Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Print or E-book?

Here’s an interesting question, What if your publisher liked your book but thought it wasn’t ready for print, so he decided to e-publish you instead?

On October 24th, the blog, The 26th Story: Publishing on the Edge, did an interview with agent (and former publisher) Larry Kirshbaum. The first question they asked him was: If there was one thing you could change about our business, what would it be?

In his response, Kirshbaum said a couple of things that caught my attention:
I'd like to see less titles published by the large publishers….The larger publishers, having greater resources (and also larger infrastructures) seem to believe that the larger their lists, the more chances they'll have for scoring big successes….I would like to see publishers doing more marginal titles electronically -- with creative Internet promotion -- as their test market, then go to print if there's a sufficient response.
Okay. Interesting thought. But, he’d already said big publishers weren’t doing a good job promoting their huge list of books.
Unfortunately, even when you have multiple imprints, size no longer works in their favor. (Large publishers tend to have smaller editorial and marketing entities but their sales functions are often centralized.) With our retailers being much more cautious (and not just during the present crisis), too often we see titles that get little display and virtually no promotion dollars. And of course the avalanche of titles is producing huge piles of returns from unsold copies.
A commenter had this to say:
It's hard to see what would entice an author to go with a publisher under this model instead of just going it alone. If the publisher doesn't have the confidence and belief in a book to actually publish it, wouldn't the author be better served building their own online audience until someone does (or until they can successfully self-publish)?
What do you think of Kirshbaum’s idea?

40 comments:

  1. It's an interesting concept that has merit. For the author trying to break in, having a major publisher behind your e-book is better than having a self-published e-book. It's a competitive market, and the industry is moving to e-publishing anyway.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The author would have to be prepared to market it online. But if s/he could get good sales, it might increase their chance of getting in print. I think you're right LJ.

    ReplyDelete
  3. After having nine books published by hardcover publishers, I decided to go with a smaller house that produces both print and multi-format, or ebooks. What I like about my latest publisher is that the books are out in a matter of months, my editor and I worked together on the editing process and I got to help design my book cover. The publisher also goes out of it's way to publicize the book and I help by doing online PR. At the risk of sounding boastful, my first ebook version stayed on the fictionwise bestseller list for over two months and is listed as fourth in all-time sales since July 28. So I'd rather be a big fish in a small pond that a small fish lost in the middle of the ocean. Does that make sense?

    I just finished serving as a judge in the EPIC competition for ebooks and I was amazed at the quality of writing. All the books I read were definitely print quality work.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Congratulations Jean. And thank you for sharing your experience. That says something for small houses and it also speaks to your marketing efforts.

    And -- let me add -- I'm excited to say that Jean Henry Mead is coming to Straight From Hel in December! Yea!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Topical subject. Cambridge Books, my pub house for Owen Fiddler, insisted the book go out first as an e-book. Once it created some sales they moved it along into trade paperback. They do that with all their new authors. The Ebook was out within weeks of final full submission, so that form does have that advantage. Paperback took longer, but with a small press not nearly as long as the big houses take.

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  6. Thank you Marvin. It sounds like going ebook first is not all that uncommon with the regional presses. That tactic may be coming to the big houses.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Nowadays no matter if you're with a small or large press, you still need to market. The competition is very fierce.

    The advantage with the large press is your book at the store and available when the reader wants it. Kindle is doing that now also, but it depends on your taste, whether you like ebook or print.

    Morgan Mandel
    http://morganmandel.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  8. Morgan, I want a Kindle. Seriously, I do. Didn't think I ever would, but I've changed my mind.

    But if I ever get one, I want it to be perfect. I don't want to get one and then a month later they come out with a better version. But of course they will. Grr.

    Christmas is approaching.

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