MORE GLOOMY NEWS FOR FREELANCERS 

I hate to be the carrier of gloom and doom, but the news for those of us who rely for much of our income on placing articles in print publications just doesn’t simply continue to be negative, it gets worse. Meg Weaver’s excellent Wooden Horse ezine began its weekly report with the warning, “Take a deep breath. This won’t be pretty.”  And it isn’t. But it is important that you as a freelancer have the trending information to be able to protect your bottom line. 

Of the 250 titles that Publishers Information Bureau currently tracks, only 47 saw year-to-year ad page gains this past quarter. The Bureau reports that year-to-date ad pages overall have fallen 9.5% with the third quarter plummeting by 12.7%.   

Now Standard & Poor’s is weighing in with its prediction that the decline in ad pages will continue through the end of the year.  “High debt levels, migration of ad spending to the Internet, declining newsstand sales…suggest a near-term decline in credit risk.” 

It’s a tough outlook as the heaviest ad spending months are upon us. 

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OUTLOOK IS DREARY FOR

ARTICLE FREELANCING  

With ad lineage already falling over the past few months, magazines are tightening their belts in anticipation of the rippling consequences of the economic malaise that’s sweeping the country and even the world.  

Following the closing by Hearst of Cosmo Girl, MediaPost interviewed a cross section of magazine execs who agreed to speak off the record. The general outlook was quite negative. One of the surprises for me was the weakness in the financial category. Kiplinger’s newsstand sales fell by 19.6%, with ad pages down 13.6%. SmartMoney’s experience is even worse, with newsstand off by 20.1% and ad pages slipping by 25.7%. 

The execs also pointed to drastic slides in ad pages of some children’s titles, and you know how that impacts the editorial hole. Ad pages in Nickelodeon are off by 30%. National Geographic for Kids fell by 42.7% with Sports Illustrated for Kids down by just short of 25%. (The adult version of Sports Illustrated fell by 7.9%. 

The execs fingered several additional titles as well. So monitor pages in your best outlets carefully to make certain you don’t get caught short. Prepare yourself by cultivating alternative placements now. 

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HERE ARE SOME INCOME FIGURES

THAT WILL START YOUR “AUTHOR JUICES” FLOWING 

Take a look at the earnings of top-selling authors from June, 2007 to June, 2008 as reported by Forbes magazine. Of course, JK Rowling tops the chart with a cool $300 million. (That includes movie royalties.) 

James Patterson, who usually cranks out two books a year, comes in second, posting earnings of $50 million during the one-year period. Coming in third is former school teacher Stephen King with $45 million. 

Some of the other big winners are Tom Clancy at $35million, Daniel Steele at $30 million and John Grisham at $25 million. 

Isn’t this inspiration enough to rekindle your dreams of topping the Best Seller lists and send you back to the computer?  

A FEDERAL COURT UPHOLDS

ANOTHER ASSAULT ON YOUR FREELANCE  INCOME 

Wooden Horse, the highly reliable and helpful directory of magazines reports that a Federal court ruled a magazine publisher has the right to re-publish its content, photographs included, as long as it reproduces it in its original layout. 

In a case involving the National Geographic Society, the US11th Circuit Court held that magazine publishers had the right to reproduce an article in a CD-ROM that included all of its issues published since the magazine’s inception. The CD will include computer programs for accessing and indexing the individual articles. 

This battle for equitable compensation never seems to end. So be on the alert and make sure payment for any additional usage is built into your contract when you sell the original article. 
 
 

The Digital World 

WHILE THE ECONOMY SAGS, THE WEB SURGES AHEAD

SO SHARPEN UP YOUR ONLINE PROMOTIONS 

At least one segment of the publishing world is weathering the economic downturn quite well. Bullish on the Web, eMarketer  predicts ad spending on the Internet  will reach $24.9 billion this year, followed by continuous double digit growth.  

The heaviest spending and strongest growth is generated by search engines. eMarketer anticipates a total of $10.4 billion  in search advertising this year, doubling that figure by 2012. That makes sense after reading the report by Pew Internet & American Life Project that states just under one half of all Internet users conduct at least one online search daily.  

Of course, Google tops the list. Last year, the portal garnered 57% of online ad revenue, an amount greater than the combined receipts of Yahoo, MSN and AOL.  

David Hallerman, senior analyst at eMarketer, opines that search will actually benefit from the faltering economy. He says, “Reduced revenues due to the economy will entice some marketers to not only increase their paid search programs, but also potentially to bid higher for core keywords that give good results.” He added that with money as tight as it is, consumers will head to their favorite search engines and scour the Internet for bargains.  

Sounds like we authors ought to take the cue and crank up online promotions for our books. 
 

UPDATE YOUR CONTACTS

THE 2009 EDITION OF WRITER’S MARKET IS NOW AVAILABLE 

Many believe it’s the most useful volume a freelance writer can own. In addition to endless numbers of periodical listings for which it is famous, Writer’s Market this year has grown to more than 1,100 pages chock full of info on agents, book publishers and a front section of advice. 

This invaluable resource contains guidelines for writing, submissions and a lengthy chart that answers the difficult question of how much you should charge for your work. Beginners who need lots of guidance can savor the articles, tips and excellent suggestion of the authors and impressive guest writers. 

Professionals use the book to update themselves each year on changes in staffing at publications and to see whether the needs and wants of editors have changed. It belongs on the “handy shelf” next to every writer’s work desk. 

A DISPUTE OVER USE OF COPYRIGHTED TEXT

PRESAGES POSSIBLE CHANGES IN THE “FAIR USE” RULE 

After reversing its decision demanding the Drudge Report remove seven posts that used quotes from its newswire, the Associated Press announced it was going to rethink the limits it placed on quoted text.  

The “fair use” rule exempts writers who use short quotations for specific purposes. For example, when a brief quote is used for non-commercial purposes like comment, criticism, teaching, research and the like, it is not a violation of copyright as long as it doesn’t serve as a replacement for the entire article. But there are no hard and fast rules.  

The issue is highlighted by the widespread growth of blogging. The essence of the blogging world is comment, and many bloggers present the actual quotation before commenting on it. That makes a lot of sense, but A.P. officials don’t totally agree. They urge bloggers to summarize the text, not quote directly. They also suggest urging readers to link to the complete article. 

A.P. plans to ask for input from the Media Bloggers Association before revising its guidelines. The deciders have to be extremely cautious not to stymie independent commentary and opinion no matter how controversial. These are key elements of successful blogging. Hopefully, a fair balance will come out of these efforts. 

SOME TIPS FOR AUTHORS OF

BOOKS FOR CHILDREN AND TEENAGERS 
 

eMarketer, the online source that often offers helpful info for writers and publishers, has done it again. It reports that the findings of a study commissioned by Symantec show that while parents believe their kids are online only two hours a month, the reality is  they spend an average of 20 hours online every month. 

Conducted by Harris Interactive, the study reports that more than a third of the child respondents stated they were either “confident” or “very confident” about shopping online. That should alert you to be certain your work is available on your own web site or in other online bookstores.

More than half of the teen respondents (ages 13-17) said they have made friends online. A third of the younger kids agreed. Just as they all share other interests, you can be certain they are recommending books they like to those friends. A great way to expand your market. 

Three quarters of the teens surveyed reported they “constantly,” “frequently” or “sometimes” visited social networking sites. Once again, research results point to the importance of promoting your book on these sites.  

PROLIFIC PHILIP ROTH IS AT IT AGAIN

INDIGNATION WILL BE RELEASED IN SEPTEMBER 

Most observers looked upon Philip Roth’s Everyman and more recently Exit Ghost as his swan songs. However, the amazingly prolific novelist will release a new book Indignation in the fall, Houghton Mifflin just announced. 

From all indications, the book will serve as Roth’s testament that he is not really aged (mid-70’s) and can still portray the emotion and inner experiences of a teenager. Perhaps it’s a declaration of second childhood. The publisher states the new book is reminiscent of early works like Goodbye Columbus and The Plot Against America. Very different from his tales of a prostatectomy and other ailments in his recent offerings. 

Publishers Weekly describes the book briefly as a story of “A Newark teen who goes to a conservative Ohio college during the second year of the Korean War.” 

Like so many who have reached the seventh decade, Roth apparently feels the need to prove his  youthful vigor and insight...at least on paper.  

DOUBLE VALUE AT B&N’S NEW QUAMUT:

A GREAT WAY TO FIND INFO AND GAIN PU BLICITY 

Barnes and Noble has launched  a new “how-to” site, www.quamut.com. Named for the Latin translation of how-to, Quamut offers a broad series of  free articles on  a vast variety of topics, ranging from household repairs to computer technology to more esoteric subjects like dance, music and  spirituality. 

The company can afford to give away the information free because the site is ad-subsidized. B&N also offers several byproducts for sales. The articles are usually relatively short and quite narrow in focus, but packed with information. 

B&N welcomes new contributions, offering writers another easy-to-prepare channel to publicize themselves and their work. Click on the web site to get more information. 

THE SPOTLIGHT IS ON E-BOOK POPULARITY 

Sales of e-books are soaring, Many experts credit the introduction of Amazon’s Kindle and the Sony Reader for the sudden boom in their popularity. Figures compiled by IDPF (International Digital Publishing Forum) and AAP (Association of American Publishers) show wholesale revenues from e-book sales climbing from  about $1.5 million in the first quarter of 2002 to $3.1 million in this year’s first quarter. The all-time peak of $8.2 million came in the final quarter of 2007. 

Many writers are using e-books to promote themselves and their print books. Others are devoting full-time to digital publishing . It is a highly lucrative field, costing little to produce. Informative and well written e-books  can be effectively promoted on your web site and command healthy prices.  

IDPF is sponsoring  a major conference in Manhattan on May 14^th entitled “Digital Book 2008 – New Standards and Global Markets.” Of course, the conference will spend some time promoting IDPF’s new “EPUB” standards, but it will also include a number of challenging sessions with top industry experts. Information is available at www.idpf.org/digitalbook08/agenda.htm. 

Whether or not you have the time to spare to attend this conference, make an effort to explore the potential of e-books. You’ll find they serve as a superb tool to promote yourself and your print work while also providing an income flow. You might want to check back and read the Charlie’s Choice column on e-books that appeared on January 23. It should prove helpful as you plan your e-book program.