The End Of Traditional Publishing?

[Dream Books LLC]

It seems to be the age of the eReader and the end of traditionally published books. With bookstores trickling away, the standard way to publish a book is starting to leave. A perfect example of this is the ever popular Lightning Source. Now with nearly two million titles hosted on their system utilizing the Lightning Sources Print on Demand model, it will only be a matter of
time before the only way book will be published is Print on Demand and
exploding model of Electronic Books.

Amazon Kindle is now available nationwide in Target stores, the B&N Nook is available in hundreds of B&N bookstores, and the iPad has sold four million. Kindle and Nook are also right in the middle of a price war. Kindle used to be the big boy on the block, however with Nook now only
149.00, the Nook is starting to become the big man on the block. To now compete
with the Kindles massive author list they use for eBooks, B&N has announced
Pubit. In essence it is exactly like the Amazon DTP program.

It has become the market not for big houses and big authors, but instead the market for small houses and unknown publishers. eBooks are priced so low most of the time that even if the book is bad, there really is no loss, on the other hand, the big houses which have to pay their big authors and their big buildings are priced at the lowest at 9.99 and most of the time higher. Small presses and authors can price the big boy’s right out.

Small presses and unknown authors also have a grasp on the online market, much more than the big houses. A good question to ask, on Twitter do you follow the big houses. Most of you will say no, simply because all they tweet is buy this, do that and they don’t have a grasp of what social
marketing really is. Smaller houses and unknown authors actually engage their
followers and make it a social experience.

So how can you beat out the bigger houses? The key is to network online and to get on Lightning Source for your print books. Lightning Source will enable you to get into bookstores like B&N and even if they won’t stock it, it is available for order. You can then market right in the store
with bookmarks and flyers that direct people to ask a bookseller to get the
book.

Guerrilla market, the Nook displays at your B&N store, (if you book is on Nook) pull it up so it is on the home screen and then walk away. They next person who looks at the Nook will see your book. You can even leave a bookmark or two next to the Nook so people can go order the print
version or remember the book when they get their own Nook.

A Big house spends thousands of dollars to get their books in the front of a store, however most local stores are very willing as long as you supply them with displays or bookmarks free of charge to place these vital marketing items right at the checkout stand. (We’ve done it many times)

So let me ask you – Is the age of big houses coming to an end?

[Kristin Boyd]

I think there is less reliance on books as a form of entertainment overall, which is one reason I believe there is a decline in print books being sold. I don't think th eReader is the only reason book stores are closing, or Amazon is selling less books. To be sure, as new ways of reading books other than the traditional method become available, a large section of the population will definitely flock to it. It'll cause a decline in the current method, but the real question is whether they will continue to be the preferred format in the long run. This is what I'm waiting to see. There are new tablet PCs (like the iPad) coming out, and Toshiba has a new netbook with two screens, and you can hold it sideways like a book, using it as an eReader. But the cost of buying something to function as an eReader is still more than the startup cost of buying print books and trying to read those. Then you have to wonder if people would repurchase books online that they have in print. I believe there was also a large question about this when cds and later mp3s were new.

I don't know. I'm just one of the die hard holdouts, though there have been several times when I seriously considered an eReader. It would save on space, and I could have books for cheap right then and there. I wouldn't mind as much when I get a crap book, because it won't be taking up space, and I only paid $5 for it. The biggest reason I didn't? My eyes. I already spend a lot of time in front of a computer for work, school, and my writing. I read print sometimes to give my eyes a break. I don't have brightness issues with a screen, and I can read for long periods of time without tiring my eyes and sending me running for my glasses.

[Marian Perera]

The writing is not on the wall for people who cannot afford e-readers, people in underdeveloped countries, people who enjoy going to libraries - which are completely free, people in correctional institutions, soldiers abroad, collectors of autographed copies and so on.

[Kristin Boyd]

I think in the discussion of print v digital reading, these are points that are often forgotten, RYCJ and Marian. You can't autograph an ebook, and there are large segments of the world population that just don't have access to these devices. When we see statistics saying the sale of print books are down, and ebooks are up, the obvious connection is that people are buying less of one and more of another. If books are going out the window, I think it'll be because there are less quality books being printed.

[Marian Perera]

Another kind of book I just thought of - art books. I love collections of fantasy art, and those books are typically large. Many details of the art might be lost if they were shrunk down to Kindle size.

Plus, some people just prefer print copies, even if they can afford e-readers. For me, a personal library or study is one with shelves of books. They give me a warm, colorful, surrounded-by-old-friends feeling that the Kindle can't duplicate. And some of those books may have sentimental value - for instance, I have a copy of The Good Earth which my now-deceased grandmother received as a Christmas present in 1949. She wrote her name and the date in it. E-books can't replace that kind of thing.

I also collect children's chapter books (unlikely to be on e-readers) and Agatha Christie novels which were published by Fontana and which have a distinctive cover design. Again, not likely to be on e-readers.

There's definitely a place for e-books and I think they'll grow more and more popular and affordable. But they're not likely to replace print copies. The two fulfill different roles.

[Marian Perera]

Oh, and about the supposed end of traditional publishing, I read this exchange today.

"...traditional publishing just isn't working to most writers' benefit."

"That's true. It only really works for authors who write books the public wants to buy and read."

[Isiah Hurts]

me too. i was a print book reader only but now i mostly buy books on kindle cause it saves me money. I save $50 a month, thanks to kindle

[ManOfLaBook.com]

Is it the end of "traditional" publishing?
Yes - but it's not the end of publishing.

Certainly publishers will have to change the way they make money, adjust and conform to deliver the products their customers demand (see what happened to the music industry when you don't do that). However, paper books will still be in demand - they are by no means going away.

http://www.ManOfLaBook.com

[Catherine Chisnall]

Well, I'm totally new at this publishing game so all I can relate is my own story. My book, Descending, has been sent to a few traditional publishers and I've heard nothing. But how it got published was via the innovative publishing site Night Reading - http://nightreading.ning.com/

and their publishing arm, Night Publishing. Night Reading is a site where you put your first chapter up, then people vote for it, and it gets published. Or it is 'cherry picked' by the publishers.

So in my experience: big, traditional publishing houses 0: small, innovative, publishing sites 1.

[ManOfLaBook.com]

Catherine, you hit it right on the nose.
The end of traditional publishing means, to me, that quality will surface and "we the people" will get to chose what will be successful.

[Catherine Chisnall]

Thank you Zohar. There is (or was) a brilliant blurb on the main page of Night Reading saying how literature today is like the music industry of the 1960s. The conventional stuff is formularised, samey, safe. Whereas underground there is a big revolution of edgy, brave work.

Something like that anyway, I can't remember exactly what the wording was. But it sounds true to me!

[ManOfLaBook.com]

Catherine, this is one of the advantages of the Internet - which is why, for example, the news moguls have it. They don't get to decide what's news anymore - we do.
I think that's wonderful.

Same with books - the publishers don't get to decide what you "must" read by buying shelf space in a book store (because that's what they do), but we get to decide that.

http://www.ManOfLaBook.com

[Catherine Chisnall]

That sounds so great! Power to the people!