Michael Tamblyn's session #toccon

1. Cracking the Nonfiction Code
@kobo @mtamblyn #TOCCON

4. In print…
Fiction Non-fiction

5. In print, with kids books…
Fiction Non-fiction

6. In digital…
Fiction Non-fiction

7. Why?

9. Devices
Customers
Price
Narwhals
Competition from other sources
Gift economy of the book
Gift economy of the ereader

10. 25 minutes

11. Data

12. Data
vs.
Fun

13. Data
vs.
Fun
(or at least Conscious)

14. “I hold the rights for the world’s largest
collection of narwhal field guides and
am going to decide what to price them
at the end of your talk.”

15. “I have spent the last two days learning
everything there is to know about
epub3. Entertain me or I will hang
myself with a lanyard.”

16. Difficult balance

17. Hard data.

18. price

19. share

20. With interludes of Semi-substantiated
speculation

21. W, Empress of Content & Pricing Data

22. About Kobo

23. 2.5 million titles
7 million customers
Kobo eReader Touch
Kobo Vox
iPad, iPhone, Android,
Blackberry

25. eBooks to almost 200 countries

26. and some countries that only
questionably exist

27. Acquiring content in 25 countries

28. Merchandising in 9 countries
(US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Hong
Kong, Germany, France, Spain, Netherlands)

29. Merchandising in 9 countries
(US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Hong
Kong, Germany, France, Spain, Netherlands)

30. What is the fiction/non-fiction
split?

31. Digital vs. Print Share of Purchase
Fic$on
Romance
221%
Fic$on
General
&
Other*
115%
Fic$on
Mystery
&
Detec$ve
120%
Fic$on
Fantasy
67%
Nonfic$on
RELIGION
6%
Nonfic$on
BIOGRAPHY
&
AUTOBIOGRAPHY
-­‐16%
Nonfic$on
BUSINESS
&
ECONOMICS
-­‐52%
Nonfic$on
HEALTH
&
FITNESS
-­‐54%
Nonfic$on
FAMILY
&
RELATIONSHIPS
-­‐63%
Juvenile
JUVENILE
FICTION
-­‐66%
Nonfic$on
SELF-­‐HELP
-­‐71%
Nonfic$on
HUMOR
-­‐72%
Nonfic$on
BODY,
MIND
&
SPIRIT
-­‐74%
Nonfic$on
SPORTS
&
RECREATION
-­‐83%
Nonfic$on
TRAVEL
-­‐89%
Nonfic$on
REFERENCE
-­‐90%
Nonfic-on
COOKING
-­‐92%
Juvenile
JUVENILE
NONFICTION
-­‐96%
Nonfic-on
COMICS
&
GRAPHIC
NOVELS
-­‐98%

32. What is moving easily to digital:
Original stories à Fiction
Opinion, analysis and expertise vs. data and
information.
à Biography, History, Business
“Proprietary knowledge”
à Diets and health guides, self-help, instruction

33. Why are some categories significantly underindexed?
How many of them are richly illustrated with complex
formats?
à Constrained by supply in digital, still not a lot of
titles available vs. print
How many are given as gifts?
à Constrained by behaviour)

34. The categories at the bottom of the list:
those in competition with free ad-supported
web resources (cookbooks, travel, etc.)
à if you have a web-connected device to
read on, you’ll use it…

35. There are definitely opportunities
for children’s books

36. Gift shifting from
“book”
to
“device to read books”

37. Could we do a better job of on a
device for kids?

38. Sure.

39. Are there non-fiction devices?

40. Yes.

41. Not about screen size.

42. or OS.

43. “Where the boys are…”

44. % of Library in Non-fiction
Kobo EReader 2.0
iPhone
Desktop Client - Windows
Kobo Website
Kobo Vox
Android App - downloadable
Kobo Touch
Desktop Client - OSX
iPad
Samsung Galaxy Tab
Blackberry Playbook
HTC Android Smartphone
Desktop Client - Linux
0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00%

45. Non-fiction Pricing

46. Price Points by # of ISBNs in Catalog

47. 0 - 0.99
1 - 1.99
2 - 2.99
3 - 3.99
4 - 4.99
5 - 5.99
6 - 6.99
7 - 7.99
8 - 8.99
9 - 9.99
BACKLIST
10 - 10.99
11 - 11.99
12 - 12.99
13 - 13.99
14 - 14.99
FRONTLIST 15 - 15.99
16 - 16.99
17 - 17.99
US Non-fiction pricing vs. unit sales
18 - 18.99
19 - 19.99
20 - 20.99
21 +

48. (digital non-fiction is a backlist
business)

49. 0 - 0.99
1 - 1.99
2 - 2.99
3 - 3.99
4 - 4.99
5 - 5.99
6 - 6.99
7 - 7.99
8 - 8.99
9 - 9.99
BACKLIST
10 - 10.99
11 - 11.99
12 - 12.99
13 - 13.99
14 - 14.99
FRONTLIST 15 - 15.99
16 - 16.99
17 - 17.99
18 - 18.99
19 - 19.99
Canada – Non-fiction Pricing by Unit Sales
20 - 20.99
21 +

50. 0 - 0.99
1 - 1.99
2 - 2.99
3 - 3.99
4 - 4.99
5 - 5.99
6 - 6.99
7 - 7.99
8 - 8.99
9 - 9.99
BACKLIST
10 - 10.99
11 - 11.99
12 - 12.99
13 - 13.99
14 - 14.99
FRONTLIST 15 - 15.99
16 - 16.99
17 - 17.99
18 - 18.99
19 - 19.99
Australia - Non-fiction Pricing by Unit Sales
20 - 20.99
21 +

51. 0 - 0.99
1 - 1.99
2 - 2.99
3 - 3.99
4 - 4.99
5 - 5.99
6 - 6.99
7 - 7.99
8 - 8.99
9 - 9.99
BACKLIST
10 - 10.99
11 - 11.99
12 - 12.99
Biography
13 - 13.99
14 - 14.99
FRONTLIST 15 - 15.99
16 - 16.99
17 - 17.99
18 - 18.99
19 - 19.99
20 - 20.99
21 +

52. 0 - 0.99
1 - 1.99
2 - 2.99
3 - 3.99
4 - 4.99
5 - 5.99
6 - 6.99
7 - 7.99
8 - 8.99
9 - 9.99
BACKLIST
10 - 10.99
11 - 11.99
Business
12 - 12.99
13 - 13.99
14 - 14.99
FRONTLIST 15 - 15.99
16 - 16.99
17 - 17.99
18 - 18.99
19 - 19.99
20 - 20.99
21 +

53. 0 - 0.99
1 - 1.99
2 - 2.99
3 - 3.99
4 - 4.99
5 - 5.99
6 - 6.99
7 - 7.99
8 - 8.99
9 - 9.99
BACKLIST
10 - 10.99
11 - 11.99
12 - 12.99
13 - 13.99
Food & Cooking
14 - 14.99
FRONTLIST 15 - 15.99
16 - 16.99
17 - 17.99
18 - 18.99
19 - 19.99
20 - 20.99
21 +

54. 0 - 0.99
1 - 1.99
2 - 2.99
3 - 3.99
4 - 4.99
5 - 5.99
6 - 6.99
7 - 7.99
8 - 8.99
9 - 9.99
BACKLIST
10 - 10.99
11 - 11.99
12 - 12.99
13 - 13.99
Health & Fitness
14 - 14.99
FRONTLIST 15 - 15.99
16 - 16.99
17 - 17.99
18 - 18.99
19 - 19.99
20 - 20.99
21 +

55. 0 - 0.99
1 - 1.99
2 - 2.99
3 - 3.99
4 - 4.99
5 - 5.99
6 - 6.99
BACKLIST
7 - 7.99
8 - 8.99
9 - 9.99
FRONTLIST 10 - 10.99
Comics & Graphic Novels
12 - 12.99
13 - 13.99
15 - 15.99
21 +

56. Is there a significant self-
publishing market?

57. not yet.

58. 7% of all unit sales self-pub

59. non-fiction
1%
self-pub

60. Price Decay in Non-fiction

61. 70.00%
12.31 All Non-fiction
60.00%
8.82
50.00%
8.70
40.00%
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
30 60 90 120 150 180 210 240 270 300 330 365
% of Total Quantity Sold Average Price Linear (Average Price)

62. 70.00%
Business & Non-fiction
13.81
60.00%
50.00% 11.85 11.45
40.00%
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
30 60 90 120 150 180 210 240 270 300 330 365
% of Total Quantity Sold Average Price Linear (Average Price)

63. 70.00%
Biography
12.42 11.42
60.00%
10.60
50.00%
40.00%
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
30 60 90 120 150 180 210 240 270 300 330 365
% of Total Quantity Sold Average Price Linear (Average Price)

64. 70.00%
13.24 History
60.00%
11.50
50.00% 9.59
40.00%
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
30 60 90 120 150 180 210 240 270 300 330 365
% of Total Quantity Sold Average Price Linear (Average Price)

65. 70.00%
Cooking
60.00%
11.46 9.65
50.00% 9.61
40.00%
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
30 60 90 120 150 180 210 240 270 300 330 365
% of Total Quantity Sold Average Price Linear (Average Price)

66. Health & Fitness
70.00%
60.00%
10.85
10.59
50.00% 9.11
40.00%
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
30 60 90 120 150 180 210 240 270 300 330 365
% of Total Quantity Sold Average Price Linear (Average Price)

67. Cracking the Nonfiction Code
@kobo @mtamblyn #TOCCON