The View From AuthorHouse

Participants in the 2005 Book Summit: Industry Leaders Discussing the Future of Publishing in a Flat World are being asked for their views. Book Summit checked in with AuthorHouse President-CEO Bryan S. Smith and Vice President W. Herbert Senft II. AuthorHouse bills itself as the world's largest self-publishing house, having published more than 27,000 titles.

1. What are the implications to the industry with more books being sold beyond the bookstore?

As the book-buying public continues to become more oriented toward Internet-based shopping and purchasing, and as authors and publishers become more adept at internet marketing, there will be a decreased dependence on established books sellers as the primary sales channel.

Relying on print-on-demand for distribution also allows for books with small but targeted audiences to be produced in a cost effective way. These books will also rely on sales channels other than the bookstore, thereby making the traditional bookstore increasingly less important in the larger book marketplace.

2. What do you see as the most pressing issues facing distribution of digitally printed books?

There is an automatic assumption from the established players in the book trade that digitally printed books are of lesser quality than traditionally created and printed books. As a greater range of authors turn to leveraging print-on-demand, traditional book publishers and sellers will increasingly risk missing great opportunities because of this viewpoint.

The cost of printing is still a disadvantage for digitally printed books, forcing some of these books to have a higher price point than would be ideal for their target markets. Additional work with the technology needs to be made to continue to reduce the costs to bring them more in line with traditional print runs.

3. What would it take to get digitally printed books into the mainstream distribution channel?

The book trade will need to adapt its thinking and start to look at the marketability of individual books on their own merits as opposed to automatically grouping all digitally printed books together as inferior.

Success with various titles outside of the bookstore will also lead bookstores to seek out these individual titles and have to adapt their policies to take advantage of the individual opportunities that exist. As authors of digitally printed books have success with alternative sales channels, bookstores will either need to take notice or lose out.

4. What do you see as the future direction for print-on-demand publishing companies?

Print-on-demand vendors will need to continue to focus on improving and adapting the technology to increase the options available to their customers. Additional trim sizes, a cost-effective four-color option, and overall printing costs that approximate traditional print runs are just some of the issues that need to be addressed.

Danny O. Snow's View

Participants in the 2005 Book Summit: Industry Leaders Discussing the Future of Publishing in a Flat World are being asked for their views. Book Summit checked in with Danny O. Snow, owner of Unlimited Publishing. UP's goal is to achieve the best of both worlds: the speed and economy of print on demand, and the kind of quality and public exposure of books more typical of larger, mainstream publishers.

1. What are the implications to the industry with more books being sold beyond the bookstore ?
Look at the music industry: independent distribution (legal and otherwise) via Web sites like Napster and iTunes stunned the major record labels. And it's not just online: Bands like Pearl Jam now record a new CD at every concert, and sell it at the door the same night. More independent marketing methods arise almost daily. The established leaders (both music labels and retailers) must now play catch-up, and adjust their methods to keep pace, in order to remain competitive.

In 1997, I met with a VP of Warner-Electra-Atlantic Records and cautioned her to pay close attention to the (at the time) "new" phenomenon of music downloading. My concerns were dismissed, and by 2003 the company had lost nearly a third of its sales. I would raise the same concerns today to movie studios and major book publishing concerns. We will soon see a pattern in the film industry that is similar to music, as broadband matures and it becomes routine to download large files. If Hollywood has been paying attention to the music industry, they'll anticipate the trend toward alternative marketing and distribution vehicles. Companies like Netflix are already forcing traditional "video" stores like Blockbuster to update their business models, and more will follow when high-speed Internet connections are the norm.

Book publishers, wholesalers and retailers are fortunate to have music and movies as precedents to help them avoid getting left behind. In a 1996 study, the Book Industry Study Group estimated that there are nearly TEN TIMES more outlets for books than bookstores per se. I believe that a very large number of sales are already being made through these channels by independents, but they are largely unreported.

My colleague Dan Poynter points out that the growth in nontraditional marketing and distribution includes a trend toward "disintermediation," read: bypassing middlemen. I believe that many sales of POD books go directly from the author to local retailers, to audiences at live events, to readers from the author's Web site, etc.

More recently, there has been even more disintermediation; my company, Unlimited Publishing, now routinely has books shipped directly from one of our POD printers to a nontraditional buyer, even in small quantities. Soon, we expect to see SINGLE copies shipping directly from a printer to an individual consumer... Lightning Source already handles many Amazon orders this way, but of course there are big discounts and pay is slow. Soon, we expect to see singles moving directly from printer to reader without the kind of discounts typical of trade sales, and without returns. UP still wants trade distribution... in spite of the big discounts, returns and slow pay... but I think that major publishers, wholesaler distributors and retailers (especially chain stores) would be wise to look closely at the music and film industries to remain competitive in the years ahead. They will soon face the challenges that music labels and record stores started seeing five years ago, and I hope they fare better.

2. What do you see as the most pressing issues facing distribution (returnability) of digitally printed books?
Many feel that returnability is anathema to POD, but POD books CAN be returnable, when there is proven demand. UP has more than 50 titles that are available on a fully returnable basis through one of our POD printers/distributors.

Having said this, the higher per-unit cost of POD printing makes returns especially punishing, so DO THE MATH before you agree to buy back unsold books: can you afford to sell at 50 percent below cover price, deduct high print costs AND absorb returns of 20 percent or more?

Aside from chain stores, my impression is that retailers are usually more interested in discounts than returnability. Chains may accept orders for single copies, but rarely if ever stock nonreturnable titles. If your book isn't fully returnable, you probably won't find it on the shelves at chain stores.

3. What would it take to get digitally printed books into the mainstream distribution channels?
Better content: too many POD books are released without editing or professional quality layout and design. Some form of vetting process is needed -- yet writing and book design are largely subjective. One objective "litmus test" might be whether a publisher is willing to accept returns,
demonstrating confidence in the product... but again, many feel that returnability is contrary to the spirit of POD, an artifact of the past that should be consigned to the dustbin of history.

Sadly, the term "POD" has become nearly synonymous with vanity publishing, though I can personally document scores of POD books that are competitive with those of major traditional publishers, or in fact FROM leading publishers! Nevertheless, the stigma lingers, and some form of quality control would help dispel it.

4. What do you see as the future direction for print-on-demand publishing companies?
Ignoring the challenges (and they are serious challenges) of improving content and presentation, I see a growing trend toward disintermediation, (bypassing middlemen) with more and more books moving directly from author to printer to reader. I predict that the concept of the "out-of-print"
book will soon fade away... to the true benefit of readers, writers and publishers. In time, I see a world where every single copy of a book can be unique, customized for the specific needs of any individual reader. There will be hurdles to clear along the way, but my conviction is that we WILL clear them, and realize the full promise of on-demand publishing in our time.

Michael Cairns' View

Participants in the 2005 Book Summit: Industry Leaders Discussing the Future of Publishing in a Flat World are being asked for their views of the future. Book Summit checked in with Michael Cairns, president of R.R. Bowker. Bowker is North America’s leading provider of bibliographic information, and is also the official ISBN agency for the United States and Puerto Rico. Its flagship product is Books In Print.

1. What would it take to get digitally printed books into the mainstream distribution channel?

There are already many digitally printed books in the supply chain and, in some cases, I would guess that purchasers (bookstores/consumers) may not know they are receiving product that was not produced "traditionally." In operations where the interrelationship between traditional fulfillment and "on-demand" printing and fulfillment is very close, the operations run very well and are increasing in volume and numbers of titles. There definitely needs to be a level of trust between publishers, on-demand printers and distributors that builds via experience. Publishers are finding success in marginal or low-volume titles and titles that have been out of print for years. To get this accepted into the mainstream distribution channels, the participants (publishers and printers) need to sell the concept to the large publishing players. This has been done in the UK and the business is growing significantly.

2. How do publishers find and target micro-niches of readers?
Distribution into nontraditional retail channels is still a growth area for publishers. Putting titles applicable to a store's profile is a natural extension of the stores product mix, and publishers have seen high growth here. Additionally, selling via direct mail, magazines, associations and webinar/seminar/QVC are also proving successful. Publishers need to have a very aggressive research program to identify trends and themes in the wider world in order to tailor product development to these subjects before they become mainstream and titles ubiquitous.

3. With more books from which to choose to sell, what factors will drive the decision to stock and sell a digitally printed book?
Whether the buyer thinks someone will buy it.

4. What steps could be taken to ensure that book buyers come to a bookstore to buy digitally printed books rather than buying them online?
People have to shop for many other items in addition to books, and placing books in nonbookstores (Costco) enables more people to have the opportunity to purchase books. In my experience, people continue to do both in-store and online purchase. The decision to do one or the other is complicated. Online purchases, for example, may be gifts that can be packaged and mailed with no complications for the purchaser. They can also be selection-driven, both within titles and due to the ability to combine types of products. Traditional stores will continue to be important if the stores have what the purchasers wants, provide assistance with purchases and provide a pleasant environment in which to do this.

Denny Hatch's View

Participants in the 2005 Book Summit: Industry Leaders Discussing the Future of Publishing in a Flat World are being asked for their views of the future.

Book Summit checked in with Denny Hatch, who has wide experience as a marketer (including stints as book club director for Grolier, Macmillan and Meredith), agency writer and account executive (the Weintz Agency), and freelance writer/designer (25 years). In 1984, he founded the definitive direct mail newsletter and archive service, Who’s Mailing What! (now titled InsideDirectMail), In 1992, the newsletter was acquired by North American Publishing Company in Philadelphia where Hatch ran the newsletter as well as heading the editorial team of Target Marketing magazine which—after five-plus years under his guidance—is once again profitable. Denny is a frequent speaker at conferences and seminars.

1. How do publishers find and target micro-niches of readers?
I can only speak from personal experience. In the 1969, I wrote a comic novel called Cedarhurst Alley about a guy who inherited a house under
the main landing pattern at Kennedy airport. The noise turned his little daughter autistic. When he tried to sell the house, he found the value had been more than halved. In protest, he sent up a WWII barrage balloon into the main landing pattern. The novel got good reviews. Sold respectably. Over the years it was optioned for a film probably eight times. No movie was ever made. I am republishing it via iUniverse for four reasons:

* I have an e-mail newsletter (www.businesscommonsense.com) that goes to 30,000 subscribers. In other words, I have a "platform." You may want to check out a 3/28/05 Wall Street Journal article by Jeffrey Trachtenberg titled, "Tip for Authors in a Sales Bind: Get a 'Platform.' "

* The book appeals to people who live near airports and hate the noise. When first published in 1969 (and I have always had a full-time job, and so could not spend many hours on promotion), the Internet did not exist. It was impossible to find the names and addresses of groups around airports that were dealing with noise. Now, with the Internet, these groups--and the people who make them up--are a mouse click away. I am assembling them now--the groups, their leaders and their e-mail and actual addresses. In addition, a number of them list their advisers and board members. These are names I am researching via white pages Web sites--name by name. Tough, slogging work. But some of these groups have hundreds of members. If I can get one or more of them to buy the book--and they like it--they could tell their fellow members. This is so-called "viral marketing."

* The book is very visual--the hero being a giant yellow barrage balloon decorated with Christmas tree lights flying in the night sky with a huge brawling party going on below. It would make a dandy film. In 1969, the videocassette and DVD and made for TV films were not around. That has changed. With the book back in print (rather than hidden in Alibris) a film producer has a chance of seeing it.

* Finally, if all else fails, it will make a fun gift to business clients of myself and my wife.

2. What do you see as the future direction of book printing/production?
Print on demand. The beauty of self-publishing is that a tide of 10,000 books will not be moving from warehouse to store to warehouse to remainder table. Wanna buy my book? Sure. Here's a copy produced just for you. Enjoy. Incidentally, I believe hardcover books are awful. I have arthritis and carpal tunnel syndrome. I cannot hold giant hardcover books. Hardcover books are a pain to travel with. They are designed so that publishers can cream the upscale market--high-rolling consumers and libraries--and then offer the paperback version to the rest of us. I love paperback books. All books should be paperbacks and if libraries want hardcover versions, they can have them rebound.

3. What are the implications to the industry with more books being sold beyond the bookstore ?
Print on demand means a 7-Eleven store in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, can have a book printing machine. A vacationer or resident can read a book review, go down the the 7-Eleven and give store owner a credit card. The store owner can contact the publisher, get an electronic file sent to him, load it into his print-on-demand machine and fifteen minutes later, the customer can walk out of the store with a book--nicely bound with a full color soft cover. Clean deal. No returns. The current bookstore model, based on returns is antediliuvian. When I published Cedarhurst Alley in 1969, only 15,000 new titles were published that year. Today, the number is something like 195,000. In those days, it was possible for a publisher to make a profit selling 2,000 or 3,000 of an edition. Today, that number is 20,000 or more. The big publishers are like giant legacy airlines--Delta, Northwest, American, etc.--mired down in a 19th century business model. Thanks to the Internet and print on demand, individual readers can be found for individual titles. You gotta love it!
P.S. My first job after the Army in 1960 was with a hard-drinking, hard-driving publisher named Franklin Watts. Every year on his birthhday he would walk into the office and snarl, "Do not wish me many happy returns. There is no such thing as happy returns."