Cornering the eBook Market
By Jerry D. Simmons | October 13th, 2011 | 3 Comments » (Click to add yours!)
The latest Amazon publishing campaign is to launch a service for eBooks where customers would pay a fee for access to the Internet retailer’s vast library of digital content. This idea falls in line with their singular goal of vertical integration into all areas of book publishing and developing a direct connection with readers which will result in selling more Kindle eBook readers.
It is not surprising the many publishing executives are ignoring the concept since it gives Amazon yet one more way to bypass the major companies. The more direct connection they can make with consumers in conjunction with creating their content via their own publishing ventures the less important the big publishers become.
Even with an impressive discount structure the publishers with the largest and most consumer friendly list of authors and titles are reluctant to sign on since Amazon is reported to want all backlist titles plus all new titles on an exclusive basis. The idea of exclusivity would eliminate competition from other online retailers and appears to be a deal breaker.
Necessary for Writers
The more Amazon builds a direct relationship with readers the more important it becomes for writers to build their own audience. This type of direct to consumer service would give them a huge advantage in the growth of the eBook market but it also allows them to monopolize the entire consumer reading experience. If successful their strength would force writers to publish with their companies as opposed to independently since the fee and royalty structure would favor their own authors.
Many have said the eBook service only provides new opportunities for writers but you cannot ignore the fact that Amazon wants to control the vast majority of the publishing marketplace from production through distribution to sales. There is no doubt an author must have their print and digital editions on Amazon’s web site for maximum exposure but if their moves eliminate competition it will not benefit writers in the long run.
As more media types begin publishing their own eBooks and the demand for content rises the opportunities for writers will increase, however the market needs to remain open and free from the control of Amazon or else all content will flow through them. My advice to writers is continue to create quality content and let the marketplace evolve.
Tags: Book Marketing, Book Publishing
Digitization is Transforming Book Publishing
By Jerry D. Simmons | September 28th, 2011 | No Comments » (Click to add yours!)
In the first five months of 2011 sales of eBooks in some markets outsold those of adult hardback books. One year ago hardcover sales in those same markets were more than three times that of the eBook. The digital world of publishing is fully engaged and growing. If you are cautious and waiting for the market to trend further before committing your print to eBook, you might just miss your chance.
The digital format or eBook has been around for awhile but it wasn’t until Amazon launched the Kindle that the market started to develop. Today Amazon sells more copies of eBooks than paperback books. Many are predicting that printed books will fall swiftly into the same doldrums as music and experience the same decline as newspapers. While there are similarities the journey for books is different.
Digital formats or eBooks currently have high profit margins and are not hindered by the archaic system of print which has economic problems based on cost of production and distribution. While print royalty rates are much lower for authors the print runs are in decline meaning every publisher is selling fewer copies of every book they publish.
While romance novels and crime blockbusters have proved popular as eBooks the same can be said for print. The big difference is that digitization has given new life to older titles called backlist. The typical shelf life for a print title is four to six weeks before being returned to their publisher, eBooks have an extended shelf life without worries over poor sales or returns.
The blockbuster authors and publishers worry about piracy of eBooks and yet if you are an author trying to gain attention, piracy is better than obscurity. You can capitalize on someone stealing your eBook and selling lots of copies by generating publicity over that fact. Piracy is a problem but not something to worry about until you’ve achieved that bestseller status.
When Amazon began selling eBooks below their own cost at $9.99 they did so to increase sales of their Kindle. Many feared the ceiling was set and it would be difficult to raise prices for eBooks. Then Apple came along with their agency model allowing publishers to set the price and everything changed. Now that major publishers have set their eBook values above the $10 mark it opens up a wide range for new aspiring and independent authors to price well below the market range.
However the lower price range for inexpensive eBooks has opened up a flood of cheap poorly written product becoming available. Most of the blame is going to the POD publishers who decided that cheap was best especially if the product was poor. This has distorted the market to where you can’t be too cheap or too expensive and be successful.
Amazon’s recent list of 100 best-selling eBooks has seen pricing warfare where 21 books were selling for just 99-cents. The rest were in the $4.98 to $8.82 range with the most expensive being the Dick Cheney memoir at $16.99. The popularity of the 99-cent thrillers suggests readers are price-sensitive and less quality-sensitive than publishers had hoped or care to admit.
Currently Amazon is showing market dominance in eBooks where they sell less than a quarter of physical books but an estimated 60-70 percent of all eBooks in America and perhaps as much as 90 percent in the UK. While the Barnes & Noble Nook is the main competitor to Amazon, Apple’s iBookstore has lagged and is a distant third when it comes to eBook sales.
Most publishers do not fear the strength of Amazon as much as they do the loss of the bookstore. While major films may be released with more $100M of marketing and music still has radio promotion, publishers have always relied on retailers, especially bookstores to bring attention to new writers and books.
As more bookstores close the industry loses more than a retail outlet, they lose one of the cornerstones of their existence. As book publishers increase their attention to online social networks that still does not come close to replicating the experience of browsing a bookstore.
The challenges facing publishers seem daunting yet they must adapt and confront the problems that have afflicted other media businesses. The next few years should be extremely exciting for book lovers and challenging for publishers while providing a wide range of new opportunities for writers.
Tags: Book Marketing, Book Publishing
Digital Market Continues to Grow
By Jerry D. Simmons | September 26th, 2011 | No Comments » (Click to add yours!)
The Association of American Publishers recently released statistics showing revenues for trade publishers in the first six months of this year in a steep decline compared to the same period as last year. Gross dollar sales of adult hardcover and paperback books dropped from $2.39 billion to $2.19 billion.
Children’s hardcover and paperback books dropped from $516 million one year ago to $447 million this year. A decline of over $68 million combined with the $200 million from adult hardcover and trade, indicates the loss of shelf space from retailers such as Borders Bookstores, the reallocation of shelf space at major big box retailers such as Wal-mart and the market shift toward eBooks.
While eBooks revenue increased from over $181 million to more than $473 million, downloadable digital audio books saw a rise in revenue of 17 percent, the first healthy increase in years. These figures for digital technology illustrate the market changes taking place in publishing.
This also charts a clear path of digital expanding over print in the months and years ahead. Any publisher or writer uninformed about the opportunities of this new digital marketplace is missing an opportunity to expand their audience and grow sales.
Tags: Book Publishing
Decline of Mass-Market Paperback Books
By Jerry D. Simmons | September 21st, 2011 | No Comments » (Click to add yours!)
According to an article in The New York Times, the mass-market paperback is the latest casualty in the changing landscape of book publishing. The growth of eBooks and emergence of the trade paperback combined with a decline in retail shelf space has all but eliminated the demand for mass-market paper.
In the past the mass market format was most prominent in airport terminals and supermarkets but the price range expanded close to the lower end of the trade paper range making them less desirable. Consumers preferred the larger trim size and an aging book loving population drifted toward ease of reading compared to the smaller mass paper.
Even though overall mass paper sales have been in decline for years, the last two years have been especially difficult and have all but ended the demand. This format will not be going away completely but will certainly be less of an important component in the publishing program of all major companies.
Tags: Book Publishing
More Opportunities for Writers
By Jerry D. Simmons | September 20th, 2011 | No Comments » (Click to add yours!)
Many PBS watchers will remember the wonderful educational show “Reading Rainbow” that ran for more than 20 years encouraging kids to read books. Hosted by actor LeVar Burton of “Roots” and “Star Trek: The Next Generation” fame the show was cancelled in 2006 due to the networks financial difficulties but is now being brought back to life through Apple’s iPad.
The digital reader application will feature voice-over-enhanced children’s books, videos of Burton in actual places , like NASA, and games. The actor stated that he is “on a mission go to get kids hooked on books.” The initial digital library will feature more than 300 titles and include voice-overs and animations in addition to the games and videos.
This is yet another example of the demand being created for written content in a digital world. This content once discarded is gaining new life through digital technology and providing opportunities for writers that did not exist a mere two years ago. The creation of quality content is in global demand and more opportunities such as this one will continue to be developed as technology evolves.
Tags: Book Marketing, Book Publishing
Media Become eBook Publishers
By Jerry D. Simmons | September 19th, 2011 | No Comments » (Click to add yours!)
The Huffington Post is the latest news organization to jump into the world of digital publishing with the release of their first ever eBook titled “A People’s History of the Great Recession,” based on reporter Arthur Delaney’s blogging about economic hardship.
Huffington joins an impressive list utilizing staff reporting to produce quick and inexpensive eBooks, including The Boston Globe who released three eBooks on the life of fugitive gangster Whitey Bulger, The New Yorker recently collected post-9/11 articles for its first e-book, and The New York Times assembled an e-book on WikiLeaks called “Open Secrets.”
President and Editor in Chief Arianna Huffington said via an email relayed by a spokesman, “The release shows (we) are doing real reporting.” She went on to say her she hoped to develop eBooks that “Explore interesting and timely subjects.” Considering the low cost of production, open distribution system, and array of Internet marketing opportunities, eBook development and publication makes perfect business sense.
Ms. Huffington proclaimed that the goal is “as much about expanding the distribution platform for authors as it is about monetization.” The Huffington Post has plans for more eBook development and publication.
Tags: Book Marketing, Book Publishing
Agent-Publisher
By Jerry D. Simmons | September 15th, 2011 | No Comments » (Click to add yours!)
It started last winter and has continued with major literary agencies creating a separate digital publishing department intent on producing their own clients’ work. Currently there are at least sixty major agencies following this trend. It begs the question: is this a conflict of interest, can an agent represent their own author within their own company?
There is no board of professional publishing ethics to review the situation created by shifts in the marketplace and ease of publishing digital books. The issue for the industry is whether this alliance benefits the writer or the publisher and whose responsibility is it to look out for the client?
The movie industry in California saw reason to establish guidelines long ago, as a result agents have a fiduciary responsibility overseen by the state. Boundaries were established disallowing agents from producing their own clients’ works and Hollywood managers are not allowed to negotiate on behalf of the clients whose work they are producing. Throughout it all the writers benefit from a degree of protection not afforded in the current agent-publisher development.
In general literary agents have no union regulations and are under no legal jurisdiction of any kind. Settlement of this issue will come to a conclusion when the first bestselling author files suit against their own agency. Of course this may be preempted by one of the large national writer organizations making a legal challenge to the practice for their members.
This development also encourages writers to go it alone without the aid of a competent agent since the publishing process has been streamlined and the numbers of success stories grow. Of course that would mean major publishers would have to reconsider accepting unsolicited manuscripts which it is doubtful they would do.
In publishing the rule of thumb is stay within your area of competency and yet publishers have broken this many times in the recent past and it is clear that agents have also crossed this line. For writers the fact remains that agents, regardless of the departments they create, are not publishers and have no expertise in marketing, sales or distribution.
One agent, Jason Ashlock, has spoken out against the agent-publisher trend and has warned that distrust between client and agent could spring eternal and create far reaching problems. He went on to say that agents need to focus on creative ways to enhance client brands and consider licensing agreements as a way to better serve their authors.
Mr. Ashlock also suggested arranging partnerships and cooperative models on behalf of the client providing access and opportunities for digital development that most writers could not develop on their own. This makes perfect sense, develop a platform that enhances the client while each entity stay within their own level of expertise thus benefiting the client.
The agent client relationship has been formed over many years and is based on quality representation in the best interest of the writer. Abandoning what is acceptable for the sake of quick profits from the emerging digital marketplace is foolish. The framework for protecting the writer, agent and publisher is in place and working. Book publishing does not need yet another tectonic shift.
Tags: Book Marketing, Book Publishing
Shelf Life
By Jerry D. Simmons | September 6th, 2011 | No Comments » (Click to add yours!)
Large traditional publishers offer writers many advantages, including national access to the market through direct distribution plus complete marketing assistance crucial for every book. However there are disadvantages including that small window of opportunity for success.
When a book is published and marketing kicks in, there is little room for experimentation in advertising, promotion or publicity. These publishers do not have the time or patience to try new things to help a title succeed. Due to the large number of books being published in addition to the need to acquire and produce content on a consistent basis, many titles get ignored.
Once the marketing plan is laid out prior to publication date the book gods have to align and sales in retail stores must start quickly or else the book gets pulled from store shelves to make room for the next group of titles. It’s called a very short shelf life and is the single biggest drawback for writers hoping to launch a career as a published author.
Short shelf life especially for a first book is tantamount to a career ending event. Publishers must supply the market with books on an ongoing basis and the space at retail is limited. This means books have to turn quickly and sell copies. When that does not happen the life of the book and career of the writer are not in sync and that spells disaster.
It boils down to understanding the market and how you can impact the decisions of your publisher. Never turn your career over to a company who does not seem concerned about publishing good books. You need to work with a publisher who truly cares about the titles they publish as well as developing, nurturing and protecting the author’s career.
Tags: Book Marketing, Book Publishing
The New Direction for Book Publishing
By Jerry D. Simmons | August 31st, 2011 | 3 Comments » (Click to add yours!)
The predictors of doom for book publishing are wrong. Certainly the market is changing and evolving into new and exciting areas but the demise of books and giant publishers is not going to happen anytime soon. What we are seeing is a shift of major proportions in the way books are produced, marketed and sold. Writing, editing and storytelling are alive and well but the old business model is going away.
No longer will the major publishers control the market for published content to the extent they have in the past. While controls of distribution channels for print are still dominated by the big six now seven major publishers the network for digital is wide open. As readers become more comfortable with the electronic format and the affordability of the tablet makes it accessible to a larger number of consumers, expect eBooks to continue their unprecedented growth.
Approximately 80 percent of all books sold in the US today are in the printed format while a mere two years ago that number was around 95 percent. Print runs for the major publishers are off as much as 25 percent from one year ago. Advances for new authors have also dropped while at the same time the biggest companies are slowly cutting fixed costs to try and compete with market shifts.
The signals are clear, content is in high demand and writers that can tell a good story or share information is an interesting manner will succeed if they are informed and understand how to market. The days of authors flying below the radar and allowing their publisher handle everything is over. Publishers do not have the time or resources to manage books and authors the way they did in the past.
The more savvy the writer, the larger the fan base, the better chance at being successful as a published author. As long as the writer is prolific and can produce quality content that is consistently marketable every six to nine months, the better the chance at success. While the business model is changing the economics have not and publishers need production from their authors. The opportunities for discovery have never been greater.
Additional articles on eBooks and Marketing can be found on this page under Archives October 2010.
Tags: Book Marketing, Book Publishing
Publishing Marks a New Trend
By Jerry D. Simmons | August 31st, 2011 | 1 Comment » (Click to add yours!)
John Locke is a self-published author that managed to sell over a million eBooks world-wide on his own and in the process negotiated a ground breaking deal with a major publisher. Simon & Schuster announced that the independent author has signed with them to publish the printed format of his books, leaving the digital publications to Mr. Locke.
This departure from the norm clearly indicates the willingness of the major companies to negotiate certain terms with independent authors. No doubt this will become a trend as major publishers seek new content to publish with authors that have a proven track record of sales. This also opens the door for independent authors that have garnered a social media following without the proven sales record.
Mr. Locke’s Donovan Creed thrillers are published through his own company, John Locke Books. He will continue digital publication of all his eBooks where he controls content, packaging and final edit. On the print side Simon & Schuster will obtain distribution rights for all hard cover and paperback. Even though it appears on the surface that Mr. Locke got the better of the deal, in fact his new print publisher will capitalize on the market already established with aggressive plans for attracting a new audience in a new format.
Among all the changes that have occurred over the past year in the book publishing business this is a major turning point and signals the market has not yet fully evolved. This means opportunities for writers are growing as the demand for quality content continues. Media demands content and writers create what the market wants. If ever there was a time to get motivated to write, that time is now.
Tags: Book Marketing, Book Publishing
