Schadenfreude lives! In the comments section of yesterday’s post there were several people only too happy to urge the publishing industry to look in the dang mirror already in the face of a (ahem largely universal) retail downturn that is leading to all sorts of chaos. This has led me to believe that all we need to do to cure the recession is bottle up the schadenfreude going around and sell it at a profit, because schadenfreude is a booming market. Get it while it’s hot!
I want to address a few things that have been discussed here and elsewhere around the internet expressing antipathy toward the publishing industry. Now, I try and sort out the sorts of comments that are thinly veiled variations of “the publishing industry would be making money if only they published MY book” vs. actual constructive criticisms that should very well be absorbed and can be learned from. Tomorrow we’ll have a big ole You Tell Me about all this, but in the meantime I thought I’d frame the coming debate a bit.
A lot of people feel that the publishing industry needs to publish new and varied voices rather than the supposed same old stuff that you see on bestseller lists. No more same old same old! The publishing industry would make more money if only it didn’t publish commercial schlock.
Or to distill it still further to show precisely what I’m getting at: the publishing industry would make more money if only it didn’t publish and promote the books that sell really well.
Uh… QED?
Now, let me say that investing in new, talented voices and sticking with them is something I can really truly get behind. As the industry moves to a blockbuster model, it risks missing people who don’t break out in a major way on the first try. That’s a shame. Jason Kaufman at Doubleday stuck with a little author named Dan Brown, who then wrote THE DA VINCI CODE, and now he owns like seven countries.
But it seems to me that if you think the publishing industry should publish more books with artistic merit… that isn’t exactly a sure route to a better bottom line. Either the publishing industry should focus on the bottom line and it should publish what sells, or it should cast profit to the wind and publish what it feels are the best books period.
Or, better yet, a mixture of the two. Which is basically the industry you have now. Is it perfect? Nuh uh. Could the publishing industry be smarter? Yuh huh. But better commerce through lack of commerce is not a very appealing path to restoring the health of the industry.
It seems all the best words are German. Schadenfreude. Zeitgeist. Kindergarten…
And lets not forget Bratwurst and Lager.
Re what should publisher’s publish, I’m a fan of voting with my pocketbook. I want to see more strong women in fiction – so I buy those stories. Sometimes it takes some hunting to find what’s new and different. So much the better.
I think part of the motivation behind the call for a less commercial-success-driven publishing market is the desire to believe that what we all really want and appreciate is High Art if only someone would give us more of it. Come on. What we want is to be entertained. And sometimes that comes from lower places. Ahem.
On the pub industry business model – I’m just starting to learn about it, and Holy Cripes you mean it’s all on consignment??? So that’s how that little indy pub house just got wiped out by One Month’s Worth of Returns??? Y’know, among my clients, I represent a vid game developer/publisher, and their products are relatively small and light – not so much shipping costs, and if something doesn’t sell, they Don’t Want It Back. Shred it, dance on it, build a hamster funland with it, but Don’t Send It Back. It’s not worth the cost. Sometimes a new developer (3 kids working in their mom’s basement who just made their own game and it’s good enough that we take a risk on it) doesn’t get this and tries to negotiate hard to keep track of the inventory. It’s kinda cute watching reality dawn on them.
I love this quote from Reidy in the linked article:
“Reidy urged publishers to do the hard work of making entire catalogues available as e-books for electronic reading devices, to create possibilities for print-on-demand when a title becomes slow selling, to design new work flow and supply chain practice systems, and to delineate new policies to address complicated issues such as international territories, pricing, the security of copyrights and royalty rates for those formats.”
My only correction – making catalogues ready for e-distribution, at least technologically speaking, isn’t “hard work”. The hard work will come in when the pubs have to go back to review all of their contracts to see whether they got the rights they needed for e-publishing, and then go back to the authors to get those rights nailed down. What a nightmare. But for *new* acquisitions – hopefully the contracts are more forward-looking now. Not that I’d know, not having been offered a deal yet.
Sex Scenes,
Interesting article in Slate about movie numbers:
https://www.slate.com/id/2118819/
It seems like a hard blend–the mix between the fact that publishing is an industry with shareholders and profit margins to consider and the fact that they’re essentially tasked with producing art and knowledge. I think it happens in movies as well–the Oscars celebrate the cerebral and the box office champions the action (to over-simplify that industry).
If someone ever knew how to perfectly blend the art and it’s commercial production, they’d be a genius.
But it seems to me that if you think the publishing industry should publish more books with artistic merit… that isn’t exactly a sure route to a better bottom line.
Nothing against books with artistic merit, but I read for enjoyment. I do enough expanding my brain trying to explain the world to an inquisitive 9 year old, an even more inquisitive 7 year old and whatever brain cells are left over from that are destroyed by the oh-so-rotten two year old.
I read to enjoy, and I read and buy a lot. So if the books take a trend towards artistic merit, there will be plenty of readers who just stop buying.
There’s a market for both…for the commercial fiction and for more artistic fiction. But trying to load the market down with ‘literature’ for whatever reason isn’t going to solve anything.
Hi, Simon,
I don’t think you qualify as a “hack” writer – too many awards and great reviews; way too much crisp, clear writing. I clicked on your name, and realized that I’ve been to your website before, checking out your books. 🙂 I’m a big fan of well-written sci fi and fantasy.
Publishing or not publishing certain books really isn’t what ails the publishing industry. It’s their antiquated business model. There’s a discussion on another blog regarding the ridiculous returns policies of publishers, as one example…that in itself is a killer…the publisher basically takes all the financial risk while the chains virtually take none. Also, the publishers need to rethink how they market their books. While I love going to physical stores, it is much easier and in most cases economically cheaper to buy online. Why is Amazon doing so well? Because of their brilliant and effective business model…small inventory, no physical stores, low overhead, high profit margins (relatively speaking for selling books as opposed to say selling computers, etc.) The Kindle is yet another example of Amazon taking a brilliant innovation and running with it…publishers need to sit down and run their businesses like a business. They need to get down and dirty and figure it out. Maybe sit and talk with the likes of entrepreneurs like Bezos and Gates, etc. and learn from them.
anon-
Do publishers really bear most of the blame? They’re still (so far) profitable even as they, as you write, assume the burden of risk when it comes to returns, not to mention paying a whole lot of money just to have certain books stocked prominently. Even with that sweetheart deal Borders is seriously struggling.
My take is that I get publishing is a business. I also get publishers operate on very thin profit margins most of the time.
I think more small publishers make room for more books to get published. But I don’t think it’s reasonable to expect Random House or Simon and Schuster, etc, to publish arty books that may or may not sell.
I think there are two main problems in publishing. 1. The bookstore returns policy. It sounded like a good idea at first, but really, it’s stupid.
Because it’s not wholesale, it’s consignment. And publishers should not bear the entire brunt of financial risk. Bookstores need to step up and own their own buying decisions.
If they can’t take the risk, they shouldn’t be in this business. They should open a flower shop instead. And that goes for the chains: Borders, Barnes and Noble, etc.
2. Time lines. Without the bookstore returns policy this wouldn’t exist. But as it stands, the major chains send books back within a couple of months on receiving them.
If it’s a new author, or not a bestselling author, it might take more than 2 months to build an audience.
The only solution I can see for authors in this mess, is to build their following first. Ebooks, podcasts, etc.
Nonfiction authors need a platform, but clearly fiction authors do too, unless they just want one published book.
Since “staying publishing” is more difficult these days than “getting published,” “getting published, isn’t even currently on my radar.
And, sorry that comment was so long. It’s not until I hit the send button that I get the full force of how wordy I can be! 😀
I think that if there is a problem with the publishing industry it is a matter of not taking full advantage of the changes in how products are sold.
Many retailers now provide online shopping services that are going quite well. Amazon.com is, I think, becoming a major book distributor and a few key strokes will walk you through a massive bookstore.
In addition, major advances allow for ezines, ebooks and Print On Demand. I have seen POD hardcopy books and they are just as good as anything bought in the stores.
In addition, I recently sought two Reader’s Digest books which had been out of print for many years. A few keystrokes and I found both of them! One was local and I had it in a few days. The other was in the UK and the biggest cost was postage.
So, in my opinion, in the current economic situation and with a rapid change in personal shopping habits, the publishing industry has no choice but to change.
How many newspaper sales have plunged as people – LIKE ME – prefer to read online instead of having a piece of rag paper get ink all over my fingers and hands.
Sounds to me like the publishing industry could use its own cable network. Book TV on C-SPAN2 just ain’t gonna push units.
But marketing a variety of authors, film-like reviews, highlighting sleeper titles and those authors buried by the consignment model, etc. would make great viewing, in my opinion. Amazon is a place to search, and the reviews are helpful so I have my book there, but certainly we can have more TV hosts pushing books than Oprah.
Games have a channel (G4), films have several, IFC has their own network – so where’s the books? I’ve found something close online, such as booktelevision.com, but I just get the feeling that more can be done for authors pubs believe in before stores, with their limited and busy spaces, make the orders.
That’s true, Scott!
Publishing is fascinating. It should be a televised spectator sport!
“I don’t think you qualify as a “hack” writer – too many awards and great reviews; way too much crisp, clear writing.”
This is me, getting all embarassed and stuff. Thanks 😉 Now all I need is for some forward-thinking publisher outside Australia to recognise the “artistic merit” in my books.
Love the word verification: telly. How did they know I was a brit?