For Digital Publishing, Love is a Battlefield
Quartet Press
June 2009- September 2009
R.I.P
So many of us had high hopes for this fledgling publisher aiming to advance the digital eBook revolution, but alas the Age of Quartet Press was not to be. As disappointing as this is we must all press on, keeping our collective eyes on the prize.
FYI: that pun just slipped out, I swear. And I’m sorry.
Oh, who am I kidding? I’m not ready to move forward. I need closure so we’re going to re-hash starting with why Quartet was so promising in this era of cynicism and hopefully, discovering how to fashion a digital model that works.
The potential:
• Dedicated to producing affordable, high quality eBooks in all major formats; this is giving the readers what they want, which helps to build a good reputation and brand loyalty. Being associated with the headaches that come from misspellings, poor editing and price-gouging will not endear authors to their fans.
• An atmosphere of transparency and integrity; posting one’s contract on their website may not be new in ePublishing, but it’s something that traditional publishers won’t consider. Being upfront with what you plan to offer and expect in return says you are confident that your terms are fair and equitable for all involved and are willing to let authors decide before potentially wasting everyone’s time. Being open and upfront with your business partners?! This just might catch on.
• 35% royalty rate in lieu of an advance; for those who are able to market their books well and don’t rely on advances to pay their electric bill and you know, eat, this is quite exciting (the range can be anywhere between 20-50% in ePublishing and 8-15% with paper publishing).
• Does not require right of first refusal for subsequent work; if authors don’t like their initial experience with Quartet, they aren’t obligated to participate in future business dealings. Again, this speaks to the publisher’s character.
The eh, not so great:
• Romance is the only genre accepted.
• Marketing support offered is questionable; there doesn’t seem to be much difference here between them and traditional publishers. Quartet’s contract states that PR training and comprehensive marketing support will be available to their authors, but if that support amounts to setting up an author website/Twitter/Facebook account, etc. and leaving the author alone to maintain it, how much help is that really? If however, the publishers were charged with the legwork of setting up interviews, guest blog entries and generally keeping the book in the spotlight while the author’s responsibility was to provide the content and personality worthy of maintaining said attention, such a division of labor could be fine. The posted terms are too vague to form an educated opinion.
• Extended contractual obligation; the average contract length among ePublishers is 1-3 years, whereas Quartet asks for 5 years. Obviously, a judgment call for the author.
• No word on how DRM would be addressed.
Okay, so Quartet wasn’t perfect. For the right kind of author, however, it was an improvement and certainly an alternative to what traditional publishers offer. Being treated as a partner by your publisher and having more control of what happens to your book after it’s been written is attractive. Making the digital experience user friendly by treating eBooks as quality products worthy of striking cover art and proper editing/formatting as opposed to an ancillary revenue stream afterthought, and making the purchasing process easy to navigate is desirable to the consumer because it reinforces the idea that people are getting value for their money. “Little things” like these are important and are to some extent being ignored in mainstream publishing.
Quartet should get a gold star for its intentions, but intentions don’t pay the bills. This is where our fair publisher seems to have lost its way: the financials. It’s a bit of a mystery why a company of seasoned publishing professionals would advertise and open for business before working out the bugs in their business model, but as I don’t have any more specifics than what Kassia has provided, I’m not qualified to comment further.
Assuming the core financing has been properly assessed and is in place, and a publisher has enough money to pay its staff, purchase equipment and manage its fixed costs, how does a company fall off the track so quickly? In Quartet’s case it seems to be a case of enthusiasm overshadowing preparation, but let’s talk generally. What are the unknowns for which a publisher needs to plan? Off the top of my head I’d say distribution, price point and advertising/marketing.
Before we go into the distribution aspect, let’s delve into why digital has some advantages over paper publishing. First, books are files that are stored in a database, so no warehouse required and no worries about the book ever going out of print. Also, books are downloadable for instant consumer gratification. This all sounds pretty on paper, but though the eBook segment of the reader population is growing, it’s still pretty darn small in terms of generated sales. In other words, eBooks aren’t mainstream yet so paper does matter. So what can a smart ePublisher do to generate more revenue? Print On Demand. POD is good for small print runs (and small publishing houses) because books are generated quickly on an as needed basis, set-up costs are low and it can help to manage risk. The downside is the potential stigma of POD, but we’ll get into that in a minute.
The ideal sales scenario for an eBook would be to sell directly to consumers from the publisher’s website. This way maximum profit is shared between the author and publisher (the internet version of buying local). From a practical standpoint, this may not work for many consumers who like convenience. One stop shops like Amazon or even online bookstores like Books-A-Million have an advantage over a single publisher in terms of selection (many purchases from multiple publishers can be made at once). This is where a key decision needs to be made: does the publisher go the third party route in lieu of potential exposure or does it risk killing the book in obscurity? Utilizing the services of a bookseller, online or bricks and mortar, seriously cuts into profits. Online stores expect huge discounts in exchange for stocking one’s products, while bricks and mortar stores expect similar AND the right to return unwanted merchandise and advertising fees for decent placement. Distribution is serious business.
No less serious is the issue of price point determination. As eBooks are new territory, there really isn’t a standardized model on how to set prices other than to follow Amazon’s lead, which is the current practice. Certain factors should play a role, like word count and aesthetics, but what about other variables such as big-ticket authors or new releases? Before a publisher can choose a method of distribution, it needs to understand how much its customers are willing to pay for the product. In the end, publishers, it really is about them, not you.
Completing this trifecta of financial dyspepsia is the need for targeted advertising and marketing. Oh, the words we love to hate. Like it or not, if no one knows about your books, no one is going to buy them. Sometimes even knowing about them isn’t enough; people need a reason to choose you. Skimping on advertising/marketing is where many publishers go wrong. It’s a mistake very few people can afford to make long term and yet in 2009, here we are.
Now that we have a better understanding as to why the publishing industry is on suicide watch, what are our options in this brave new world of digitalization? With a good understanding of the business in one’s corner, a healthy dose of creativity and a penchant for risk-taking, the future is surprisingly optimistic. I’m just spit-balling here, but as distribution is such a huge concern and complaints so high in the industry about taking financial hits from the middlemen, why are we so willing to bend over and smile at their pleasure? Isn’t there anything a publisher can do to limit this insanity? Even on a smaller scale improvements can still be made; affiliate marketing (using one website to drive traffic to another) comes to mind. I’m not saying it would happen overnight, but if a publishing house could get placement on enough websites targeted to its customer base (I’m talking hundreds, if not thousands of websites) its future could be quite lucrative. Yes, a cut of the profits would still go to the affiliate and possibly state taxes, but the percentage would be reasonable. That’s just one cost effective alternative; those of an enterprising nature will doubtless pursue more.
Unfortunately, this doesn’t solve our need to distribute physical copies of books, which is still the dominant format. One of the best things about POD is the fact that there are no returns- ever. This is an important part of the new business model that, while making bookstores cringe, should be exploited. Think of it as a receipt saying All Sales Are Final. Obviously if something has a manufacturer’s defect you replace it, but this model would put consumers in the position of committing to their purchases. In the business world, not the publishing world, this is considered reasonable. Another radical idea would be to re-think how to sell to customers. Rather than passively wait for them to come to you one by one, why not try selling physical books in bulk to a single customer? Selling in bulk would be easier for non-fiction titles, but if marketed correctly, is still possible for novels. The trick is finding the right buyer for what you’re selling, which many people claim to not have enough time to do. Consider this then: if you spend three months in marketing to sell 5,000 copies (let’s be generous here) of a book to individuals and the author next to you spends six to eight months in marketing to one company that buys 20,000 copies, which is the better deal? Wait, before anyone takes exception to such an outrageous claim, let me state clearly that when it comes to advertising or marketing there are no guarantees. Ever. These two areas of business rely on risk and calculated guesswork, which is pretty disconcerting since they’re such important pieces of the puzzle. The point is that just because an idea sounds outrageous or isn’t currently being utilized, it doesn’t make it wrong. Research, people, research! Figure out what doesn’t work and experiment, but by no means ever give in to the status quo because someone cries, “Impossible!” Things are only impossible until someone figures out how to make them happen.
Damn, this is a long article. We’re almost home, I promise. As stated previously, eBook pricing is a tricky area in which to compete. It’s in the retail industry’s (Amazon, Target, etc.) best interest to undercut the publisher, so basing your business model on rock bottom prices is probably a bad idea. A smart publisher will figure out how best to remain competitive, while adding value to the product. Tiered pricing of eBooks is something that could be explored. For example, a basic price could be charged for a professionally produced eBook for those only interested in the story. For the fans, a premium version could be offered with the kinds of bells and whistles you’d get with a DVD movie and then some. This is where there’s money to be made in eBooks: the extras. Lots of potential growth here for the creatively inclined.
And then there’s our red-headed stepchild, POD. This is how the book industry often sees our loveable misfit. POD does have many positive qualities, but its reputation for being used in a half-assed fashion precedes it. Questions of quality, both in content and editing, have been legitimately raised due in large part to self-publishing companies more interested in collecting author fees rather than publishing good books. If this isn’t enough of a concern, the per-unit cost of POD books is usually higher than those that are traditionally printed. These two points alone make placement in bookstores difficult. For those publishers looking for an opportunity to showcase their legendary leadership skills, here you go.
Finally, we come back to the advertising/marketing portion of our program. Think of this segment as your invitation to the ball: no one’s going to know how pretty your dress is if you can’t get into the party. Advertising alerts people to your presence and makes the introductions, marketing is the charming banter that inspires prospective suitors to keep your dance card filled. It’s a synergistic relationship that, when done properly, will earn you a fan club. However, once you get that attention, you’ll need to keep smiling when someone steps on your toes and laugh at yet another not-so-funny anecdote when all you really want to do is go home. Neglecting to maintain the relationship with these new fans risks alienating and disappointing those you wanted to attract. This is why coming up with a strategy is so important at the outset. Your goal is to keep that connection while attracting more and more people into your circle. In other words: you must engage your fans. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to inspire people to act in a positive way on your behalf.
Publishers and authors need to be clear in their own minds about what they want from people. The obvious desire is to get people to buy your books, but is that all you need? No. You want people to recommend your books. You want their help in making it easier to get your books into their hands. You want fans to tell you what isn’t working so you can fix problems before they go looking for something better. Realistically, how many copies of your book is one person expected to buy? What happens to fans between now and the release date for the next book? Do you just ignore them and hope they’ll come back when you’re ready? Of course not, you continue marketing your brand in a way that’s meaningful to them.
As obvious as this may seem, marketing your brand is not the same as shameless self-promotion. Twitter and social networks are notorious for failing to understand this. Endless, unsolicited offers to buy your products or links to your articles amount to spam, not effective marketing. Marketing is a continuing conversation that ebbs and flows. If you don’t have anything going on at the moment, offer to answer questions, hold a weird contest, recommend authors you like. You give to them, and if you do it well, they will give back to you. No one wants to be on the wrong end of a one-sided conversation. Use your brand wisely.
Going back to the beginning I unintentionally implied that up for presentation would be a shiny new digital business model, complete with all necessary steps and considerations, and ready for implementation. Yeah, well that didn’t happen for two reasons: 1) I’m an author not a publisher; I don’t want to start another career and 2) publishing is in the middle of an LSD haze. This is a time of mind expansion and experimentation; publishers are still trying to figure out what they want to be and where they fit in this environment. Lots and lots of changes are going on, scaring some and exciting others. Not to mix metaphors, but it took time for the shoe to find Cinderella. That’s what’s going on in digital publishing; we’re all trying to help the Prince Charmings of the world find their way. Someday soon, there will again be dancing.
