The Death of Traditional Publishers? Part 2: How to Save Themselves

Author, editor, and writing coach Richard Krawiec claims that the publishing industry has ceased to serve the needs of the writer by no longer looking to buy books, but by looking to reject them. (Kris says: I would venture to say many of those reading this blog can attest to that!) He says that decisions to publish a manuscript are no longer made by senior editors but by the sales department.

Apparently senior editors are skittish about championing a manuscript. If the book bombs, the sales department will blame the editor. And publishing houses are downsizing as book sales drop.

In light of that, can the traditional publishing house be saved? Michael Stackpole offers this advice:

1. Realize that all websites are retail sites.

Publishers should begin an affiliates program: for fans who host a link through which someone buys a book, the fan gets 5% of the price. If an author hosts the link, they get 10% (which is equal to their paperback percentage).

If these sales commissions were paid every month, authors would immediately post links to all their titles in every social medium there is! Publishers would foster an entire army of sales-people who have serious buy-in.

2. Provide specialty publications.

For example: combine a trilogy of books into a single edition, and price it less than if you purchased all three books separately. Readers who want to buy this edition could only get it directly from the publisher. (Kris says: And if it was an e-book, length wouldn’t matter in the production or delivery costs!)

Another specialty item would be collections of previously-published short stories. While publishers maintain that such collections do not sell, what they mean is that they don’t sell enough to justify the cost of printing, warehousing, shipping and calculating returns.

A digital edition, on the other hand, wouldn’t require anything more than cursory editing (since the stories have previously been published) and a cover graphic. Cost is so minimal that profit is guaranteed, even if it’s priced as a loss-leader introduction to that author.

3. Begin bundling eBooks with audio books.

If such deals are only available at the publisher website, that’s where traffic will head. Both files can be delivered electronically at minimal cost to the house.

4. Realize that readers balk at (and pirate) what is priced unreasonably high.

Customer who aren’t buying a physical product bristle at the idea of paying more to buy electrons. Gouging them to protect a profit margin isn’t the way to go. Lower prices actually do spur more sales. (Kris says: insert a “Duh!” here.)

Michael Stackpole dropped the price of one of his Kindle books to $1. Not only did sales on that book increase, but sales on the sequel increased, AND sales increased on another novel that was in no way related to the first two.

5. Realize where brand loyalty truly lies.

Publishers believe that Random House and Hatchette and Penguin are “brands”. They’re not. No one goes to a store to buy a “Random House” book.

Readers purchase books based on genre and author—and pretty soon they’ll be buying directly from authors at their websites. Authors are already selling snippets to retail customers. And they are taking part in projects that support and promote each other—a prime service the publishers used to perform.

Why? Because authors are brands.

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One final note: as I edited this blog I couldn’t help but think, “If I publish independently, I can do all 5 of these things myself.”

Why not?