Some of you already got a head start on this question in the comments section of yesterday’s post, but today’s question is a biggie: What should the publishing industry do to weather the downturn?
Moonrat also got a head start, and she lists ideas such as lowering print runs, more online retail, and of course, everyone’s favorite head scratcher: the returns system.
What do you think we should do?
I’d like to see Amazon put out the Kindle “on contract.” A bit like when you join one of those book clubs: get 10 books for free now if you promise to buy 10 books within the year. (Or whatever.)
The way I see it working is this: I get the Kindle now, for free, if I contractually promise to purchase X number of ebooks in the next 12 months. X might be a pretty large number to cover the cost of the Kindle, but if I’m buying 5-10 books at the book store each month it’s going to pay itself off quickly.
I think this would have several benefits:
1) It gets readers like me, who balk at paying $350 for the Kindle, into the digital market.
2) Digital books are cheaper, which means your book money goes farther. For compulsive readers, this doesn’t just translate into the same amount of money for more books. It means I will read a wider variety – and then get addicted to a greater number of authors – and then buy even MORE books. Overall sales increase.
2) It means Amazon (and perhaps publishers) have a rough idea that they’re going to get at LEAST a certain number of book purchases within the year.
3) It popularizes the Kindle (or other ebook reader) so that it becomes a device of mass appeal rather than just a specialty item. I’ve NEVER seen a Kindle in real life! How do I know I want one unless my friend gets one and I play with it?
Almost certainly this is the wrong attitude for blogs, but coming from a profession where everyone outside the profession is totally confident of solutions to every problem that those inside the profession cannot fix, I’d like to suggest to Nathan (whose efforts on behalf of the reading public I greatly admire) that we have the benefit of an analysis of the problem from a panel of three assorted industry insiders, representing for instance the publishers, editors and the booksellers. Nathan could referee, and is well qualified to give the views of the agent who stands between writer and editor.
Then perhaps if we knew the problem better, we would be less free with our solutions.
For many years I have preached the dictum, “easy and obvious answers are almost invariably wrong answers.”
This is the most fascinating topic. I’m incredibly impressed with everyone’s idea.
As an unpubbed author, I don’t feel I know enough of the intimacies of publishing to add much to the conversation.
But as a consumer, I have a couple of thoughts. First, my local indy bookstore always keeps a stack of books on the checkout counter. The stack is a book hand chosen by the person at the counter. The moment I pick up the book (which I only do if it seems like something I might read), the employee tells me they read it, loved it, and why. Nine times out of ten I buy it on the spot.
Second, I used to buy a lot of books, but as the years have gone on I’ve become more of a library user. Why is that? The primary reason is that I find it so hard to find books I like. There is nothing more frustrating than spending money on a book only to chuck it at the wall on page 30. I tend to only *buy* from authors whose books I’ve enjoyed in the past. I still read a lot of other books (especially recommendations from friends), but almost 100% of the time I get them from the library.
If the publishing industry wants me to purchase more midlisters, then the quality has to go up. Period. I’m frugal enough not to want to waste money on books that aren’t worth reading, and I find the good majority of midlisters unreadable. (Sorry – harsh I know, but that’s my purchasing practices)
If the publishing industry wants me to purchase more midlisters, then the quality has to go up. Period. I’m frugal enough not to want to waste money on books that aren’t worth reading, and I find the good majority of midlisters unreadable. (Sorry – harsh I know, but that’s my purchasing practices)
That’s all well and good in theory, but one person’s crap is another person’s gem. What one person sees as below-quality another might see as brilliant.
I LOVE Nikki Hootman’s idea.
“I’d like to see Amazon put out the Kindle “on contract.” A bit like when you join one of those book clubs: get 10 books for free now if you promise to buy 10 books within the year. (Or whatever.)
“The way I see it working is this: I get the Kindle now, for free, if I contractually promise to purchase X number of ebooks in the next 12 months. X might be a pretty large number to cover the cost of the Kindle, but if I’m buying 5-10 books at the book store each month it’s going to pay itself off quickly.”
“Sex scenes” and “Anita” have begun to articulate the problem. Many of the comments are interesting and offer partial solutions that could help, but as I see it, the fundamental problem is a shrinking readership. As the Web and other pursuits vie for people’s time and people become more image-oriented, books become a harder sell.
In addition, there is an anti-intellectual streak in the U.S. that has only got worse over the last 15 years. This is a huge cultural issue that isn’t easily tackled. I wish I had a suggestion for “fixing” it, but I’m just not that smart.
To lehcarjt:
Please tell me you are kidding? Do you even understand what mid-list means? Roughly 98 percent of books can be considered mid-list.
Mid-list doesn’t mean mediocre, it only means they are not the publisher’s ONE novel they are pushing the marketing hell out of that season.
You are missing out on tons of good books. Too bad for you.
“I personally, as a consumer, want my item then and there. I don’t want to have to drive back up to the book store (especially when BN isn’t nearby), spending gas, to pick it up. I’d rather it be there the day I go to the store. Just my two cents though. Unless they’re willing to ship it to me free :-D”
Just as a note: my local Borders (which is a “mini” and doesn’t have much stock in their tiny space) will let you order something they don’t have in stock–and they ship it to you for free! (And you can still use the online coupons they send you via email.)
Weren’t returns covered in Cheney’s recommendation #73? Or, was that a development after 1931?
Everyone keeps talking about Amazon and the Kindle as the way to spend their money. Amazon is the bad guy, folks. Any writer who spends their cash there is sleeping with the enemy.
Some writers see Amazon as the writer’s and reader’s friend, but, increasingly, Amazon is showing its ugly profit-is-everything nature.
The used book shown with the new book in search results is one example of this. Amazon makes more profit by acting as middleman for used booksellers than it does by selling new books.
Amazon’s current attempt to force publishers to use their POD provider is an even more frightening example of its methods.
Amazon is tightening their grip on the smaller publishers by telling them they have to use Amazon-owned Booksurge for POD.
Amazon’s contract says that Amazon will control the price of the book sold, its price cannot be lowered at any other venue including the publisher’s site, and it will control the look of the book and its quality.
For the right to have a “buy now” on their books, publishers will be at the whim of Amazon in most aspects of their product.
With Amazon moving aggressively into epublishing with the Kindle, publishers may lose all control of their product if they knuckle under to these tactics.
Amazon justifies all this as a means to make it simpler for them to ship books all at once, but they don’t say that POD books printed through Ingram’s Lightning Source and other POD providers are shipped the same day with the Amazon label attached so the buyer can’t tell who has printed it or shipped it.
For complete details on this situation and the class action lawsuit by some small publishers against Amazon, go here https://antitrust.booklocker.com/
Only small press is the victim of this current Amazon contract stipulation right now, but, if the publishing industry doesn’t stand firm against it, the Amazon gorilla will squash the rest of the publishing industry.
Amazon is trashing the publishing industry and its authors because the buyers have given them that power. Take it away by spending your money elsewhere.
I love a lot of these ideas. I particularly like (in fact I suggested it too, in an unrelated post) the idea of Espresso machines in brick and mortar bookstores. Honestly, a good bookstore with a thoughtful selection can sell books that otherwise would not necessarily find an audience. For example, for some reason, the Barnes & Noble in Santa Monica has always had an interesting selection of books about China and Chinese history (the late lamented Midnight Special was even better, but it's gone now, alas). I went in to B&N to buy a novel from an eFriend of mine and of course had to stop at the China section. Sure enough, two books I didn't know about and "had" to buy.
And speaking of my eFriend's book, this was her first published novel. It's a romance novel and the paperback house that published it offers this book and others by new authors at a discount. I'm guessing that the writer loses some with this arrangement but also wins some if the discount and promotional program results in increased sales.
And back to bookstores: there's a wonderful independent bookstore close to my house where I do a lot of shopping. It's owned and staffed by people who love books and love reading, and they write little cards describing and recommending the books, and I've gone in there and bought things purely on these recommendations. Their selection is also really thoughtful – they tend to have things I want that other stores don't necessarily carry – and of course they special-order, and the orders arrive promptly. So great customer service canhelp sell books. It takes knowledge and passion.
I’d love for these guys to get an Espresso machine!
Word verification: “nerwa.” Huh.
Christacarol and Mojo: Personally, I’m looking forward to the Brave New e-book World. My idea was directed more at that portion of the book-buying which isn’t apparently interested in going that way, ever, because they have to have their own copy, or have to feel the paper in their hands, etc.
That Espresso Book Machine looks AMAZING.
Oh, and along the lines of Nikki Hootman’s suggestion: I think Amazon (or more likely an external brick-and-mortar partner, say Blockbuster or some such) ought to make Kindles available for rental –pre-loaded with book(s) of a reader’s choice. I bet consumers would dip a toe in that water once or twice, LOVE the device, and then think, The hell with THIS — I’m getting my own! Kinda like the way they (used to?) rent out videogame consoles as well as the game cartridges themselves.
One comment I've seen repeated in these responses is that there should be less advertising on the blockbuster authors and more spent on the midlisters. The reasoning goes that people already know when those books are coming out, so why advertise it? I have a few reasons why:
1) First off, I humbly suggest that the group of people who post here are not the average consumer. Most of us are writers (published or not), or people with an avid interest in publishing. Reading and books in general are a much larger part of our lives.
I'll use the example of baseball to illustrate my point, since I'm a huge baseball fan. I follow it very closely, and I know when the playoffs start and who is in them. Casual baseball fans, such as my wife, rely much more on TV commercials to tell them "The playoffs are starting, don't miss these two teams go for the World Series!"
For the casual reader, who may read a book every month or even less, a commercial that James Patterson's newest Alex Cross book is out can remind her, "Hey, I liked his previous books, I think I'll go pick that one up." She probably wouldn't have even gone to the bookstore without that commercial.
So advertising the big names can help, as now the casual reader is making a trip to the bookstore, and judging from what I see in B&N and such, they'll often end up buying several books.
2) People suggest that the big name authors don't need advertisement because they are already household names. While the latter is true, it doesn't suggest the former. Coca-Cola is the most recognized brand name in the world. Yet they advertise constantly. Why? To remind people how much they love their product. To keep it a household name.
The purpose of advertising is not just getting people aware of a new product. It’s to keep people aware of their existing favorites. Look at McDonald’s, for another example. Bah-dum bum bum bum, I’m loving it. They were already the most popular fast food place in the US. Did they really need to create such a successful campaign? Yes, to keep people coming back. And to get even more people interested.
Now of course, those aren’t direct comparisons, because McDonald’s and Coke really only have one product to promote, which is their brand. Publishers have many products to promote. But the point still has merit, I think.
As to what publishers should do, I think they should look into more reading programs for young children. Try their hardest to promote reading to children. Take a long term view and build the customer base.
Wow, I’m in awe of these comments. Very smart!!
Love JES' rent the kindle idea. As someone who wobbles on the luddite/techno edge (and is too vain to buy the bifocals she desperately needs), I'd like to try one out on a cross-country air trip before committing the bucks.
Great ideas here. I HOPE YOU'RE READING, PUBLISHERS!
As a writer and blogger and PW subscriber, I pretty much have sufficient exposure to new books and make note of what I want to read. I prefer to buy in brick-and-mortar, yet when I go to the HUGE B&N a couple of towns down, the book's not in stock (already returned). So, I browse, looking for a substitute, and get consumer fatigue in about five minutes that not even an overpriced latte can rejuvenate.
I leave, often emptyhanded and go to the library. It's easier – fewer identical books, less choice yet somehow more meaningful choice, a smattering of new and classic. Libraries are just more manageable. If the big bookstores would make their stores more like libraries – fewer identical books staring at you from the front displays, less glitz and cardboard stands cluttering the aisles, I'd probably buy more.
Another thing. I LOVE wine. I love to go to nice wine stores where all the bottles are livingly displayed, along with pithy little descriptions and ratings.
Why can't the bookstores do that? Sure, that's what flap copy is for, but if I have to wade through three rows of Nora Roberts, Stephen Kind, Dan Brown, and the other bestsellers to get to the midlist and lesser-knowns, I'm too damn tired to pick up a book and read.
And Nathan – print book prices WOULD go down IF the returns policy wasn't so nuts (how much of that price is due to shipping here and there and everywhere), if publishers printed in smaller initial runs and used POD, and relied on trade paperbacks versus hardcover.
Arghhh.. .way too long – can you tell I'm stuck on my NaNo novel? Peace, Linda
Publishers should promote books and book vouchers as the ideal birthday or Xmas gift in a downturn. They’re relatively cheap, and there’s something to suit everyone. Forget the electronic junk this Christmas and go books.
If I remember correctly, recent stats said that only 20% of the US population regularly buys books? Well, I’d try and hook another 5%
Nathan, how about a follow-up blog topic about how agents are dealing with the economic downturn? I work in finance, so I can talk about the corporate side until I’m blue in the face — but I do that all day. 🙂 But what about you guys? Are agents going to tighten up on what they’ll accept, knowing that publishers are going to be very picky? Or are agents going to accept more clients than they’d normally handle, knowing that advances are going to be mighty thin going forward? How are you dealing with the economic downturn?
What about product placement? When was the last time, aside from Good Will Hunting, that anyone in a movie or television show talked about a book? Secret Confessions of the Applewood PTA on Desperate Housewifes, or The Brief History of the Dead on Six Feet Under, etc. etc. etc. It worked for Reece’s Pieces.
Linda–
You need the Boulder Bookstore, a monolithic indy with a huge new releases area (just like the library) and a “recommended reading” section with employee reviews. It also has “stacks” you can get lost in and little nooks to sit down and check it out. Best. Bookstore. Ever. (A lot of folks prefer the Tattered Cover, which is also nice, but I love Boulder Bookstore.)
They have to take the time to invest in newcomers. Pouring all (or most of) their major resources and effort on ‘tried and true’ gives the big bucks straight away but does little to invest in the future. I think spreading the impact of publishing houses with variety is key. That old saying, ‘don’t put too many eggs in one basket’ is important.
yes, promote the new authors…says I who will have a first novel published in summer 2010
Jes:
Personally, I’m looking forward to the Brave New e-book World.
OH ME TOO!!!
But may I suggest that the Kindle is NOT the eBook messiah. Any ebook manufacturer would be smart to rent and gain market share that way. On the other hand, Sony has theirs in Target and Best Buy, so people can try before they buy. IMO, that’s more important than hype and Oprah.
I was in Barnes & Noble earlier, looking at trade paperbacks and realizing they would be $2-5 cheaper at Amazon. So, why doesn't B&N sell them cheaper? I know it kills profit margins, but is it better not to sell books? Maybe, who knows what the corporate machinations are there.
I don't know if indy bookstores could do it, because they wouldn't necessarily generate much more traffic that way, but B&N would. I'd buy more there, and I prefer new books. My local indy places are great, but small, and don't have the same selection.
Of course, nobody beats Amazon's selection, but nothing is stopping buyers from going directly to the used bookstores's website and bypassing Amazon. I like Abebooks and Strandbooks. Oh, wait, that doesn't help publishing… altho it does, because after I buy an author's book used, I am way more inclined to buy the next one new.
One last note on B&N, I hate that club thing, where you actually have to pay $25 a year to get 10% off. It keeps me from buying anything.
SS @ S, I am SOOOO there. I have a conference coming up this spring… thanks.
Zen, EXACTLY! 20-30% of the harcover price doesn't do it for me when I can get 45% off at amazon. B&N will give you an extra 10% off if you spend $25 for a member card. at least Borders gives you the card for free.
I went to B&N this weekend, bought a few books for my kids, bought one paperback for myself, then spent double that afternoon at amazon – because I could get the latest SHREVE and GLASS for so much cheaper (and PHARMAKON, already off the shelves at B&N). My back-of-the-envelope estimates I saved $52 buying at amazon over the store on six books. Peace, Linda
I’ve found myself turning toward plumper books during the economic downturn. More pages – better deal. Could be a trend!
The Returns System is a no brainer. Some people commented that in case this is implemented, Booksellers will only order the big books, the bestsellers, and not take risks with new authors.
This is a posible solution: to have a two tiered returns policy.
1] The Bestsellers, the Harry Potters and Da Vinci Codes. They become non returnable once a retailer orders.
2] Debut Authors: Publishers and Retailers share risk. The retailer can return agreed on some pricing or volume return formula.
Deborah: “Just as a note: my local Borders (which is a “mini” and doesn’t have much stock in their tiny space) will let you order something they don’t have in stock–and they ship it to you for free! (And you can still use the online coupons they send you via email.)”
Awesome! Wish I had a Borders near me 🙁 And I’m not even in a hodunk town really!
After reading a lot of these responses I feel like I should be giving Amazon the stink-eye.
1. In writing about new publications I often find it hard to receive the information without having to hunt it down. Email newsletter and RSS Feeds should be posted on every publisher’s homepage – option of weekly/ monthly news / upcoming publications – currently most require you to choose by author ie: sign up to get news about Ann Kelley or about Jenny Downham – you only choose those you know and it takes a long time to sign up for several – instead options to choose by genre ‘sign up for all YA new releases’ , or an option to get all, would be helpful.
2.Promote discount packages to bookclubs. Recently tried to by 8 copies of ten books – no bookseller could give us any discount; result, some chose to share or buy second hand. We might also try an author we had not considered if in a package deal.
3. Support more live book fairs, meet the author events, at schools and universities, to ensure future markets – whilst maintaining social networking (facebook pages etc) as background fan base. Maintain actively – some are updated very infrequently. If you like X, you might like Y works for Amazon – that is better than months of no news if the author is hidden away working on the next book.
4. We book lovers need to ensure to promote our own favourites to others – I bit the bullet for the first time yesterday in my local bookstore, a browser had three in her hand and I saw she had a Jonathan Franzten, which gave me a lead in. Asked her what else she liked, and suggested a book by a friend. She ordered it!
Love some of the other ideas posted here too.
If marketed properly, the recession could help the publishing industry snag back an entire group of users.
Money is tight, and there is less of it to throw around for entertainment. For a couple to go for a night out at the movies for a few hours it costs a good chunk of change. We went out the other night to see a show and here's what it costs:
$21 for two tickets
$12.75 (4.50 for popcorn, $4.25 for a large drink, $4.00 for a medium drink)
——–
$33.75 for the theater alone. Since we went on a Friday to downtown, there were no meters to park at for free.
$3.00 Parking
——–
$37.75 total night expenditures, not counting the drinks we had after the show.
My big marketing plan for the publishers: Show a couple on a night out at the movies and flash a price for each transaction, and then the total cost. Then flash 2 hours, on the screen.
Now, show somebody reading a paperback on the sofa with a steaming cup of tea or coffee… Show 2 hours on the screen change to 3,4,5… and then flash >> "Books, starting at around $7.99 for hours of enjoyment. With all the story of the movies, without all the cost."
It's kind of lame, and somebody could probably do it better. Now is the time for publishers to start pushing the economy of books.
https://newguydave.livejournal.com/
Get rid of fiction hardcover releases altogether. When I’m desperately waiting for a book, and it is released in hardcover something like a year before the paperback will be released, that is when I go to the library instead and often don’t end up going back a year later to buy the paperback.
I cannot see the logic of paying triple the price for the same story.
Other lisa, your bookstore is what I’m talking about. Recommendations from people and employees you get to know and trust. The world opens up like a can of awesomeness when that happens in ANY industry. It’s like visiting a foreign city and meeting someone who can tell you where the ‘real ____’ is.
Since selling more books to both the initiated and otherwise is the tide that floats all boats, something as simple as a “new author” section might be added to all bookstores. They could blanket the section with reviews from prominent websites, authors, celebrities, whatever. And the books could be significantly discounted. I mean, if I’m new, above all I want to be read so that I can move out of the minor league section with my next book and slug it out with the big boys.
It all seems to come back to awareness via the many channels of communication we’re afforded these days. So if I were a publisher, I would be focusing my efforts on some low-cost solutions for retailers and auxiliary entities to help promote some good product that’s getting lost.
The cabbage is falling off the truck on the way to the supermarket, peeps!
Starts at the top. Quit publishing so many damn books. And I write this as a newbie writer knowing I could be in the book crunch of whereof I speak if that were to come to pass.
But ugly is ugly, and as I look toward the future for writer’s and author’s as a whole, well frankly it’s bleak, not to mention the future is now.
Take, for example, the heinous practice of acquiring books just to fill quotas. STOP. IT. Who does that hurt in the long run? And I mean smash a promising career kinda hurt.
Quotas gotta goas. I’d rather be published based on the merits of my book. If I were to ever find out my book was acquired by quota I’d make a nota, return the paltry advance and break the contract.
Next, STOP with all the NF. After all, how many more ways can an author write, ‘you’re fucked up and I can fix that,’ before I start to feel like I’m worse off for having read the books?
In other words, how many NF books does it really take to screw a lightbulb?
Less is more. Trust me.
Zen and linda said:
"… Zen, EXACTLY! 20-30% of the harcover price doesn't do it for me when I can get 45% off at amazon. B&N will give you an extra 10% off if you spend $25 for a member card. at least Borders gives you the card for free…"
This stops me from buying at B&N all the time! I prefer to buy at brick and mortar stores rather than Amazon. But at least with Borders they give you coupons you can sign up to recieve in your email box — I already got mine this morning. That extra 20-30 percent off a book — a five or six dollar savings — makes a real difference, and spares me from having to go to Amazon.
People in publishing get to read for FREE — they are called ARC's. If the publishing industry had to shell out 25 bucks for an adult hardcover or 17 dollars for a YA hardcover every week just to read a book that interested them, they might think twice about their pricing.
LOVE this discussion, Nathan.
How about letting the mega-sellers not have quite so much of the advertising dollars, so that midlist authors get a bit more push?
What about trying to reduce costs through all publishers accepting electronic submissions, etc.?
What about shutting off the TV so there’s time to read? What about parents and teachers reading to kids (get ’em young) so that we make more readers?
I personally don’t like the ideas of more online retail or more ebooks. That doesn’t work for me and it puts the independent booksellers out of biz — and they are the ones who truly love books, who can take a midlist and handsell it to bestseller status. Shop indie.
I disagree with the “don’t publish so many books” idea. I read something like one-three books per week. This doesn’t include my short story reading and my own sizable slush. I’m a reader with specific tastes and if numbers are slashed, it’s likely to hit in one or two more niche genres rather than an across-the-board.
Incidentally, I don’t often prefer Oprah’s selections, women’s fic, romance, etc, that all sells so well. So if it’s more of these published and less genre-specific, then I’ll tend to read less.
Besides, TV is giving reading a run for its money for the first time in several years.
If I were leading a brainstorming session that was chartered to develop a strategic plan (a day job of mine), I’d start grouping these into some rather well defined areas. I think I see a lot of patterns developing.
My own comments on social marketing, incidentally, were a short-term solution to the problem of “not enough readers”. My long-term approach remains solving that problem by leveraging what the industry has to generate more excitement, but I think there’s a short-term series of experiments that are worth trying towards the same end.
But we have some good stuff here. I’ll organize some of it tonight.
Tackle the returns system becuase it is one thing that has, is and WILL plague the publishing industry forevah if it’s not.
I have a small business and I cannot imagine operating with the returns system. How could you possibly take the risks you need to grow? It makes absolutely no sense. I would focus on smaller print runs and cutting out warehouses. It’s must be cheaper to have your own warehouse and staff if yourself and if you’re printing smaller runs the space used would be minimized.
Now is an excellent time to break away from places like Ingrams, too. You have the swell of e, and a downturn in the market. Pull in tight, regroup and start it small.
Authors wouldn’t suffer becuase everyone would benefit and they could still outsell runs. It works for all.
And you could market it as a green solution. Less books hitting the shredder.
Ah, psychology… it’s interesting how people respond to questions. Almost everyone that’s responded has approached it from a long-term “fix the industry” vantage point, while to me the question indicated more of a concern with the short term. How do we weather this particular (and hopefully short – I like to think of myself as an optimist) downturn in retail and publishing?
I found it fascinating that everyone jumped on the long-term solutions, drawn to the logic of an industry transformation. Lots of interesting stuff has come up… but it got me wondering about the short term. What are some specific things that might be done to help the industry right now? Industry transformation might be needed and might be coming, but if so it won’t be fast or easy and won’t do much to help the publishing industry this winter. So what are some ideas for the industry right now? Maybe this is a tougher nut to crack, and one of those situations where the forest is easier to see than the trees. But I like trees, so I thought I’d ask. Now, I have no particularly good answers myself… but I’ve always felt that sometimes a good question is just as important.
Interesting take, Bryan, and a great new question.
As for the short term, it seems to me that the publishing industry moves so slowly that anything they do for the short term will end up actually happening in the medium term.
Gather publishing houses together and open your OWN bookstores. It’s normal in the manufacturing business. Retail store grows to the point that it’s more cost effective to manufacture their own product. So they turn around and buy out the comany that is the main producer of their product.
Let Walmart and the other stores gag because crazy women who love romances WILL hie temselves to those stores and purchase. And romances are the major seller in the industry, no? That’s what my RWR says all the time. *g*
The industry has to get serious about learning how to market midlist books to niches. The midlist has traditionally been where most eventual bestsellers get started. Unless you nurture new authors through enough books to create a readership, you will never develop your bestselling authors. Nora Roberts did not sell a million copies of her first novel. Neither did Janet Evanovich or Jennie Crusie, or many other other authors who now routinely top the bestseller lists.
These authors started out selling their books to niche markets writing for publishers (often Harlequin) who knew how to reach those niches.
The key to niche marketing is to use web strategies that attract the niche market buyer’s interest and participation months or ideally years BEFORE the books are released, not afterwards.
Niche markets can be profitable if you aren’t greedy. The “Blockbuster or Bust mentality means bankruptcy if you can’t find that rare blockbuster”. The alternative, publishing carefully selected niche books where you already have methods in place to reach your niche can lead to much steadier profits.
Why not “give more” with a book? When you pay for a book you’re paying for two things: all the work that has gone into creating it and bringing it to market; and you’re paying for 150 pages of paper bound up in a color cover.
If a publisher is giving you all this for your $15, why don’t they throw in a few freebies that don’t cost them anything.
1. I don’t think a CD of the audio would cost much to throw in there included in the original price.
2. Also, why not give me membership of the publishers online area, a special area where I can get stories and news about this author, a few free short stories, sample chapters etc.
3. I’d also love if buying the book entitled me to download it for free as an ebook. I know that means I’m never going to pay for the ebook, or the audiobook if you give me a free cd, but how many people pay for a hard copy, an audio copy and an ecopy? I want all of them once I buy the book.
4. And I want to feel special. I want to go backstage on the author’s website and be treated like a valued customer. I want to post comments and interact with other readers who paid for the book. I want to be first to hear what the author is doing. All of this doesn’t cost that much extra for the publisher, but it gives me a world more for my $15.
Just wanted to throw my full support behind Erik’s efforts before this thread gets left behind. No matter what you manage, I believe any work you put towards distilling and organizing 90+ posts makes you a bona fide gentlemen and scholar.
Cheers.
I think to weather the downturn they should
go into the automotive business.
I think they lost touch with the basics of what books are and represent. A book is an intimate conversation with a writer. But life itself has become very much of a less intimate experience. I read all the sales ideas and they seem sound and good common sense ways to patch the leaks in the boat but they don’t address the evolution linked to history.
They need a new boat much like the old boat but built with fresh materials.
To own a book was once a great achievement. To write a book was almost unthinkable. That translates in modern times to taking the art of writing seriously as a personal responsibility even if you are the only person who ever reads your novels.
The business is not adapting and the predatory competitors are cannibalizing the old big publishers.
You can’t be a great publisher without great writers and publishers didn’t become great publishers without time.
To write the classic novel form in the old fashioned sense of 310-450 single spaced pages with a powerful plot and good character development and fine tuned pacing is something the blockbuster authors only pull of sporadically.
The publishers need to remember they work for the audience and writer. The writers need to remember they work for the audience and publisher. The audience needs to spend its money wisely and remember that books were once the most personal experience that some people ever had in their life due to the communications restrictions that people had and still have in their lives about discussing anything honestly openly while
searching within the writer reader and publisher synergy of delivering information for some sort of authentic experience.
Something that when your done you remember as opposed to just another fleeting image in a hurried world.
I only started paying attention to the business part of the book mystique for the last six months and I never attempted to write a full length story until I thought I had enough accurate knowledge of my own inner world and other peoples inner world added to the type of stories that have been written and rewritten since Guttenberg printed his first bible.
Thats what people forget.
Books were once hand copied they weren’t next weeks “Kindle” for the fire.
So wordy post to the quick close.
A long term strategy based on talented people or go build automobiles and stand in line for a government bailout.
I believe in writing as an artform.
A few select books changed my life.
So even if I never get published the book I am writing “MUST CHANGE MY LIFE”
…or my time was wasted and I go back to short stories song and poems.
Its about books.
Have a nice vacation Nathan.
Very savvy comments on the business
from those who understand it’s workings in this thread. Thanks.
This is what I got from the list. These are only bullet points, and each would need an extended explanation if we were going to make it into a strategic plan. However, I think we have the best points here.
Note that some of this is in progress in various forms – specifically internet sites devoted to readers.
Naturally, I may have missed a few things. This is what I’d put up on the wall to elicit comments and additions at the end of the brainstorming. There’s always something.
1. Generate Excitement
a. Use Internet better
i. Online sales
ii. Social Marketing
iii. Book chat / review
b. Advertise
i. Traditional Media
ii. Guerilla campaigns
c. Get known authors to take risks for art
2. More work available
a. Use more midlist authors
b. Tap into larger author base
3. Improve business model
a. Lower cost of books
i. Return of “Dime novels”
ii. eBooks
iii. Use POD technology effectively
iv. End hardbacks
b. Fix rest of business model
i. End returns policy
ii. Mass-market to chain stores
I’d love to buy more books in brick and mortar stores, but I have a problem–in my “twin city” university town, we have one “new books” bookstore. ONE. For a population of over 100,000 people (including 23,000 students). And it rarely has the books there that I want, so it’s either drive an hour to a larger town, hunt it down in our tiny used bookstore, pray it’s not checked out at the library(the newest stuff is always too hard to get there) or order off of Amazon. I’m sure you can guess which I do on a more regular basis. Having one of those “espresso”-style or POD places people keep mentioning would be amazing, and perhaps a better way to open up book-buying markets in lower-population areas. But that is more of a retail-end issue, and I don’t know how much control publishers have over the opening of bookstores.
Also, as everyone else has said, it’s just a little bit ridiculous how difficult it is to find good new books/authors. When I find an author I like, I usually buy everything that author has within a year, at which point I’m sad because I have to find someone new to read, and that’s difficult. Being able to read the first chapter of a book online makes it easier to decide I like an author and want to try them–if I like the first page or two, 9 times out of 10, I buy the book. It’s just too hard to find those first chapters. I hate hunting through the jungles of Amazon for them (bad wordplay/pun, sorry), but right now, that’s my only option.
I don’t prefer ebooks because there are still too many issues with traveling with them, and I’m so clumsy I know I’d spill coffee on and destroy a Kindle (a book survives a coffee spill much better). But if it were cheaper to get a Kindle or something like it, I would change my mind–after all, I already read most of my fiction online these days in the form of fanfiction, fiction-writing blogs, etc.
And I never buy hardbacks. The ones I own I either got used, from the discard shelf at the library, or as a gift. The only exception are the last three Harry Potter books, because I had no other choice (and they were marked down enough that the cost wasn’t an issue). It’s insane to spend extra money on a hardcover when I prefer paperback anyways–they weigh less and are much more portable. Of course, this means that when a new book comes out as hardback only for a year, I’m stuck waiting for the paperback to come out.
I’d imagine there are also plenty of ways to reduce overhead and production costs where the books themselves are published, but I don’t know enough to give constructive advice. Print on demand would probably help reduce inventory to an extent. Outside of some people browsing bookstores, most people don’t really care what the bookcovers look like–if all the books I ordered off of Amazon came to me with generic white backgrounds and black titles/text, it wouldn’t bother me in the slightest, especially if it cut the costs.
So you could have colorful, artsy book covers for a short first run/the books that go to bookstores, but later runs could be more generic, and even all the same size. This would cut down on costs for sure, and it might even drive up the sales of the in-bookstore books, since the people who *do* care about getting the prettier cover would be more likely to buy from the bookstore than online. You could even make the cover-art downloadable and printable for the people who want to sticker it on top of their generic copies…and the more artistic types might (who am I kidding, they would) decorate their generic books themselves.
Another follow-up:
Many of you many not know this, but there are a large number of review sites that, taken together, could form a grassroots revolution in how word spreads about books. One of the leaders is Breeni:
https://breenibooks.blogspot.com/
She’s taken upon herself the task of introducing us to all the book bloggers she can find one at a time, so if you’re interested in who might be part of the next revolution in books please have a look:
https://breenibooks.today.com/
These area all people who do this because they love books and want to hear more about books. Their efforts need to be supported!
Yeah, I know I'm over half a year behind but here's my two cents:
The entire publishing industry needs to function like all other businesses! That means, create a product (books – duh), market the product, make money.
People here probably won't like this opinion but why do authors get an advance? If the product is good, it will sell…sort of (see next point). If that's the biggest risk for a publisher, eliminate it. It's just a loan afterall. Call me crazy but a $20,000 advance isn't going to cause me to quit my day job.
A book will sell if it's marketed. Why does the entire industry expect the author (of all people) to be the marketing arm? At best, most writers are artists not salespeople. Like many posts said, advertise!
The whole industry is a gigantic dinasaur. I'm really surprised that little has changed the last 10 years. Case in point, CNET article stating B&N will have POD in stores "next year". The article was printed in December of 1999!!!
https://news.cnet.com/Barnes–Noble-set-to-print-books-on-demand/2100-1017_3-234192.html