This post title has been sitting in my Draft file for months, well before the news broke that self-publishing star John Locke inked a print-only deal with Simon & Schuster, choosing to continue to self-publish his own e-books.
For now, self-published authors absolutely do need publishers in some form if they want to hit it really big because publishers can get print books into bookstores. But as the John Locke deal demonstrates, they don’t necessarily need them to publish the e-books, and in fact, in many if not most cases the authors would prefer to hang onto e-book rights themselves.
And this is a major challenge for publishers as we move forward into a primarily e-book world: By the time a self-published author hits it big will they really need a publisher?
Let’s revise that: In an e-book world, by the time any author hits it big will they really need a publisher?
This is an existential question for the traditional publishing industry. What value will they provide authors who already have made a name for themselves?
The package of services publishers provide
As I’ve blogged previously, publishers provide these essential services that go into making a book: Editing and Copyediting, Design, Printing and Distribution, Publicity and Marketing, Patronage (i.e. an advance), and Cachet.
While there are amazing editors in the traditional publishing industry, there are also plenty of great freelancers (many of whom used to be quite successful in the publishing industry). Editing can be farmed out. Design can be farmed out. Distribution is a snap in an e-book world.
If you’re just starting out, chances are you really do need the Publicity and Marketing, the Patronage, and the Cachet that a publisher provides. This is what I needed as an author, and I don’t regret going the traditional route with my debut novel.
But if an author does an end-around and is successful without a publisher, if they have amassed their own funds, they can easily handle their own distribution, and if they are well-known (i.e. they don’t need Publicity/Marketing, Patronage and Cachet)… well, what can a publisher do for them then that they can’t do themselves? Especially when traditional publishers are offering paltry e-book royalties?
The nightmare for publishers
For publishers, here’s the nightmare publishing path for authors of the future: Author signs with traditional publisher for first book, author hits it big, author says thankyouverymuch I got this now and self-publishes from then on out.
Publishers depend heavily on the steady and huge sales of the James Pattersons, Stephen Kings, Dean Koontzs and Danielle Steels of the world. For now, those authors still need publishers because it’s still a print world and publishers are indispensable for getting paper into stores.
Ten years from now that won’t be the case. What are publishers going to do then? What will make them indispensable?
Stayin’ alive
Well, first off, there will always be authors who want to focus on just the writing, and the package of services publishers provide will keep a certain portion sticking with publishers. It’s massively time consuming to self-publish, and not everyone is going to want to pursue that path. This is one of the main reasons, for instance, self-publishing superstar Amanda Hocking cited for choosing a traditional publisher for her next books.
But I think publishers are going to have to think long and hard about what exactly they will actually be providing authors in an e-book world. There needs to be a major mindset shift from a gatekeeper-oriented “You’re lucky to be with us” mentality where authors are treated on a need-to-know and your-check-will-arrive-when-it-arrives basis to a service-oriented “What else could we possibly do for you” mentality.
No more books that get dropped in the ocean without publisher support. Embracing and investing in new marketing tactics for the Internet era. Becoming an integral part of how consumers find books.
And innovating with new ideas and experiments and models. Some publishers are, yes, but is it enough?
Authors should want to have their e-books published by the traditional publishers, not be forced to grudgingly give them up in exchange for being published in print. Big authors are soon going to have a choice, and publishers are going to need to make themselves indispensable once again.
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I think you are being generous and very polite to suggest publishers have 10 years to shift their culture to a service mentality.
By their own actions, the media conglomerates reduced the publishing business to a commodity business. There's no coming back from that now.
The new publishing entrepreneurs lead with digital first and print as the follow-up product. This new business cycle is exciting.
Id like to invite everyone to my blog Amish Stories today to read a post from old order Mennonite Jean of New York state. Jean has taken-in a foster child named Michael whose parents are no longer able to take care of him. He's English and Jeans family is old order Mennonite (horse and buggy) but that makes no difference in the love that this young man is receiving from this family. Thank you folks and i hope to see some of you drop by the blog. Richard
The Internet has generally made audiences more fragmented and specialized … and I think publishers need to find their way to this model. The way I see it, the biggest thing publishers can offer authors is endorsement—we found this worth investing in because we think our consumers will find it worth reading. And I think readers really do need that filter – I find myself overwhelmed by how much is out there. Given these two factors, specialization and filtering, I imagine a publishing future of smaller, nimbler publishers that brand more specifically to a readership niche, allowing readers to build loyalty to a publishing label more easily, rather than major publishers that crank out some of everything. My fantasy for the future of publishing as a reader is to be able to subscribe to publishers I know I can trust in my favorite niches. Get their newsletters, find out about the newest releases directly from them and know that I can expect a certain style and quality when I buy their books. That is the added quality a publisher can offer in the digital age, over a lone self-publisher. Audience, brand endorsement, and connection. Course, that requires them to adapt to the digital era, which many publishers don’t seem to want to do. Sigh.
And more to the point for you, as a former Mr. Agent Man, is–what place will agents have in the 10-years from now scenario?
Publishers will have to offer "services" to writers to keep them. What will agents offer?
I have consistently said, and keep saying, that the ease of self-publishing and e-book distibution of such books is a boon to the writer, and readers. And Amazon.com was and remains ahead of the curve and the technology, in what amounts in my opinion to a brilliant observation of both the industry as it existed, and the desire for something different.
Perhaps, in the future, agents, if they continue to exist, will remain the "middle-man" between the writer and publisher, helping publishers find writers that make them money, and helping writers find publishers that perhaps do the same.
But more and more publishers these days seem to insist on marketing really being the responsibility of the writer; unless the writer is already well known, they seem reluctant to put money in to making a book not drop into the ocean and disappear.
One service publishers could offer, that they don't, would even be something as un-thought of as health insurance–so the writer who they "take on" to publish, and benefit from, doesn't have to take their own earnings and provide for perhaps a family in need of health care.
Another might be retirement savings.
My point is, publishers may become more "service-oriented" toward writers. Perhaps it's time agents did as well, rather than essentially being the first "gate keeper" of a writer, perhaps more and more of them should be the first friend, or advocate, of an unknown but much-loved-when-read writer. Perhaps the deals they help the writer get with a publisher might suggest "or we'll just publish ourselves…."
Again, a terrific post. Keep 'em coming, Nathan. And keep writing…the world needs more former agents who are writers, and perhaps former writers who are now agents…
I’m fairly new to the writing world, and chose to self-publish my non-fiction book to avoid the long time frames of traditional publishing. In the first year since publication, I’ve sold just over 20,000 copies (the majority on Kindle, at a $9.99 price point).
In the past month, several publishers have contacted me to acquire rights to the book (they emailed me through my website, as I don’t have an agent). So far, I’ve rejected two offers—both consisted of four-figure advances and standard royalties.
I certainly understand how a traditional publisher can be a great asset in terms of distribution and publicity. However, I’m not sure that they’d increase my sales enough to offset the dramatic decrease in royalties. At least in my case, signing with a traditional publisher seems akin to buying a lottery ticket. In essence, I’d be trading a respectable income in the hope of landing a spot on The Today Show or a mention in the NYT.
It feels a little strange to be rejecting publishers, instead of the other way around. But given what I’ve been offered, staying indie is more financially compelling at this time.
"No more books that get dropped in the ocean without publisher support."
–>I'm picking out this line because it's the crux of the problem.
For the last 20-30 years, publishers slowly pushed more and more responsibility onto authors to promote themselves. If forced to do all the promoting themselves anyway, why bother with a publisher?
(Cachet and patronage. But cachet is dwindling, at least in mass market novels, and paltry advances are hardly worthy of the term "patronage.")
So will publishing houses transmogrify into packaging-and-promoting houses? Will they compete with independent packaging-and-promoting companies that didn't start as publishers?
The only other question is who picks up the tab. Self-publishing still isn't cheap. You pay in money or you pay in time, but either way, you pay. The best thing that professional publishers can offer authors is to absorb that cost, but they have to do it for a reasonable rate. Price it too high (i.e. pay the author a pittance on ebook royalties), and it becomes more cost-effective for the author to pay upfront and take his chances.
There will still be print books 10 years from now, and still be traditional publishers.
Some of the ills that people blame on publishers actually stem from a decline in book purchasing and reading — kids and young adults spending spare time on video games is time and money that will not be spent in reading for entertainment. And there was a gigantic collapse in the distribution network that publishers depended on, especially for mass market paperbacks. Also a big blow to publishers.
I agree, though, with this: what it's come to is that agent + publisher percentage takes too much out of a writer's paycheck, often delivering too little benefit to the writer, and given an viable option, writers are smart to take more control. Personally, I think the agent should be the first to go. I would still look for traditional publishing if you can get a decent contract.
Mira: absolutely and well put.
All the work that goes on with self-publishing – I'm hoping that publishing companies can find a way to keep their business relevant!
Let's mix some metaphors:-
It seems there are now other games in time!
Publishing optimism:- If we just drop it in the ocean without publisher support it MIGHT just land on a cruise ship in the hands of a passenger who likes reading.
Publishing pessimism:- It might land on the passenger's head so hard they are stunned and fall over a railing into the ocean and drown.
Mr. D, the tide turning may not wash the body ashore. Oh wait, wrong metaphor!
Megg Jensen, agents trolling the Kindleboards and cold calling authors! Good grief!
Rick Daley, there are TWO John Lockes? The plot thickens! But I agree. No more 'take it or leave it'! No more lines in the sand. Washed away by the turning tide. Oh look! A body! Holding a book! Sorry, wrong metaphor again.
D. G. Hudson, a la carte or we find another restaurant! And wasn't Emerald City ruled by a man with an amplified voice who turned out to be much less imposing in reality?
Scott Hubbard, strangely enough I remain unconvinced e-books will ever completely replace print. I know I'm very much in a minority here (a minority of one perhaps!?) and I won't repeat my arguments again but print costs are coming down and I still believe now would be a very good time to invent the print book if it did not already exist.
I do agree regarding schoolbooks though. Don't mind backpacks, some young kids carry their schoolbooks in wheeled trolleys here in Ireland!
Regarding editing etc. I understand S & S are only selling and distributing John Locke's 'Donovan Creed' print books, which are actually produced by Locke's own imprint John Locke Books.
Megg Jensen, share a name with an infamous TV character? Great idea! By happy coincidence my initials already stand for James Tiberius.
So all I have to do is change my last name to Kirk. Though he isn't infamous. Unless you're a Klingon.
This is such a great post, Nathan. I think about how you gave us hints at the huge changes about to come down when you spoke to the Central Coast Writers Conference just a year ago. Now you can say something like this:
"There needs to be a major mindset shift from a gatekeeper-oriented "You're lucky to be with us" mentality where authors are treated on a need-to-know and your-check-will-arrive-when-it-arrives basis to a service-oriented "What else could we possibly do for you" mentality."
You were right then, and you're right now: It's a great time to be a writer!
'There needs to be a major mindset shift from a gatekeeper-oriented "You're lucky to be with us" mentality where authors are treated on a need-to-know and your-check-will-arrive-when-it-arrives basis to a service-oriented "What else could we possibly do for you" mentality.'
Somewhere, a nail just got hit on the head 🙂
Trenchant post, as usual, Nathan!
My only comment is that they may not need a publisher, but they still need an editor (note that tense does not agree: "A Self-Published Author" and "Do They Really Need"). Good subject for a future post…
Aden
adennichols.com
Matthew J. Beier, my thoughts exactly! Well, your thoughts actually, but I agree with them. And even Stephen King had to sell his books at one level or another. He once nearly had a heart attack carrying one of his heavy manuscripts across New York City to a publisher.
Anonymous 6:29 pm, I think you DO indeed want to sound like a dream crusher. And you're succeeding. And you're not alone. Redistributing misery is a very popular pastime.
Mira, I respectfully disagree with you, something that doesn't happen too often. In particular, if there is a blacklist of outspoken authors it does not seem to have worked! On a more general level, people do indeed create the system. If not people, who or what else?
Terin Tashi Miller and Barbarienne, what exactly was it that publishers used to do to market books and promote authors that they don't do now? I've asked that question a number of times in comments and never gotten an answer.
Anonymous 2:02 pm, I second your first 2 paragraphs, but not the last one. Agents are already replacing publishers in some respects.
Neocelt, I doubts all editors would agree with you. Using the plural as a non gender specific version of the singular is a widely accepted practice. Consider the alternatives. He/she? It?
IndieReader Selects (www.irselects.com), a newish service offered by IndieReader, was created specifically to help indie authors get their (paper) books into indie bookstores. IR Selects can't do what Simon & Schuster can (yet) but it's certainly a start.
IndieReader Selects (www.irselects.com), a newish service offered by IndieReader, was created specifically to help indie authors get their (paper) books into indie bookstores. IR Selects can't do what Simon & Schuster can (yet) but it's certainly a start.
Shout it from the rooftops. I think this is the single most important thing publishers could do to save themselves:
"There needs to be a major mindset shift from a gatekeeper-oriented 'You're lucky to be with us' mentality where authors are treated on a need-to-know and your-check-will-arrive-when-it-arrives basis to a service-oriented 'What else could we possibly do for you' mentality."
They have to make authors *want* to work with them, and there are ways other than money to do that.
One thing that all writers need – traditionally published, Indie or self-published – and that is good reviews. What do you all think of these new services, like The Digital IN, which enable authors to commission reviews @ Amazon and Goodreads and other key book sites? I know publishers have been giving away ARC review copies and other premiums to reviewers forever, but is this different? And how important are these reader reviews anyway?
dan-
As with Yelp, I personally feel like I'm growing able to scan reviews to pick out the ones that seem rational to me and sound accurate. I don't know how useful it is to try and game those systems because I even take overall ratings with a grain of salt.
Seems like consumers are learning to be critics of reviews almost.
The short answer is no. The more complex answer, it truly depends on what you want. Personally, I have no intention of joining the mainstream. Pare the argument back a second. To get a mainstream publisher, I need an agent. To get an agent, I have to spend a small fortune touting my ms around. Say it takes six months to get an agent. It could take a year for your agent to find a publisher. As the author you are still expected to work hard to promote your own work. Only now your agent wants a percentage, the publisher takes their slice, and you are potentially earning less than the office junior at your publishers. So your finished ms could be three years out from publication, you lose perhaps 50% of its actual sales value to the agent and the publisher, and you come out of it three years older and none the wiser. Personally, my work is all about kicking back and having some fun, I would rather sell it as e-books and maybe a short paperback run, and have a real connection with people who want to read it, than share my hard work with the mainstream. Especially as I really don't admire the mainstream for the identikit rubbish they already sell.
"Trad publishing is still the Emerald City at this point…"
-DG Hudson 8/29/11
Nah, it's more like Bushwick, Brooklyn at this point. But yeah, I agree with Nat of pubbs being arrogant. It's like they published a few accidental bestsellers and started smelling themselves (being arrogant).
Heck, by the time you have a few books out there, and have worked out the means of getting good editing, cover design, distribution and a marketing strategy — never mind about hitting it big, even hitting medium is very satisfactory. A while ago, one of the other members of the 'self-help for indy author' group that I belong to, brought out speculation that if you – as an indy author – sold so many thousand copies of your own book, then agents and small publishers would come knocking on your door. One of the other members riposted that if they had sold that many on their own, what did they need an agent for?
I have five historical fiction books out there, and a sixth due out in November. They're of regional appeal, mostly – but even if they suddenly started selling like hotcakes, I'd still stick to self-publishing. I'd rather hire an editor, book designer, cover artist, and publicist, knowing that they worked directly for me… than work with people whose loyalties are to the big company.
Happy fall everyone. Richard
If you are self-published, check out The Wishing Shelf Awards, a non-profit making award for independently published authors: http://www.thewsa.co.uk
This book is nice and amazing. I love your post! It's also nice to see someone who does a lot of research and has a great knack for ting, which is pretty rare from bloggers these days.
Thanks!
Your Ticket To a Dream
I have to wonder how this trend will change the literary market. In a world where self-publishing of hard-to-categorize books is becoming more common – while big publishing houses might reject a good book because of its lack of precise genre – the world can't help from gaining the benefit of unusual, innovative literature in the process. It's exciting for someone who doesn't turn out formula books.
I agree that if you want to generate more impressive sales than your immediate friendship circle you will need to master basic promotional and marketing skills. But you could see that as part of the fun?
In academic publishing *diminishing* returns are already a reality. It's not uncommon to receive a 3% royalty on a $60 book, or even worse, 2 free copies of your own work. In reality I'm now earning three times more on my epubs compared to paper.
Piracy is also a fear, and a reality, as many students (and libraries) won't pay those prices.
E-books are democratising the market, and it is my belief that they may now be the best route for quality fiction, as well as scholarly factual works.
But being a bestseller will always be a dream for the majority (logically, not everyone can be a mass-market winner!). That said, many writers would be happy with several hundred sales. And that's more in fact that a specialist academic hardback where the typical print run for a leading publisher is now less than 200.
Kindle and Smashwords appear to me be viable option for the aspiring writer – and may in time offer a bridge to traditional paper publication. The latter, of course, can also be achieved at no cost through Amazon's Print on Demand Service, Createspace.
The big issue I have is with 1st time authors making almost nothing. I have been struggling for almost 4 years on my one and only novel. if it ever does get published I could expect to make £5000 at best.
I am not saying my novel if it ever is finished will be a global hit but what if it were?
This is where I am at a huge loss financially. the reason I say this is I am almost 99% confident I do not have another novel in my head. So I will produce just one novel.
Harper Lee did just one novel and made a fortune so why not any other author who has success.