A Digital Roadmap for Writers

A Digital Roadmap For Writers NZSA AGM Christchurch, 15 May 2010 Martin Taylor Digital Publishing Forum http://digitalpublishing.org.nz [email_address]

Outline
The rise of ebooks
The business of ebooks
Is it time to fire my publisher ?
Will writing change or books die?
A crash course in internet marketing
More if time permits because … there’s more .

How big is this?
This is happening in the midst of a generational shift in technology
Decline of PC, rise of mobile web and “ the cloud”
Proliferation of smart mobile devices connecting to the cloud
standards wars (but has Apple already won?)
Google, Apple, Amazon are early drivers

Music’s iPod moment
Disruptive technology changes the game
Apple sells billions of songs in the face of free
Five years for 5 billion, 1.8 years for next 5 billion
iTunes share now 69% of online music sales (Amazon 8%) and 24% of all music sales in US
Source: MacRumors.com iTunes reaches 10 billion music downloads, 24 Feb 2010

Books’ iPod Moment (courtesy of Amazon’s 90% share) +333% Q4 2009 vs Q4 2008 US trade ebook market growth, 2002-2009 Amazon Kindle launched Sony Reader launched

Skiff Hearst / Plastic Logic Dell Streak Google Android HP Slate Windows 7 Google Nexus One Android Notion Ink Adam Android / Pixel Qi

Speed of consumer technology adoption Source: NY Times

Is this already a one horse race? Source: Flurry.com Mobile App Development by Platform

The iPad: Is it a new paradigm for presentation of digital works?
iPad is part of a new digital paradigm
Multi-touch: Pinch, swipe, tap (no mouse or keyboard)
Multiple media types
Optimised for media
Connected
The sizzle to win consumers, media
Source: YouTube, woodwing.com, the wonderfactory.com, zinio.com

Illustrated publications and the iPad

Who sells ebooks
So far, a small number of mostly global players
Amazon, Apple, Google Editions (Jul), Kobo (NZ)
High barriers to entry compared to bookstores
Will ebooks be dominated by a few big players ?
cf Music: Apple has 70% share of paid downloads
What are the barriers today for booksellers?
High technology costs and expertise
Difficulty acquiring ebooks and managing metadata
Scale needed to compete with large global players
High security and trust requirements from publishers
Google Editions might reduce entry barriers

What sells? Source: O’Reilly Research, iBooks downloads during April 2010

How much should the ebook edition of a $30 paper book cost? Source: Digital Publishing Forum: digitalpublishing.org.nz – online poll conducted February-March 2009

What’s driving ebook pricing?
Major publishers typically set ebook price today equal to cheapest p-book edition
But with Amazon’s discounting, US$9.99 was becoming the de facto retail price
April 3, 2010 it all changed: the agency model
Catalyst was Apple’s iPad launch
Means publisher sets selling price, no discounting allowed, all sites will have same retail price , retailer gets a commission
Could create a more diverse market with more retail channels
Will it help to keep prices up? Consumers will decide.
Rental or subscriptions might also work
“ Owning” books will become less important
Need for multiple price points in a market
How will libraries fit into this new world?
About 60%+ of a print book’s cost is distribution

Average selling price in iBooks (US$) Source: O’Reilly Research, iBooks downloads during April 2010

Royalties: Print vs ebook
In general, ebook royalties are a higher %
Unclear how close ‘e’ price will stay to ‘p’
But volumes might rise, eg more ‘pass along’ readers might pay
Consumers expect lower prices
Most publisher and author costs are similar
Industry must remove costs from distribution, not author/publisher, to finance this
Royalties 10.50 15% net 14.00 20% net 30% 43% Retailer $100 $100 RRP 17.50 25% net 9.98 17.5% net $10.00 $10.00 10% RRP $70 $57 Net Ebook Print

Digital Contracts
“ Wait and see” is a bad approach for both authors and the industry
Better to limit term than to do nothing
eg three years then a review
Typical royalties 15-25% of net receipts
Licensed editions vs publisher editions
Higher rate should apply to licensed editions

Contracts (cont.d)
Should you separate digital from print rights?
Useful negotiating tactic, perhaps … but most publishers will shun this and difficult to manage
Who does promotion? Could reduce incentives at a critical time for a new book
Coordination: You should probably aim for simultaneous release of p & ebook
Potential for duplicated editing and production costs
More likely to work for older backlist
Revised NZSA contract with digital update is due shortly

Should I insist on Digital Rights Management?
Probably, but:
DRM reduces copying by encrypting an ebook
Special software needed at reader end to decrypt
There are many incompatible DRM systems
Same format can be incompatible if different DRM system used
Adobe DRM is ‘open’ option (open for anyone to buy)
Publisher will almost certainly propose DRM
Limits e-reader devices and sales channels
Makes it harder to build audience for new author
Do sales lost to piracy outweigh sales lost from DRM?

Is it time to fire your publisher? KEY: ↑ More important to author ↓ Less important ↔ Same ↑ ↑ ↔ ↔ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↔ ↓ ↑ .. and digital? Marketing to readers Sell other rights Collect and distribute royalties Marketing to booksellers Distribution Sales to booksellers Editing and production Provide finance Selection and endorsement What publishers do … for print

So you’ve fired your publisher. What next?
The good news: Self-publishing is easier than ever (but success probably isn’t)
Amazon ’s Digital Text Platform
Receive 30-70%, Kindle format (DRM)
Smashwords .com
Receive 85%, ePub format (no DRM)
Also has Publisher option for multi-author list
Lulu .com
US$4-5 per download, ePub, Adobe DRM optional

Self publishers selling well in Apple’s iBooks store Source: O’Reilly Research, iBooks downloads during April 2010

Making an ebook, made easy
Options
Conversion from print PDF via conversion service (work usually done in India)
Upload Word file to an automated system
eg Amazon, Smashwords, Lulu. Aimed at self-publishers.
Fine while production expectations are low
D-I-Y , eg using Adobe InDesign, or Calibre
Technical skills needed (InDesign, HTML, CSS)

Making an ebook, made easy
For books, recommended formats today are ePub and PDF
PDF is a poor choice for new mobile devices
Useful for print including print on demand (POD)
‘ Legacy’ format for complex layouts and PC-based access
ePub is a variation of web technology (HTML)
Best suited today for long form narrative works
Next ePub version 2.1 (due 2012) will be better for highly illustrated/complex layout works

Will writing change?
More social, less solo . Wisdom? of the crowd
More critics  Internet brings opinions to the world
Shared annotations and marginalia will be an increasing trend
Public writing process: creating new works, in real time, with their readers contributing, eg O’Reilly
Continuous updates: ‘ Literature as a service ’
Usability will be important
The ‘vook’: a multimedia extravaganza
There should always be a place for works conceived and executed solo
Multimedia is inevitable (and good) for some genres

Will the printed book die?
Probably , over a generation or so
Hard to see how print will compete as reading devices improve
Economics and usability will cement digital’s place
Preservation issues still to be solved
‘ Beautiful books’ might remain a thriving niche
Print on demand will extend print’s life
Will long form narrative works survive?
Absolutely, perhaps stronger than ever
More opportunities to read = more reading

A crash course in internet marketing What you need to do (but, alas, not how to do it)

The Toolset
Website or blog
Search
Organic and paid
Email (‘old’ but still good  )
Social media
Metadata
The unglamorous but high payback foundation

Getting found , getting bought
Metadata (‘data about data’) describes your book to both machines and people
It contains bibliographic information, rights and usage data, and sales information
It’s key to being discovered by search engines (Google or a site’s own search)
And it contains your primary sales pitch for humans
So make it accurate, complete and rich

Search
Paid Search – ‘Pay Per Click’ advertising
Google adwords, YouTube etc
Organic search
Getting high up in the search results
A big subject but for the most important thing – fresh, relevant content - writers will be better at than most
Start with list of key words and key phrases searchers will use to find you

SEO Top 5: Tune Your Website
Use keywords in Title (<title> tag)
Title shows on the top bar of visitor’s browser
Useful, unique and fresh content
Keywords in first 50-100 words of HTML page
Use keywords in Heading 1 (<h1> tag)
Heading 2-6 (<h2> to <h6> tags) also useful
Keyword use in page links
both internal links and external (in-bound) links
Site design: useful hierarchy , text-based links , breadcrumbs, sitemap (and XML Sitemap), keywords in domain name and directory structure
Ranking based loosely on data from: http://www.seomoz.org/article/search-ranking-factors

Social Media
Connects people to friends, business colleagues and interest groups
Marketing power is in the potential to dramatically increase ‘Word of Mouth’
Facebook and Twitter (LinkedIn for business) are the best to focus on today
A Facebook Page or Group is an alternative to a blog or website
Twitter is a great way to share updates and interesting links about your field of interest

Social media (cont.d)
First principle of social media: “ Give and you shall receive”
People will follow you, spread the word, if you offer good information, opinion, etc
Be very respectful: hard sell is a turn-off
Social networks need to be maintained regularly (but don’t overdo it)
Automation helps you update multiple media
But don’t get an ‘automated feel’: let people know there’s a human behind it. Personality matters .

Instant website A free website in 5 steps

A free website in 5 steps
Go to WordPress.com
Sign Up for a free account then Login
Go to Appearances | Themes
Choose a theme (site design) and Activate it
Go to Settings | General
Add your site’s Title and Tagline
Go to Posts | Add New
Write your first story and Publish!

Add PAGES for static information

Instant website (cont.d)
(Optional) Go to Pages | Add New
Write pages for static info (eg Home, About Us, Contact Us)
Go to Settings | Reading
For Front Page Display select A static page
Choose a Page for the Front page and for the Posts page (ie your news/blog articles)
Save Changes . You’re done!

Internet Marketing Summary
The internet puts more marketing and selling tools in authors’ hands
You still need time and ongoing commitment to use it (after the day job)
Authors committing to use these tools should expect strong support from their publishers
Driving traffic, creating digital resources to use on their sites, etc
This will become an increasingly important part of assessing which publisher is best for you

Thanks! Martin Taylor web: digitalpublishing.org.nz email: martin@digitalstrategies.co.nz blog: activitypress.com/ ereport

A Digital Roadmap for Writers

by Digital Publishing Forum NZ on May 20, 2010

Accessibility

Categories

Tags

Upload Details

Usage Rights

1 Embed 7

Statistics

A Digital Roadmap for Writers — Presentation Transcript