You know. Besides giving yourself a billion dollar advance for your work in progress and more marketing hype than a new Apple gadget.
Would you rule with an iron fist or a tender hand? What would you want to see accomplished first?
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As Queen, I'd do the following…
1. Force celebrities to write their own books. If you can't write then you shouldn't get published or have the right to refer to yourself as a writer/author.
2. Do away with 'trends'. Instead of publishing 9 million books a year about vampires, I'd force writers to get more creative instead of riding the trends.
3. I'd make every agent have a blog like this because the advice is great and you are awesome! Well done Nathan!
Oh goody.
Is it Christmas? My birthday? I think I've been waiting for this question since I joined this blog a year and a half ago.
I must marshall my thoughts.
As an aside, I LOVE my profile picture this week. But it may not convey the gravity with which I ponder this important question.
I am off to ponder.
I'd give you, Nathan, a billion dollar advance for having such great information on your blog!
I would make it possible to publish English books in their original written form in Norway. Specifically I am thinking about Norwegian writers who prefer the English language, rather than the Norwegian one!
I'd hire two dozen qualified people to go through the slush piles. Then they would collect the best literary fiction and the best non fiction. And I'd spend half my day reading the best books that I just published.
Also: agents and editors would be required to use a variety of canned form rejection responses, rather than the one most commonly used today ("Thanks, but it's not for me.")
I read and re-read all of the comments. And agree with a good deal of them. I must be one of the few that craves the feel of a paperback in my hand. The scent of the paper, the joy of physically turning a page.
"If I ruled the publishing world?"
Big question,Nathan. I can only respond as an Author/reader/bookbuyer/human being.
As an author, I feel that a paperback edition of a writer's work be mandatory first release option. Followed by e-book. Not jointly released to the market.
As a reader, I feel that much of the connected feel of a book is lost in an e-book format. I need to feel the emotion. A screen doesn't do it for me.
As a bookbuyer…buy a package deal
The paperback and the e-book one hit one price deal.
As a human being..I'd publish works that had an impact on informing the populace of situations they need be aware of.
Non-fiction works are an essential learning tool. That being said force feeding information doesn't work. So release the non-fiction work in a package approved by both authors…the non-fiction slam dunk and a fictional work that either supports or debunks the work.
Thanks for the opportunity to have a discussion.
soooz
I'd require proof of graduation from an English class before submitting a query. I hate hate hate hate hate the misuse, of, commas, apostrophe's, and bad speling. Also your and you're. They two different words, people.
I would remove Stephenie Meyer from the bookshelves and cut down on the amount of Paranormal YA. I would also expand the YA genre to have more of a variety.
Nathan, I started a small press, eight cuts gallery press, today
https://agnieszkasshoes.blogspot.com/2010/08/i-just-started-publishing-house.html
so I have just been able to play this for real.
1. I don't make a single penny from my authors' works – they keep it all. If I make anything it's from live shows and exhibitions
2. I give a platform for brilliant but unpublishable work. My first two books are Cody James' The Dead Beat and Oli Johns' Charcoal. Both are 25k words. The former iw a warm-hearted memoir of San Francisco meth addicts spending 1997 waiting for comet Hale-Bopp; the latter is a series of humorous meditations on the suicide in 2009 of model Daul Kim. They are the best books I've read in the past year bar none, but wouldn'tr get through the door of a mainstream
3. I've ditched the ISBN – it makes ZERO business sense. Really.
4. I am drawing absolutely no boundaries in terms of format – be it ebook, vook, zine, chapbook, one-off installation – I'll put the books out in the way that suits them.
oh, and yes ,I am taking submissions 🙂
https://eightcuts.wordpress.com/collaborate/submissions/
I'm with the folks who would embrace e-books, especially Bane of Anubis. People today expect entertainment to be interactive. I'd figure out ways to make authors' worlds something in which readers can participate.
I'd also make e-readers more affordable and spearhead ways to get e-readers to folks with less money and access to books. Plenty of places in the US are book-poor (and just plain poor). Those folks should be able to access all the free books available for download.
My husband is a photographer and he watched the digital v film debate get settled years ago. You know what? Photographers can't make $$ the same ways they used to. They had to evolve. Publishers and authors are going to have to do the same thing.
The universe does not exist to make things fair or to make sure I get paid to write or to keep publishing houses in business.
Evolve or die. I don't see that there's any other way.
If I were queen, I'd chose evolve.
Hey, wait- I'm already choosing to evolve. I guess that makes me queen! Yippee!
I don't get it. Why is it such a bad thing that most of the publishing industry is in New York?
How does that affect a writer? They don't need to be there to sell a book.
And lets see…to attribute…If I were Queen of the PI …..
I would focus on helping writers stay in print and not give out on them just because they're not mega bestsellers.
Also, I'd like to add that reading all of this makes me feel as if I'm part of a revolution lol.
I have a feeling that if some of these actually come to pass, there would be a lot of collateral damage.
I see a lot of radicals here and I'm almost a little glad that there is no real King or Queen of the PI world.
Amber, the reason some people are suggesting publishing move out of Manhattan is the rents and expenses there are astronomically high. Publishers could channel that money into something else that would strengthen the industry.
I think the MAIN issue here is whether or not there's a crown involved? *tilts head* Hmmm?
If YEA then I'd make a decision engine. It would decide for me.
What do you mean? OF COURSE THIS WOULD NOT BE A SLIGHTLY MORE COMPLEX MAGIC EIGHT BALL SORT OF THING.*GUFFAWS* But if it was *shifty eyes* I would also call it Steve.
The reason people get a little hot about the pub indusrty being in Manhattan is because of the overhead involved.
Many authors view the royalty/advance system as pretty lean on their side and publishers like to cry poor when anyone suggests they loosen their rates a bit or – God forbid – pay for some marketing for anyone not named 'King'.
Manhattan, you see, is about as expensive as it gets for office space. In the digital age with everything arriving by email and books slowly moving from paper to e-format (at least in part) a lot of people question why all these businesses need to pay NYC rent and taxes and have that massive overhead draining on them.
For an industry that cries about small profit % and the need to lay people off when times are tough, it makes you scratch your head to think of the rent they pay when my email can get to Anytown, USA just as quickly as it gets to Manhattan.
word verif – 'asuckg'
I think that was an insult in a corrupted form of Klingon…
Oh I see now. Thanks Mira.
Another thought came to mind (this thread is becoming addicting lol). I'm young, so when I started writing, I was already reading stories from a screen. Not solely and it did give me this unconscious notion that when you read on the screen, you're reading for free (so it would be weird to pay for something like that), but…I think it can work.
It's true it'll probably end up like the music industry with everyone just downloading the books illegally. But I would like to see…a website much like Apple's App store.
The writers put up their own content. They become the editor and artist, unless they wish to hire someone else. Then they upload their book and/or short story/etc and they charge THEIR OWN PRICE. Including selling it for nothing.
The readers will go on the site, look through the selection and purchase what they want to read. They can either read it there on an electronic reader created by the website if it's short, or download it to their e-book device.
The website only makes money by advertisements or some other mysterious ways lol. All the money goes to the author who has all the control.
Is there such a site now? Cause that would be interesting.
Of course, I wouldn't want this to be the ONLY thing out there. God knows I still want to see books on bookshelves in bookstores.
This would be perfect for the broke, internet geeky reader like me lol.
Welcome, Amber. 🙂
So, I definitely agree with Bane, and I liked what Mark Terry had to say, as well as others.
Okay, here is what I would do, which may repeat some other suggestions here.
First, let's be real here, I'd hire Nathan and go take a nap. But I'd want Nathan to do the following:
I am assuming that the key to surviving the upcoming e-book threat is:
a. to nurture writer loyalty so that they choose to publish with me rather than to piecemeal out my functions and go it alone.
b. to develop brand loyalty with readers.
a. and b. go well together. I want authors to want my brand on their books.
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Industry management:
* Speed up production immensely. Once a book was signed, I'd want it in the bookstores within six months.
* Develop an interactive website for READERS. Develop relationships with them and foster reader loyalty to my brand.
* Anyone caught being snarky or rude to an author, published or unpublished, in person or on-line, would be given ONE written warning. Do it again, you're fired. Authors are the bread and butter.
* Within individual publishing houses I would develop a culture of creativity and supportive teams. It is very hard to make good decisions with an axe hanging over your head. Reward good decisions, and learn from the bad ones. Experience is valuable.
* On the other hand, I would put into place real ethical oversight (not the current one, where there are no actual sanctions) in order to build a sense of trust.
* Move out of Manahattan. Although, my goal is to make enough money to eventually move back.
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Manuscript Solicitation:
* Drop the query. Confuses the issue, wastes everyone's time. Just review the pages.
* Drop the antiquated referral system. Knowing the right people has NOTHING To do with being able to write.
* Good god, get the interns out of the slushpile. The absolutely best eyes go to the slushpile.
* Locate the people who are able to locate the best sellers. Reward them, nuture them.
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Research:
* Develop research that studies this entire industry, especially related to effective sales and marketing techniques.
* Develop research that finds market segments and then market my books specifically to those segments.
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Focus groups:
* Once a manuscript is being considered, I would fly it by focus groups, in person, on-line, doesn't matter. I would look not only at feedback but at HOW LONG THE PERSON SAT AND READ THE BOOK.
* I would track sales related to the focus groups to see if their feedback was on target over time and tweak accordingly.
Oh, I wrote too much. I'll have to break this into two.
Okay here's the rest. 🙂
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Author Relationships and loyalty:
* I would reward my authors frequently. Send them tickets to the game, bottles of wine, etc, on birthdays, Christmas, and anytime their sales hit a certain point.
* I would drop the royalty structure altogether and offer a 30/30/30 split between the publisher, author and
bookseller for print books. Let's reward authors for selling. Let's also allow those authors that do sell to make a living wage so they can write more books.
* For e-books, I would match royalty rates with Amazon, or offer a competitive package with a lower royalty rate but additional perks that would lure writers. I would NOT ALLOW AMAZON TO STEAL ANY WRITER FROM ME. I'm going to say that again. I WOULD NOT ALLOW AMAZON TO STEAL ANY WRITER FROM ME. I get first pick.
* As a base, I would offer a certain amount of marketing/editing to every book. I would also allow authors/agents to negotiate for additional editing/marketing in their contracts as a part of the package.
* I would experiment with hiring authors. Pay them a wage, give them benefits and a percentage of profits. Let's see what they can do if they don't have to have day jobs.
* I would do everything I could to integrate my authors with my team. Let's all be be a part of a creative, exciting, vital and fulfilling family.
* The ultimate point is, I would want authors to YEARN to be published by me because being published by me and being part of my publishing family is WONDERFUL. Much better than going publishing directly to the Kindle, etc.
At the same time, I'd make oodles of money through consumer loyalty to my brands and solid business decisions founded in research and testing.
Okay. I think I'm done. Thanks for the question, Nathan. 🙂
Amber-
I tend to think that revolution spawns revolutionaries, not the other way around.
I come off as a revolutionary, but really I just enjoy change. And The revolution, as i see it, will occur whether or not I get on board.
I think a lot of e-book enthusiasts fit that bill.
OFF WITH THEIR HEADS! I haven't decided who 'they' are yet, but there'll be lots of them. So I'll need baskets for the heads, and axes and axe-persons.
Mel Brooks was right. It's good to be the king. Or queen.
Oh, I forgot one thing:
Marketing. I'd market. Not social marketing, that has NOT been proven to be effective, despite the current belief that it is necessary, and I'm not sure it actually has any real impact. I'd need to study it to see if it's worth all the time.
You know what's been proven effective to sell things?
a. A good product.
b. Advertising. Please don't tell me it doesn't work with books. How does anyone know? It's never really been tried. Although, I do see it paying off for James Patterson.
Anyway, I'd use my research to market effectively.
Okay, I think five posts in one thread may be enough.
Oh, I forgot the most important thing. I'm sorry Nathan.
I'd listen. I'd listen to author complaints. I would not argue with them. I would listen, listen, listen, listen.
Then I'd solve their concerns. Not tell them they shouldn't have them in the first place, or god forbid, blacklist them for voicing them.
Okay, promise, I'm done now. I know no one will even read my posts, probably, but this industry really is going to die, probably within about 5-10 years, and I want to at least try to help.
But if no one will listen, then it's really on them.
If I were the queen of the publishing industry, my first order of business would be to summon Pat Conroy to the throne for a literary event, and then knight him Sir Patrick of all things wordsmith.. then everthing else would fall into place.
No, really.
..and what subtlegifts said earlier today. that makes perfect sense to me.
.. ok, and I like too what John Milner said. that'd be cool.
Cap advances? Ban Stephanie Meyer? Do I detect jealousy in the room tonight, people? Not to mention limited ambition, sour grapes, and a blind belief in the Zero Sum Gain view of publishing. So I won't mention them.
As Judge Judy often says, I'd put on my "listening ears" and pay attention to what's happening.
1. Stop sitting around in conferences whining about how little money there is.
2. Take some leaves out of the marketing books of consumer tech and movies (ie make books exciting again).
3. Stop worrying about rights and copyright. No matter how many people rip off your content, ebooks will be profitable. Embrace the 90/10 rule (90% of people will pirate your book, 10% of them will pay for it – it's a finger and dyke thing). If it's that popular, count yourself lucky – you have an instant marketing audience for everything else you do.
1st thing I'd do: appoint a committee of professionals to advise me and hire a bodyguard. 1st mandates: Resolve current disputes over e-rights, de-stigmatizing self-publishing and
establish an author's charter of rights. I'd also found a subsidized mentoring program to encourage new writers, funded by the industry.
(I'd probably ditch 50% of the celeb novels, too – the same stuff is already in fan mags anyway)
Michelle K. – you gave me a good laugh with your comment. Thanks.
I would attempt to take the business back to what it was 30 years ago when there was a healthy mid-list and a lot more writers were making a comfortable living. That was before advances and publicity packages got out of proportion for the writers on the veryn top of the pyramid.
Put Powerball and scratch tickets inside paperbacks.
Only so many books about serial killers per year.
A universal fee for each query to reduce the slush pile. The money would go into a grant fund for starving writers.
Wouldn't it be nice if all action were in the middle of the country – Omaha might be the next total hub of all things business!If I were the Big Whiz in publishing, I'd start a campaign for an imprint for new authors only. Is that wistful thinking or what?
How did you know about the billion dollar advance?
OK, accomplish first: Get rid of celebrity crapitty-crap. But then that may bust the industry.
I see the, "move out of Manhattan idea." Yes, practical. But so-o-o uncool. Uncool is bad.
Appoint a panel (I know, I know) tasked with finding ways to get the writer back front and central in the industry. Writers who write, I mean, not writers who can also juggle six candelabra at a time and do somersaults on the head of a pin.
I'm always in favor of moving to Brooklyn. Just keep us out of the scary bits: people in publishing tend to be pretty small.
I like that so many people are on the "ditch celebrity books" bandwagon. I concur.
A selection of canned responses for slush? Done and done. But how many would you require, and what would they be? There are so many situations, and on days when there are 300+ queries, one does need a good system. That said, my interns aren't allowed to touch the queries.
Interesting about the advance ceiling. I'm not sure it should be 50k, though I understand the goal of having more money available to take on more books. Keep in mind, too, that the advance is only a small part of how much a book costs. The publisher also has to have enough people onboard to take care of them.
And, Subtlegifts, I'm interested in hearing more about the YA variety you'd like.
Oh sorry. I meant "drop the advance" and set up a 30/30/30 split. Let authors share in the risk and the profit. Important detail.
I'd purge the world of sparkly vampire wannabees. (I'll allow the originals to stay, just because they were the originals.)
And I'd find a way to make digital readers more like books, with page turning and everything, because I'm a freak who prefers paper books, and has a kindle sitting under my tissue box because I can't be bothered to use it.
"…and all shall be published throughout the land. No longer will there be rejections. No longer will the inexperienced be cast aside. And no longer will you cry over your never-to-be printed manuscript." *cheers and praises*
Did I mention I write fantasy?
mira-
Lots to respond to, but just on the 30/30/30–bookstores are barely surviving and right now they get 50%. They'd all be gone with 30%.
Give Nathan a raise!
Instituting a business model that didn't allow for returns and an accounting practice that paid authors and illustrators in a fair amount of time. (Ummm… we do have barcodes folks, there is no reason for me to get my cut nine months after the sale)
1. I'm not entirely sure how the book returns work, but as a merchandiser for a publishing distributor, I can tell you that there are some authors whose books get over- bought for distribution–I think just to impress the industry with the number printed–that DON'T sell, i.e. The last Dean Koontz, as well as the Oprah bio, and Janet Evanovich, I was inundated with the number of copies to put out on the shelves, sales were minimal, and I ended up sending most of them back.
2. Authors who put out a new book every month, like Nora Roberts, should give credit to the co-writers they must have, the way Patterson does.
3. Offer some type of apprenticeship to new authors, who may not necessarily be college students who can work (intern) for free.
4. Keep printing! I am not an e-book-er, and when I go into a book store, I like a selection.
Oh my God, this is such an awesome question! I cannot believe the awesomeness of this question.
If I were Queen of the entire publishing industry, I would take a look at where the money goes: how much do the top owners of the five or six major publishing houses in the world make and how much does everyone else make, all the way down to the interns. I would make sure that salaries were reasonable and fair and took into account the high cost of living in places like New York City. Then I would take a look at how much money can be made from literary and experimental genres, and if there was enough money to be made there … a reasonable amount of money, not necessarily billions of dollars … I would ramp up the search for more books in those genres and publish them. My goal would be to raise the cultural and educational expectations of readers, and to make it lots of fun, in the same way that the movie INCEPTION was experimental, brilliantly cerebral and awesomely fun all at the same time.
If I were really wealthy I would try to develop a means of mentoring new writers who show great promise. People improve much faster and go further when they are encouraged and challenged.
I would have authors paid a living wage. Everyone else involved in publishing gets to make a living from it except the writers, without whom none of it would happen. Not fair.
Hi Nathan,
Okay, that's a good point. All right, I'd do a 50/25/25 split. That's just 5% less.
I don't want to go much lower for the authors, because I'm competing with an 80% e-book royalty rate and trying to build an extremely loyal author employee base.
Hopefully, my strategies of market research; focus testing; targeted advertising for books; building brand loyalty in consumers; as well as motivating and nurturing both writers and staff, would increase sales significantly. Which means more money for everyone.
At that point, I might want to meet with my fellow bookstore monarchs and re-negotiate terms.
Hope that works better. I need bookstores to sell my printed books, so I definitely don't want to bankrupt them.
Where to begin? For starters, let's bring back slush readers–those editors or interns at big publishing houses who read unsolicited mss. and pass them on to acquisitions editors. If we can't even get an agent to read our REQUESTED mss., then how will new writers ever break in?
Also let's give debut authors a DECENT advance, please, so they can afford to live and eat. Writing is not slave labor! 5K is a joke–that barely covers a month's rent in Manhattan. Magazines pay that for an article…Let's give new authors better advances, and cap the royalties and advances for celeb authors who don't need the money. It's like the free Hollywood goodie bags–why give them to rich celebs who can afford them anyway?
Also we need a rating system for editors and agents, so writers can weed out the good from the bad and avoid the rest. Writers could remain anonymous so they won't be afraid to name names (as in "agentfail"). Absolute Write is great but not enough. All agents should adhere to AAR guidelines before they hang out their shingles–or get banned from the business.
After reading Mira's comments, I'll amend my idea: Open submissions to unagented authors at the major pub houses and spread the slush to several top staff editors so they can be reviewed in a timely manner.
They say agents or editors only need to read a page or two to tell if a book interests them, so what's the delay? Let's speed up the process, people. Find and hire organized, efficient editors and let's get this show on the road. Despite what you think, writers have busy lives too!