The Independent

Scholastic

My girflriend just became a "Read 180" teacher. I am totally struck by how much energy is devoted by the publisher (scholastic) put into developing the program that demands their books. I was talking to someone about this, saying "it is amazing the lengths they go to to create the demand for their books." My friend said "Well I think the demand was already there, they just filled it with a good product, right?."

In a way she was right, there was already a need for books to help kids read better. But that demand is general. Plenty of books could satisfy that general demand. What Scholastic did was invent an entire program that solves an educational problem and demands that schools buy their specific books.

I'm sure that this has been going on for decades, but somehow, with the eyes of a trade publisher, it never really dawned on me before. I'm determined to find a way to apply this sort of real marketing to a trade book some day. It has to be possible, right?

Tattered Cover

OK, I've been a very bad blogger. I know. I'm still trying to figure out exactly where and when I should invest time on all the different pieces of my freelance life. I'll figure it out and start to blog more consistently soon enough.

Anywho, I am in Denver this morning. Last night was the book launch party/reading/signing for Who Are You People? at the Tattered Cover. The Tattered Cover is a great bookstore and it was a great event. This was my second time in Denver, but the first time I was here I was on tour with the Milwaukees so visiting bookstores wan't high on the agenda (we are a rock and roll band and have a reputation to uphold), so this was my first time getting to the Tattered Cover. I have to say that it lives up to the hype and the people of Denver are lucky to have such a great resource for books. The staff was very helpful and surprisingly proud of their store and their job--a far cry from the average B&N experience. In particular, the events co-ordinator, Charles, was particularly helpful. I was happy to be able to spend 15 minutes talking with him about bookselling. I was also struck by how well-bought the books were. By that I mean that the shelves didn't seem dense with books. The store's square footage probably rivals many of the B&N superstores but I'm getting their title base is significantly lower. But oddly, I think this is a good thing.  As a consumer, I really felt like the titles that I found in any given category were all pretty good. I didn't feel like I was browsing through a lot of crap to try to find the good books on the subject. It was a much happier consumer experience for me. I could tell that the book buying at Tattered Cover was done by someone who really reads and likes books--which was a refreshing feeling.

As for the event, I think it was a big success.  I've read the book a few times now. When Shari began to read the introduction it was remarkable that she sounded exactly like the voice I hear in my head when I have read it. I had the honor of introducing her at the event, and as a joke I told everyone that it was going to run like an AA meeting and everyone who wanted to talk or ask a question would have to stand up, say their name and confess their passion. Lo and behold, when Shari finished, the first person got up and did just that. I forget what her passion was, but I am so glad she followed the rules, because then everyone else did too.  What is amazing is how everyone seemed to appreciate the opportunity to define themselves as passionate about something. This gave me the idea to work with Shari on doing other events that independent booksellers can promote to their customers as "Fanatics Anonymous" meetings. It would be great to let the events be dominated by the passionate people who show up. The book would be a vehicle for them to share their passions. It would also be a great way for the stores to learn more about what some of their customers are really interested in. If any booksellers read this blog, please chime in with any advice about how this would work best in your store and any tips on ways to make an event like this work. I am even wondering if this is the kind of event that can happen without the author, since there is a very limited travel budget. Anyway, I'm excited about this idea and am looking forward to exploring it.

Well, I'm off to meet with Shari and an entertainment lawyer to discuss all of the issues involved in getting a "Who Are You People?" TV show produced. As Mel Brooks said in Spaceballs: Moichandising! Moichandising! Moichandising!

Publisher profits beginning to rise?

Just read an article in Publisher's Weekly indicating that publishers are finding ways to increase their profits. Unfortunately the article doesn't say anything about how they did this, but generally this is probably a good thing.

Hopefully it means publishers are finding more ways to increase income from the content they develop through things like creative special sales and rights deals. Hopefully it doesn't mean that publishers invested less in marketing their books.  The hedge bet is that it is a little bit of a combination of both.

The really drastic changes in the industry came when the corporate chains began to dominate bookselling.  I had the very interesting opportunity to have lunch with the now-former CEO of Borders, Greg Josefowicz. He said, point blank, that their belief was that annual book sales are flat and will continue to be flat essentially forever. Their mission was not to turn this trend around, but to squeeze more profit out of the same volume.

Publishers have been forced to adapt to this economy, and it is great that some seem to be turning a corner.  However, I think that authors really need to be savvy about what is going on. The way I see it, first the chains started to squeeze publishers, next publishers are probably going to have to squeeze authors. This may mean reduced marketing budgets, but I've always felt that publishers will (and probably should) sell more proprietary editions to the chains. If that starts to happen in any significant way, conventional publishing contracts will pay authors less money for more units sold.

Just something to think about.

my website

Don't want to be a bad blogger, but I have to focus on finishing my consulting website today. It has been on my to-do list for weeks. If I don't finish it I will not continue to make money and that would not be a good thing.

In the meantime, go over to Powells book blog - my favorite online bookseller.

sitepoint books

I'm working on a website for a book called Charity on Trial and I wanted to keep up with the current trends in web design, so I bought a book on CSS. Actually it is about the third book on CSS I've bought, but it was the first useful one. The book was published by a unique company called Sitepoint. Their books are all heavily branded and also very useful.

Because it is a book on computer code, it lends itself very nicely to an interactive book/web experience. The book sends you to the company's website where you can download files that support the lessons in the book. In order to get the files you have to answer a question like "what's the last word in chapter 3." Then you supply your email address and they send you a link to where you can download the files. A few minutes later they send you an email thanking you for your order and offering $10 off my next order placed through the publisher's website.

By the time I read the email thanking me, I had made some real progress with the book and was quite satisfied. Next thing you know I am on their site ordering the follow up book and another relavant book because--not only did I get $10 off the order but, if I bought 2 books, I got free shipping too. Woohoo!

Anyway, I'm not telling you this because I have become a Sitepoint shill. I'm noting it because it is such an excellent publishing model. The Sitepoint experience also made me think about the recent debate on Buzz, Balls and Hype about blogging v. flogging. Though this is not a blog issue, the bottom line is that Sitepoint has developed a series of great products that work really well for an audience that they have found a way to get into something of a conversation with.

I was delighted to have something sold to me that I was interested in. This is the beauty of using the internet as a marketing tool. If you are providing great product and you come up with a clever way to speak directly with target consumers, your customers will be happy to hear your sales pitch.

The flogging thing is a problem when the message is second rate and it is being delivvered to lots of people who don't particularly care. That is when, as a reader and consumer, I get annoyed.

I'm not going to lie, I started this blog as a tool to help promote the publishing consulting business that I am trying to build. I don't cook up posts to sell specific services. I also hope that readers will find my publishing insight helpful. And I am only spending time promoting the blog to authors and industry people. Hopefully I am following the Sitepoint model of providing useful content to interested readers.

Little Miss Sunshine

I don't know if anybody really reads this (well, actually I know exactly how many people read it, it isn't that many, and I don't really know who you are or whether you care) but for whoever does, I STRONGLY recommend going to see Little Miss Sunshine. It is the best and funniest movie I have seen in years.

Steve Carell  deserves an Oscar. He was amazing. On par with Paul Giamatti in Sideways. Maybe better.

It is 3:30 am and I should go to sleep now, right?

Self Publishers and Libel

I just read the story in PW about AuthorHouse losing a libel suit. At first I was surprised because from my slightly snobby publisher perspective, I always just thought of places like AuthorHouse as glorified print vendors for the masses.

Since beginning my freelance venture I have done some more research on self-publishing companies. I want my job to be connecting authors with readers using my publishing knowledge without necessarily being a publisher. Self-published authors seem like the perfect market for such a service.

My research lead me to start changing my opinion of self publishing.  Each company has a slightly different version of the same racket, and honestly some aren't so bad. I am particularly intrigued by Lulu. Basically some of these places are very good tools for authors to approach the publication of their book in a different way. Some authors, such as Lars Clausen have used the self publishing system  in a very effective manor. And any book blogger worth their salt knows about POD-DY MOUTH, a blog dedicated to reviewing the best and worst that the self publishing world has to offer (bless her heart, as that seems like a very onerous task to me).

The problem is that self publishing companies need to promote themselves as "publishers" in order to attract clients. But "publishing" is hardly what they do. Self-publishing companies print, they design (sort of), and they open distribution channels. More than anything they dedicate their time signing more authors to feed the machine. What they don't do is read the books they produce. I wonder if AuthorHouse didn't refer to itself as a "publisher" if they would still be held responsible. When I worked at Barricade Books we were sued more than a few times, but no one ever sued our printer.

The last thought on this is unrelated to libel, it is how eerily similar the self-publishing experience is to many author's experiences at "real" publishers. I bet there are some publishers out there that don't even read their own books.  As a matter of fact, I know it.

This all really begs a question of what is publishing? Is it editing? Printing? Designing? Distributing? Promoting? Marketing? I have long argued that publishing is a process of developing a great idea or a great writer into a valuable product. Printing, designing, distributing, and marketing can all be part of that process. But those things can also confuse publishers about what they are really here to do.

Seth Godin

A lot on my mind today. Not feeling much like blogging. Instead I'll just point you in the direction of something I found while poking around the internet last night. Here is Seth Godin's Advice for Authors.

Amen.

Snakes on a Plane

On my 14-hour trip back from LA yesterday I bought Esquire Magazine. Don't ask me why. I am not much for men's magazines, but there was a big article on John McCain that interested me and, well, my flights got all messed up and I was bored.

Anyway, in this issue Chuck Klosterman wrote a non-review of Snakes on a Plane. I call it a non-review because he hadn't even seen the movie. This thoroughly (and probably rightly) enraged my girlfriend, but it was a pretty entertaining piece nonetheless.

He begins the piece with a definition of "populist" which seems somehow relevant to the debate about whether marketing is good or evil which I have been blogging and commenting on a bit of late. Anyway, here's what he said:

People get confused by the term populism, especially when the word is applied to entertainment. People seem to think calling something "populist" means it was purposefully consturcted to be stupid, solely to attract the largest possible audience. This is not accurate. The Beatles are populist. The Godfather is populist. The Bible is populist... You can't design populism--and if you try, you'll inevitably construct the opposite.

I guess what I like about this was the idea that watering down a product isn't neccessarily the route to  making it popular. When applied to books that means have a provocative idea, write a good book, and market it to the people. Marketing isn't about watering down, it is about putting it infront of the right people. If the book is good it will gain traction and the right people see it, it will become popular.

Apparently SOAP (hipster speak for Snakes on a Plane) went the other route--going out of its way to find out via the internet exactly what people want and give it to them. We'll see if it works. If it does, I'm not sure we'll know whether it was because of or in spite of their efforts at forcing populism. But whatever, it is just something to chew on.

The Long Tail and P.O.D.

From Sunday's New York Times:

Yet so far publishers remain wary of the long tail theory, largely because they haven’t figured out how to make money off it.

I've read more than I'd care to admit about the Long Tail, and this quote demonstrates a fairly significant misunderstanding of the concept. I'm not sure if it is the publishers the TImes is referring to that don't understaand, or if it is the Times writer that doesn't understand.

All of the Long Tail success stories are about distributors or virtual retailers. iTunes doesn't develop bands, Netflix doesn't produce films and Amazon doesn't publish books (though I wouldn't be surprised if that is in the near future). It isn't like publishers can "cash in" on the Long Tail. It is really just an opportunity for publishers to understand the changing nature of distribution channels and consumer habits.

As a former (and possibly future) independent publisher, the biggest benefit I've found in the Long Tail is renewed faith that there are plenty of consumers out there who are interested in different ideas.

The other odd thing about the NYT Article is that it launches into a whole discussion about bestselling backlist titles like the Catcher in the Rye or To Kill A Mockingbird. What does this have to do with the Long Tail?  EVERYONE reads these books. They are big hits every year even though they are not new. Publishers can afford to store a ton of physical copies of these books because they make a killing on them every year.

M.J. Rose's discussion on the Long Tail is much more on point. She says:

So what will our future look like if Anderson’s predictions are true and we are facing a Long Tail in publishing?

There very well could be smaller and smaller advances for greater numbers of books with fewer and fewer authors able to make any real money on the sales of those books.

I think that that is what publishers have been doing for years before the idea of the Long Tail was developed. My hope is that good publishers will learn that they don't have to live and die by the hit. I hope publishers will become more selective in their acquisitions, and go out of their way to work with authors to readers who live on the long tail, rather than shoving a bunch of books out the door and hoping one of them becomes a hit.