Comments on ePublishing Associates: Will delaying ebook releases of most popular title...

Anonymous December 15, 2009 9:36 PM Point taken.

2009-12-16T00:12:44.525-06:00

Anonymous December 15, 2009 9:36 PM

Point taken.

CB- Thanks for the comment. You are on to somethin...

2009-12-16T00:10:10.218-06:00

CB-
Thanks for the comment. You are on to something. Following your example to a time when digital is primary and print is secondary, what do we need publishers for anyway? That is exactly the question publishers need to be asking themselves.

At best, delaying ebooks is a stop-gap measure, and one likely to alienate an audience growing in size and importance, but I do "get it" for blockbuster titles.

Still, the market simply does not care about the viability of $9.99. Rather than forcing people to wait or pay more for a format they don't want (which isn't going to happen), publishers need to become more efficient and creative because you are absolutely right, the future will not support the past's business model--paying acquisition editors, publicists, marketers, sales people, customer service, designers, etc. I can imagine a scenario removing at least three, maybe four of those roles. But the point is that publishing, as an industry, needs to find a new paradigm in an online world where nothing stands between an author with an idea and an audience willing to pay for it.

I imagine we will continue to see a handful of major publishers continue to publish a handful of blockbusters and market them through a handful of retailers. (People like things that are popular.)

Beyond that, we are going to see an even greater glut of content hitting the market. Publishers will move toward facilitating "self-publishing," keeping the lights on by selling the services of copy editing, design, typesetting, digital and print-on-demand distribution, taking a smaller piece of thousands more works while creating a farm league of authors and titles from which any one may break out and get moved up to the bigs where development editing, marketing, and packaging is reserved for the middle and top tier titles.

The growing glut of content will keep downward pressure on price points. And yes, overall quality will suffer, yet, great writing may stand out even more.

Publishers won't be discovering new voices. Consumers will. Publishers will facilitate the flow of content. Retailers will facilitate the aggregation of consumers.

Marketing is one area where publishers can specialize, primarily through their relationships with retailers, or their ability to aggregate consumers themselves, to bring real value to the equation.

For the self-published author, yes, social media and selling books through the major aggregators like Amazon, Apple, and Google probably is enough for them to reach their niche and possibly get discovered by a larger audience, but I'm inclined agree that effective marketing is going to require more than social media.

This is one possible view of the future anyway.

Thanks for representing the other perspective and keeping the conversation going.

You say: "if retailers like Amazon and Ba...

2009-12-15T21:36:54.831-06:00
You say:

"if retailers like Amazon and Barnes & Noble aren't willing to honor a publisher's premium list price, pull it."

Is that exactly what's going on? A+B&N refuse to honor the publisher's pricing request, so the publishers are pulling the books. But instead of pulling them completely, they are merely delaying their entry to this market.

What's the fuss?

The problem is that if publishers sit idly by whil...

2009-12-15T21:17:35.470-06:00
The problem is that if publishers sit idly by while major retailers train the public that the value of a digital copy of a book is $9.99, and that becomes the reality, we have a problem. When a couple of players - Apple, Amazon, Google control the marketplace (and it will look something like that) - you can be guaranteed that they are not going to choose to lose money on every sale forever. You can do the math as well as anybody. Take your current discount to Amazon off of $9.99 instead of the DLP. Subtract the author's royalties which they are certainly entitled to. What do you have left to pay acquisition editors, publicists, marketers, sales people, customer service, designers, etc., etc.? A whole lot less than you do if you sold that book as a HC.

Paul - its not about whether these readers should have the same access. It is about the fact that the retail players are taking us down a path that eventually leads to a publishing model that is not viable - shall we say it...profitable. Publishing is already very low profit but if it is unprofitable, it goes away.

You are an editor at heart. What happens if authors bypass publishers and self-publish? What does the quality look like in that world? In a world without publishers, where are the next great writers discovered? What about marketing? Is it enough to have an author connected through social media pushing his/her content? I have recent experience to say that is not enough. If there is not the money available to market great new writers, can their voices break through the noise of every other piece of media competing for attention?

Your idea about selling on the website is a good one. Its certainly been batted around.

Don't get me wrong - I don't think that eBooks are worth $25 unless it is a specialized product. There aren't printing costs involved nor are their traditional distribution costs or returns. All of these things should be factored into a price to the consumer that is MUCH more reasonable than a traditional HC price. HOWEVER, $9.99 is not a viable price.

I get that people are not a fan the strategy these publishers are employing, but in a world where vertical price fixing is not legal, publishers have two options: make it available to retailers or don't. Within those limitations, you have to make choices that you believe are best for your authors, for your employees, and for your future.

Food for thought. -CB

Some great points in this NYT article (http://bit....

2009-12-15T17:23:24.585-06:00
Some great points in this NYT article (http://bit.ly/64Uicp), my favorite being:

Let’s say you unwrap your holiday presents and see a fancy Kindle, Sony Reader or Barnes & Noble Nook. Just what you’ve always wanted! You turn on your new device, navigate to a wireless bookstore and search for Don DeLillo’s new novel. Instead of a simple click and download right from your armchair, you’re told it’s only available in hardcover for the next four months.

Are you really going to put down your new book reader, get in your car, drive to the store and buy the hardcover? Probably not. Instead, you’ll click the ‘back’ button and search for something else to read in the digital bookstore.

If one considers the "content" of the bo...

2009-12-13T13:00:24.113-06:00
If one considers the "content" of the book as having value, then the cost to manufacture it is irrelevant. Price the e-book above the discounted hard copy for the time the hard copy is not yet out for sale. Drop the e-book to something less than the actual book store price if you feel the value is less when the hard copy is released, then again when the demand drops off until you are selling the tail because all the other sources are no longer available to the publisher. He cannot count used books because he gains no income from them. The e-book still has more value than a paperback with the cover missing or a hard cover that is water damaged or otherwise not sellable in the store. Rather than piss and moan and shoot themselves in the foot, they should be taking advantage of this new medium and making money from it.

Thanks for the dialogue, Paul. I really enjoyed yo...

2009-12-12T11:22:30.554-06:00
Thanks for the dialogue, Paul. I really enjoyed your post and found some of the options you discussed interesting.

I'm not sure about fluid pricing because rightly or wrongly there is a perception by the reader that an electronic book SHOULD be less than a paper book because there is no actual printing costs. I have not paid more than $9.99 for an ebook, but I might be tempted to go a little higher (10.99 to 12.99 or so) if it was released BEFORE the paper release AND it was a favorite author. I say that because with 25-30% off coupons offered by bookstores, I'd be wary of paying more for my ebook than I could spend at a store with a coupon, even though I rarely purchase paper books anymore.

There would have to be something more than just early release to entice me to pay a premium price. If you were to add "extras" to the ebook (insight from the author, codes to unlock additional features found on the internet or something like that, like they do with DVDs today) I would be more willing to pay a higher price.

As far as what I wish ebooks would do--I don't expect them to "do" anything different than an actual hard copy of a book to do. But maybe a virtual book club forum where readers could connect with each other or the author could be a neat option.

I have to admit, I was skeptical about the ebook i...

2009-12-12T07:09:02.501-06:00
I have to admit, I was skeptical about the ebook industy when I first heard about it. I thought it would never work. People are too tied to their computers and laptops now, who the heck wants to quiet time staring at yet another computer screen.
I look forward to my time alone with a nice glass of scotch and a Michener novel and getting lost in another world for a few hours. The thought of scolling down a screen instead of flipping through the pages seemed a bit impersonal. And there's no smell! You completely lose that great smell of birch or aspen that releases more and more from the pages the older the book becomes.
But today, in my current position, I sometimes spend time in the passenger seat of a vehicle traveling to and from jobsites or business meetings and having a Kindle would be quite handy on long trips.
Thinking back, I now wish this could have been available back in my days on the submarine. Having very limited space for personal belongings, I could have had a few thousands books under my bunk at any given time. You just can't get enough books into a seabag along with your necessaties to last a whole sea patrol.
So although, at least for me, ebooks could never replace the real thing, I am sold on thier value.
If they could just somhow figure out a way to get the smell of pulp to be released from the screen, I may be converted.

I have to admit, I was pretty skeptical about the ...

2009-12-12T06:22:53.201-06:00
I have to admit, I was pretty skeptical about the whole ebook industry when I first heard about it and thought I would not want anything to do with it.
I look forward to my time alone, kicked back with a good glass of scotch and a Michener novel. The thought of scolling down a screen instead of flipping through the pages seemed a bit impersonal, but I've recently realized how handy they can come in while travelig to and from job sites or meetings when I don't have to do the driving.
I wish now that they could have been available back in my days on the submarine. They would have come in handy during those long months out at sea and having very limited space for bringing personal belongings. You just can't get enough books into a seabag along with your necessaties to last a whole sea patrol.
Although, at least for me, ebooks could never replace the real thing, it's nice to have them available when needed.
If they could only somehow get that "old book" smell to be released from the screen, I may be converted.

Allow me to ask that last question differently: Wh...

2009-12-11T14:28:06.528-06:00
Allow me to ask that last question differently: What do you wish your ebooks would do? Connect with other readers? Connect with the author? Search for related works?

Anon & VR - thanks for your comments. I'd ...

2009-12-11T14:25:07.935-06:00
Anon & VR - thanks for your comments. I'd be curious to know your thoughts on fluid pricing. Are there authors for whom you'd pay a premium to get their book before print is available. What's the most you've paid for a digital book? What do you wish you could get for your ebooks today?

Another Kindle owner and voracious reader. I'v...

2009-12-11T08:44:42.936-06:00
Another Kindle owner and voracious reader. I've purchased a lot more books since buying my Kindle. It's sad to me that publishers refuse to get creative and embrace the changing climate.

I think they will shoot themselves in the foot with this strategy. Take the delay in the release of Under the Dome--after the meh reviews of the book, I lost interest in reading it and canceled my ebook pre-order. While they would have never gotten my money for a hardback because I'm only purchasing ebooks, now they won't even get the money I would have spent on the electronic version.

My $10 may not matter a lot to them now, but as ereaders increase in popularity it may in the future as the money adds up.

Thank You very much for your recent article. I am...

2009-12-11T06:09:35.321-06:00
Thank You very much for your recent article.

I am a voracious reader and a Kindle owner. It seems like everyday I am running into another article or another Publishing executive informing me that my purchase of over 100 books in the past nine months is ..

DESTROYING PUBLISHING!

and that their authors must be protected from me and my consumption of their product.

It is a puzzle to me. I thought that as a buyer of literary products I would perhaps be ... valued. Courted. Appreciated?