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MotorcyclesDucati Releases First Electric Model. A Chinese Scooter

Ducati Custom V4 Streetfighter With Rumors Of More?

Custom naked Panigale might be a sign of things to come. When I first saw this headline, I thought Ducati itself had created a Panigale-platform streetfighter and, well, let’s just say I needed a moment alone. Alas! Not so! Related Links: Ducati Returns to Pikes Peak with new Multistrada 1260 | Everything You Need to Know About Pikes Peak The Panigale is a gorgeous thing. Here, Officine GP Design has souped it up slightly (I KNOW!) and taken all its clothes off. This is a custom machine and they’re creating a run of only ten (10) of them.

Ducati partners up with Chinese ebike and scooter powerhouse Vmoto to release the first ever fully - electric model to bare the Ducati name. Instead of collaborating on an e - scoot, Vmoto jazzed up its existing CUx electric scooter, slapped on Ducati logos and branding, and called it the “CUx

Ducati has teased the idea of an electric two-wheeler before, but now the CEO is confirm a Ducati While Ducati may actually become one of the first major motorcycle manufacturers to get their feet wet with Plus, the California-based electric motorcycle manufacturer has a brand new model set to be

We heard whispers about a Ducati scooter project…we didn’t think it’d be built in Nanjing.

Back in January, Ducati CEO Claudio Domenicali remarked, “the future is electric and we’re not far from beginning production of the series”. With seemingly every manufacturer getting in on the EV trade, we took Claudio’s statement very seriously. Perhaps too seriously, since we finally got word of Ducati's electric project and it isn't quite what we expected. Rather than developing its own electric model, or even its own electric powertrain, the Italian firm has instead opted to go into business with Vmoto, a Chinese purveyor of electric bikes and scooters and the parent company of Super Soco.

Ducati Extremes—Diavel 1260 And MIG-RR

Production begins on two Ducatis that couldn’t be more different. Ducati is always full of surprises, and we love her for that. These days the Bologna-based company is about to put on the market what appears to be two models set at the opposite extremes of the two-wheeled vehicle world. On one side, off the Borgo Panigale assembly lines are rolling the first units of the new edition Diavel 1260, the meanest, most powerful cruiser from Bologna. Unveiled at EICMA 2018, the new Diavel is a more “Ducatized” interpretation of the power cruiser theme.

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More Shocking News:

Ducati Could Go Electric Much Sooner Than We Expect It

Five Home-Brewed Electric Powertrain Conversions

Instead of collaborating on an e-scoot, Vmoto jazzed up its existing CUx electric scooter, slapped on Ducati logos and branding, and called it the “CUx Special Edition Ducati”. At its heart is a 60V/32Ah lithium battery paired with a 2,700-watt Bosch motor. The battery—which has a 3.5-hour “fast charge” time—provides a 46-mile (or 75km) range and can be removed for charging. Vmoto claims that the battery uses the same technology as found in the Tesla Model S.

Other features on the CUx SED include multiple ride modes, remote keys that also unlock the under-seat storage compartment, LED lighting, built-in (forward-facing) camera, and assorted other high-tech bits. The scooter is being touted as a “luxury version” of the CUx, which will in turn command a “luxury price”. While there’s no word on performance specs, it appears the SED-spec won’t deviate from the existing 2019 CUx’s powertrain, which means a 3.75hp lump capable of getting up to 29mph (or 45km/h).

Harley Eyes Rental E-Scooter Market

Those rental e-scooters that show up around your neighborhood might have "HARLEY DAVIDSON" on the side soon. You might think that Harley Davidson tried to draw younger, sportier riders a decade and a half ago with the addition of the Buell line of bikes, but anyone who ever stepped into a Harley dealer to look at a Buell could tell the dealers weren’t committed to the change.

Ducati Releases First Electric Model A Chinese Scooter. We heard whispers about a Ducati scooter project…we didn’t think it’d be built in Nanjing.

Even though Europe is ripe with scooters zipping around its streets, the variety and options for all - electric scooters don’t come close to matching those of gas scooters. That may not be the case for long though, as an increasing number of electric scooter options are becoming available every month.

While Vmoto is responsible for building the Italian-flavored scoots, Ducati is taking care of the marketing and branding of its “first electric (sorta) model”. The electric two-wheelers will be sold via Vmoto’s existing network of retailers; so don’t expect to see these on Ducati showroom floors. On top of selling product, it appears Vmoto also aims to bolster its presence in the EU market in general.

It is worth mentioning that the Volkswagen Group—Ducati’s parent company—has the goal of bringing all of its properties into the EV game by 2030 under its “Roadmap E Program”. So an actual electric Ducati is already an inevitability within the next decade, though based on the growing popularity of the two-wheeled EV sector, the Bologna-based brand will almost certainly tap into sa >EICMA.

Boho embroidery

Now is the time to Boho your Embroidery!

If you’ve been wanting to try my Bluprint class Boho Style: Mixed-Media Embroidery but haven’t yet, now is the time! Through Sunday, July 21, you can watch not only my class, but all of the other classes that Bluprint has to offer, for FREE!

That’s right! Try your hand at Mixed-Media Embroidery and see how much fun it can be to add texture and embellishments to your embroidery!

I highly recommend my own class (!) but here are a few more of my favorites:

Have fun watching and learning and don’t forget to tag me in any photos you share on Instagram!

Good Vibes Only & Color Wheel Pattern Release!

Is there anything happier than a blog tour for a fabric with Good Vibes in its name? I don’t think so and that’s why I was so excited to be asked to work with this fabric by Shayla Wolf of Sassafrass Lane for Windham Fabrics.

Seriously, so much awesomeness! You can’t help but feel happy when you check out the lookbook for this fabric. And I think it’s so cool knowing that the entire thing was photographed with an iPhone!

There are 32 prints in this collection, all full of colorful and positive words and affirmations.

My first project used one of the grey on white word prints as a background. Using thin strips that I ripped from the fabric (because how good do those frayed edges look?!), I fashioned two flowers and a collection of leaves. I positioned them so that the word “Beautiful” could be embellished with lots of beads. This one just makes me so happy!

Here’s a close-up of the embro />

For my second project, I created a brand new pattern, the Ruffled Color Wheel which, drumroll please, is available TODAY!

When I saw the variety of colors included in the Good Vibes Only fabric, I knew I needed to create a project that used lots of them! What better way to use color than a color wheel!

Also, are you a button lover like I am? This is a fun project to include some of your favorite colorful buttons! So much better than keeping them stored in a jar on a shelf. Ahem, that’s the voice of experience speaking!

So be sure to check out my latest pattern, the Ruffled Color Wheel.

And here are both of my projects, side by side, with my little assistants!

And finally, another side project I’ve been working on…my YouTube channel! I have had so many requests for stitching how-tos and so I’ve slowly been adding them to my channel. If you were in any of my QuiltCon classes, you may recognize some of these.

When you check it out, be sure to subscribe because I have lots more tutorials planned for the future and I’ve been updating the videos that are currently available.

For even more patterns and stitch tutorials, the super-professional kind, not the YouTube kind (!), be sure to check out my Bluprint Mixed Media class.

And watch a trailer of it here:

So that’s a wrap! There are So many amazing designers on the Good Vibes Only Blog Tour line-up, so for lots more Good Vibes, be sure to check them out!

Schedule:

Monday, June 3rd: Shayla Wolf | Sassafras Lane Designs

Tuesday, June 4th: Emily Dennis | Quilty Love

Wednesday, June 5th: Nichole Vogelsinger | wildboho (that’s me!)

Thursday, June 6th: Irene Sytema | Sugaridoo

Friday, June 7th: Sylvia Schaefer | Flying Parrot Quilts

Saturday, June 8th: Robin Long | Robin Ruth Design

Sunday, June 9th: Jessica VanDenburgh | Sew Many Creations

Monday, June 10th: Nicole Young | Lillyella

Tuesday, June 11th: Sherry Shish | Powered by Quilting

Wednesday, June 12th: Tara Curtis | Wefty Needle

Thursday, June 13th: Jo Westfoot | The Crafty Nomad

Friday, June 14th: Janet Nesbitt | One Sister Designs

Saturday, June 15th: Natalie Barnes | Beyond the Reef

Sunday, June 16th: Elisabeth Hardy | Elisabew Quilts

Monday, June 17th: Sarah Sharp | No Hats in the House

Tuesday, June 18th: Joanne Hart | Unicorn Harts

Wednesday, June 19th: Elise Baek | Elise & Emelie

Thursday, June 20th: Kaitlyn Howell | Knot and Thread Design

Friday, June 21st: Nicole Daksiewicz | Modern Handcraft

Saturday, June 22nd: Sarah Thomas | Sariditty

Sunday, June 23rd: Shayla Wolf | Recap

(P. S. There will be a giveaway for a bundle of this fabric on my Instagram post from today. )

Paradigm Showcase Tour

I was beyond excited to work with the new Paradigm fabrics by Sarah Thomas of Sariditty. She is just the sweetest and her brand new fabric matches her personality perfectly! Also, I love Hoffman’s line of Me + You batik fabrics and was excited to see that Sarah had a color curated range of batiks to match her fabrics!

Without further ado, here is my crazy quilt inspired hoop made with both the Paradigm fabrics and the Me + You batiks:

When I saw the doily-inspired gray on white print, I knew I needed to Boho that up! So I cut three of the medallions and attached them to the batik prints.

You’ll notice that in the above picture, the fabric that I used is from this panel:

(Photo from the lookbook which can be seen here.)

I love that in just one cut of fabric, I had access to eight fat quarters!

Once I assembled my crazy hoop, it was time to stitch! I rarely use thimbles when I hand stitch, but because I was going through so many layers of fabric to stitch the medallions, a thimble was necessary for me to keep my fingers intact!

When I do have to use a thimble, the Clover Natural Fit thimble is my absolute favorite one. You can find it here. Most thimbles leave me with a claustrophobic feeling (weird, right?!) but this one allows me to have a range of motion while I stitch!

And here’s a detailed pic of each medallion beaded and stitched:

Feast your eyes on each of the prints from this line, along with the coordinating Me + You batiks!

(Fabric photos below are from the Paradigm lookbook which can be viewed here.)

Paradigm Showcase Tour Schedule:

Cricut Maker + Teacher Appreciation Week

Believe it or not, I like to clear my to-do list (or at least put it aside for the day!) and sometimes work on projects that do not involve embroidery!

For Teacher Appreciation Week (May 6-10, 2019) this year, I decided to try my hand at a project that involves my Cricut Maker, several rolls of vinyl and every green Sharpie marker I could find!!

I’ve mentioned it here and here and now again in this post…that one of my very, very favorite things about the Cricut Maker is the ability to do whatever I want with fonts! I’ve embroidered fabric words that my Maker has cut, used it to print directly on fabric and this time, I’ve cut words out on vinyl.

Full disclosure before I even walk you through this project: if I could do it all again, I would absolutely be using the Cricut Transfer Paper to make the whole vinyl transfer process go more quickly. I had a stack of nine chalkboards all ready to be vinyl-ed up and it was a time consuming process that I’m pretty sure the transfer paper would have helped to speed up!

That being said, I absolutely love how these projects turned out! And I loved using my Maker with vinyl. This is an easy peasy project!

I picked up a stack of hanging chalkboards from Michaels:

This patterned vinyl might be my favorite ever!

Here are the Cricut materials I used for this project:

Step One: Sun on Chalkboard

So I knew that I wanted to have a sun peeking out from the corner of the chalkboard. I began with a paper shape that I cut and placed in the corner.

When I was happy with the dimensions of the sun, I cut the pieces out of cardstock and then pulled out my new TrueControl knife. If you have only ever used X-Acto knives before (like me!), then you are in for a pleasant surprise.

The end of this knife is padded just enough to keep your fingers from hurting if you are making a lot of cuts. I must use tons of pressure when I am cutting with a knife like this and end up with sore fingers when I’m done cutting!

However, my fingers did not hurt when I had finished making lots of tiny little cuts! I easily cut out nine sun shapes and rays of light and then attached them to the chalkboard corners.

Aren’t they sunny and cheerful?!

Step Two: Vinyl Good Vibes Only

Since I use my Maker for font based projects about 99% of the time, I can give you a few tips I’ve picked up along the way.

These letters do not come automatically connected. To connect them, you have to pick a font (in this case, it needed to be a script font) and type out your message. Next you have to separate all of the letters and then move them individually to connect them.

Play around with your fonts. Some connect and look better than others. You’ll notice that I used Retro Script as my font. It’s a nice chunky font that connects well and looks bold when cut out.

BEFORE CUTTING! You need to use the WELD button to connect the font and have it cut as one piece on the vinyl. If you just choose the Attach feature, you will see a little cut-out where you have attached each letter. Don’t make my mistakes!! Use WELD and your vinyl project will turn out much better (and with less headaches and wasted material!!)

My Maker is set-up and loaded with the vinyl:

If you do a lot of vinyl based projects, I cannot recommend the weeding tool set enough. My very favorite piece is the weeding tool all the way to the left in the below picture.

My vinyl words and sun are all in place!

Step Three: Sharpie Leaf Vines

I had first wanted to paint each of the chalkboards. However, as I worked on this project, I thought that a leaf and vine detail would look fun running up the sides and across the bottom of the project. Each one would look different, too.

I needed to use three different types of Sharpie markers for this project. You can find them all here.

A Fine point sharpie for drawing and filling in the leaf shape. Keep in mind that there will be a small amount of bleeding from the marker onto the wood when you draw your shape. Keep going, though. Make all of your leaf shapes and fill them in. Next step is outlining them with a metallic Sharpie. This will add definition around each leaf with the added bonus of covering up any leaves that bled onto the wood. The Metallic does not bleed. Finally a white Fine Point Acrylic Sharpie. I added small dotted details onto the leaves. You’ll see that some I let fade into the leaf for dimension and some I repeatedly drew so that they stood out more against the leaf color.

Have fun mixing and matching your colors…I used several yellows to create a citron leaf color (one of my favorites!)

And there you have it: the finished chalkboard!

My final step before gifting these to our amazing teachers, will be to further personalize them by writing each of their names in the lower left corner with my white acrylic Sharpie.

I’m super happy with how these turned out and cannot wait for Teacher Appreciation Week to arrive!

Be sure to share any pictures with me if you take on a project like this for your teachers!

This post does contain affiliate links. It also contains lots of opinions, all of which are mine!

All Things Embroidery

So many of you have reached out to me with questions on various embroidery and beading tools and so, to help you out, I’ve been tweaking my Amazon storefront and have broken all of my suggestions into lists: Books for Inspiration, Boho Embroidery Essentials and Boho Beading Essentials.

Everything that I have included in my lists, are things that I personally have used (or read!) over and over and over again and I can without a doubt recommend these items to you! If you ever have suggestions for me to try out, or questions, don’t hesitate to ask! For now hopefully these lists will help you as you build up your Boho Embroidery toolkit!

QuiltCon Nashville Wrap-Up

Well, I successfully made it through the week of post-QuiltCon fog (guys, it is a real thing. ) and I think I can finally write a wrap-up post with a clear head!

I escaped the winter storms in my area to head south to rainy, rainy Nashville for QuiltCon! While I was there, I taught five workshops to awesome bunches of stitchers! Here are some of my highlights and lots of links so that you can feel like you were there, even if you weren’t!

Thursday began with two classes. First up are my students with their Geometric Feathers.

(Geometric Feathers pattern available here.)

Thursday night was my late night group of Crazy Quilters! I was super excited to be teaching this class for the first time. I think we all agreed that we could have used several more hours to stitch!!

Friday was an all-day class of Collage Embroidery. This is one of my favorite classes to teach because at the end of the day, each student has created something completely one-of-a-kind! I love to see each individual’s creativity come through in their appliquéd design!

I get asked all the time which hoop is my favorite and I think i’ve finally settled on this one! Made from The Ghastlies fabric by Alexander Henry, I think this snarky little lady puts into facial appearances the side of us that we all try to hide. Especially if someone uses our fabric scissors to cut paper!

This hoop seems to be the favorite of my new designs. You can find the pattern for this Steampunk Bee in my latest book here.

At lunchtime on Friday, I made my way to the Lucky Spool booth for a book signing. Here I am with my fabulous editor, Susanne Woods!

(If you missed out on my books, you can find them here.)

Before teaching on Saturday, I made my way to Craft South! It was super crowded but such a creative and inspiring spot! I mean, just look at all of that thread!

One of my favorite QuiltCon purchases was this Daylight Company clip-on lamp. Oh, and lots and lots of Eleganza thread!

We stitched some more Feathers on Saturday night!

Then bright and early Sunday morning for my final class, we filled the room with our Color Wheels!

(This is one of my best selling patterns and you can find it here.)

I wish I could say that I had lots of time to walk the quilts, but I didn’t. However, these three caught my eye every time I walked past:

QuiltCon was over in a flash but it was just so much fun! Thank you to each and every one of my students! I loved meeting all of you and having you in my classes!

If you missed taking any of my classes in person, don’t forget that you can still learn Boho Embroidery! Check out my embroidery class on Bluprint: Boho Style: Mixed-Media Embroidery!

And P. S…I quietly unveiled my new youtube channel to my students in my classes. I’ll be sharing it with all of you SOON! This is something i’ve been wanting to do for awhile and after be asked (very politely!) by so many of you for stitching videos, I’m finally putting them together! I’ll share here when it’s ready for the unveiling!!

Until then, happy stitching!

American Patchwork and Quilting Podcast

It was so nice to chat with Pat Sloan for her American Patchwork and Quilting Podcast today!

We talked about Boho Embroidery, including my favorite tip and embroidery stitch.

You can click the link to listen or download the episode from iTunes later this week!

I hope you enjoy!

Boho on Bluprint

I’m super excited to announce that my embroidery class with Bluprint, Boho Style: Mixed-Media Embroidery is now live and ready to be watched (and stitched along with!)

In this class, you will receive three patterns and learn how to make them step by step! You’ll have fun stitching and embellishing with beads, charms and sequins.

If you’ve ever wanted to take one of my workshops but I haven’t come to your area, this class is the next best thing!

I can’t wait to hear how you like these projects!!

Wildboho on amazon

I was recently invited to be a part of Amazon’s influencer program. What that basically means is that I am able to curate a landing page on amazon filled with all of my favorite stitching-related items! I’ve added several of my must-haves and will update the items there when I find new items that I love! You will only ever see items there that I have tried and tested and truly love working with, from books to gadgets to things that make your embroidery more enjoyable!

Understanding Thread Tension on Your Sewing Machine

Learn how to use the tension devices on your sewing machine and understand proper thread tension.

Learn how to use the tension devices on your sewing machine and how to thread for proper tension.

Don’t stress over finding the correct thread tension on your sewing machine. Here’s what you need to know about setting and adjusting thread tension dials.

Many sewers avoid the tension dials on their sewing machines like the plague, certain they’ll only make matters worse if they make adjustments. In fact, there’s nothing mysterious about setting and adjusting thread tensions on your sewing machine, whatever its make and model. What’s potentially more confusing is that many apparently tension-related problems are caused by factors other than misadjusted tension dials.

Let’s look closely at how to identify and correct “tension” problems, with and without touching the tension settings.

Tension devices and proper threading

Click to Enlarge

You can’t get proper tension without correct threading.

All machines have basically the four tension devices shown: thread guides, tension discs, tension regulator for upper thread, and bobbin-case spring for bobbin thread. These ensure that the same amount of thread flows simultaneously from the needle and the bobbin, producing a symmetrical stitch.

Meet your tension tools

In order to form a row of stitches that looks the same on both sides of the fabric, the same amount of thread needs to flow from the spool and the bobbin simultaneously. This is accomplished by running the threads through various tension devices, including the thread guides, tension discs, and tension regulator on the machine head for the upper thread(s), and the bobbin-case spring for the bobbin thread. Some machines include a small hole in the bobbin-case finger, through which to feed the bobbin thread to increase the tension for improved stitch definition when topstitching, satin-stitching, and embroidering, without touching your tension settings.

The Tension discs and Tension regulator together are called the tension assembly. The tension discs squeeze the thread as it passes between them, while the tension regulator controls the amount of pressure on the discs. On older machines, there are only two tension discs, controlled by a screw or knob. On newer models there are three discs controlled by a dial or key pad on the front of the machine, which can regulate two threads at once.

In either case, the tension regulator is elementary: When adjusted to a higher number (turned clockwise), the discs move closer together, increasing the amount of pressure. Turned to a lower number (counterclockwise), the discs move apart, decreasing the pressure. Using a thicker thread without resetting the dial will increase the pressure and cause the upper thread flow to decrease, unless you’ve got a newer machine that makes automatic upper-tension adjustments. Since the bobbin tension is not self-adjusting, the lower tension may need to be adjusted manually to match.

In addition to guiding the thread along its path, each Thread guide exerts a small amount of resistance on the thread, adding to the tension from the discs to achieve balanced tension. Bottom line: Always make sure all guides are threaded before stitching.

The flat Bobbin-case spring exerts pressure on the thread as it comes out of the bobbin case. The amount of pressure is regulated by a small screw at the rear of the spring. Both the spring and screw are easy to locate when the machine has a separate bobbin case. When the machine has a drop-in bobbin with a built-in bobbin case, locating the tension screw can be more challenging. Both types are shown in the drawings below. In either case, to increase the resistance, use a small screwdriver to turn the screw clockwise (to a higher number) or counterclockwise (to a lower number). Turn the screw in small increments and never more than a quarter-turn between tests. This helps you keep track of how much you’re changing your settings and reduces the risk of losing this tiny screw.

The bobbin-spring screw regulates bobbin-thread tension, whether your bobbin is a separate, drop-in unit (left) or is built into the machine (right).

As with the tension dials, the amount of pressure will be increased when thicker threads are run under the bobbin spring. To eliminate the need to fiddle with the bobbin-case screw, many sewers (myself included) have two bobbin cases: one set for general sewing and the other for adjusting to less frequently used threads.

Recognizing balanced tensions

When the tensions are balanced, the stitched line looks good on both sides of the fabric, as shown at the top of the illustration below, and the seam is at its strongest and most elastic. The easiest way to spot unbalanced tension is to look for visible knots or loops at the end of each stitch. When the bobbin thread shows on the right side, the needle tension is too tight or the bobbin thread, too loose, as shown at left in the illustration below. When the needle thread shows on the wrong side, the needle tension is too loose or the bobbin thread, too tight, as shown at right in the illustration below. Of course, if you’re sewing on thin or lightweight fabrics, both threads may show on both sides when the tension is balanced, simply because the fabric is so thin.

When upper and lower thread tensions are balanced, knot between top and bottom threads is hidden between fabric layers (top). When lower tension is too loose (or upper tension is too tight), knot is visible on right side (left). When upper tension is too loose (or lower tension is too tight), knot is visible on wrong side (right).

Tensions can still need adjustment even if they’re balanced. If both tensions are too tight, the seam may pucker, or break easily when stretched (test this on the more stretchy crossgrain, with at least a 6-inch seam). If both are too loose, the seam will gap when pressed open, exposing the threads between the sections.

How to adjust tension

There are two types of tension adjustments, a basic adjustment for everyday sewing (this is what your repair person does when adjusting tension, but you can do it, too) and a temporary adjustment, necessary when you change thread types or sizes, fabrics, and stitching operations.

To make a Basic adjustment, select contrasting colors of a thread in the brand, size, and fiber you use most frequently. Use one color to fill the bobbin, with the machine set on medium speed to reduce the risk of stretching the thread. Insert a new needle in the size you use most frequently and thread the machine, using all the thread guides on the machine head, but skip threading the eye on the bobbin-case finger if you have that feature.

Set the stitch length for 2 mm (12 stitches per inch) or for the length you expect to use most frequently. Set the upper-tension regulator at the middle of its range (on most machines, this is 4 or 5), and stitch a test seam on two layers of lightweight muslin, then examine the stitches. If necessary, use a magnifier to see the stitches clearly. If the tension isn’t perfect, fix it by adjusting the bobbin spring; tighter if the bobbin thread shows on the upper layer, and looser if the needle thread shows on the underlayer. Make another test seam, and examine the stitches, repeating until the stitch is balanced.

Once your stitching is balanced, start a tension log in your sewing-machine manual, indicating the thread brand, size, and type, as well as the number on the upper-tension regulator that produced a balanced stitch. Then draw a picture showing the position of the bobbin screw, like the example below, to use as a reference if you need to record a change in bobbin settings for special threads.

To record the bobbin tension for future reference, make note of the bobbin-screw position, including reference to thread opening or open side of bobbin case.

To make a Temporary tension adjustment, select the threads for the needle and bobbin, then fill the bobbin and thread the machine. Make a test seam on the fabric that you plan to sew, examine the stitches, then see if you can find a balance using the upper-tension assembly alone.

Whenever you switch from your standard sewing thread to another thread, first thread your sewing machine and test your setup to see if you can get away with a tension-dial-only, temporary adjustment. If that doesn’t work, get out your second bobbin case, and start moving the screw in quarter-turns to loosen or tighten it, as your sample dictates. Typically, when you use a lighter-than-normal thread for both needle and bobbin, the tensions will stay balanced, even though they’re both lighter. This is often just what you need to avoid puckering lightweight fabrics, so no adjustment may be necessary. A heavier thread in top and bottom will increase both tensions, and you’ll probably need to set a lighter tension to accommodate heavier fabrics.

Don’t touch that dial

So many things can affect the tension that it’s worthwhile to run through the following checklist in the order given before you reach for the tension regulator:

• Incorrectly threaded machine: Incorrect threading is responsible for more “tension” problems than any other factor. Did you use all thread guides? Did you thread with the presser foot down, thus keeping the thread from slipping fully between tension discs? Is thread unwinding freely from the spool, or catching on the spool’s slash? Are you using a bobbin as a spool (which can interfere with the thread flow)? Is the bobbin inserted correctly?

• Incorrectly filled bobbin: Remove any thread on the bobbin be-fore you wind on new thread. Wind the bobbin following the machine instructions, so it’s evenly wound at the proper tension. Remove any thread from the outside of the bobbin. Wind at a consistent, slow or medium speed, especially with polyester and nylon threads, to keep them from stretching; they relax in your seam, causing puckers.

• Dirty machine: Lint and thread ends lodged between the tension discs, under the throat plate, or around the bobbin case and bobbin, increase the resistance and restrict the thread flow. “Floss” between the tension discs with a lightweight, lint-free cloth, and check in the bobbin area for thread ends and lint.

• Damaged machine parts: Bent needles and bobbins, and rough or damaged surfaces on the needle eyes, thread guides, tension discs, take-up lever, throat plate, presser foot, bobbin case, and in the bobbin area can all cause problems. If you drop a metal bobbin on a hard floor, throw it away, even if it looks fine; the smallest damage can distort tension. Avoid damage to the bobbin-tension spring by cutting the thread close to the case before removing the bobbin. Raise the presser foot before removing thread from the upper tension.

• Needles, threads, and fabrics: Different thread sizes and types on top and in the bobbin can throw off basic tension settings. A needle that’s too large or small for the thread can also unbalance your stitches, because the size of the hole adds to or reduces the total top tension. If you find that you’re getting puckers on organza, chiffon, jersey, lace, or blouse-weight silks or polyesters, try changing to a straight-stitch foot and needle plate, and shorten the stitch length to 1.75 mm (15 sts/in.), before you reach for those tension dials.

This article was written by Claire Shaeffer and excerpted from Threads #78.

Claire Shaeffer, author of Couture Sewing Techniques (The Taunton Press, 1993), writes about all levels of sewing from Palm Springs, California.

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The Dispatcher eBook 99 Cents on Amazon Today Only (10/19/17)

The headline says it all: The Dispatcher is an Amazon Deal of the Day, so you can get it for under a buck on the Kindle. What a deal! But it’s only for the day (October 19, 2017), and it’s for the US and Canada. I’m not sure if the price applies on other retailers today, so you’d have to check it out for yourself. Regardless, if you’ve not picked up this novella yet, today is a good day to do so. Enjoy!

Can You Tell My Earnings From My Amazon Sales? Spoiler: Nope, Not at All

There was thread over at Metafilter this week talking about book sales and author earnings, including a link to a study that purported to chart author earnings, based on sales at Amazon. I have to admit I had a bit of a giggle over it. Not because it was attempting to guess author incomes, which is fine, but because the methodology for estimating those earnings came almost entirely from trying to estimate sales of the authors’ books on Amazon, and extrapolating income from there.

Here’s the thing: For non-self-published authors, the correlation between annual book sales and annual “earnings” as a writer can be fairly low. As in, sometimes there is no correlation at all.

Confusing? Think how we feel!

But let me explain.

So, I’m a writer who works primarily with a “Big Five” publisher (Tor Books, which is part of Macmillan). For each of my books, I’m given an advance, which in my case is paid in four separate installments — when I sign the contract, when I turn in the manuscript and it’s accepted, when the book is published in hardcover and when the book is published in paperback. This is fairly typical for most writers working with a “traditional” publisher.

Once the advance is disbursed, my publisher owes me nothing until and unless my book “earns out” — which is to say, the amount I nominally earn for the sale of each unit (usually between 10% and 15% of each hardcover, and 25% of the net for eBook) exceeds cumulatively the amount I was offered for the advance. Once that happens, my publisher owes me for each book sold, and that amount is then usually disbursed semiannually…

… usually. There could be other complicating factors, such as if the royalties of the books are “basketed” (meaning the contract was for two or more books, and the royalties are not disbursed until the advance amount for every book in the “basket” is earned out), or if some percentage of the royalties are held back as a “reserve against returns” (meaning that some books listed as sold/distributed are actually returned, so the publisher holds back royalties for a payment period to compensate).

Bear in mind that most publishers try to offer as an advance a sum of money they think the book will earn, either over the first year in hardcover, or across the entire sales run of the work. Which means that if the publisher has guessed correctly, it will never have to shell out royalties. Sometimes they guess poorly, which means either they paid too much for an advance or not enough; in the latter case, that’s when the royalty checks come (please note that even if a publisher pays “too much” and the advance isn’t earned out, it doesn’t mean the book wasn’t profitable for the publisher — their bottom line is not necessarily heavily correlated to the author’s advance — nor does the author have to pay it back).

So what does this all mean? Well, it means that for a non-self-pubbed author, often none of their annual earnings from a book are directly related to how many of those books sell in a year (or any other specified time frame). In fact, depending on how the advance is paid out, three-quarters or more (even all!) of the author’s earnings from a book are disbursed before the book has sold a single unit.

Book is contracted: 40% of the advance (“signing installment”) goes to the author. Books sold to date: 0.

Book is turned in and accepted: 20% of the advance (“delivery and acceptance installment”) goes to the author. Books sold to date: 0

Book is published in hardcover: 20% of the advance (“hardcover installment”) goes to the author. Books sold to date: 0 (there may be pre-orders, but the sales don’t usually start being counted until this time).

Book is published in paperback: Final 20% of the advance goes to author. Books sold to date: Hopefully some! But even if the number is zero, the final installment gets paid out (if so few books are sold that the publisher foregoes the paperback release, there’s still usually the contractual obligation to pay out).

Note these advances can be paid out over more than one year — I once got a final installment for an advance roughly six years after I got the first installment (it was a complicated situation). Likewise, once the book starts selling, it can be years — if at all — before the author starts earning royalties, and even then, thanks to the reserve against returns, what the author gets in those semi-annual royalty checks is not 1:1 with sales for the period the check covers (note: this sometimes works to the benefit of the author). Also note: Those semi-annual checks? Often cover a period of time located in the previous fiscal or calendar year.

All of which is to say: For a “traditionally published” author, at almost no point do what an author’s yearly earnings for a book directly correspond to how the book is selling in that particular year.

(Is this bad? No, but it needs paying attention to. Authors tend to love advances because they’re not directly tied to sales — it’s money up front that doesn’t have to be immediately recouped and can help tide the author over during the writing and the wait for publication. But it also means, again, that it can be years — if at all — before money from royalties comes your way. Authors need to be aware of that.)

To move the discussion to me directly for a moment, if someone tried to guess my annual earnings based on my yearly unit sales on Amazon (or via Bookscan, or anywhere else for that matter), they would be likely be, well, wildly wrong. At any moment I have several books at various stages of advance disbursement — some contracted, some completed but not published, some published in hardcover and some published in paperback — a few all paid out in advances but not earned out, and several earned out and paying royalties.

Add to that audio sales (another set of advances and royalties) and foreign sales (yet another) and ancillary income like film/tv options (which are not tied to sales at all, but sales help get things optioned) and so on. Also note that not all my sales provide royalties at the same rate — a lot will depend on format and how many were previously sold (if they are in print or physical audio), unit price (if they are eBook or audio files), and on other various bits that are in contracts but not necessarily disclosed to the wide world. Oh, and don’t forget my short fiction and non-fiction!

Basically, my yearly earnings as an author are a delightful mess. I’m glad I have an accountant and an agent and a very smart life partner to help me stay on top of them. These earnings have almost nothing to do with unit sales in any calendar year, and more to the point, never have, even when I was a newbie book writer with a single book contract to my name. I signed my first book contract in 1999; since then I have yet to have a year when my earnings from being an author approach anything like a 1:1 parity with my book sales in that same year.

Does this matter? Well, it matters if you are, for example, trying to extrapolate what “traditionally published authors” make based on their annual sales, and are then comparing those “earnings” to the earnings of self-published authors. It’s ignoring that these are entirely different distribution systems which have implications for annual earnings. I don’t think one is particularly better than the other, but a direct comparison will give you poor results. Note also that’s true going the other way — applying “traditional publishing” income models to self-published authors will very likely tell you incorrect things about how they’re doing economically in any one year.

(And as a further note: Do likewise be aware of the caveats for anyone trying to extrapolate self-pub/indie annual author earnings from Amazon as well. It misses direct sales, which for authors who ply the convention circuits can be significant, and also may not fully incorporate how Amazon deals with payments in its subscription models, which are handled rather differently than actual sales, and which (unless it’s changed very recently) come from a pre-determined pot of payment rather than a straight percentage of sales. Hey, it’s complicated! Almost as complicated as the “traditional” model.)

Here’s one thing I suspect is true: It’s possible to make money (sometimes a lot of it) as a traditionally published author, or as an self-published/indie author — or as both, either in turn or simultaneously, since, as it happens, there’s no deep ideological chasm between the two, and generally speaking an author can do one or the other depending on their project needs, or their own (likewise, it’s possible to make almost no money either way, too. Alas). It’s not an either-or proposition.

But yes: Here is a grain of salt. Please apply it to anyone who tells you they know how much any author (traditional or self-pub/indie, but especially traditional) is earning in any year, based on Amazon sales, even if they’re limiting it to Amazon sales. They’re just guessing, and you have no idea how far off their guesses are. And neither, I strongly suspect, do they. Only the actual authors know, and most of the time, they’re not telling.

The View From the Top of Amazon’s Heap

Yesterday nine of my novels were on sale for $2.99 in ebook format, across a bunch of different retailers, but most prominently on Amazon, because, well, Amazon. Amazon has a number of different ways to make authors feel competitive and neurotic, one of which is its “Amazon Author Rank,” which tells you where you fit in the grand hierarchy of authors on Amazon, based (to some extent) on sales and/or downloads via Amazon’s subscription reading service. And yesterday, I got to the top of it — #1 in the category of science fiction and fantasy, and was #4 overall, behind JK Rowling and two dudes who co-write business books. Yes, I was (and am still! At this writing!) among the elite of the elite in the Amazon Author Ranks, surveying my realm as unto a god.

And now, thoughts!

1. To begin, it won’t last. The thing that got me into the upper echelons of the Amazon rankings was an unusual sale of a large number of my books for what is (for me) a very low price point, and that sale is meant to be of a short duration, i. e., one day. When that price point goes away, my Amazon sales will go back to their usual level, and my Amazon Author Rank will decline to its usual ranking, which is — well, it kind of bounces around a bit, because honestly that’s what most Amazon Author Rankings do. I’m often somewhere in the top 100 for science fiction, but I’m often somewhere not in the top 100, either.

2. Why? Got me, and this is the point I often make to people about Amazon Author Rankings (and other various rankings on the site): They’re super opaque. I mean, in this case, there’s a direct correlation between my $2.99 sale and the boost in my author ranking. But it’s also the case that sales are not the only criterion — a large number of top Amazon authors are ones who sign their books up for Amazon’s subscription service, for which they don’t make sales, but make money based on however Amazon decides to track engagement with the book via Kindle. How much is that criterion weighted versus sales? I don’t know, nor, I suspect, does anyone outside Amazon, nor do we know what other criteria go into the rankings.

3. This opacity works for Amazon because it keeps authors engaged, watching their Amazon Author Rankings go up and down, and getting little spikes or little stabs as their rankings bounce around. I mean, hell, I think it’s neat to have a high ranking, and I know it’s basically nonsense! But I do think it’s important for authors to remember not to get too invested in the rankings because A) if you don’t know how it works, you don’t know why you rank as you do, at any particular time, B) it’s foolish to be invested in a ranking whose mechanism is unknown to you, C) outside of Amazon, the ranking has no relevance.

4. Which is also a point I think people forget about: Amazon, despite its dominant position in the bookselling industry (particularly in eBook), is not the entire market. Regardless of my day-to-day Amazon ranking, I generally sell pretty well and pretty steadily in book stores and other eBook retailers, and in audio and in translation, none of which is tracked by Amazon for its rankings. Most authors who are not wholly committed to Amazon via its subscription service likewise have outside sales and attention channels. It’s in Amazon’s interest to keep authors’ gaze on it, and especially to have authors sign on to its subscription service, with a bump in Amazon Author ranking a potential and implicit part of that deal.

5. This doesn’t make Amazon malign, incidentally. Amazon’s gonna Amazon. And in a mild defense of Amazon, one reason that Amazon’s rankings, of authors and books, weighs so heavily on the psyches (and neuroses) of authors is that author-related data in publishing is often either equally opaque (in the case of publishers) or effectively non-existent (in the case of self-publishing, which would rely on thousands of authors accurately self-reporting data to some informational clearinghouse). I mean, here’s Amazon saying “Look! We have rankings! Tons of rankings! Rankings for every possible subdivision of writing! And your book is probably a top ten bestseller in one of those!” Amazon gets authors. Authors love validation, even if that validation comes in the form of a “bestseller” label in a genre subdivision so finely chopped that the ranking is effectively a participation ribbon. As I write this, Old Man’s War is #1 in the following Amazon subdivision: “Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction > Military > Space Fleet” That’s pretty finely chopped, and I might argue not especially useful (there’s not really a “space fleet” subgenre in SF). But if I were a newer author, I’d be thrilled! Even as an established author, it doesn’t suck! Hell yeah, space fleets!

6. The flip side of all of this is that it’s very easy, if you’re the sort of personality inclined to do so, to transmorgify your Amazon ranking into a dick-waving contest. Every now and again I see authors who don’t like me much crow about beating me or one of my books in an Amazon ranking, as if this were a sort of personal victory against me. My responses to this tend to be, A) congrats, B) you know it’s not actually a contest, right, C) and if you want to assert that it is anyway, well, then, bless your heart. If you believe the world is truly a zero-sum contest in which evanescent book/author rankings promulgated by a corporation for its own interests represent the final word on your self-worth, which apparently must be assessed in relation to me (or any other author you might have a bug up your ass about), then please, take this victory. I want you to have it. Everyone else should maybe not do that.

7. Which is not to say one shouldn’t have fun with rankings, when the opportunity presents itself:

OH HAI NEIL HEY LOOK WE ARE TOTALLY AMAZON AUTHOR RANKING PALS NOW@neilhimself pic. twitter. com/lPNpAsibsP

John, stop staring up at me. No, please. It's getting weird. https://t. co/CydYq0etut

@neilhimself YOU'LL BE PLEASED TO KNOW YOUR NOSE HAIRS ARE IMPECCABLY TRIMMED NEIL

8. And that’s really the point of Amazon Author Rankings (and other rankings Amazon might offer): Enjoy them when they’re up but don’t stress about them when they’re down. One’s writing career will have many moving parts, and Amazon’s rankings are only about Amazon’s part in that, and then only opaquely. I’m having fun being at the top of Amazon’s heap. It won’t last, and when it doesn’t, I’ll still be fine. And I’ll still be writing.

A Tweet Spree on Amazon Author Rankings and Envy

To begin, this tweet:

Also, Amazon Author Rank? What the hell are you.

To which I responded:

There's a certain point where you just let go of Amazon rankings because they have no relation to overall reality. https://t. co/ELJaaJNiDz

Which got me some “haa lolz sour grapes” comments which left me slightly confused, so I had do a bit of digging. Which, along with the desire to generally expand on this comment, led to the following.

A series of "inside pool" tweets coming up. It'll be over quickly.

1. Got some sporky responses yesteday to my comment that Amazon Author rankings don't mean much overall; finally figured out why…

2. It appears some jackass I muted had tried to needle me by noting another jackass I muted had a higher Amazon Author ranking than me.

3. This happened recently, so that my unrelated comment to a third author on the matter was seen as a response to the first dude. Yeah, no.

4. One, it's nice my muting is working, since I learned about this nonsense by turdy little minions days after the fact. Best Twitter ever!

5. Also, really: Amazon Author rankings don't mean much in terms of overall sales, etc, especially if you sell in places other than Amazon.

6. I've had single digit Amazon Author rankings in SF/F; I've been off the list of 100 entirely. As far as I can see, no impact on sales.

7. The Amazon Author rankings may be marginally more relevant if you have no access to other sales venues. Otherwise, meh. It's for show.

8. Which is not to say that if you have a high Amazon Author ranking (or higher than mine), you shouldn't enjoy it. Congrats! It's nice.

9. But if you're using it as a way to status check yourself against other authors, then basically I'll just pat you on the head and move on.

10. Also: Guys, I've rung my bell in terms of money and notability. I'm happy. You're doing better than me? Great! I don't actually care.

11. I have all the money and notability I need. I'm set. What I want now is to write books I like, for people who I hope will like 'em.

12. If you feel the need to compete against me, well, it's your life. But I'm not showing up for the competition. My life is not about you.

13. (This doesn't mean I won't be happy when cool things happen to me. Just that I'm not looking around to see who I'm "beating.")

14. In short: If your anxiousness about status makes you try to snark me about mine, well, that's adorable. Hope that works out for you.

15. And more generally, creative folk: Think about WHY you're concerned about status and its signifiers, and what it says about you…

16. …it's not wrong to keep an eye on them. Just remember, it's not a zero-sum game. There's room for all sorts of success.

17. Multi-tweet spree now concluded. Thank you. Compensatory kitten picture to follow.

Amazon Tweaks Its Kindle Unlimited System. It Still Sucks For KDP Select Authors

Now that I’ve returned to the US and have parked myself in front of the computer again, people are asking me what I think of Amazon’s plan to tweak the way its Kindle Unlimited system pays KDP Select authors. In the past, Amazon would designate a certain amount of cash ($3 million this June, according to this Verge article, although in the comments Annie Bellet quotes a higher figure) as a payment pot, and all KDP Select authors participating in Kindle Unlimited would get a small bit of the pot if someone who downloaded their book read more than 10% of it. This predictably led to authors making short books in order to get to the 10% mark as quickly as possible, and equally predictably diluted the effectiveness of the tactic. It also made authors of longer works complain quite a lot, as they had to compete with bite-sized books for the same tiny bit of the pot.

As a result, Amazon is now tweaking its system so that instead of getting paid when one reaches that 10% marker, KDP select authors will get paid for each page read — a move that will, within the context of the KU system, at least, address the “small book vs. big book” disparity. The system will also define a standard “page” so fiddling with margins and type size won’t fool it, and somehow track how much time you spend on each page, so just clicking through all the pages as quickly as possible won’t do the trick (this makes me wonder what Amazon defines as a decent amount of time to read a page). The short version is: You get paid for what your readers read. If your readers don’t read the whole book, you don’t get paid for the whole book.

I have a lot of questions about how this will play out in theory — will an author get paid if you re-read a book? What about if you go back and re-read a page? Does that count? Doesn’t this mean that authors of “Choose Your Own Adventure” books get really screwed? Not to mention any author who is writing anything other than a page-turning narrative? — but ultimately any objections or praise I might have for this new Amazon model is irrelevant, because of a simple fact:

Amazon is still making KDP Select authors compete against each other for a limited, Amazon-defined pot of money, and no matter how you slice it, that sucks for the authors.

Why? Because Amazon puts an arbitrary cap on the amount of money it’s possible to earn — and not just a cap on what you, as an author, can earn, but what every author in the KDP Select system participating in Kindle Unlimited can make. Every KDP Select author participating in Kindle Unlimited can not, among all of them totaled up, make more than what Amazon decides to put into the pot. Why? Because that’s the pot. That’s how much Amazon wants to splash out this month. And the more pages are read in the month, the smaller any bit of the pie that you might get for your pages read becomes. It’s a zero-sum game for every KDP Select author participating in Kindle Unlimited. Next month, who knows what the size of the pot will be? You don’t — only Amazon does. But whatever amount it is, it’s an amount designed to benefit Amazon, not the individual authors.

This is a bad situation for the authors participating — bad enough that ultimately the minutiae of how the money is allocated is sort of aside the point, because the relevant point is: You will never make more for your work than Amazon wants you to make. And yes, just Amazon, as the work KDP Select authors put on Amazon are exclusive to Amazon.

I’m not one of those people who believes Amazon is glowy-red-eye evil — I remind people again that I’ve rather happily had a fruitful relationship with its Audible subsidiary for a number of years — but Amazon is looking out for Amazon first, and when it does, it’s not an author’s friend. There is no possible way in this or any other timeline that I would ever, as a writer, participate in the sort of scheme that Amazon runs with its KDP Select authors on Kindle Prime. I don’t approve of putting a cap on my own earnings (particularly one I have no say on), and I don’t approve of being in a situation where my success as an author comes by disadvantaging other authors, or vice versa. In the system in which I currently participate (i. e., the open market), there is no limit to the amount I can make, and no limit to what any other author can make. It’s a great system! I support it, and so should you.

So, yeah: By page, or by percentage, KDP Select authors on Kindle Unlimited still can’t make more than Amazon says they can. That sucks, and that’s the long and short of it.

A V > June 4, 2015 John Scalzi 8 Comments

Here you go. No real spoilers or anything. This was recorded at BEA last week. Enjoy!

A Brief List of Standard Answers For the Amazon/Hachette Thing

Because it will be useful to do this, to refer people to later: Various complaints/comments/questions about the Amazon/Hachette negotiations and my commentary on it, that I’ve seen online, or have been sent to me via e-mail/social media are below, paraphrased, with my responses. Ready? Here we go.

Why do you hate Amazon?

I don’t hate Amazon. I’m in business with Amazon. They publish many of my audiobooks via their Audible subsidiary, and they sell a lot of my electronic and printed books. I’ve also been an Amazon Prime user since the program started and buy tons of stuff from them.

Then you’re a hypocrite for saying terrible things about Amazon!

If by “a hypocrite” you mean “someone publicly noting the company’s increasingly odd public tactics in its negotiations with Hachette,” then yes. Otherwise, no. I’ve been very clear what my position on Amazon is, to wit: It’s a self-interested corporation, doing what self-interested corporations do. This is in itself neither good nor evil. Its particular public actions are open for comment and criticism.

Why do you love Hachette?

I don’t love Hachette. I’m in business with Hachette through its UK imprint Gollancz; it’s published two of my books in the UK. Gollancz has done well enough for me. I don’t feel anything that could be construed as “loyalty” to Hachette therein, any more than I feel “loyalty” to Amazon for publishing my audiobooks.

But you’re not criticizing Hachette like you’re criticizing Amazon.

Hachette appears (wisely) not to be offering up as many public opportunities for criticism, as regards this particular negotiation with Amazon. If that changes I might comment on their actions, too.

I still think you’re a hypocrite.

I also think you’re just a tool of big publishing!

As someone who self-published his first two novels online in an era where if people wanted to send you money they had to physically mail it to you, and then later was the president of a writers organization that frequently went toe-to-toe with publishers to defend the rights of writers and to make sure they were fairly compensated for their work, and who has worked with several small and indie publishers over the years, I find your assertion amusing.

Prove me wrong! Say something negative about big publishing!

I’ll say two things: One, its general continued reliance on digital rights management is stupid and insulting to people who buy electronic books; I’m happy Tor and Subterranean Press, who publish the bulk of my North American fiction, don’t use it, and note its lack has done nothing negative regarding my sales. Two, the standard 25% net eBook royalties are too low, everyone knows it, and I suspect in the very near future if large publishers don’t move off of that as a hard line, they’re going to start losing authors — as they should.

I still think you’re a tool of big publishing.

Why can’t you see that big publishing is doomed?

Probably because I work directly with big publishing on a daily basis and the part of it I work with is full of smart people who are actively figuring out how to make all this stuff work for them. The fact that one my books — The Human Division, which we initially serialized electronically — was formally a research project, from which data was obtained, crunched and studied intensively, suggests to me that the outside-looking-in image of these publishers as cartoon dinosaurs, flailing chaotically, is, in my corner of this world at least, somewhat uninformed.

But [insert Author name here] worked with a big publisher and says they are doomed!

Okay, and? His or her experience may have been different than mine. Bear in mind that authors are not usually perfect reporters — they carry over grudges, loyalties, slights, personal experiences both positive and negative, etc — and that in general, in my experience, and intentionally or otherwise, they tend to universalize their own individual situation.

Are you calling [insert Author name here] a liar?

Only as much as I’m calling myself a liar, since it works that way with me, too. The point to take away here is that maybe you might want to consider the idea that not any one author should be considered the last word on these sorts of things. This is especially true if the author is nursing a grudge, or has an explicit economic interest in a particular publishing model.

But [insert Author name here] sells lots of books!

So do I. Is there a point you have here? (Also, somewhat related, does anyone else see the irony of criticizing certain traditionally published authors — me among them, I will note — as being part of “the 1%” and thus being somewhat clueless to the real world of working authors, while lauding certain self-published authors whose earnings would also put them into the 1%, in terms of author earnings? Seems sketchy logic to me.)

You feel threatened by this new wave of self publishing and that’s why you hate it!

One, it’s not new — please see my notation of having self-published my own novels, the first one 15 years ago now — and two, I don’t particularly feel threatened by it or hate it, no. Why should I?

Because it will doom the way you get published!

You know, at this point I gotta say I’m not exactly concerned that I won’t be able to sell work, regardless of the publishing environment.

New writers are nipping at your heels!

Excellent — I always need new things to read.

Look, here’s the thing: You can construct in your mind a world where there are the tough and scrappy self-published authors on one side of a battle and the posh and pampered traditionally published authors on the other, and pretend to set them against one another, like flabby, middle-aged Pokemon. But I think that’s kind of stupid and I’m not obliged to live in that particular fantasy world. Nor do I believe that the successes of other writers take away from my own. It’s not actually a zero-sum game where only one publishing model (and the authors who use it) will survive and the rest are eaten by weasels, or whatever. The world is large enough to have authors publishing one way, or another, or by some combination of various methods.

And none of that, mind you, has anything to do with Amazon and Hachette negotiating with each other. Trying to conflate the two suggests you’re not actually paying attention.

You’re smug and obnoxious and condescending.

I’m fine with you thinking that.

I will never buy your work!

This whole conversation is just you using strawmen to make your own points for yourself!

I WILL NOT BE SILENCED.

Seriously, though, what do you want out of this?

Me? I want Amazon and Hachette to figure out something that allows both of them to be happy with the outcome — or at least happy enough that they can continue to do business with each other — and for Hachette’s authors to have the same access to Amazon as other authors currently have. I would like for both Amazon and Hachette to have economic models that work nicely for authors, so that everyone makes money and everyone is happy. And as I’ve repeatedly said, I would like authors and everyone else to stop thinking this negotiation is about an epic clash of cultures, and see it for what it is: Two companies trying to maneuver for their own economic advantage.

But it is an epic clash of cultures!

Maybe you need to get out more.

I have a complaint not addressed in this entry!

That’s what the comment thread is for.

Amazon Gets Increasingly Nervous

Amazon is not in the least bit happy about the full-page ad some authors have placed into the New York Times this weekend, complaining about its tactics in its negotiations with Hachette, so it is perhaps not entirely coincidental that this weekend Amazon is trying a new tactic: Trying to convince readers that it is in their best interest to favor Amazon’s business needs and desires.

Thus readersunited. com, which posts a letter from Amazon to eBook readers. Go ahead and take a moment to read it (another version, almost word for word, went out to Kindle Direct authors this morning as well), and then come back.

Back? Okay. Points:

1. First, as an interesting bit of trivia, readersunited. com was registered 18 months ago, which does suggest that Amazon’s been sitting on it for a while, waiting for the right moment to deploy it, which is apparently now.

But as a propaganda move, it’s puzzling. A domain like “ReadersUnited” implies, and would be more effective as, a grassroots reader initiative, or at the very least a subtle astroturf campaign meant to look like a grassroots reader initiative, rather than what it is, i. e., a bald attempt by Amazon to sway readers to its own financial benefit. Amazon isn’t trying to hide its association with the domain — it’s got an Amazon icon right up there in tab — so one wonders why Amazon didn’t just simply post it on its own site, to reinforce its own brand identity. The short answer is likely this: It’s just a really clumsy attempt to reinforce the idea that Amazon is doing this for readers, rather than for its own business purposes.

Well, surprise! It’s not. That much is obvious in the Tab header for readersunited, which (currently, at least) reads: “An Important Kindle request.” That much is correct — Amazon is doing this to support its own Kindle brand, not directly for readers (or for authors) at all. It was (again) clumsy of Amazon to leave that in there, but then I don’t think much of Amazon’s messaging in this corporate battle with Hachette has been particularly good. Amazon’s PR department is good at not commenting on its business practices; when it does comment, it does a lot of flubbing.

2. Amazon reheats in this new letter a number of arguments it made in a previous letter, arguments which have been picked apart by me and others. I’ll refer you to my previous commentary on the matter for further elucidation, and otherwise note that in general Amazon’s points make perfect and logical sense as long as one proceeds from the assumption that Amazon is the only distributor of books whose business needs one should ever consider.

Sadly for Amazon, the real world is not like that. Readers might see a benefit in not having Amazon being the only distributor of books in the world — if, for example, they like having physical bookstores in their home towns, employing local people and contributing to the local economy, and keeping money in the area rather than shipped to Seattle, or if, simply as a matter of practicality, they remember that companies trying to drive the market toward monopoly rarely are on the side of the consumer in the long run. Or for any other number of reasons.

3. Amazon’s new(ish) argument appears to be that the eBook is a new and amazing medium (which is in many ways true), and compares it to the paperback disrupting the publishing industry before World War II. Well, let’s talk about that for a second.

Leaving aside that Amazon’s initial phrasing of their argument seems to be largely and clumsily lifted from a Mental Floss article, and that paperback books existed well before the 1930s — see “penny dreadfuls,” “dime novels” and “pulps” (further comment on these and other flubs here and here) — the central problem with Amazon’s argument is economic, to wit, it’s trying to say that its drive to have all eBooks priced at $9.99 is just like paperbacks being priced ten times cheaper than hardcover books.

Well, except that $9.99 isn’t one tenth of the price of a hardcover book, otherwise hardcover books would regularly cost $100, which admittedly is a bit steep. $9.99 is something like 40% of the cover price of most hardcovers, and since most retailers discount from the cover price of a hardcover, the real-world price differential decreases from there. This is hardly the exponential cost savings that Amazon wishes to embed into the mind of the people to whom it is making its argument.

Amazon also continues the legerdemain of hyping very high e-book price points — it’s doubling down on its previous $14.99 boogeyman price point by introducing another one that’s even higher: $19.99! — while conveniently ignoring the fact that most eBooks are priced at neither of those price points, even ones tied into a new hardcover release.

As an anecdotal piece of information, the eBook price of my upcoming novel Lock In is $10.67 on Amazon — not $14.99 or even $19.99 — a price that is roughly 40% off the price that Amazon is willing to sell you the hardcover for ($18.62). As another anecdotal piece of data, Lock In currently the most expensive English-language eBook of mine in Amazon’s Kindle store — the other prices range from 99 cents (for various short stories of mine) to $9.01.

When Amazon’s absolutely-amazing, totally-disruptive price point of $9.99 is in fact less than 10% off from the real world price point of the latest eBook from a Hugo-winning, New York Times best-selling novelist with two television series in development, and more than the price of every other eBook of his, what does that tell you? It might tell you many things, but the thing I’m hoping it tells you is that the $9.99 price point is less about changing the world than it is about serving Amazon’s own particular business needs — not the needs of the consumer or (for that matter) the author or the larger business of bookselling. It’s worth it for readers to ask what Amazon’s business needs are.

4. My notation that only one of my English language eBooks is priced above $9.99 at all should bring home the point that this battle between Amazon and Hachette isn’t really about consumer choice. The consumer who wishes to buy a John Scalzi eBook will discover that more than 90% of his work available for sale for less than $10, just as she will discover that large majority of work of almost all authors is priced below $10. The budget-minded consumer is spoiled for choice in the sub-$10 eBook realm. If Amazon fails to get Hachette to bring down its prices on its new releases, than consumers will still be spoiled for choice in the sub-$10 eBook realm.

What it’s about is two large corporations — Amazon and Hachette — arguing about whose business needs are more important. Hachette wants to continue to price new-release eBooks above $9.99 so it can continue to make what it considers an acceptable amount of profit on new releases and then lower the price point as the new release matures, capturing other audiences as it goes. Amazon wants to nail the price at $9.99 because it’s in the business of selling everything to everyone, and price control is a fine way of locking the consumer into its business ecosystem.

But Hachette colluded! Leaving aside that Hachette’s past actions are neither here nor there in this new set of negotiations between these two corporations, if Amazon wishes to note the mote of illegal business action in Hachette’s eye, it ought to equally note the beam in its own. Which is to say that Amazon is no angel on the side of consumers any more than Hachette is — they both have their business interests, and by all indications they are both willing to see what they can get away with until they’re called on it.

It makes sense that Amazon wants to make this about the benefit for the consumer (or the author), just like any corporation wants to make their wholly self-interested actions look as if they’re meant to directly benefit their consumers and stakeholders. Consumers, like everyone else, should ask what’s really at stake.

5. Amazon is correct about one thing in this new letter — authors aren’t of a single mind about this. There are a lot of authors who rely primarily on publishers like Hachette for their income; there are a lot of authors who rely primarily on Amazon for their income; there are a lot of authors who publish in a wide range of ways and receive their income from both and from other sources as well. They will all argue from their own economic point of view because that’s how they keep their lights on. This is not (necessarily) disingenuous, but it may be uninformed or heavily biased depending on the knowledge and inclinations of the author in question.

Readers need to be aware of this and factor in who is saying what, and how their bread is buttered. They should also read more than one author on the subject. Corporations — and in this case Amazon and Hachette — benefit the less you know about their reasons for doing anything; their promoters and detractors benefit when you only take their word for things. So don’t. Find out more, and don’t rely on a single source for information on anything. Including me — look, I’m pretty sure I’m reliably skeptical all the way around, here, and anyone who thinks I have have it in for Amazon while fawning over large publishing houses is delightfully misinformed. But then I would think that, wouldn’t I. So, yeah, get other viewpoints. More information is always good.

6. With that said, if I were a writer whose primary source of income was Amazon’s publishing platform, I would be rooting like hell for Hachette to win this particular round of negotiations. Why? Because if I buy into the argument that Hachette, et al are artifically propping up eBook prices for their own benefit, and I’ve priced my own work below those artifically high price points, then in point of fact I’m cleaning up in the heart of the market while Hachette, et al are skimming in the margins — and the very last thing I want is a large and now-hungry corporation now competing with me at my price point out of necessity. Driving Hachette and all the other publishers into my territory is not likely to work out for me very well.

But they can’t compete there! They’ll die! They’re dying already! Well, I know you want to believe that. But if you’re basing your writing life on that assumption, then you’re leaving yourself open to a very very rude surprise. You need to understand that nearly all of these publishers have been around for a very long time — decades and in some cases centuries — and they’ve seen more market shifts in publishing and in the book market than possibly you can imagine, some of which were as disruptive as the current one. How many disrupting mammals have these lumbering dinosaurs already seen come and go? And believe this: These large publishers may or may not be able to eat Amazon, but they can surely eat you.

I think it is a very good thing that self-publishing and electronic publishing has come and shaken things up in the publishing field; it’s wonderful that authors can connect with readers without having to route through a publisher they have to convince that this audience is there. It is correct that large publishers tend to the conservative and safe, and do what they know, and often only what they know; it is correct that many authors are better off doing their own thing without them. It is wonderful, as a writer, to have options. Speaking for myself, I know I am better off because I have the option, at any time, to chuck my publishers and make a go of it myself. It keeps them appreciative of me, at the very least. But it does not follow that Amazon prevailing in this particular negotiation with Hachette signals the end of “traditional publishing” or that any particular author — independent or otherwise — will benefit if it did. It doesn’t follow that Amazon prevailing in this particular negotiation is beneficial to anyone other Amazon.

If Amazon does not prevail in this argument, it changes nothing for the authors who already use it as their primary means of distribution. They are still in the marketplace, they are still (largely) pricing their works below the very highest end of “traditional publishers” and therefore able to take advantage of readers who are motivated by price, and they are still able to benefit from not having to share their income on the work with anyone but Amazon.

If readers are in fact primarily motivated by price, then the revolution is already here and indie publishers and authors and readers are already benefiting from it while the traditional publishers slowly thrash and die of hypoxia. In which case all that Amazon will do by forcing publishers into lower price points is give them a shot of oxygen and cause them to compete on the point where indies presumably have the advantage: Price. If I were an indie author, I would rather let the publishers thrash and die away from me, then thrash near me and possibly crush me in their dying throes — which may not in fact be dying throes at all and just merely crushing me.

In sum and once again: Amazon is not your friend. Neither is any other corporation. It and they do what they do for their own interest and are more than willing to try to make you try believe that what they do for their own benefit is in fact for yours. It’s not. In this particular case, this is not about readers or authors or anyone else but Amazon wanting eBooks capped at $9.99 for its own purposes. It should stop pretending that this is about anything other than that. Readers, authors, and everyone else should stop pretending it’s about anything other than that, too.

(Update, 8/11: Followup responses to criticisms I’ve seen to this and other Amazon/Hachette pieces I’ve written.)