The IPR License Blog

Self-published ebook sales reach 20% of genre market

According to newly released statistics from Bowker Market Research self-published books accounted for more than 20% of crime, science fiction, romance and humour ebooks sold in the UK in 2012.

Steve Bohme, UK research director at Bowker said that price was the reason most cited by readers for the purchase of self-published ebooks. By contrast, price was only the third most important reason for choosing to buy other ebooks, and books as a whole, behind "author" and "subject".

And Bohme revealed that women are more likely to buy self-published ebooks than men, with 68% of buyers of DIY ebooks female – more than the 58% of female readers buying books as a whole. Those who bought self-published ebooks were also more likely to be heavy readers, with the statistics from Bowker showing that 61% of buyers of self-published ebooks said they read daily, compared to 37% of buyers of books as a whole.

It’s evident that the self-publishing arena continues to grow at an impressive rate and the price contrast is an interesting one. Big names obviously continue to sell books and ebooks but with self-published books in general upping their game in terms of quality it will be fascinating to see if this gap closes anytime soon.

The sad loss of another literary legend

It’s always a sad day when the literary world loses one of its own but even sadder when it’s one that you admire so much. Iain Banks, we will miss you.

In a statement on the BBC News website, his publisher said he was "an irreplaceable part of the literary world". Little, Brown Book Group said the author was "one of the country's best-loved novelists" for both his mainstream and science fiction books.

"Iain Banks' ability to combine the most fertile of imaginations with his own highly distinctive brand of gothic humour made him unique," the publisher was reported saying.

The Wasp Factory, Banks' first novel, was published in 1984 and was ranked as one of the best 100 books of the 20th Century in a 1997 poll conducted by book chain Waterstones and Channel 4. It was also one of my personal favourites and an inspiration. RIP.

UK’s largest unpublished prize open for submissions!

The 2013 Luke Bitmead Bursary, the UK’s biggest award for unpublished authors, is now open for submissions.

The Luke Bitmead Bursary was set up shortly after Luke’s death in 2006 by his family to support and encourage the work of fledgling novel writers. The top prize is a publishing contract with Legend Press, as well as a £2500 bursary.

Previous winners include Andrew Blackman (On the Holloway Road), Ruth Dugdall (The Woman Before Me), Sophie Duffy (The Generation Game), J.R. Crook (Sleeping Patterns) and last year’s winner Joanne Graham (Lacey’s House published 1st May 2013).

With the deadline for submissions being Friday 2nd August 2013 we urge all unpublished authors to submit their entries to be in with a chance of winning this prestigious prize

See http://forward.legendpress.co.uk/mainsite/luke-bitmead-bursary.html for further details

IPR License are delighted to announce partnership with PublishNation

IPR License are delighted to announce that they have formed a partnership with PublishNation, a website designed to help authors self-publish and distribute their work online.

PublishNation are offering 20% off all author memberships with IPR License. For more information on licensing for self-published authors see the IPR author brochure.

See PublishNation's page about licensing for self-published authors, including information on how to take advantage of the 20% author membership discount, here: http://www.publishnation.co.uk/licensing-for-self-published-writers.php

Shining Girls is a shining light for the value of licensing

Leonardo DiCaprio’s production company has recently captured the TV rights for Lauren Beukes novel The Shining Girls, published in the UK by HarperCollins.

The actor’s company Appian Way is working with film and television studio MRC to create the project. MRC has previously created House of Cards for online streaming company Netflix. The deal was negotiated by Julian Friedmann of Blake Firedmann and Michael Prevett of Gotham Group in the US. Released in April, the book follows a time-travelling serial killer in Chicago, who is tracked by one of the girls he failed to kill.

This really does serve to underline the huge value attached to licensing and the importance of putting yourself in the best possible position to maximise all the available licensing and rights revenue streams. 

Outgoing children's laureate blasts media for not taking children’s books seriously

On her final day as children's laureate, Julia Donaldson has launched a broadside against the media for failing to "take children's books seriously".

Donaldson is one of the country's bestselling authors and was the third most borrowed writer from the UK's libraries last year, but in an opinion piece published recently, the Gruffalo author mourned the lack of attention the British media pays to children's books.

The essence of the piece was that children’s books weren’t valued by the media and didn’t receive the respect that they deserved. She also pointed out that far more attention is paid to children's books in Germany and in the US.

Do you think that she has a fair point? Are children’s books not taken as seriously as they should be? As ever it would be great to hear your views.

British booksellers seek Amazon curb

The Booksellers Association has called for government action to help the industry stand up to the Amazon high street onslaught amidst the news that France has pledged €9m of funding to help its booksellers.

Tim Godfray, chief executive of the Booksellers Association, said Britain's bookshops, closing down at a rate of more than one a week, consider Amazon "the main threat to their business". He warned that if Amazon continues its "relentless expansion" even more bookshops will be driven out of business, and publishers and agents will also be forced to shut up shop.

Godfray, whose association represents almost 1,000 British booksellers, spoke as France's culture minister Aurélie Filippetti accused Amazon of undercutting traditional rivals to create a "virtual monopoly".

More than 73 independent booksellers were said to have closed down last year, bringing the total number of UK bookshops to 1,028, compared to 1,535 in 2005. Bookshops remain at the heart of many communities and it’s vital that they receive all the support possible to combat the damage being done to the high street and small businesses in general from retail giants such as Amazon.

To the Book Industry: stop moaning and get creative!

"Change happens due to two things: evolution in customer behavior and improvement in competition."

The creative industries need to shake off their reputation of being the most conservative in the country. Tom Chalmers, Managing Director of IPR License, discusses the publishing sector's (perhaps redundant) attitudes to emerging monopolies, a need for innovation in the face of changing conditions, and the need to avoid playing the victim.

http://www.futurebook.net/content/book-industry-stop-moaning-and-be-creative-tomchalmers

IPR License: What’s really in it for authors?

Inevitably one of the most frequently asked questions when speaking to authors about the benefits of signing up to IPR License is - what’s in it for me?

And let’s be frank when you’re asking for any kind of financial commitment this is an entirely justified question.

So we thought we’d take this opportunity to underline the benefits IPR License can offer to all authors.

The key advantage for authors is our detailed search engine. Trends within publishing occur frequently – the Fifty Shades phenomenon illustrates this – registering your work with IPR License isn’t a one-shot submission like the traditional method of sending it to a publisher.

Our member publishers will use the search to find work that is specific to what they are looking for at any given time. This means that authors have a better chance of being found at the right time for the right publisher as they could search and find your manuscript at any point during their membership,

Many authors have greater success in foreign territories (Jonathan Coe has been quoted as saying that his French editions outsell his UK editions 4 to 1) the IPR License platform can connect peoples work with overseas publishers which greatly increases the opportunity of a translation deal and the doors to a new marketplace authors might not necessarily have thought about.

In essence: IPR License is a cost-effective way of giving authors a better chance of selling their book rights and opening doors to new connections on a global scale by showcasing their work whilst also working to protect copyrights.

But if you have any questions or queries please don’t hesitate in contacting us at info@iprlicense.com and we’d be delighted to talk you through the process further.

Calling all literary rights holders! Help us out by completing our survey on permissions and rights.

The IPR Permissions Survey

Are you an author, publisher or literary agent? Are you interested in the rights and licensing side of publishing? Let us know what you know and think about permissions and fair use by completing our short survey:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/729HYS2

Thanks!