For independent publishers, it is the best of times and it is the worst of times. And yes, I know I took that line from Dickens—but it is absolutely true. Today’s breakthrough technologies have allowed more people to print books than ever before in the history of mankind. Years ago, the cost of editing, typesetting, printing, and promoting a book made publishing prohibitive for most. Now, we are able to digitally typeset and print a single copy for peanuts. This remarkable technology has ignited the entrepreneurial spirit in thousands of people here and around the world. Now, we can all be publishers! Every would-be author can see his or her name on books; children can give their grandparents a copy of their latest handy work in a bound edition; and no books need ever go out of print again. Could it be the dawn of a new golden age of independent publishing? I don’t think so.

About sixty years ago, an individual in England would have to work years to become a bonafide publisher. They would first work as a publisher’s apprentice, and then move up the ranks. After years of service, they would hopefully be granted a certificate letting the world know that they have proven themselves worthy of being called a “Publisher.” Publishing was considered a trade, but that was then. Today, it seems all you have to do is get on the right website, download your file, and within a few days your book will arrive at your front door. And yes—according to the website copywriters, you have just become a publisher. The truth—and what the website will not tell you--is that your book has been printed, which is, in fact, not the same as being published. And while it may look, feel, and even smell like a book, it is not a published work.

For the indie publisher today, publishing is a hard-nosed, fight-for-every-sale, better-know-what-you-are-doing business. Financially distressed distributors can bring you down; vendors think nothing of holding onto your money for months at a time; and, even when you think you are ahead of the game, there are those unexpected returns to put a dent in your cash flow. And just like that smell of napalm in the morning, I love it. What I don’t love, however, are all those people who tell anyone with a computer that printing a book makes them a publisher. For every one of those folks who buy into it, there is another person willing to teach them how to create a bestseller, how to get free PR, how to become rich—off of their book. The truth is the only people becoming rich are the people printing the books and selling the seminars.

Now don’t get me wrong, I have absolutely no problem with lots more people becoming publishers. Independent publishers have always been the driving force behind innovations, discovery of new voices, and quality over profits. However, if you are going to be a publisher, you not only need to know how to run a business, you also need the drive and instincts to run it. Take courses on the subject. PMA, the Independent Book Publishers Association, offers great workshops on the subject. Talk to people who are in the business. Read books about the subject. Send some time walking the halls of the BEA. Do all you can to prepare to be brutalized, and then when you think you are ready, ask yourself one question. Do I want to run a business or be a writer? And if you truly want to be a publisher, then go for it.

I answered that question years ago, and have never looked back.

Back to you.
Rudy Shur
Publisher
Square One Publishers

Posted by: Rudy Shur

Maybe you don’t know what a Radiohead is but you can bet your children do and moreover they have probably recently made a rational economic decision on the value to them of the band’s most recent album. Why is this important to book publishers? Well directly perhaps not so much, but the indirect impact of what Radiohead announced last week will be significant to all media including publishing.

As an established band, Radiohead have a large existing fan base and they are taking their music directly to this fan base by releasing their new album via download at whatever price the fan wants to pay. If the fan believes as stated by one of them, that the band is ‘rich enough’ they can pay 99cents for the entire thing (they could get it for free) or they can pay a traditional retail price of $12.95. Whatever. Radiohead receives all the revenue rather than having to split a fee with a recording company. Suddenly, after nurturing and investing in Radiohead over the past 10 years there is no longer a place for the record company. Is this fair you wonder? The question really doesn’t matter because the old model of artist development is dead.  Music companies are going to have to create a new model where reliance is not so much on revenues derived from recordings but shared across the pantheon of revenue opportunities from merchandising to touring to music publishing. The transition will be brutal for both the artists and the recording companies.

Radiohead finished recording their new album only 10 days before they released it via their web site.  Fans have two product choices: They can take a download and pay what they want or they can have a download and preorder a traditional CD and book package. The latter will be release in December. I expect that despite the availability of the download many fans will either buy the CD package initially or return later to buy it. Radiohead are likely to make a pile of money from this model both because of their fan base and due to the publicity that the action has generated. Typically a band would make more money touring than they would from CD sales mainly because their cut of the full retail price is so small. It is because they have so little to lose and that they want to get people to come out and see them that more bands will elect to forgo CD royalties in order to build tour revenues.

Back to publishing. What happens when John Grisham or Stephen King decide to forego a publishing contract and go direct? Well the truth of the matter is that it is already happening. Remember The Long Tail? The book was available for review and comment online long before it was finally published and this not only helped the author fine tune his argument it increased publicity for the printed book. There are other examples and the model will become more prevalent where authors either independently or with a publisher’s collaboration will allow free or discounted access to books both before and after publication.

The economic model may be less different between music and book publishing than is first thought. Related revenues in music come from merchandising and touring and in book publishing they can come from movie, tv, merchandising, and rights. Point is in both cases artists and authors and publishers and producers will increasingly be looking at the totality of revenue opportunities rather than in narrow terms. This could lead to some interesting new collaborations: the screen writer that signs a book deal with a movie producer, the musician who signs a CD deal with a book publisher, or the author that signs a deal with a tour organizer. To some degree these models are starting to become more apparent and as publishers we will need to think more creatively and in collaboration with the authors we publish so that we can remain competitive in an environment where the traditional boundaries are being eroded.

Posted by: Michael Cairns, Information Media Partners

Traveling to a new location for vacation (and sometimes business) can be an exciting event and generally a lot of planning goes into the effort so you make the best use of your time. Often building your ideal itinerary may necessitate the purchase of several travel guides (or in my case diligent note taking in the cafe at BN) and I can only imagine that this situation is even more relevant if you travel as a family. Having had a great time - and probably seeing only half of what you thought you would - you leave the travel guides behind in the hotel room because they don’t fit in the bags.

What if you were able to build a specific guide before you left that you could either print out before or carry with you as an electronic e-book? This is an idea that Penguin publishing unit DK are experimenting with which allows users to select content from their travel guides and build their own guide. I found the site a little clunky but the idea is sound and as an electronic platform DK could be in a position to offer far more content than appears in their DK travel books. If Penguin has other travel related content this could also be integrated with the DK travel content to create a distinct product that perhaps has more breadth than a user could get other than buying multiple books.

Travel (book) related websites are (or have the potential to) generating decent advertising revenues. Since a travel guide is a glorified directory it will not be long until the web is the primary mode of distribution for this content as has been the case with traditional data driven directories (i.e. booksinprint). As e-products, the integration with content from other publishers, map applications, photos, video and Podcasting is not far away. For example, I want to visit Boston and I build a travel book that includes a history and background information on Boston, a walking tour of North Boston, a satellite map, restaurant recommendations in and around the walk and after lunch I want to go to the Museum of Fine Arts where I buy admission tickets, add the highlights of the collection tour and download the MP3 audio tour. Ultimately, I want this 'packaged' so that I can either print it out and/or retain as an e-book or e-collection for future use.

But wait a minute, does the interaction end there? Conceivably, I will be taking pictures and forging my own impressions about the visit. And perhaps I want to include experiential things, like what I had for lunch and whether I liked it. So the publishing platform I use to create my travel book of Boston should be something I can edit outside the confines of the publisher-supplied content. As such the DK application is not so functional but there are options elsewhere that are starting to appear - and in the future there maybe nothing to stop DK from adding this functionality.

One such application has been developed by SharedBook, a software company in lower Manhattan. Sharedbook works with content owners who want to extend their relationship with their customers and enable them to self-select content and build their own book and in the process adding their own content. SharedBook works with customers who may not seem like publishers such as Regent Cruises and Legacy.com, but the functionality is similar to what I describe above. Clients of Regent cruises are able to select some core content to create their book while also adding their own specific content. So they can add pictures, annotations or full length essays on their cruise experience. There are a surprising number of clients who take advantage of this program since it serves as a high quality memento of their journey.

Sharedbook has a relatively easy to implement solution and their model has enabled 'non-publishers' to treat as 'content' assets that otherwise would remain one-dimensional as marketing or promotional material. In the case of traditional publishers, the Sharedbook platform can allow publishers to engage their customers directly and perhaps with a stronger link because the publishers content goes along with the customers positive experience. Obviously, customers pay for the privilege of creating their unique books but the prices are both reasonable and set by the content owner.

Back to my Boston example and using a SharedBook I could have a coffee table book produced with all the elements I selected before I left, those I added during my trip and the those I added after I return home. Once home I could scan the MFA ticket stub, the restaurant menu and add photos with annotations. Then I have my own memento of my trip. Models such as those I have described above will become more prevalent as publishers see the value in opening up their content repositories and allowing consumers to interact with their content. It is a trend worth following.

Posted by: Michael Cairns, Information Media Partners