How to save the publishing industry

Traditionally, what a book publisher brings to the table is two sets of relationships.

1. Relationships with the people who buy books...the middle men (not the readers).
2. Relationships with the people who review books...the editor of the Times book review section.

There's a problem with this. Books are now being bought directly by the readers, increasingly online from sites like Amazon. The readers are increasingly being influenced by a different type of reviewer. This reviewer doesn't write for the Times, she writes for herself, and her blog audience.

There's a huge opportunity here. The question is who will figure it out first? The authors or the publishers.

We all agree that successful authors have nascent tribes. The opportunity lies in connecting authors with their audience.

Authors make the bulk of their income from their advance.  If a publisher wants a successful author they offer them a larger advance than their current publisher and there's a decent chance the author will walk.

But, what if the publishers actively helped their authors build tribes online? They'd be doing the authors a huge service and no author could afford to leave their publisher, because they'd be walking away from their tribe.

If the publishers don't help the authors do this, the authors will start doing it themselves.  And once they've developed their own tribe, what do they need the publisher for? I believe that publishers are in the perfect position to do this, because authors are used to the publisher brokering these relationships and most authors have no idea where to start.

At this point, the publishers by and large don't get this (with the notable exception of Hachette). A couple of months ago I received a referral from a publicist at a large NY publishing house who wanted me to help one of her authors build his tribe (on the author's dime). What most publishers still haven't thought through is that they should be the ones building the communities.

If publishers helped their authors build and serve their tribes they just might save the publishing industry.

Comments

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[california]

Good stuff, It might just work, although it seems easier when you have a plan.
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[Shantanu Deshmukh]

I am being a little off the topic here. Can anyone suggest me with a link or website which will help me understand how the book publishing business works, especially business publishing, the new trends in the industry and so on? Thank you for helping me out here.

[Judy rey Wasserman]

Thanks for a thought provoking post.

I am a journalist turned artist with a new book about the actual, and scientific effects my art makes on vision. I published it as an e book and have been slowly building a "tribe" as Seth Godin calls it for both my art and the book. I hope to have a expanded version in print as the book involves illustrations.

However, by self publishing as an e book, I am also readily, easily and inexpensively able to give away sample copies to reviewrs, as prizes, to bloggers, etc.

Plus I created a smaller 30+ page e book sample (also illustrated) that I give away for free to anyone who signs up for my newsletter or joins the Sharing a Transforming Vision Facebook group.

If Kindle and other readers handled full color illustrations I cannot say that I would consider a traditional publisher.

The irony is that apparently publishers today are looking for authors who have platforms, which basically means a tribe or obvious way to gain one. Plus, they expect the author to do and pay for their PR, unless the author is already a superstar.

This makes the publisher not a printer and distributor, which are easy to find and hire. They also design books, but since I know enough about graphic art and layout and intend to be involved if not do this myself, that is not a reason I would use a traditional publisher.

The only thing a publisher offers that is unique and possibly worth the contract is their pat-on the back approval. A book published by a major publisher has a certain immediate acceptance that a self published book does not have.

However, as bloggers and online e book and other sites that only accept a certain caliber of work become recognized this caches now held by traditional publishers will fade.

Thanks for this post.I am returning to mulling over my options!

Judy Rey Wasserman
On Twitter: @judyrey

[Jon]

Hey Mark,

You're right. Building an online community after pub date is an investment in an authors next book, the tribe building has to start well before pub date to be helpful with initial book sales.

James Patterson is an interesting example of this. Check out the site his publisher (Hachette) built for him: http://jamespatterson.ning.com.

While it might seem on the surface that authors would benefit from doing this themselves, I think there's a huge opportunity for the publishers to provide value here.

[Mark Bloomfield]

The problems - as I suspect you know well - are that: 1] authors capable of developing and maintaining their readers should NEVER cede that to a publisher, for exactly the reasons you cite and 2] 'big 6' business model could never accommodate this with each house publishing hundreds of books a month.

Tribe, or platform building needs to start at the SAME TIME or earlier than the writing ... not at turnover or pub date. That advance should be used as a small business loan. The author needs to own it...

Some niche publishers might be better positioned to approximate your model - but even then projects that might get the kind of focus EVERY author wants are rare.