The Scant Economics in Book Publishing

So few bucks!

First of all tonight, I want to wish all my readers a very happy and safe Fourth of July celebration. Happy Birthday, USA!

In this post I want to discuss a topic that we all probably know a little about - at least in part: The cash flow (or lack of it) in the current publishing landscape.

I just LOVE IT when I hear someones first person experience in publishing their first book. Especially from an experienced journalist or writer.

This scenario allows us to relate and learn from another's first-hand endeavors and will, hopefully, encourage questions and/or recommendations from others depending on their own past experience and position in the publishing food chain.

This from Thomas Lee, a San Francisco Chronicle Business Columnist:

Are there brutal economics in book publishing? Let me tell you...

Writing a book was like disappointing my parents all over again.

Like many Chinese immigrants, they wanted their only son to be a high-earning doctor or lawyer. Instead, he became a newspaper journalist who valued career satisfaction over dollars and cents. (Don’t worry, Mom and Dad, I sometimes wonder if I’m related to you, too).

So to my surprise, my mom was unusually excited when I told her two years ago that I was taking some time off to pen a book.

“Oh!” she exclaimed. “You make lots of money!”

I suspected she was confusing my project — a niche business book about retail and technology called “Rebuilding Empires” — with the work of J.K. Rowling: “Harry Potter and the Resurrection of the Big Box Store.”

Little did she know, there are some brutal economics underpinning the book publishing industry. As I would soon discover firsthand, most books — even those published by major houses like Random House, Hachette and Simon & Schuster — don’t make much money or any at all.

Blame it on a number of factors: the low-cost dominance of Amazon; competition with other entertainment venues like Netflix, cable TV and cineplexes; or the fact that I picked a niche topic in the business world.

In any case, an unknown first-time author like myself pretty much assumes nearly all of the financial risk.

I was actually one of the luckier ones — at least my publisher offered a modest advance. Many authors don’t even get that.

Not surprisingly, that advance disappeared quickly when I took a three-month unpaid leave to research the book. How else would I find the time to work on it?

Unless you’re independently wealthy, the choice comes down to begging your employer for a leave or not sleeping for the next 12 months. (Which happened anyway).

The publisher agreed to print about 5,000 copies, which it distributed to Barnes & Noble, Amazon and various independent bookstores and wholesalers. In order for the publisher to recoup its advance, “Rebuilding Empires” needs to sell 2,000 copies. After that, I get paid a percentage of the list price of each book sold, a royalty rate that gradually goes up the higher the sales.

That doesn’t seem so bad. But here’s the thing that most people don’t really know: Publishers have near-zero marketing budgets to promote your book.

It seems counterintuitive. To make money, you must spend money. Yet the author is ultimately responsible for spreading the word.

But maybe the book will build some momentum after positive reviews, right?

Think again. Outside major names like the New York Times and Los Angeles Times, the media hardly reviews any kind of book these days — never mind nonfiction business books like “Rebuilding Empires.”

The publisher recently sent me some sales data: since December, net sales for “Rebuilding Empires” (that is, sales minus the number of copies retailers ultimately shipped back to the publisher) totaled about 1,500 units and 100 e-books. Those figures also include international sales, from Great Britain, France, Canada, New Zealand (of all places) and Japan.

I’m actually pretty pleased with the results. Despite the lack of marketing muscle, “Rebuilding Empires” is considered something of a success, selling about a third of its printed run in just seven months and about 80 percent of the target set by the publisher to recoup the advance.

All in all, “Rebuilding Empires” will probably turn a profit, though I really can’t say when.

Until then, my mom will have to temper her expectations.

Read Thomas Lee's original article (with comments) in the San Francisco Chronicle.

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Research/Resource article: http://www.sfchronicle.com/business/article/Are-there-brutal-economics-in-book-publishing-6363578.php

Has Social Media Helped or Hindered the Publishing Industry?

When social media began to emerge many thought that it would destroy the publishing industry. But, actually, social media brought new sets of tools that 'matched content to reader likes, helped build communities and even build brands.'

It turns out, these social media inherent tools actually aided the publishing industry as a whole by providing springboards for distributing (and redistributing/re-posting by blogs and other communities) cool and in demand content.

Just how this is done is described in tonight's research/resource article written by Joe Hyrkin, the CEO of Issuu, a growing digital-publishing platform that delivers content across 18 million magazines, catalogs and newspapers:

How the Publishing Industry Has Learned to Thrive With the Social Media Industry

The conversation about how social media is changing publishing has been going on since the dawn of social media. Ten years ago, prognosticators were sure social networks would usher in a new era for publishing. Five years later, social media spelled doom for the industry as a whole.

Yet, instead of transforming publishing into a mass of niche blogs and feeds or bringing about the end of the business, social media has become a set of sophisticated tools for matching content to reader interests, growing communities and building brands.

1. Matching content to interests.

It is tempting to think of social media as a generic channel for broadcasting to the world. In actuality, social media enables the formation and maintenance of an almost limitless number of smaller communities, each organized around a relatively narrow theme. It empowers publishers by enabling them to market relevant content to these communities more effectively.

Instead of relying on a single front-page spread, for example, traditional publishers can tune their content for several different Twitter streams. By sharing  the right content to thoughtfully selected audiences, publishers can pique their followers' interest and increase traffic.

2. Social means community.

Another common misconception about social media is measuring the impact only by generated traffic. A great social media strategy certainly includes getting more visits, but the goal has to be about creating a vibrant and engaging online community. It is this community that will do the sharing that is critical to success.

Each social channel, from Facebook and Tumblr to Pinterest, has its own style of engagement. By optimizing content that best fits the community on each channel, a publisher can keep readers talking and engaging with content and drawing more attention.

3. A great brand requires great social.

You cannot measure the effectiveness of a brand with a simple cost-per-click metric, and you can’t easily evaluate your social media community this way either. But brands increase reader loyalty, enhance the efficacy of acquisition strategies and keep customers coming back for more. Publishers can leverage social tools to strengthen their brands and increase awareness; this requires consistent messaging and engagement with readers and viewers wherever they may be – exactly what is now possible with social media.

4. Another tool in your toolbox.

Has the death knell been rung for publishing? Far from it. The best distribution channel on the web is still more porous than the content it carries. Social media has led to significant consolidation and increased competition for eyeballs.

Publishers may no longer own both content and distribution, but content is still what matters.

This article was published in various online resources, including Entrepreneur 

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Research/resource article: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/242595

Publishing Propaganda --- A Dangerous Proposition

John R. Austin of the
Writers Welcome Blog 

Propaganda in publishing is, indeed, a dangerous proposition - especially in world affairs. It seems Russia's publishing sector is churning out a ton of revisionist historical bull that will just brainwash the younger Russian generation into believing lies and deceitful propaganda and turn them even more away from the rest of the world community.

Matthew Luxmoore, a freelance journalist based in Moscow, reports this in the New Republic Magazine:


Russia's Publishing Industry is Churning Out Revisionist Histories

Russia's economy may be feeling the strain of the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, but one sector at least appears to be doing OK. In bookshops across the country, a host of new titles has appeared in recent months, slamming American imperialism, debunking anti-Russian historical myths allegedly peddled by the West and justifying Crimea’s “return home.” Publishing—thanks to a recent upsurge in patriotism—is getting by.

Stroll past the bestseller shelves at Moscow’s largest bookshop, Dom Knigi on Ulitsa Novy Arbat, and your attention will likely fall upon The History of Crimea, a 500-page hardback released after Russia annexed the peninsula in March. Touting itself as the “first genuinely academic and objective history of Crimea in the new Russia,” the book contains a prologue by Russian Culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky and is published by Olma Media Group, a company which, according to the New York Times, recently acquired Russia’s largest school textbook publisher, Enlightenment, in a rigged government auction.

he History of Crimea, by the Military-Historic Society of Russia (OLMA Media Group, 2014). From the introduction, by Russian Culture Minister and Chairman of the Military-Historical Society, Vladimir Medinsky: “Millions of our compatriots waited decades for this day, and never lost hope that at some point justice will triumph and Russia will return to [the Crimea]. Our opponents on the international arena, through biased presentation of some facts while blocking out others, tried to paint a distorted version of events.”

You’re also unlikely to walk past the row marked “Foreign Affairs” without being drawn to one of the 2014 releases from the St. Petersburg-based “Piter” publishing house. Bright yellow, with bold black and red lettering spelling out titles like Chaos and Revolution: The Dollar Weapon, Rescuing the Dollar—WAR and Chaos in the Brain: the Information War Against Russia, most of the thin hardbacks that make up the series cost a mere 200 roubles (around $4). “Piter” has been particularly keen to support the career of Nikolai Starikov, a popular blogger and chairman of the ultra-conservative Great Fatherland Party, who has authored at least ten books on the Ukraine crisis this year.

In the “Politics” section, the shelves are stacked with fresh releases on the spreading tide of Ukrainian nationalism and the historic roots of the Russo-Ukrainian brotherhood. A large number of books in the section are devoted to Novorossiya, the state envisioned by separatists in Ukraine’s east.  

The Whole Truth About Ukraine: Who Benefits From the Country’s Split? By Igor Prokopenko (Eksmo, 2014). From the back cover: “Why has Crimea always been Russian? Why do Ukrainians no longer see Russia as a brotherly nation? Who benefitted from EuroMaidan and who know rules Ukraine? This book presents and analyses authoritative opinions on the subject.”

Pride of place is given to Russia’s Eurasian Revenge, a new book from Aleksander Dugin, the radical pro-Kremlin philosopher who advocates the restoration of the Russian Empire. Russia’s response to events in Ukraine, Dugin argues, is a stand against “global dictatorship” that has pitted the Russian world against the West. (A few texts offering opposing viewpoints on the Ukrainian crisis are available, but they are vastly outnumbered.) The “History of Russia” section at Dom Knigi is headed by the Myths about Russia series, a collection of 2014 releases that advance a new narrative of Russian history, updated to include the events of 2014.

Comrade Hitler, by German Romanov (Yauza Press, 2013). From the back cover: “Our hero, transplanted into the body of Adolf Hitler, changes the course of the Second World War! What price will he have to pay to invade Great Britain? Will he manage to hang Churchill as a ‘warmonger’ for his crimes against humanity? Will the Third Reich align with the Stalinist USSR? Will comrade Hitler together with comrade Stalin defeat the US and bring about nuclear war before the Americans?”

Perhaps the clearest common thread running through this new batch of releases is a renewed interest in the heroes of Russia's past, Joseph Stalin foremost among them. A cannon of texts proposing a second look at the controversial Soviet leader’s role in Russia's history has been published this year, including a revised and updated version of Icebreaker: Who Started the Second World War?, a 1990 book by Soviet dissident Viktor Suvorov, who claims that Stalin promoted Nazi Germany's expansionism in Europe so he could take advantage of the resulting havoc to move in and take control of the continent.

Stalin: Let’s Remember Together, by Nikolai Starikov (Piter, 2014). From the back cover: “Why is the long-forgotten historical figure of Stalin taking on new dimensions today? What do our contemporaries search for in this man, and others so angrily denounce? Whatever the contradictions, one thing is clear: Stalin’s unbelievable energies succeeded in protecting and strengthening an enormous country, and turned it into one of the superpowers of the 20th century.”

Not even the “Fantasy and Science Fiction” section has escaped the Russian readership’s preoccupation with events in Ukraine. In The Anger of Novorossiya, Donetsk-based fantasy writer Georgy Savitsky envisions a rapid spread across Ukraine of the war thus far confined to the country’s east, and a Russian invasion to protect citizens terrorized by the “Kiev junta.” Other gems in the series include Goodbye America by Aleksander Zolotko; Battlefield Sevastopol: Hero-City vs. NATO by Savitsky; and Lieutenant of the Future by Yuriy Valin, the cover of which features an armed Sergey Shoigu, Russia’s Defense Minister, standing over the capitulating, kneeling figures of Arseniy Yatsenyuk and Oleksander Turchynov, Ukraine’s Prime Minister and parliamentary speaker, respectively. 

When Will NATO Bomb Russia? Blitzkrieg Against Putin, by Yuriy Muhin (Yauza Press, 2014). From the back cover: “Putin’s Russia is far more vulnerable to an enemy blitzkrieg than Stalinist USSR! Today’s Russian Federation is more similar to the Second Polish Republic, which succumbed within two weeks to the Wehrmacht’s blows. And the Kremlin today is leading the country towards a repeat of the tragedy of 1941!”

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Inside Intrigue at Conde Nast - Moving and Shaking Going On

Anna Wintour - One of the most
Powerful women in publishing

Conde Nast is a very influential publishing and mass media company with a lot of transformation going on. And tonight we are going to take a look at all the Conde Nast inside intrigue.

I believe this kind of analysis gives all aspiring writers, authors and indie publishers insight into the current day evolving industry that will empower them in their future endeavors. 

First, what is a mass media company (Conde Nast has grown into one over recent years)?

Secondly, a little history of Conde Nast: Condé Nast, a division of Advance Publications, is a mass media company headquartered in the Condé Nast Building in New York City. The company attracts more than 164 million consumers across its 20 print and digital media brands: Allure, Architectural Digest, Ars Technica, Bon Appétit, Brides, Condé Nast Traveler, Details, Epicurious, Glamour, Golf Digest, Golf World, GQ, Lucky, The New Yorker, Self, Teen Vogue,Vanity Fair, Vogue, W and Wired.

The company launched Condé Nast Entertainment in 2011 to develop film, television and digital video programming. The company also owns Fairchild Fashion Media (FFM) and its portfolio of comprehensive fashion journalism brands: Beauty Inc., Footwear News, M, Style.com and WWD.

The company was founded in 1909 by Condé Montrose Nast and has been owned by the Newhouse family since 1959. Samuel Irving Newhouse, Jr. is the chairman and CEO of Advance Publications, Charles H. Townsend is its chief executive officer and Robert A. Sauerberg is its president.


And now this from Crain's New York Business by  MATTHEW FLAMM:

Anna Wintour consolidates her power at Condé Nast

An executive transition also gave President Bob Sauerberg new responsibilities.

  A long-expected executive transition took a step forward at Condé Nast on Wednesday with the announcement that President Bob Sauerberg would assume new responsibilities and Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour  will have no rival in her role as creative director.

Editorial Director Tom Wallace will leave the company. Though he is not being replaced, his job was considered redundant after Ms. Wintour was named creative director last year. John Bellando, a 15-year veteran who was both chief financial officer and chief operating officer, is also leaving the company, to be replaced by an executive from Time Inc.

Mr. Sauerberg, appointed president four years ago Wednesday, will "assume a leading role in all revenue generation activities," CEO Chuck Townsend wrote in a memo to staffers. That leading role will include overseeing Condé Nast Media Group, the division that handles the large corporate advertising sales that have traditionally produced 80% of the company's ad revenue.

Brought in following a brutal advertising recession, Mr. Sauerberg was charged with finding new sources of revenue, and already oversees consumer marketing, digital operations, business development, corporate administration and the new television arm Condé Nast Entertainment. He is also the heir apparent to Mr. Townsend, who is 69.

Mr. Townsend acknowledged the power shift in his memo, noting that "Bob and I have worked side by side as CEO and president to ensure we prepare the company to reach new heights." The changes announced Wednesday begin "this seamless transition."

As part of the transition, Mr. Sauerberg added to his corporate team, bringing in David Geithner from Time Inc. to replace the well-liked Mr. Bellando, who was considered "Chuck's right arm," according to a former Condé Nast executive. Mr. Geithner will report to Mr. Sauerberg, as will Lou Cona, president of Conde Nast Media Group.

Ms. Wintour's ascension was no surprise. 

"Anna really has more power than Bob and Chuck combined," said the former executive. "She's the person everyone sees as a visionary and as having a huge amount of influence inside and outside of the building."

Condé Nast—part of the privately held, Newhouse family-owned Advance Publications—still has its own way of doing things, with roles that are not always clearly defined. For instance, some publishers report to Mr. Townsend, while others report to Mr. Sauerberg. With Wednesday's announcement, they will all report to Mr. Sauerberg, according to a person familiar with the matter, although one publisher was unaware of any change.

"At a company like this it doesn't matter," he said. "You have very little oversight either way."

Correction: All Condé Nast publishers will report to President Bob Sauerberg. This fact was misstated in a previous version of this article, published online July 23, 2014.

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Resource article:
http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20140723/MEDIA_ENTERTAINMENT/140729938/anna-wintour-consolidates-her-power-at-condeacute-nast

Content, Even When its Meaning is Twisted Out of Context, is Still King!

Content Marketing must be
mastered to sell your
books/writings

I read Greg Satell, a contributor to Forbes magazine, often enough - due mainly to his often less-than-mainstream approach to his subject matter. He is an interesting writer I enjoy. 

I agree with his outlook sometimes and disagree sometimes.

Tonight's post deals with the subject of 'content' and why I believe it's the main ingredient in successful writing and publishing no matter what the genre, niche, format or mission of the particular written word (print or digital) actually is. 

Whether the purpose of your writing is to advertise (to sell), to entertain, to teach, to research, to inform or to inspire --- the creative writing you use to accomplish your desired mission (the creative content) is the only determining factor in its success or failure.

Is content king? You bet it is. Always has been. Always will be.

Now, in my research source article tonight, written by Greg Satell in Forbes, I disagree with his disparaging and definition of the term 'content'. In my opinion, he is simply splitting semantic hairs and blurring words that are more commonly used by some present day publishers from different business fields/backgrounds than he is used to in the traditional publishing industry  --- Terms/phrases such as 'content strategy'.

Key excerpts:

His title "Why Content Marketing Fails" is inaccurate. If done right, the opposite is true.

"The reason is that content isn’t really king.  Content is crap.  Nobody walks out of a great movie and says, “Wow!  What great content.” 
  - Here he is confusing a niche type word that could mean the same thing as 'story' or 'storyline' in common speak. 

"In a famous essay written in 1996, Bill Gates declared that content is king.  He presciently foresaw that faster connection speeds would make content the “killer app” of the Internet, creating a “marketplace of experiences, ideas and products.” - Yet unfortunately, Gates mistook the transaction for the product.  While his vision of the future was correct and he moved quickly to create and acquire valuable content assets, he largely failed.  Today, almost 20 years later, Microsoft MSFT -1.54% has no significant content business."   - Bill Gates was not in the content business, per se, but in the content delivery and discovery business through software and other technologies. 

Now, here is Greg Satell from Forbes magazine:

Why Content Marketing Fails

In a famous essay written in 1996, Bill Gates declared that content is king.  He presciently foresaw that faster connection speeds would make content the “killer app” of the Internet, creating a “marketplace of experiences, ideas and products.”

Yet unfortunately, Gates mistook the transaction for the product.  While his vision of the future was correct and he moved quickly to create and acquire valuable content assets, he largely failed.  Today, almost 20 years later, Microsoft MSFT -1.54% has no significant content business.

The reason is that content isn’t really king.  Content is crap.  Nobody walks out of a great movie and says, “Wow!  What great content.”  Nobody who produces meaningful artistic expression thinks of themselves as content producers either.  So the first step to becoming a successful publisher is to start treating creative work with the respect it deserves.

A Mission Is Not A Transaction

Henry Luce was not a fan of mainstream media.  He saw it as made up of dry and dull daily newspapers on the one hand and sensational tabloids on the other.  He wanted to create a new breed of product—informal and concise—which would prepare people to discuss the issues of the day.  Time magazine succeeded beyond his dreams.

Later, much like Gates, he presciently saw that photography would change publishing forever.  In his prospectus for Life magazine he wrote:

To see life; to see the world; to eyewitness great events; to watch the faces of the poor and the gestures of the proud; to see strange things—machines, armies, multitudes, shadows in the jungle and on the moon; to see man’s work—his paintings, towers and discoveries; to see things thousands of miles away, things hidden behind walls and within rooms, things dangerous to come to; the women that men love and many children; to see and take pleasure in seeing; to see and be amazed; to see and be instructed;

Thus to see, and to be shown, is now the will and new expectancy of half mankind

To see, and to show, is the mission now undertaken by a new kind of publication, THE SHOW-BOOK OF THE WORLD

Luce is arguably the most successful publisher the world has ever seen.  Time, Life andFortune became not just magazines, but icons.  Later, People and Sports Illustratedcreated—and dominated—new categories as well.  Even today, Time Inc. is the largest publisher on the planet.

The contrast between Gates and Luce is stark.  Gates, while he insightfully described the forces that would shape the new “marketplace of ideas,” expressed no special opinion about it, except that he thought people should pay for content.  Luce, on the other hand, saw not just an opportunity or a task, but a mission.

Continue reading the full article here

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