I just read this piece at Publishers Weekly about JA Konrath’s new deal with Amazon. It is, quite simply, an attack piece. And a vicious one at that.

Okay, I’ve hardly been nice to JA in my comments section during the Macmillan debate. I was getting piled on by shitload of people and was not at my best.

Listen, as an author who makes a living writing, I get asked a lot about publishing. And one thing gets tiring: everyone who yields JA’s name as some sort of defensive ward against traditional publishing. Every person with a misspelled manuscript like ‘The Attack from Arctron: The Return of the Grays’ attacks me with JA’s name like it’s a get out of jail card. JA has leveraged some serious fame via what he does and a list of acolytes. I disagree with the fact they think it now means anyone can put a manuscript up on the Kindle and get rich quick.

And my point is, that JA got tremendous backing from his publishers for his first couple books, backing that few authors get. And JA worked his ass off pushing his books as well. And he works hard writing them. That combination has given him a platform.

A platform is the leverage you need to get a bullhorn.

But Mr. NoOneHasEverHeardofYou doesn’t come with that platform. People in the Kindle forums who compare numbers are selling 10s to 100s of books per year for the most part. I’ve talked to some authors who see minimal sales as well. Just like not everyone who writers a YA becomes as rich as JK Rowling, one has to accept that JA is showing us *a* path, not *the* path.

That clarifying shit out of the way, JA is obviously showing a path. If you are an established writer with an audience, getting a higher royalty structure is a good thing. What JA is showing is a way for working writers to make more money. If that’s a failure, someone changed the definition when I wasn’t looking.

So this PW article: they actually went and dug up JA’s numbers from Bookscan. Which is like kicking open a bedroom door. This is personal stuff. If an author doesn’t mind, sure. Sticking them out there, to prove a point, well, that’s vendetta-like. Only showing the numbers that tell your story, as well, even more so.

For one thing, Bookscan numbers aren’t the whole story. They’re *a* story. They don’t account for sales via Walmart and grocery stores and independent book stores and library sales. All of which potentially make for the bigger picture.

Comparing paperback to hardcover sales, that’s even more sketchy. Those figures and print runs are radically different.

You don’t have to agree with JA to understand he’s doing very well, better than most authors ever do. And he’s a smart businessman as well as being an artist.

That article wasn’t disagreeing, it was an attack piece.

Some will say its because he’s trying to overthrow the old world order and use revolutionary language.

With hack jobs like that, PW is feeding that feeling out there. I couldn’t blame them, to be honest, even though I don’t agree. Articles like that stoke that impression.