like to address three mistaken beliefs I’ve seen out there:

“Authors should tell their publishers to end agency pricing.”
This is never gonna happen. It can’t happen. In the traditional NY publishing world, publishers have all the power and writers have none. Zip, zero, zilch. Publishers have the exclusive right to set a book’s price, a right that’s spelled out in black-and-white in every publishing contract. When it comes to pricing and royalties, publishers decide the “industry standard” and writers are told to take it or leave it. More and more of us are leaving it. The only real power we have is the power to say no to crummy contracts.

“Authors keep quiet about agency pricing because they’re getting rich.”
Even I used to believe this one, but it’s 100% untrue. Authors get almost no benefit from agency pricing. Seriously. Here’s why: on print books, most major publishers pay an “industry standard” 8% to 10% royalty on the cover price. For ebooks — the ones they charge those over-inflated agency prices on — publishers pay an “industry standard” 25% net royalty. They consider this generous, compared to the scanty royalties they pay on print editions.

But wait, what was that little three-letter word in there? Oh yeah: net. “Net” means that the publisher deducts Amazon’s 30% cut from the author’s share of the profits. And then the author’s literary agent takes another 15% of what’s left. So even though you’re paying an over-inflated agency price, the author only earns a small amount on that e-book.

How small? Thriller author Joe Konrath has done the math and calculated that authors actually pocket just 14.9% on e-books released by their NY publishers. Yep, they’re getting just a few pennies more than they earn on their print editions. (And sales of their dead-tree books are dropping like…well, like dead trees.)

So every time you buy an agency-priced book, the bulk of the profit goes straight into the coffers of the NY publisher. Publishers created the agency pricing scheme because (1) they want to persuade readers to keep buying print books, to delay the demise of their dead-tree business and (2) the high profits they’re making on agency-priced e-books enable them to stay afloat as their dead-tree business dwindles. Long story short: agency pricing benefits publishers, not authors.

“Authors go indie because they’re greedy.”
Authors choose to go indie for a lot of reasons. We want the freedom to write the books we love. We want freedom from insane deadlines. We want the freedom to choose our own editors. We want the freedom to create covers we actually like. And yes, we want the freedom to earn a living.

Amazon pays authors 70% royalties on the cover price of books priced between $2.99 – $9.99. That means, for the first time in the history of publishing, it’s possible for mid-level authors — not just the superstars — to earn a decent living. Most of us won’t get rich, and we know it. The reason why millionaires like Amanda Hocking make news is because they’re rare. Unusual. Newsworthy. Most of us just hope to follow our muse and still manage to pay the rent and send our kids to soccer camp. The good news for readers: because we’re earning decent royalties, we indie authors can keep our prices low, usually under $5.

So here’s the most important point readers need to know: every time you buy an indie e-book, 70% of your purchase price goes directly to support the author — not to a big NY conglomerate. Every time you buy an indie e-book, you’re sending NY a message that you’re sick of agency pricing. And you’re saying it in the only language they can hear: money.

It’s easier than ever to find great indie e-books, thanks to the Backlist eBooks site. BeB lists genre novels (romance, mystery, suspense, SF/fantasy, etc.) from indie authors who used to write for NY publishers. The site includes authors who have appeared on the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists and received major awards such as the Hugo, Nebula, Edgar and RITA. Many of their books are priced in the 99 cents – $3.99 range, and some are even free.

Go buy a few today, and tell New York what you really think of agency pricing.

“In only a few short years, the ability to use social networking as a literary megaphone has gone from an afterthought to the focus of most marketing and image shaping…’Everyone is now focused on it, because when it works, it can be a runaway train.'” -WSJ

This morning’s Wall Street Journal featured an article about YA author John Green, whose novel-in-progress just hit #1 on the Amazon and Barnes & Noble bestseller lists. The Fault in Our Stars is outselling The Hunger Games, Game of Thrones, and Go the F*** to Sleep.

Yep, I said novel-in-progress. It’s not even finished yet. Won’t be published until 2012.

Say what? How did he pull that off? Green and his publisher, Dutton, give full credit to social networking. Green has developed a fiercely loyal fan base, including 1.1 million followers on Twitter and tens of thousands on sites like Facebook. Oh, and he’s posted 900 videos on YouTube. Nope, not a typo: 900.

Feeling intimidated yet? I am. Sheesh, I was excited last week when my Twitter following made it into triple digits. How can any author manage to be successful at social networking and still find time to, you know, write books?

Fortunately, I was able to find the answer to that question right here in Minneapolis. One of the many things I love about living in the Twin Cities is The Loft, a literary mecca that offers classes and networking opportunities for authors of all kinds. This summer, I’m taking a workshop series with editor and author Jacquelyn Fletcher about successful social networking for writers.

Here are the 9 best tips I’ve learned so far. These may not turn you into the next John Green, but they might help you gain a little confidence and begin building your own fiercely loyal fan base — without giving up all your writing time.

1. Support your fellow authors. If you’re just starting out, one of the easiest ways to build a following quickly is to find authors in your genre who already have large followings, then make friends. Support their books with Tweets and Likes, comment on their Facebook pages, interview them on your blog. Their followers will notice you, and some of them might become your followers, too.

2. Set a schedule. You don’t need to Tweet, Blog, and dazzle your Facebook friends every single day. Few authors (never mind Mr. Green) do it all daily. Try creating a weekly schedule, with each site assigned to a time slot: you might visit your Facebook page on Mondays and Wednesdays, Tweet on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and write a new blog post every Friday. Give yourself room to breathe — and time to write.

3. Link, link, link. Each of your sites should display eye-catching links to all of your other sites. Some fans will follow you everywhere, but others might only hang out with you in one place. Be easy to find. Give readers lots of different ways to connect, hear what you have to say today — and discover your books. Wherever they go, there you are.

4. Dress down for your photo. In years past, writers — especially romance writers — were advised to wear a suit when posing for author photos. It conveyed professionalism and showed that we wanted to be taken seriously. Today, that advice has changed. Readers in the Facebook era expect authors to be friendly, open and approachable. If you wear a suit in your author photo, you risk being viewed as old-fashioned and out-of-touch. Go casual.

5. Skip the hard sell. If all you ever say is, “Check out my book!” “Buy my book!” “Hey, have you heard about my book?” you won’t build a following; you’ll make people nauseous. Social networking is all about creating community. It’s the 21st-century equivalent of becoming pen pals. So chat back and forth. Get to know people. In other words, be social. Act like a friend, not a used-car salesman.

6. Be generous. The most successful social networkers add value to the conversation. They share opinions, personal experiences, information. When you’re hanging around the watercooler — or the bar at a writer’s conference — what do people come up and talk to you about? You’ve just found a good topic to share with your followers.

7. Don’t react to criticism. You will get negative comments. It’s the nature of the ‘Net. Anonymity has conditioned people to let loose — and sling mud — much more freely. By all means, correct mistaken information and delete personal attacks, but don’t let minor disagreements make you crazy. The community of fiercely loyal fans you’re creating will give a virtual smackdown to anyone who needs it.

8. Get creative. View social networking as a creative challenge. Jacquelyn Fletcher gains more followers from her podcast (created via PodBean.com) than from any other source. Author Kelly Corrigan helped boost her memoir onto the New York Times list by holding readings in friends’ homes and posting the videos on YouTube. Brainstorm ideas. Try something new and different…maybe even a little crazy.

9. Get help. If social networking truly makes you miserable, don’t do it. There are plenty of people around these days who are good at it, and some of them are available for a fee. Hire a publicist, a virtual assistant (you’ll find a growing list of resources right here), or the Twitter-savvy teen next door.

Seen any cool, creative or super-successful social networking by authors? Feel free to share examples in the Comments.