How Indie Ebooks Will Transform Future of Publishing (presented at NYU Summer Publishing Institute)

My background (and biases)

The story behind Smashwords
Co-authored Boob Tube , a novel about soap operas
Rejected by every NYC publisher
Decided publishing was broken.
Acquisition decisions based on perceived commercial merit
Print supply chain broken
Publishers unable to take risk on every author
Readers shut out of process
Smashwords solution
Create free ebook publishing and distribution platform to allow authors to bypass publishers

Indie ebooks published at Smashwords * projected, based on 7/10 runrate 140 6,000 15,000 (July) 50,000 6,700 90 2,700 20,000

A RECKLESSLY BRIEF HISTORY OF PUBLISHING

In the beginning… … there were no words

… and then Words were invented

… and then monastic scribes became the first mass production printing presses

… and then monks added illumination

… and then Gutenberg did moveable type

… which allowed commercial publishers to develop large mass market businesses

PUBLISHERS WERE HAPPY FOR MANY DECADES BECAUSE THEY CONTROLLED THE MEANS OF BOOK PRODUCTION AND OF DISTRIBUTION

BUT THEN THE INTERNET HAPPENED

… and Amazon happened
Massive bookstore in the sky
Amazon did to big chain book retailers what the chains did to indie bookstores
Unlimited selection +
+ Convenience
+ Low prices
= Happy customers
Leveled the playing field for indie authors

… and print self-publishing happened
Free and low cost
allowed anyone to publish
Democratized distribution and reach

… and ebooks happened
No paper
Self-pubbed ebooks
Instant publishing online
Distribution even more democratized for indie authors

AND INDIE PROPONENTS CHEERED, “INTERNET + CHEAP & EASY PUBLISHING + DEMOCRATIZED DISTRIBUTION = PUBLISHING BLISS FOR ALL”

AND PUBLISHERS RESPONDED, “IT’S OKAY, BECAUSE WE’RE SUPER FABULOUS”

… and they were right. Publishers are super fabulous
Employ smart, passionate people who love books
Relationships with the biggest authors
Acquire great books, which they make even greater
Strong distribution relationships
Strong promotional and selling ability

AND THEN PUBLISHERS ADDED, “BESIDES, SELF-PUBBED VANITY CR*P DOESN’T SELL”

… and they were right
For now at least

… but many publishers don’t see the gathering storm up ahead …
READERS (CUSTOMERS!)
Relish greater diversity of choice, lower cost
Don’t value publishers as much as publishers value publishers
AUTHORS
Often write for reasons different than publishers publish
Ebooks are blowing the distribution doors wide open for indie authors
Great authors are overlooked because of a myopic, lemming-approach to publishing

CHAPTER 2 It’s tough being a publisher ooh, pretty!

… publishers take enormous risks
Pay authors in advance
Can’t predict demand, so many books flop
Broken supply chain, huge return rates
Must swing for the fences because it’s a hit business

… and shoulder big expenses

… bean counters come to the rescue to manage operations and cut costs
Limit risks on unproven or midlist authors
Acquire only authors with established platforms
Require authors to shoulder more of the editing and marketing burden
“Hit” mentality ironically forces publishers to chase dollars, chase bigger deals

… and self-preservation kicks in, causing publishers to act less like publishers
Adopt customer-unfriendly policies
Windowing and scarcity tactics
High prices
DRM
Adopt author-unfriendly policies
Take fewer chances on unproven authors
Rights grabs, digital + print
Tougher rights reversions
More celebrity books
Lower advances, lower royalties

When publishers act less like publishers, authors start questioning why they need a publisher

Against this backdrop, publishers are ill-prepared to cope with big macro trends on horizon

BIG TRENDS THAT WILL RESHAPE PUBLISHING

TREND: Bookselling moving to the Web

Bookselling moving to the Web
Customer drivers:
Price
Convenience
Selection
Indie books displayed side by side with trad. books
If brick & mortar disappears, publishers lose key value proposition: access to distribution

Percentage of book purchases made online vs B&M, P- and E- Brick & Mortar Web Today?

TREND: Ebooks to overtake print

Ebooks to overtake print? Print books Ebooks Today?

Reading moving to screens
Screen reading offers more pleasurable experience
will get better, faster, cheaper
Ebooks trump p-books in price, convenience, immediacy and (eventually) selection
Paper is passé
“paper is what you wipe with” (Zoe Winters)

Ebooks as percentage of overall trade book sales (U.S.) Source: Compiled by Smashwords from Association of American Publishers 2003-2009, 2010 represents annualized January 2010 results reported by AAP/IDPF

TREND: Publishers compete with Authors

Authors become publishers
Tools to publish and distribute available to all
Equal access to digital shelf space
Authors take risks, reap 40-100% of retail price, vs. 5-12%
More professional authors will go indie

Number of books published indie vs. traditional Indie books Today? New trad. books

TREND: Content explosion

Content explosion
Unlimited Internet content alternatives
Indie ebooks
Zombie books
Used books
OOP resurrected via ebooks and P.O.D
Out of copyright public domain ebooks

Content explosion Indie books Online alt content Today? Zombie books New trad. books

How Publishers can Succeed

Get to know your customer
ADHD
Eliminate complexity, assist discoverability
Frugal
Offer range of affordable content options
Discerning
Offer quality content
Social
Social media-enable books

Get closer to your customer
Sell direct, but remember you’re an island
Expand ebook distribution channels to reach customers
Digital shelves everywhere
Obscurity amid crush of alternative content choices is bigger threat to publishers than piracy

Leverage customer as extension of sales and marketing team
Book selling has always been about W.O.M.
Customers decide what sells
Catalyze community
Give customers something to talk about and share

Do for authors what they cannot (or will not) do for themselves
Be a publisher (out-publish indies)
Acquire, edit, polish, package, promote, distribute, sell, run backoffice
Cross sell across customer database
Build segmented email database of your readers
Exclusive events
Give authors tools to assist marketing

Eliminate friction
Be the lubricant, not the sand
Examine every facet of your publishing policies and ask:
“Are we doing everything possible to make it easier for our customers to discover, sample, purchase, enjoy and talk about our books?”
Eliminate sand
High prices, windowing, DRM, limited distribution and scarcity

Final words

Final words
Indie ebooks will shift power in publishing to authors and readers
Authors will determine what’s published, and readers will determine what’s read
Scarcity tactics will backfire
Speed of publishing will increase
Traditional and indie publishers face unprecedented opportunity to reach readers
Unprecedented risk as well

Thank you for listening! Q&A Where to find Mark Coker: Web: www.smashwords.com Blog: blog.smashwords.com HuffPo: huffingtonpost.com/mark-coker Twitter: @ markcoker Email: first initial second initial at smashwords dot com

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How Indie Ebooks Will Transform Future of Publishing (presented at NYU Summer Publishing Institute)

by Smashwords, Inc. on Jul 24, 2010

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How Indie Ebooks Will Transform Future of Publishing (presented at NYU Summer Publishing Institute) — Presentation Transcript