As the Kindle gets a 2 year exclusive on 20 excellent books from Andrew Wylie we are seeing a variety of reactions and outcomes. Perhaps the most important is that Mr. Wylie’s move sets a huge precedent and helps Authors realize that they too can ditch Publishers.
Additionally, it gives authors courage since they only have to follow and not lead. It also gives them freedom from being labeled a failure as all blame will be shouldered by Mr. Wylie if things go awry.
A Journey of Realization
David Rozansky at Gather writes about Authors’ growing doubts over the years about the necessity and role of Publishers -
At every writers conference I have been to in the last thirty years, someone in the cheap seats at the back of the room asks “So, why do authors need publishers, then?”
Publishers, editors and agents have tried in vain to answer this question, usually with desperation and trepidation in their voices.
The only answer I can give is that authors do not need us publishers. Authors absolutely do not need us in any way!
It’s a very well written post and it compares the past -
there was a time when publishers controlled the means of prepress production.
Publishers also had control of the distribution of books.
With the present -
authors can push a button and create a book, push another button, and the book is assembled into an electronic file
There’s a key sentence in there -
And now we stand laughing as the giant publishers desperately try to save themselves from eventual obsolescence by stepping up their bully ways.
It sums up everything that is happening succinctly – As Publishers grow more and more superfluous they are asking for more and more control and a larger and larger share. This in turn is forcing authors to question exactly what Publishers are adding.
Publishers’ desperation to keep the ‘Publishers provide the majority of value’ illusion intact is shining the spotlight on their role and forcing authors to realize there isn’t much of substance. Definitely not enough to warrant a 75% share of ebook sales.
Hand in hand with this realization is Authors’ growing confidence.
Authors are finally becoming confident in themselves
For far too long Authors have been dependent on Publishers’ whims and this has made them forget that it is Authors and not Publishers who create content. Authors are the ones who write and they deserve the control and profit. Authors can exist without Publishers while Publishers cannot exist without them.
Consider the ending from David’s article -
The author is now in charge of the industry. Go forth and publish thyself.
… we won’t let anyone else ever again interfere in our business and take for themselves an unfair proportion of the proceeds of our hard work.
That’s authors beginning to realize that they’ve been handing over an unfair proportion of their earnings to Publishers. That in the New Publishing World authors will get to call the shots.
The Confidence to Take The Jump
The combination of Inertia and Self-doubt is an amazingly terrifying thing. It’s what causes people to stick around in jobs and relationships they hate. It’s exactly what has been holding authors back.
How will we reach readers? How will we get paid? Will we make enough to live on writing? What if eBooks die out and Publishers don’t take us back?
Now we have a combination of factors coming together – Amazon and Apple are offering 70% royalties, Kindle and Nook are selling like hotcakes, eBooks are growing faster than weeds, Agents like Andrew Wylie and Authors like Konrath are taking the jump and setting an example.
The last is crucial – Now all other authors and agents don’t have to take the huge burden of being the first mover. They don’t have to worry about the terrifying possibility that they might fail and be held up as an example to the world.
It’s given Authors a chance to finally be unburdened by illusion and fear and ask themselves an honest question.
So, why do authors need publishers, then?
Perhaps they need them for financial support. Well, what if the book takes off and you’ve given away 80% of your sales to Publishers. Isn’t the pain of losing 50% of book sales revenue worth some thought?
Perhaps they need them for the stamp of partial success. Those authors who are scared of letting readers decide will continue to look for the stamp of Publisher approval.
Perhaps Authors need Publishers for moral support. Perhaps they do.
Perhaps Authors need Publishers for distribution. Yes, it seems that giving up 50% of book sales so that you don’t have to upload books to Amazon yourself is worth it.
Perhaps Authors need Publishers for editors and copy editors. Unless you figure out that you can get those services separately too.
Perhaps Authors want to wait 2-4 years before getting a book deal and being able to bring their book to readers. Adversity builds character.
Perhaps Authors want to feel the pain of being exploited. Perhaps the Poets had the right idea about needing pain.
What are the 3-4 critical functions Publishers (used to) provide?
The Profitable Publisher thinks it’s money, distribution, time, and quality.
- Publishers were the gatekeepers and the only way to get to bookstores and thus to readers. That is no longer true. So distribution is no longer relevant.
- Publishers were the financiers and the risk-takers. With eBooks there are hardly any risks. So the money factor is gone.
- Time – Well, that’s still there because Publishers still have the domain expertise and know how the system works.
- Quality – A lot of this can be done by hiring the 3 or 4 most important people i.e. editor, copy editor, typesetter, etc.
In addition to these 4 we still have some big Publisher advantages -
- Improving your odds.
- Core Competence – Focusing on writing.
- Belief/Moral Support.
- Domain Expertise.
So we get a mixed bag – 3 out of the 4 core Publisher benefits aren’t as relevant and at the same time Publishers do provide a lot of benefit. That suggests a different model -
- The platform gets 30%.
- The Publisher gets 15% to 20%.
- Authors get the remaining 50% to 55%.
Publishers might be distraught at this suggestion. However, Andrew Wylie is doing exactly what Publishers do to get ebooks to readers and he’s doing it for 15%. There’s no way Publishers can pretend that they should get 75% when a Literary SuperAgent is doing the same job for 15%.
Publishers will have to embrace 15% or New Publishers and Literary Agents will replace them
The truth is that Publishers’ stranglehold on risk-taking and distribution is gone. They are no longer gatekeepers.
Authors and the Platform are now in control. The Platform is being generous and asking for only 30%. Authors will not be as generous. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Authors finalize on 15% or 20% as the cut for middle-men.
That would mean Authors get 55%, the Platform gets 30%, and Publishers get 15%. There will also be lots of authors that bypass Publishers completely and take the entire 70% for themselves. It’s amazing to think that soon Publishers will be glad when authors let them get a 15% cut instead of self-publishing.
Filed under: publishing Tagged: | future of publishing, kindle vs publishers
I agree that the game has changed and the role (importance) of publishers is changing. But publishers took on many risks that now fall to the authors. In the traditional model, many author’s advances far out-weighed any revenue the publisher’s made. Estimates as high as 70% of all authors do not earn out. This is going away.
I admire the step Wylie made in taking 20 titles direct to eBooks. But these are all classics. Books that are already made. So the marketing and building awareness is built in (in many cases ny the publisher). I would like to see him try it with a new book. Is he willing to risk an author’s first book with no physical book sales? With no support from B&N? Independents? It’s a much different game. He will need to learn (or hire) marketing and publicity.
Enjoyed your article. Lots of new rules. Fun times ahead.
I must say that much of this seems a little too farfetched. But in certainty, even if one were to get a well made book uploaded to Amazon, that is still a long shot from ever becoming a bestseller. Agents and in turn publishers are at least able to put a stamp of quality on a work, a stamp which gives it much higher odds of success. Once authors jump ship and a milllion faceless books show up in the Kindle store, how will the wheat be separated from the chaff? How will a book be able to rise above the rest without garnering tons of reviews? How will it ever be read if not for promotion? Self publishing models have been poor promoters up through now. I doubt the ereader rise will change that. That is something publishers have always excelled at. Yes they are not necessary, at best an expediency. But they are an expediency that make novel-writing itself viable.
Yes, the model is changing. But I do not think it can tilt completely backwards. At least, not for a good while yet. Your thoughts?
In the last 1 year have seen lots of indie authors get book deals and find decent levels of success through the Kindle Store. However, they still don’t get it.
J. A. Konrath and Andrew Wylie do – The prize from succeeding in self-publishing isn’t a chance to share profits with Publishers. It’s to bypass Publishers completely.
The publishing world is changing. Peer reviewing of the kind to be found on Amazon’s website is already more influential than the conventional review by assumed professionals. With the advent of the ebook, the very definition of “professional author” is likely to change within not so many years, and literary criticism will probably go the same way. The word on the street/Web may eventually have more resonance than the views and opinions of a coterie-bound literary establishment.
This could be no bad thing. For a long time now it’s been hard to “separate the wheat from the chaff” in contemporary fiction, even under the old model of publishing.
Uriah,
Not in today’s world. WIth forums and communities of reviews by others who enjoy the genres we do and who have similar values and standards, we don’t depend so much on publisher PR.
Several authors have now entered the public consciousness as a result of getting good word of mouth from actual readers who then tell others about it. It’s really a new world.
Switch11 – terrific article.
These replies are exactly what I wanted to hear.
As an aspiring author, then, I would think the only remaining hurdle would be that ‘core competence’ or risk-taking Jack talked about in his post. To get one’s book noticed, it will take the author a great investment of time and dedication to online communities. Such of course has been done successfully, but this shift, I think, shall quickly place it as the rule and no longer the exception.
In essence: Gotta’ get more time!
I love this conversation. I self published and still thought I should seek a publisher. But, upon meeting with a publisher I was told there was nothing more they could offer than what I have already accomplished on my own. I was told all I really needed was distribution, which I’m working on now through my own small business. Word of mouth and peer review is what I rely on for quality approval. I submitted a manuscript to three publishers for my first title, and couldn’t be bothered to do it again for my later books. Good luck to everyone and I agree…it takes time and perseverance to get noticed…don’t quit your day job. LOL Over time I suspect that this will become the norm.