But even now, some of you possibly don’t realize how big steampunk is. It has books and bands and games, along with a huge visual culture of jewelry shops, clothing stores, mad inventors, sculptors, and artists. Enough to fill a museum.

Um, literally. Below is a video from the Oxford Museum of the History of Science, which is currently hosting a steampunk exhibition that looks positively awesome.

For all you in the UK, it’s on until February 21. If I could make it, I would totally be there.

Enjoy here, or head over to YouTube to see it in slightly larger form.

Hey, and there are more videos from the show here.

Yep, that’s all of them.

Well, almost all of them. For reasons discussed here, there’s no Amazon link anymore. Sorry for any inconvenience, but trust me, it’s not as annoying for you as it is for the hundreds of authors who’ve had their income decimated by Amazon.

So, yes, I’ll steadily be deleting links to Amazon wherever they occur on this site. Making changes to code is my least favorite kind of internet fiddling to do, and I’ll getting more and more annoyed as I go.

I’m sure Amazon intends to re-friend Macmillan at some point, but I assure you, it will take me even longer to put these buttons back than it did to remove them all. This won’t starve either me or Jeff Bezos, but it’s the little things that count.

Update: On the afternoon of Friday, Feb 5, US time, Amazon at least re-listed the print versions of Macmillan titles. (Not the Kindle versions, apparently. But hey, that’s what being negotiated, so it makes at least some sense to have them down.) So Amazon’s entire snit fit was one week long.

As for those who question my use of the word “decimated,” it literally means to reduce by 10%, which is roughly the percentage of books that sell through Amazon. (Well okay, it literally means to reduce by 10% by execution, but still . . . )

In consideration for this re-listing by Amazon, my links to them will be restored in, let’s say, a week times the number of friends I have who publish with Macmillan. About half a year from now.

This weekend, Amazon more or less “de-friended” one of the six big US publishers, Macmillan. They removed the buy buttons from all Macmillan books as part of an ongoing conflict about electronic book pricing. Many people are quite annoyed with Amazon, and a few are also blaming Macmillan, in a “pox on both your houses” kind of way. But I think a lot of people are uttering total yackum on the subject.

So let me attempt to set the record straight, as best I know how.

Stage 1: Amazon prices ALL its Kindle e-books at $9.99 or less. This becomes a selling point for Kindle, as new hardback books can cost up to $27. In some cases, Amazon is actually paying the publisher MORE than $9.99 per copy sold, and losing money. But, hey, Amazon has stacks of cash, and it’s a way to sell more Kindles. “Loss-leading,” as it’s called, is a fairly common practice. It’s a way to get people into the store, to leverage other products, etc. Plus, books are commonly discounted well below suggested price.

My Verdict: I don’t hate anyone yet, but I’m kind of sad. Losing money on every book sold is a very aggressive form of pricing, which indie bookstores will never be able to match. This is not going to be great for my bookseller allies in the physical world, where many of my readers (especially the youngest) like to get their books.

Stage 2: Macmillan (and many other publishers, to be sure, but let’s stick with Macmillan for simplicity of narrative) suggests to Amazon that they raise their Kindle-edition prices. Macmillan is worried that e-books are being devalued, and that customers will always expect this discount forever, when it’s currently being propped up by Amazon’s crazy-internet-bubble stacks of cash. Macmillan is also worried that normal bookstores, made of bricks and mortar, will take a hit as sales are lost to much cheaper electronic editions. These are difficult times for bookstores, and we (authors, readers, and publishers) all want a diverse bookselling ecology that includes chains and indies, as well as online and physical bookstores.

Macmillan also suggest something called the “agency model” to calculate what cut Amazon gets. I will not bore you with details, but it does change the way profits are divided between Amazon and Macmillan.

My Verdict: I still don’t hate anyone. It’s far-sighted of Macmillan (etc.) to take the needs of their smaller allies into account, rather than just saying, “Hey, Amazon’s selling at a loss, and we get to keep out usual profit! FTW!” (By the way, I know this is merely self-interest on Macmillan’s part, but at least it’s enlightened self interest, which is what I mean by “far-sighted”.) As for the agency model, Macmillan is certainly allowed to suggest new business arrangements to Amazon. As a bonus, it’s all fairly polite so far, or at least it hasn’t affected those of us on the outside world.

Stage 3: Amazon says, “Nope. We set out own prices. And we like the cut we’re getting now.”

My Verdict: Okay, I still don’t hate anyone. Amazon has the right to set prices (even if the pricing seems predatory to, say, an indie bookstore going through tough times) and to negotiate for the cut they’re taking. If they want to burn their own money to make electronic books cheaper, I may shake my head for the future, but I can’t stop them.

Stage 4: Macmillan says, “Fine, if you’re going to do that, we’re going to ‘deeply window’ our electronic editions.” In other words, Macmillan will delay the release date of electronic editions (Kindle editions in particular) so that they don’t cannibalize the more profitable hardcover sales.

My Verdict: This is cool with me. Publishers have always delayed lower-priced editions, like paperbacks, until the people who will pay $27 for a shiny new book have coughed up their money. This is not an evil strategy. It’s common with many products—clothing, music, gadgets, prescription medicine—early adopters pay more. Why? Because they’re the ones paying to defray the creation costs. (Which is ME!) Once that’s been done, later adopters can pay less by buying last year’s stuff (and cheap knock-offs). We’ve been lucky in publishing, because we have a physical distinction between what we sell early and late adopters (hardcovers and paperbacks). But this is not a given. In fact, in many industries, the reverse is true. (A later generation iPhone is both cheaper and better. A later, cheaper DVD release often has more extras on it.)

Many Kindle owners will get angry at this point, because they want to read new books NOW, not when the paperback comes out. But should they really be mad at Macmillan? As I said, publishers get to stage their pricing, starting high and gradually lowering it, to cover the costs of acquisition, editing, marketing, etc. And Macmillan would love to release its Kindle editions right away, but not at the risk of undercutting its hardcover sales and its physical bookstore allies. By insisting on low prices, Amazon has forcibly turned its Kindle customers into people who haunt the bargain basement and wear last year’s jeans. These customers simply didn’t realize this was happening, because Amazon’s industry muscle and huge stacks of cash were subsidizing them all along.

Stage 5: Amazon de-lists Macmillan, removing all buy buttons from both electronic and physical books from the publisher. This is done unilaterally, without warning or explanation (and on a Friday afternoon, when, supposedly, fewer people will notice). This deprives not only Macmillan but also their authors of both income and the accessibility of their works to readers.

My Verdict: I call SHENANIGANS!

Some have likened this de-listing as a “shock and awe” campaign, a stunning display of muscle power from an industry leader (or proto-monopoly). But I think it’s a bit more pathetic than that. It reminds me more of an educational film from an old Simpsons episode, the one with the tagline, “Sorry, Jimmy, but you said you wanted to live in a world without zinc!”

It’s like Macmillan woke up on an otherwise fine Saturday morning, and there was no more Amazon! Wow, that‘ll teach you to negotiate, rather than just caving.

Of course, in this case, zinc blinked. Amazon has admitted that they will re-list Macmillan, because an online bookstore that sells only five-sixths of all books is somewhat useless.

So to the “a pox on both your houses, Macmillan and Amazon” crowd, I must say that I think your analysis is lazy. This is not a case of two corporations pissing down on us mere mortals with equal disdain; it’s a case of complex negotiations in an ancient industry with many arcane traditions that’s in a state of technological flux, being conducted at a level which the overwhelming majority of readers do not understand (nor should they have to), and which were going along in a way that made, frankly, perfect sense to those of us who understand this industry a little, when suddenly, out of the blue, one of the sides in this negotiation spat their pacifier across the room in a very public and embarrassing display of petulance. And that corporation was Amazon.

Yes, Amazon gets to set whatever prices it wants. (Free market!) But guess what, Macmillan also gets to release its electronic editions later if it feels simultaneous release is not in its best interests and those of its allies. (Free market again, sir!) And yes, Amazon gets to de-list an entire publisher if it wants to, even on a whim. But that’s a massive free market fail, because authors, customers, and publishers start to hate them, and they have to back down two days later. And that’s really the end of it: their strategy failed, because the rest of us can call shenanigans and take our business elsewhere.

Oh, wait, except Kindle owners . . .

________

A quick note: All discussions of this event will draw commenters who think they magically know how books should be priced, and who say there is no reason for electronic editions to be more than $9.99. A quick note to them: You don’t know what you’re talking about. Seriously, your back-of-the-envelope calculations are crap. The printing costs of a book are generally between 3% and 10% of list price. So in most cases, 10% should be your “first-printing” e-book discount, not 50%. That may seem weird to you, but that’s because all the cheap stuff on the internet is backlist (like Baen Books), subsidized/coerced (like Amazon), self-published (no editing or marketing costs), or promotional (like when I gave Uglies away for free). Yes, the “long tail” of backlist books may become very cheap, or free, but not the new stuff, which is what this discussion is all about. (UPDATE: Also, see comments 1 and 9.)

And full disclosure: Most of my books, and the vast majority of my sales, are with publishers other than Macmillan. But two, The Risen Empire and The Killing of Worlds, are Tor books, a Macmillan imprint. They are, however, still available on Amazon due to their bargain bin status. *sobs*

Update: Regarding the last line of the post proper, I have been reminded that Kindle owners can put non-Amazon books on their readers. But much of the utility of the Kindle comes from the instant, wireless purchases, which are only through Amazon. So the point stands, but only partly.

Update 2:

According to commenters, certain Kindle books are priced higher than $9.99. Those aren’t the books this issue is about, really, but for the sake of completeness, it is duly noted.

Tobias Buckell is wicked smart about this kerfuffle. Read his take here. Also, go buy his books.

Charles Stross is smart about, um, everything. Here’s his take.

PS
Hey, Amazon. When cutting off publishers, don’t start with the one that has the most science fiction writers. We will blog you dead!

Check out this beautiful Lego Stormwalker from Sam Hinz:

Yes, that’s Alek, Volger, and Klopp (left to right) hanging out at the bottom of the picture.

And now some more glorious views:

And here, for reference, is Keith’s original version:

Okay, that was awesome. Lego Leviathan, anyone?

My speech was a bit shambolic, but here’s everyone I should have thanked:

• My lovely agent Jill Grinberg, who (among many other things) makes sure that my Australian rights are kept separate, allowing me local publication.
• My wonderful publisher here, Laura Harris of Penguin Australia.
• Keith Thompson, of course.
• All my editors (US, UK, and Oz) and the US production team, for making Leviathan the best book it could be, and an awesome physical object as well.
• The great people at Fantastic Queensland, who’ve hosted the awards the last six years.
• Everyone else in the Oz SpecFic community—writers, readers, booksellers—who have become my friends and allies.
• And of course Justine, who gave me a reason to make a life 10,000 miles away.

Congrats to all the other winners and nominees (click here for a list), especially Cat Sparks, who won the YA short story category for her story “Seventeen.”

The award itself made of curved glass, and so is fiendishly hard to photograph. I’ve been trying and failing all afternoon. So here’s the picture I took with my phone on the night, lit by tiny lightsabers (long story), and showing the audience for the ceremony filing out in the background. It’s more interesting than anything I’ve done under controlled circumstances.

Event News
For those of you in Adelaide, I’ll be appearing virtually at the Royal Institution of Australia’s Science Exchange Book Club this week. If you’ve read Leviathan, come and join in the discussion. I’ll drop in through iChat or skype, so I can’t sign books, I’m afraid. But I’ll try to answer any questions generated by the discussion.

Leviathan at the Science Exchange
Wednesday, 27 January, 2010
6:00-7:30PM
55 Exchange Pl
Adelaide SA 5000

Admission is free, but book ahead.

Thing One
Leviathan has been nominated for an Aurealis Award, so Justine and I are headed up to Brisbane this weekend for the ceremony. We’ll also be doing an appearance at Pulp Fiction Books on Saturday at 11:30AM.

But it’s not just us. A whole crew of SF and fantasy writers will be descending that day. Check out this list:

Pulp Fiction
Shops 28-29
Anzac Square Arcade265-269 Edward St
Brisbane QLD 4000 (map)
(07) 3236 2750‎

Saturday, January 23, 2010
Trudi Canavan and Kaaron Warren, 10:30-11:30
Justine Larbalestier, Scott Westerfeld and Sean Williams, 11:30-12:30
Karen Miller and Glenda Larke, 12:30-1:30
Pamela Freeman and Katie Taylor, 2:30-3:30

It’s all very informal. Just come by and say hello. Brings books to be signed or buy them in the store. (You can also buy tickets to the award ceremony that night.)

Thing Two
I haz a wine:

My lovely Oz publisher, Penguin Australia, gave this to me. It’s a Barolo Valley Shiraz, if you’re interested.

Thing Three
Keith Thompson, illustrator of Leviathan, haz a sketchbook for iPhone, which you can buy at the iTunes Store. It looks like this:

None of these images are from Leviathan, but they are in color. It’s a nifty little collector’s item.

Thing Four
Congrats to everyone who took home Printz and Newberry Honors yesterday!

Special congrats go to Libba Bray, who won the Michael L. Printz Award for 2009’s Best YA, for Going Bovine. And Rebecca Stead, who won the Newberry for When You Reach Me.

Let the w00ting commence!

Thing Five
For all you non-monoglots out there, here’s an interview with me in Spanish.

Another, in Italian, is coming soon.

This sounds awesome to me, so I am announcing the first WesterForum Meet-Up. In fact, I’ll be joining in the discussions if possible.

Here are the times and dates, depending on where you are in the world:

(Update: The western US/Canada time was wrong; now it’s right.)

USA/Canada
Saturday, January 9th, 2010
7PM Eastern/4PM Western

Australia
Sunday, January 10th, 2010
11AM Eastern/8AM Western

Europe
Sunday, January 10th, 2010
1AM CET/Midnight UK, GMT

(Okay, I admit that this time sucks for Europe. Next time we’ll do better for the fans there. Sorry.)

The meet-up doesn’t have an end-time, and of course the Forum is always open, so feel free to start a little early, and we’ll see how long it goes.

How do you get there? Click FORUM on the big menu at the top of this site. Then sign up so you can use the forums. It’s EASY!

Hope to see you all there!

Second thing:
I’ve been finding some amazing Leviathan fan art on Deviant Art. Check this out, from Dante-D:

This is wicked cool, seeing Deryn and Tazza hanging out together, and in a style that’s so different from Keith’s, while still capturing the same characters.

And here’s Count Volger, from Konira Thax, also on Deviant Art.

Also a totally different style, but still rocking the character.

A quick request: I don’t have a Deviant Art account, so I couldn’t message these two artistes and tell them I was ganking their stuff. Could someone please forward my thanks, and mention this post? Cheers.

Keep the Leviathan fan art coming, and see you at the Meet-Up!

But now I am back in the blog-saddle, so it’s time for some fan art!

First, for you Midnighters fans, I present the Midnighters Fingerpuppet Five!

What’s cool is that you can tell who’s who. I could have totally used these while writing the book for, like, acting out scenes.

These were made by Chloe Wiccith, who also created this awesome mindcaster symbol pumpkin:

That’s some mighty fine carving.

And for you Uglies fans, check out this remix of Extras with a self portrait by Zheng Xiao, doing his best emo-manga-head impersonation.

Any more fan art out there that needs to see the light of day? Sent it over.

We also got to meet with some of our Turkish publishers: Epsilon, who will bring out Leviathan next year; and Artemis, who publish the Midnighters books and will soon be releasing Justine’s latest, Liar. We didn’t get to meet with Tudum, who publish the Uglies series (which apparently tanked in Turkey). But thanks to everyone for their tremendous hospitality.

Here are the Turkish covers for the first two Midnighters books:

Kind of a goth/gypsy vibe going on here. From what my editor at Artemis said, the books didn’t sell well at first, but more recently these new covers (and a post-Twilight wave of paranormal readers) have made them a hit.

And for your vicarious tourist enjoyment, here is the emperor Justinian’s amazing cistern, which supplied water to Istanbul from 352AD onward:

Pretty cool, huh? It’s a really huge and beautiful cavern, with very little signage and tourist stuff to distract from simply hanging out there. Plus, they play awesome music. Click here to read more.

And now, readers of Leviathan, please enjoy Walker Wednesday. Today’s walker is made by paper engineering genius Theo Jansen:

The place is beautiful (this is the Haggia Sophia) . . .

. . . and the food is amazing:

Click here for more about food from Justine.