rolanni | PSA: Is the eArc “different”?

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PSA: Is the eArc “different”?

Some folks have written to ask if the eArc of Ghost Ship “matches” the hardcover book that will very soon now be printed and which will appear on the shelves of your favorite bookstore in August.

After some back-and-forth with one of the correspondents wondering this very thing, it transpires that said correspondent understood that sometimes the finished book “differs” from the eArc and s/he wished to know if that was the case with Ghost Ship.

And the answer is. . .

Yes.

And no.

There are certainly some grammatical/spelling/technical issues that have been addressed in the galley proofing stage of the typeset manuscript from which the book will be printed, which issues appear in their Wild Form in the eArc.

Are there whole scenes excised, new scenes inserted, characters written in, out, or altogether made into mincemeat? In short, is it a Whole ‘Nother Book that will be coming out in August?

Of course not.

The way the process has worked with Baen thus far is:

1. Authors contract to write book; receive advance

2. Authors write book; turning in manuscript ahead, on, or slightly past deadline

3. Editor reads submitted manuscript, points out places where story is broken and/or where action/motivation/characterization needs expansion

4. Authors do necessary repairs; submit amended manuscript

5. Editor acks receipt of amended manuscript

6. D&A check arrives; authors party

7. Some Months Later, editor transmits copy editor queries; authors repair or not, as necessary; book goes to typesetter

8. eArc becomes available. I am not certain that the eArc includes the changes generated in 7, above. Most certainly, it is the amended ‘script acked in 5.

The ‘script in 5? Is the complete novel. Any confusion spotted by the copy editor has thus far, and in our experience, been Important Detail Stuff, not Plot Altering Ohmighods. Plot Altering Ohmighods fall into Toni’s honor.

To sum up: Lee and Miller eArcs contain the Whole Story as it will appear in the printed book. The printed book will certainly contain cleaner copy. What you are buying when you purchase an eArc from Baen is the ability to read the story in a rough, but not the roughest, form five to six whole months before the printed book comes out.

Questions?

Originally published at Sharon Lee, Writer. You can comment here or there.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I was wondering more about the formatting, but I guess that's covered under "copyeditor stuff". So things like odd line breaks, spelling, and that sort of "tidying up".

More interesting, to me, is what happens with the e-books which come out from the final one, but I suspect that part is hidden from you nd within the publisher (and you're probably fed up with e-books having done so many conversions recently!).

I don't really know what happens with the ebook formatting. I would guess (note usage) that the final ebook comes off the corrected and typeset manuscript. I could be all wet.

I do know from my own conversion adventures that trying to impose a certain and specific "look" to a page is Just Madness. Given the number of ways that an ereader user can configure hisorher screen for maximum personally comfort, it's just not possible to design pages in the same way that one can design paper pages.

Goodness knows what one would do with pictures in an e-book! Either the artist or the publisher or the reader would go crazy, with all the different sizes such a thing can be read. I'd expect that the final e-book comes from the final typeset copy, but I have no idea how much work that is, I need to ask a publisher.

Incidentally, Ghost Ship is the first where I'll be buying three formats -- the eArc, HC from the Uncle (Hugo, but he must be related *g*), and MMPB when that comes out. And not grudging any of them, they have different times when they are appropriate. Although it's almost certainly not the last time I'll be doing that.

"What you are buying when you purchase an eArc from Baen is the ability to read the story in a rough, but not the roughest"

...and a very fine story it is, too :o)

I bought the advance reader's copy of Ghost Ship for a couple of reasons. First and most important, a new Lee and Miller story early! How could I lose? Second, I just got an iPad2 which I am using as an eReader so I wanted to try out the functionality. I did notice a few spots in the ARC where some minor clean up would happen but I also bought the autographed copy from Uncle Hugo's as well so I wasn't worried about that. I loved the book and am very happy to have it early.

No, no; it's OK -- we want you to buy multiple copies of our books :)

But the inquiry about the "difference" between the ARC and the final books -- I don't want people to think that there are major plot-point changes, and they have to buy both editions in order to get "the whole story." That's not at all the case.

That's good, because I did. E-Arc and order from Uncle Hugo's.

Excellent!

Thank you.

Oh good then I'm doing it right.

Yes. You are.

Thank you.

That's good. If you only wanted me to buy a single copy, I've been doing it very wrong.

The only difference I've noticed have been very minor - spelling, layout (not much, but a couple of page breaks were moved so that strange blank pages went away between eARC and eBook official release) - that sort of thing.

I buy multiple copies because sometimes I feel like an afternoon with a book (hardcover) and a pot of tea on the couch, sometimes I want to read (ebook) on the way to work, and sometimes I want to read on the beach (mass market)...

How are honorifics used in Liadenverse? - Several times people have been refered to as Lord, mostly Daav and Val Con I think, and there are several Mrs. used (MRS.Intassi I think) when I don't understand what that would mean in Liaden society.

I always wait for the hardback, read it and then put it on my shelf. I don't lend these out or give them away either. This is my policy for Lee and Miller books. I have other policies for other authors. I was very nice, if I do say so myself, and bought a friend a copy of "Two Tales of Korval" since she wanted to read it. I have a signed copy of the same I bought from nice ole Uncle Hugo.
C.

Just chiming in to say that from the BAEN e-Arcs I've bought of various authors the only thing that occasionally is different from the finished product are a few typos. The formatting is done perfectly and all the story has been there.

Question: do you get a higher percentage of royalties on the e-Arc as well?

Question: do you get a higher percentage of royalties on the e-Arc as well?

This question does keep coming up. Hold on a sec...

*pulls open file drawer, takes out Ghost Ship contract, flips pages...*

OK, here it is.

eArcs are not mentioned specifically. However, it says here that the royalty for sales through the publisher's "webscription" program shall be twenty percent (20%). The percentage will be a pro rata share of publisher's gross receipts...yadayadayada...

So! The answer would appear to be yes and no.

No, eArcs do not have their own royalty system. i.e. There is no "higher percentage" of royalties in place for eArc sales.

But! All is not ashes -- we get paid more because eArcs cost more. Twenty percent of $15 is $3. In comparison, twenty percent of $6 (the price of a Baen ebook) is $1.20.

...and in the interests of completeness:

Hardcover royalties are (leaving aside the complex stuff and exceptions) 10% of cover for the first 5,000 copies sold (less returns); 12.5% for the next 5,000 sold (less returns); 15% on all copies sold over 10,000.

Paperbacks earn 8% of cover for the first 150,000 copies sold and 10% thereafter -- less returns.

Edited 2011-06-05 23:21 (UTC)

So the BAEN ebooks are your highest royalties percent, but since a non-discounted hardcover is overall the most expensive and you would get more if we bought a hardcover...

And "percentage pro rata share of publisher's gross receipts" might not even be the full 20% of the price? Hmm. Hmm.

Just gimme the new words and I won't ask any questions, nor will anybody get hurt!

That is an awesome dog. Will heorshe grow into those wrinkles, or is that the final Look?

That is an adult Neapolitan Mastiff...all wrinkles and jowls!

If there is a major change from an eArc to final paper version, it is usually mentioned somewhere at Baen's Bar after the paper book is issued. In the last 5 years I remember only one eArc that had a substantial change mentioned.

Also, some authors turn in a fairly clean copy initially, where others require more work at Baen. My impression was that the original eArcs were those fairly clean copies but, I could be wrong.

@keristor on images in eBooks

Many SF books have maps and they work fine placed at the beginning. images at the start of chapters work fine too.

As to eARCs and ARCs Baen have always said these are pre copy edit

Mike D
Little Egret in WOT

I got Misfits from the Baen's Universe emagazine and the images show up fine in Mobipocket. I think it depends on the formatting of the pics - has to be able to be re-sized for viewing on mobile or PC or dedicated ereader.

I can ignore the typos in the e-ARCs for the ability to read the book months before my hardcopy shows up. :) The funny thing is, I don't blink an eye at paying $15 for the e-ARC but will actually not buy a paperback at the book store for that. I suppose it's because the larger sized print copies that cost extra (and which don't fit in with your standard paperbacks) is asking twice the $7.99 standard print format price and it just grates on me. Then I go look on-line to see if Amazon has the standard paperback size for the cheaper price. You have to be frugal (says the woman with multiple copies in multiple formats of the Lee and Miller books) if you are going to read lots.

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PSA: Is the eArc “different”?

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I have a small question tangential to this topic

E Book?

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e_ARCs and hard copies