Bits of Destruction Hit the Book Publishing Business: Part 4
In this fourth part of our investigation into the ongoing changes in the book publishing business, we look at the author's point of view. What are they getting today? What would they like to get? What can they reasonably expect to get as this drama unfolds? Authors are the creative juice of the whole eco-system. If they don't create material that people want to read, no one will make any money.
Their struggles in the old model have been well documented (of course, we should have expected them to write about their experiences): the starving writer up in the garret who uses rejection letters from publishers for wallpaper is an established literary hack. In the new world of print on demand, e-books and social media marketing, the author takes center stage. Those with an appetite for it can really take control of their work and commercial fortune.
Part 4 in Our Series
In Part 1, we looked at the three big waves crashing down on the traditional book publishing business: Google Search, e-books, and print on demand. In Part 2, we tried a bit of science fiction, speculating on how this might play out for all participants: readers, authors, printers, publishers, retailers, and e-book device vendors. In Part 3, we looked at the economics of returnability and the impact of the Espresso Book Machine on the supply chain. In Part 4 here, we focus on authors, without whom we would have nothing to read.
Narrative or Reference?
The impact of digitization depends on the type of book you're talking about:
- Narrative books, such as novels, biographies and other stories. The printed book is an ideal format for narrative books. Amazon had to recreate the print-reading experience to make the Kindle work for narrative books. Using an e-book device scores on many counts: choice, delivery, price (possibly), storage; but whether it beats the experience of reading a good old fashioned book is still unclear. In any case, narrative books are not well suited to typical online or mobile devices. Reading a novel on a laptop browser or iPhone is a degraded experience.
- Reference books, such as education, scientific/technical/medical, and business books. Historically, these have been squeezed into the book format because no better alternative existed. The online experience could be far better than print in this case. Online, you can search, link to related works, drill down into details, see and hear rich media, etc.
Thus, we expect the impact of digitization will be much bigger and more immediate on reference books than on narrative books. Both will be affected, but reference books may see a music industry-style wave of change, while the change to narrative books may be slower and more nuanced.
New or Established Author?
This is another huge factor. This quote from an excellent report by Gilbane on "Beyond E-Books" says a lot about the business from the author's perspective:
"During the 2009 O'Reilly TOC Conference, Jason Fried of 37signals described the book that he and his colleagues had written based on lessons learned from creating and servicing their successful project management and collaboration product named Basecamp. They published their book with Lulu.com and report sales of almost $500,000 in the last several years. This enabled them to reach number three on the Lulu bestseller list at one point. Ideally, this story would have a happy ending, and they would publish their next book with Lulu.com. Alas, the success of their previous book motivated a traditional publisher to offer them a significant advance for their second book. The offer was too tempting to refuse. They now have to hope that the traditional economic model, with 10 to 20% royalties, will generate more than Lulu.com's 80-20 split. In essence, they are wagering that the traditional publisher will be able to sell at least four times the number of books that Lulu.com would have sold.
"When asked about this, Young was nonplussed. He simply stated that his goal was to publish their third book and to make them loyal authors in the future. It is his number one goal to help his authors become successful."
This will be music to the ears of traditional publishers. They can leave first-time authors to self-publish via print on demand (POD), because once the authors are established, they will want the kudos, branding, and distribution that only traditional publishers can deliver.
Well, perhaps. We are still in the very early stages of this wave of change.
Get Me Into the Book Store
Publication doesn't feel real to an author until they see their book in a traditional bookstore. Seeing it on Amazon.com is nice, but everyone knows that shelf space is unlimited online. The real prize is occupying scarce shelf space at Barnes & Nobel and independent bookstores. What the author wants to know from their publisher is, "How are you going to get me into that bookstore?"
Pure online players will respond with something along the lines of, "Well, if a lot of readers find you online, then enough of them will buy your book for a traditional publisher to become interested in you, and then that publisher will get you into bookstores." That is a relatively weak answer.
But the traditional model of stuffing shelves with "returnable" books, many of which end up getting shredded by the publisher, is clearly unsustainable, as we explored in Part 3.
How this will play out is far from clear. But one thing is clear: the landscape will look quite different.
And Do It NOW!
If you are writing a timeless classic, then the traditional three- to four-month lag between the completion of the manuscript and the book's appearance in bookstores is fine. If you are writing about something timely, that just won't cut it anymore. Bloggers and online writers will steal your thunder before your book hits the shelves. The immediacy of print on demand and e-books eliminates this time lag.
Write About What You Know
Writers do love to write, so it is not surprising that some are starting to document their experiences in the new world of POD and e-books. One that caught our eye is Literary Adventures in POD, but there are many more.
Literary Agent 2.0
In the old model, first-time authors usually had to find an agent, who then found a publisher. This site has good FAQs on the process and on deals.
These relationships -- between author and agent, and agent and publisher -- are often very personal. As such, they can be totally wonderful or totally awful, and there are plenty of tales of both. They are typical "Let's do lunch" relationships. So, bringing Web technology to this match-making experience is logical; one venture that has done this is Creative Byline.
Four Big Changes for Authors
- Fewer advances. The lack of an advance will be compensated for by...
- A bigger share of the pie. We expect this to grow from 10% to 30% (or more) of the retail price. The retail price will likely drop, too, and so authors will have to...
- Create the finished product themselves. Authors will have to pay for cover art and editing out of pocket, as well as...
- Become savvier about online marketing. A lot of tools are out there: social media, affiliate networks, email lists, SEO/SEM, and so on. Some authors will leave this up to intermediaries (the next form of publishers), and some will do it themselves.
The future of authors can thus be summed up as: do more of the work, get a bigger percentage of the retail price (which will be lower), and hustle online.
We would love to hear from authors about their experiences.
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> ...is an established literary hack.
I don't think that word means what you think it means.
As I complete my manuscript and compile a list of agents to contact this information is just what I needed. I'd been considering self-publication as I know that way almost all the profit ends up in the author's hands. But you're right, publication with an established publisher and shelf space in bookshops spells success.
I'm not sure what route I'll take yet but now I have more options to go on and some useful links to check out so many thanks for that.
The idea of literary "intermediaries" is interesting. It looks like another new career will open up and I'd love to help good authors learn how to sell their books online or do it for them. Ideally authors would just have to write. Many love the Internet and blogging but some don't and it's sad to think that they might not be read because they're lacking the Internet promotion skill.
Miramon, I was attempting an analogy I think. In software, "hack" means a quick way to do something that gets the job done. Writers sometimes do that as well - I know I do! Sorry if it did not work.
Annabel, I agree, most writers don't like the hustle part and have "delegated" that to publishers/agents. Just like musicians used to do to record labels. I think it will be an individual choice - some will want to do more themselves and some will want to pay others on a results basis, probably sme mix of the two.
I have recently been through the process of seeking a route to publication for the first book of my new fantasy trilogy, Randolph's Challenge Book One - The Pendulum Swings. It was published in May this year in a format of which I am very proud. The quality of the final production, the artwork, the inital marketing were all excellent and the time-scale from sumission to publication was only about four months. The publisher's website and Amazon carry the book and it is available from bookstores in the USA. It is supplied on a POD basis. The publishers receive regular attack on the internet, primarily because they don't comply with traditional rules laid down by traditional publishers - but why should they? they are part of a new age, part of the evolution you have described in your article.
Getting it to that point meant I had to submit it in a fully copy edited state. Royalties are on a climbing scale, dependent on sales volume. The marketing of the book from this point is very much dependant on the amount of effort I am prepared to put in.
The point I am making is, I am living proof that the four big changes for authors, which you list in your article, are actually here. The new brand of publisher has arrived and while the battle between traditional publishers and the new age will, no doubt, continue for some years yet, your article is accurate and, I believe, points the way to the future for many up and coming authors.
Having said that I believe it also opens the field for more and, maybe, different styles of Literary Agent. For my part, I could certainly do with some experienced support and guidance from an Agent, even if that was on-line, even if that was from a new age Agent who knew about new age publishers and the difficulties of new age authors. Let's face it, if we didn't embrace change we'd all still be living in caves and writing on tablets of stone!
Chris Warren
Author and Freelance Writer
Randolph's Challenge Book One - The Pendulum Swings
I'm not 100% sure about this, but I think that in the realm of consumer electronics, for example, online sales have already surpassed those of traditional retail stores. What this means is that publishing online could turn out to be more profitable. Sure, seeing your book on a shelve at Barnes and Noble is a huge ego boost, but the bottom line is what counts right?
Also, it's too early in the game to tell whether POD will prove to be a serious alternative. It seems like digital books for devices like the Kindle, Barnes & Nobel's new reader, Sony reader and maybe even Apple's Ipod/ Iphone and future tablet have a better chance of reaching the public mainstream. In most parts of the world, POD is something that could easily be skipped over in route to an even better solution. It reminds me of how Blue Ray could be skipped over entirely by video streaming.
Having a color HD, touch screen reader doesn't seem that far away and in my opinion, will produce a superior user experience than traditional printed books.
As an author, I've discovered that POD and its variations allow you to explore publishing models that match your own strengths, inclinations, and values. With a major pub book a while ago I remember feeling that I was being dressed up as some kind of product (pancaked for TV and the like). I mean, if someone's fronted you the money you kind of need to do what they suggest. It's very liberating to create my own way and at my own pace; there's no meter running to determine if I've sold enough books in a month or whatever. (Of course, I'm also older and wiser now anyway.) I introduce a bit of this in the latest blog post on "Slow Publishing": http://litadventuresinpod.blogspot.com.
I have written at least 7 fictional books and so far not one literary agent or publisher will take a chance on them.
WHy? Because they are not about Vampires, Werewolves, that is part of the reason.
I suspect the other reason is that they don't want to 'chance' it with something different, but still a great read.
Just my quarter's worth...inflation
While I have looked at Self-publishing it is not an avenue I want to take at this time.
For one thing. I don't know best marketing strategies,
I don't have 'contacts' in the publishing world, I am just a writer who loves to write both romance and childrens/young adult stories and want them published in book form.
Ever watch a child get their first book? They look at it with wonder, especially if they've been read too. I want a reader to experience that kind of gooey feeling when they pick up my books and settle down for a read, ignoring the television, barking dogs, etc.
So for now i'll keep on searching for a literary agent and a publisher. The hardest thing for me right now is coming up with the dollars to mail out the manuscripts to those that are taking submissions from unsolicited authors.
Being unemployed for past several years, living on fs, HUD paying towards rent. its better than being homeless and trust me i've been that route too.
Having read the first three parts of this series, which were pretty insightful, I was completely disappointed with the fourth part. The author's contention that reference books, as opposed to narrative books, are more suitable for the ebook market is completely divorced from reality.
I request Mr Lunn to please take a look at the books on offer for sale at Amazon's Kindle Books store as well as other ebook sellers like fictionwise, barnes and noble, mobipocket, lexcycle, smashwords, etc. The books on sale are overwhelmingly narrative works. (Please note that I am not here considering sellers of public domain books like feedbooks, but about ebook sellers of contemporary works.) There's a reason for the same: reference works require embellishment through charts, diagrams, pictures and other illustrations. The ebook publishing formats have major, major problems with that. They are most comfortable producing books with simple text, and narrative works are the perfect vehicle for that.
This is a classic instance of an opinion-maker so lost in his private world of theorising that he forgot to actively search for evidence in support of his contentions. Sometimes opinions are no match for good reportage. A good reporter would have talked to the leading lights in the field and they would have disabused Mr Lunn of his false notions.
Georgy S Thomas
Bangalore (India)
I love this 4 parts analysis on book publishing. But what about journals and textbooks. Subscribing journals is what cost our university's library the most, so I assume this part of business contribute a lot to publishers' revenue. On the other hand, journals and especially textbooks, are pretty suitable for digitizing. They are basically reference books.
Is the impact on publishers of journals and textbooks as big as on the books? I am willing to know people's points of views.
Business is difficult for everyone these days. However there are some things that you might now know you already know, that could help boost your book business. Try checking out Kenneth Eisold's latest book, "What You Don’t Know You Know: Our Hidden Motives in Life, Business, and Everything Else." This is truly an eye opening book.
After losing two agents in succession during the submission process (the first to a career change, the second to mortality), I chose to self-publish my first two novels via Lulu.com. Steering my manuscripts through the self-publishing process, getting ISBN's and seeing my books appear quickly on Amazon, B&N and the like was all rewarding. I also really enjoy self-promotion and marketing of my brand as well as my books. The one huge drawback, however, is the price of finished product. POD printing is simply non-competitive with traditional mass printing. My POD trade paperbacks are priced too high, even as I opt for a minuscule percentage for my royalties. There's no flexibility in setting a realistic price. So, even though I get good reviews including from a NYT bestselling author), my books simply can't compete on price with traditionally published trade paperbacks. One is better off buying my books used online. Bottom line on POD is whether the technology will develop to a point where printing by onesies and twosies will become as price-competitive as mass printing.
I'm now on my third agent, who is seeking a publisher for my latest opus. I'm open to the ebook route, but I have many questions needing answers before I'd jump in.
One detail: with traditional publishing, the time from finished manuscript to placement on a shelf at bookstores generally runs 12-18 months, not 3-4 months.
As a writer and publisher, here's my view:
Publishing in the Post-Gutenberg Age
http://fglaysher.com/Post_Gutenberg_Publishing.html
Frederick Glaysher