NOVEMBER 2012
Author and publisher relations – how publishers stay competitive in digital publishing
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NOVEMBER 2012
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Introduction With recent developments and trends in the publishing industry, the position of publishers is under pressure. Authors turn into self-publishers, retailers become publishers, agents publish backlists, and price levels and classic business models are under threat. With this in mind, Schilling’s second white paper study goes deeper into the subject of author relationships. Our goal is to learn from publishers and authors how to create the best possible relationships between them and how publishers should act to retain their competitiveness as the best suitable business partner for authors. Schilling has interviewed a range of publishers and authors in Europe and North America. The publishing executives in the survey hold positions such as publisher, digital publisher, COO, and author care manager, and represent big and small publishing companies alike. The authors in the survey include successful self-publishers, authors who work for publishers, and some who have tried both. Twenty authors and publishers have been kind enough to let us know their thoughts on where in the value chain they see opportunities and challenges in a market that daily becomes more digitised, and on how the two groups should collaborate in the future. We hope that our conclusions in this white paper will inspire publishers and authors alike to better exploit the digital opportunities and will help reunite authors and publishers in a common mission to deliver interesting content easily, in practical ways, and in formats readers want. We will go through the challenges pointed to by the respondents within the individual elements in the value chain. We also hope that this white paper will give you an overview of how significant players in the industry look at the impact of digital publications and that it will inspire authors and publishers to find new ways of working together in the future.
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Executive Summary The white paper survey investigates the role and value creation of publishers, including search and selection, editorial work, marketing and distribution – and author requirements to publishers’ value creation in the current transformation process. All the industry professionals we have interviewed agree that the digitisation of book publications creates many new exciting opportunities but also brings new challenges. Looking at the statements by publishers and authors, it is clear that in the tension field between the two parties they must match their expectations, not least when it comes to: • The publishers’ role as gatekeeper. • The relation between editor and author. • The economic restraints and financing models in the publishing industry. This in combination with the introduction of new powerful players in the market means that the power balance between publisher and author is shifting in a world of digital publications. THE FORGOTTEN POTENTIAL Many authors – and some publishers too – point out that publishers are not always fully aware who their customers are, at least if you define customers as end-users, in other words the readers who buy books in ordinary bookshops or online. Publishers have traditionally focused on their direct customers – the booksellers. Perhaps this implies a risk: that for many years books have not appealed greatly to “non-elitist readers”, in other words there may be a large unexploited customer potential out there. SELF-PUBLISHING – A NEW LINK IN THE VALUE CHAIN E-books have brought a new challenge: self-publishers. These are primarily highly entrepreneurial authors or authors who have been rejected by publishers and who are able to manage their own publications now that the printing and logistics of physical products are no longer a restraint when it comes to digital publications. Many of the most successful self-publishers find that in the electronic marketplace they are in direct contact with their audience – an unexploited potential that traditional marketing has not previously targeted.
“I DO NOT THINK THAT PUBLISHERS KNOW THEIR READERS. THEIR CUSTOMERS HAVE ALWAYS BEEN BOOKSHOPS, AND NOT THE READERS. PUBLISHERS SEE READERS AS A REFLECTION OF THEMSELVES – WELL EDUCATED MIDDLE-CLASS PEOPLE LIVING IN ONE OF THE WORLD’S BIG CITIES.” Author Many authors feel that they know their readers better than publishers do – so in effect they can market themselves perfectly well. The myth of the author being out of touch with reality and unable to cope with the practicalities of efficient marketing is under pressure.
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In the digital marketplace there is a market for literature that appeals to a broad audience outside the literary magnetic fields where bookshops are available to readers on every street corner. When only a very small part of literature sold by the publishing industry over the past few hundred years has taken place as a direct transaction between reader and seller, there may well be a lack of knowledge about readers in the publishing houses.
“TO BE HONEST I THINK THAT WE HAVE A LOT TO LEARN ABOUT THE BUSINESSTO-CONSUMER MARKET.” Publisher With the electronic business platforms it is essential to build up in-depth knowledge about readers to proactively adapt production and royalty agreements to the sales channels. Through direct contact and knowledge about reader behaviour, publishers who understand the market requirements will come out stronger in the future when authors select the publisher who provides him or her with the best sales channel. A significant success parameter for publishers will therefore be to have well-structured customer and potential customer data so that they can match the marketing efforts with reader requirements and thereby strengthen the direct relation between publisher and customer. NEW TIMES, NEW RELATIONS In terms of authors, only a privileged few have been able to employ their publisher – these authors were certain to sell a large number of books and could therefore shop around and select the publishers who paid the largest advance, paid a sign-on fee, offered the best royalty agreement, and allocated the largest marketing contribution. The other group of authors – the majority – were hired by the publisher on the publisher’s terms. Now many authors are showing increasing interest in the experiences of the self-publisher: A higher degree of control over their own works, short time to market, faster updates of their works, and a larger share of the income. On the other hand, the majority of the interviewed authors admit that it is better for the creative process of writing that others look after the practical aspects of a publication.
“I KNOW HOW THE CHARACTERS IN MY BOOK SHOULD ACT AND HOW THE STORY SHOULD UNFOLD. NO EDITOR CAN DO THIS BETTER – THIS IS WHAT I AM GOOD AT. ON THE OTHER HAND, I NEED HELP WITH LINGUISTIC FINE-TUNING AND PROOF-READING.” Author This shows that the growing layer of self-publishers is a symptom of a change in the power balance between publisher and author rather than a sign that authors are about to take power over all publishing processes, thus making publishers redundant. The thing is – authors do want a publisher to look after all the practical stuff: Marketing, distribution, production, sales, editing, market analysis. But they no longer depend on publishers as the only ones with access to production, distribution and sales facilities. So, with these three factors out of the equation, the role of authors in relation to publishers has changed.
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Many of the respondents suggest that in the future authors will employ their own publishers, perhaps only for parts of the package as authors or freelancers can provide for example editing, graphics, and technical production and distribution of digital publications. Authors are also looking for a much higher degree of co-operation throughout the publishing process. This applies not only to editing but also to marketing where many authors feel that they have been excluded even though they do have something valuable to contribute. NEW FINANCING MODELS COME TO LIGHT The opportunities of the digital world to change the relation between author and publisher are likely to change the financing model between the parties dramatically. Both players suggest that the royalty model will change. Many authors point out that with the options available to them today they can take over some of the tasks and expenses involved in publishing, such as editing, graphics and type setting, production, marketing and sales. But some also say that it will still be a challenge to manage for example royalty and rights.
“I THINK WE ARE HEADING TO A POINT WHERE FEWER AND FEWER ADVANCES WILL BE PAID AND WHERE A LARGE PART OF THE PAYMENT WILL BE IN ROYALTIES.” Publisher Publishers are under pressure from the rather aggressive royalty rates introduced by for example Amazon where authors get up to 70 % of the income. Authors demand increased transparency in the services offered by publishers in return for the share of the income pocketed by the publishers. Thus, publishers must provide increased flexibility in their service and payment facilities and better communication with authors to show them exactly what value they add to the publishing process – and to the author. Perhaps, in the future, a larger share of the financing will be allocated to royalty payments to the individual author whereas advance payments will be reduced – in other words, a profit contract. This is a consequence of a market where publishers to a larger extent will be forced to look at the share of the sales price which self-publishers can add to their own revenue.
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From Gutenberg to digital platforms – author and publisher relations 1. IS THE PUBLISHER’S ROLE AS GATEKEEPER A THING OF THE PAST? Until recently publishers have been the ones who decided which books should be sold in the market. If an individual editor thought the quality of a book was not good enough or that the book did not have sufficient sales potential, the author’s access to the market was closed because he or she depended on the publisher for production, logistics, and distribution. There have been many examples where publishers have been wrong in their assessment of what could be sold and what could not – a recent example is Amanda Hocking’s vampire novels. As the number of successful digital self-publishers who were rejected by traditional publishers increases, the question arises whether publishers know the market and the readers well enough to fulfil the gatekeeper role. One thing is certain: the publication of an author’s manuscript in a digital world no longer depends on a publisher’s thumbs-up. Publishers believe that their success is based on their knowledge of what their customers want and which titles sell. Historically, publishers agree to a large extent that the success they have obtained on behalf of themselves and on authors has depended on their ability to analyse the market and supply the right products with the right stories by the right authors. Now however, publishers are being challenged by the claim that traditionally they have in fact traded with retailers and not with end-users – in other words the readers – and that this is a discipline that many publishers are only now beginning to learn.
“AS ONLINE SALES INCREASE WE WILL EET THE CUSTOMERS ‘FACE TO FACE’ IN THE MARKETPLACE. THIS WILL ENHANCE OUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE CUSTOMERS AND THEIR REQUIREMENTS.” Publisher Publishers know that they lag behind when it comes to the way some authors are in contact with their readers, and they are particularly well aware that they cannot currently compete with the customer databases of large retailers such as for example Amazon, Kobo and Apple. Most publishers agree that part of the immediate service they can provide to authors in a digital world is the well-developed analysis system which they have built up throughout the years. This analysis system is based on knowledge of readers and on an analytical approach to the market. According to the majority of publishers, their analyses help authors prevail in the market. The majority of authors and some publishers agree that market analysis is an important service that publishers can and must provide. In other words: Publishers create value for their authors through thorough analysis and in-depth market knowledge. However, the knowledge level and quality within this discipline must be enhanced if publishers are to keep up.
“I BELIEVE I KNOW MY READERS BETTER THAN PUBLISHERS DO. IT IS WHAT I WRITE THAT THEY BUY. I INTERACT WITH THE READERS, THEY REACT TO WHAT I WRITE, THEY MAKE SUGGESTIONS FOR THE STORY AND OTHER BOOKS, AND GIVE ME BOTH POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE FEEDBACK.” Author
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Self-publishing has increased dramatically over the past few years, and there is an emerging trend now that publishers appraise the most successful publications and offer contracts to these authors. So authors have gone from having limited access to the market through publishers to having practically no limitations. And publishers select their next success in new ways. You could say that in reality many authors make their own market analysis. 2. CAN PUBLISHERS DEVELOP NON-PAPER PRODUCTS? Traditional product development within book publishing has been to identify the uncut diamonds among the myriad of authors, manuscripts and ideas that find their way to the editor’s desk and then develop the author and his/her unfinished idea to become a high-quality book publication. To do this you needed editors with an in-depth understanding of how to structure and tell a story or how to best communicate non-fiction within the physical restraints of a printed book. In the digital world with many different publication platforms, the need to be able to spot the potential of an unfinished manuscript or a vague idea becomes even greater. But the many platforms and different options are the key here. If publishers are able to identify and exploit digital opportunities within sound, video, interaction, etc. and transform them into context-relevant features that end-users want, they may consolidate their position in the value chain that is currently under pressure. One thing is certain: In the digital world, those who lead the field of development and succeed with the right solutions will have the competitive edge. If you succeed in converting knowledge into viable concepts, the path to the customers lies clear ahead. An example is the music industry where musicians who – with the onslaught of social media – were unable to publish their music through the traditional channels, built up fan bases, and where the CD is being wiped out in favour of direct sales of digital music files.
“WE HAVE EXPERIENCE WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF IDEAS FOR BOOKS. THROUGH ANALYSING THE TARGET GROUPS WE NEEDED TO ADD TO OUR PORTFOLIO, WE DEVELOPED A WHOLE NEW CONCEPT OF BOOKS AND COVERS ETC. SO THAT WE COULD PRESENT A STORY AND LAYOUT THAT FULLY MATCHED THE TARGET GROUP.” Publisher However, publishers must not only play the innovative card when it comes to the development of content, concepts, and thematisation. The publisher of the future must to a greater and greater extent focus on the concept of ‘talent’. In the past, publishing was all about writing talent. Now publishing is so much more. The talents that publishers must now recruit may be programmers who develop the digital format or web designers who develop the best user interface. Some publishers have started talking about innovative R&D – and still more are following suit. This means for example establishing teams allocated to develop IP rights, film rights, etc.
“PUBLISHERS SHOULD EXPLOIT THE DIGITAL OPPORTUNITIES, BUILDING A TEST ENVIRONMENT WHERE DIALOGUE WITH READERS SHAPES THE DESIGN OF PUBLICATIONS.” Publisher
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In the digital world, publishers need to focus their resources on developing digital solutions that expand market access to customers. Publishers and authors agree that the publishing industry still has some way to go before publishers – and authors – will know how to prioritise the development steps.
“IN THE FUTURE THE SUCCESS OF PUBLISHERS WILL TO A LARGE EXTENT DEPEND ON THEIR ABILITY TO DEVELOP FORMATS THAT ENABLE E-BOOKS TO INCLUDE PICTURES AND FILMS, WHILE ALLOWING FOR ALL THE LEGAL COMPLICATIONS IN TERMS OF RIGHTS.” Author Thus, a significant re-allocation of resources is taking place. A large part of the resources that were traditionally used to develop physical books must now focus on exploiting the major opportunities offered by the new technology, such as:
• Dialogue with readers. • Interactive options in books. • Direct marketing. • Loyalty.
3. DO WE STILL NEED PUBLISHER FUNDING? A key aspect in the discussion of the need for publisher funding is that in the print world the level of printing costs were so high that authors could either not afford it themselves or did not want to take the financial risk. The income distribution between publisher and author reflects the power balance between the two. In the digital world the costs of a book publication are significantly lower. This means a shift of power balance to the benefit of the author. To what extent will authors need publisher funding, and how will publishers react in the face of the change? One place where the shoe seems to be pinching between publishers and authors is how the two see the relation between expenses and income in the digital world. In the print world, a book publication in many ways resembles the development of other products, so financing product development is necessary. In the publishing industry there is general agreement that in reality publishers act as “business angels” with advance payments and investments in editing and production.
“ADVANCE PAYMENTS CAN SIMPLY BE SEEN AS THE CASHFLOW OF AUTHORSHIP.” Publisher But the financing models seem to be changing too. And at some levels, greater transparency between author and publisher is called for. Authors and publishers agree that the royalty model will change. Many authors point out that with digital publications it will be much easier to take on the risk themselves – and get a much larger piece of the pie.
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Publishers challenge this argument, saying that they assume a very large part of the risk of a publication, which means that a higher royalty share will be compensated for by a significantly lower advance payment.
“PUBLISHING E-BOOKS DOES NOT NECESSARILY MEAN THAT OUR EXPENSES DROP. WE HAVE TO INVEST IN NEW TECHNOLOGY AND ORGANISE OURSELVES DIFFERENTLY. WHEN THE NUMBER OF SOLD PAPER BOOKS GO DOWN, THE EXPENSES PER PAPER BOOK GO UP. SO FOR SOME TIME YET IT IS UNLIKELY THAT DIGITAL PUBLICATIONS WILL MAKE EXPENSES GO DOWN.” Publisher Authors and publishers agree that we need to look at the different financing models, combine them, and make the most of each one. Both parties also agree that advance payments cannot be done away with. They are a way of keeping the creative process on track – of keeping authors free of financial worries in their writing process. But especially authors are raising the red flag – because it would appear that authors can get a larger share of the total income by going the self-publishing route. For many authors it is therefore essential that the services and prices offered by publishers are transparent so that authors and publishers can have a qualified discussion about who should have the various roles and tasks involved in the publication of the books.
“I THINK PUBLISHERS MUST BE MUCH BETTER AT SPECIFYING THEIR EXPENSES FOR THE INDIVIDUAL PUBLICATIONS. WITH A ROYALTY PAYMENT OF 15 % ON AVERAGE OF THE END-USER PRICE OF THE BOOK, PUBLISHERS MUST BE ABLE TO EXPLAIN TO AUTHORS HOW THE EXPENSES ARE DISTRIBUTED. YOU COULD SAY THAT AUTHORS PAY 85 % TO GET THEIR WORKS PUBLISHED TODAY.” Author When you consider that the new digital world enables authors to make more decisions for themselves, it follows that there is an increased demand for transparency in the financing expenses incurred by publishers for the individual author. The transparency, specification, and documentation of the actual expenses and income for each individual publication will become competitive parameters between author and publisher in the future. 4. HAVE PROOF-READING AND PUNCTUATION BECOME COMMODITIES JUST LIKE HOTLINE SERVICE? There is no doubt that text editing, spell-check and grammar check are some of the core services in publishing and the foundation for a good-quality book publication. But the recent crisis in the publishing industry has led to employment reductions, including skilled editors. Those who are left in the publishing houses often occupy prominent sites in the big cities of the Western world with rents that would take most private book consumers by surprise. Editors could just as well work in their homes or in other locations with a much lower rent – and lower hourly rates – and the question then follows if expensive publishers really are the best suited for the job. Perhaps it would make more sense to buy these services from a freelancer and get exactly the same good quality at a fraction of the price?
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Some see the relation between editor and author as the strongest bond between publisher and author – a bit like a parent/child relationship. Authors have a strong wish to be on more equal terms, to make it more like a sibling relationship.
“WE CAN STILL CREATE VALUE FOR EXAMPLE FROM HOW TO DEVELOP THE CHARACTERS IN A BOOK. THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO DOUBT THAT A GOOD PUBLISHING EDITOR IS A WELL OF KNOWLEDGE WHO CAN ADD VALUE TO ANY AUTHOR.” Publisher The editing of a book has always been seen as a part of the full package, and thus the input from the editor was always a significant part of whether the author could get his/her book published or not. In the new digital world there may be some disagreement between editors and authors when it comes to the story and the development of the characters in a book.
“MOST AUTHORS PREFER TO BE IN CONTROL OF THE CENTRAL MATTERS IN THEIR BOOKS: THE STORY, CAST OF CHARACTERS, ETC. BUT TO GET A BOOK PUBLISHED, AUTHORS HAVE ALWAYS DEPENDED ON THE EDITOR’S INFLUENCE ON THE CENTRAL MATTERS.” Author Digital world or not, publications must still be presented properly and be of high quality when they reach their audience. So many are of the opinion that publishers can still create value for authors. In the future, good editing will be an even more significant competitive parameter in publishers’ efforts to be employed by authors, and many publishers see editing as their most important input in the publishing process – and as such their most important core service. It is likely that in the future the relation between author and editor will be on a per publication basis and not a relation to last throughout an author’s career. Many predict that the editor role to a larger and larger extent will be taken on by freelancers. This means that the individual author will be more inclined to shop around between different editors and not be tied to a single publisher and the services particular to that publisher. Authors are sending publishers a clear signal in connection with the editing process: In the future authors expect to have more control over the content, story, and characters. But they also hope that editors to a larger degree will become their discussion partners.
“I HOPE EDITORS IN THE FUTURE WILL NOT BE INVOLVED IN THE ECONOMIC NEGOTIATIONS BUT WILL FOCUS ON THEIR CORE COMPETENCIES.” Author
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5. WHAT DOES A PUBLISHER’S PRODUCTION CONTROLLER KNOW ABOUT DIGITAL PUBLICATIONS? In theory, you just need to convert your final and edited text to an electronic format – and then any piece of fiction or textbook is ready for an e-reader. As for illustrated books, well they are a little more complicated, but by cutting a few corners here and there, it can’t be too difficult, can it? The truth is, it is still not quite that simple to convert your books properly for the countless screens available to readers, not to mention all the possibilities to optimise books for the digital platforms. When books are to be distributed on digital platforms where the size and type on the screen determine how the content is presented and everything is defined by zeros and ones, do publishers possess sufficient technical know-how? One of the areas where the transformation from the traditional world of paper books really manifests itself is production. Right now literature is entering an entirely new production universe. The publishing world actually feels quite well equipped to deal with the new challenges but acknowledges that many new processes need to be incorporated – and preferably faster than is currently the case.
“PUBLISHERS COULD MAKE GREAT E-BOOKS TODAY, WITH LOTS OF INTERACTION. TO BE HONEST, I FIND IT HARD TO UNDERSTAND WHY THEY DON’T.” Author Publishers need to completely understand the technical issues involved in publishing books that are just as reader-friendly on a Kindle or an IPad as a paper book.
“DIGITAL PUBLISHING IS NEW FOR ALL OF US. PERSONALLY, I AM IN AN EXPERIMENTAL PHASE, AND WE ARE INVESTING HEAVILY IN THE DIGITAL OPPORTUNITIES. BUT IT IS A VERY COMPLEX AREA. WITH THE INCREASED COMPLEXITY IN PRODUCTION PROCESSES, BACK OFFICE TASKS, ETC. I BELIEVE THAT THE NEED FOR A PUBLISHER IS ACTUALLY GETTING BIGGER IN A DIGITAL WORLD.” Publisher One of the challenges that publishers will face is the large number of technically skilled freelancers in the market. Some authors in the self-publishing segment have already discovered the expertise these freelancers can offer, and other authors themselves have learned the skills necessary to produce an e-book. Still, most authors would prefer to leave this part of the process to a partner who can also help with the other publishing disciplines – in other words, a publisher. But a critical evaluation is needed of the time publishers spend on publishing a book. When it is possible to release a book on the market in a matter of days or weeks after it is written and edited, it is a thorn in the side of authors that they have to wait months until the finished product reaches the shelves – just as it was in the days of the paper book.
“I FIND IT REALLY HARD TO UNDERSTAND WHY IT TAKES A SELF-PUBLISHER HALF AN HOUR TO PUBLISH A BOOK WHILE IT STILL TAKES A PUBLISHER SIX MONTHS.” Author Authors expect that they will benefit from the new opportunities provided by digital publishing. So in the future publishers will need processes that ensure fast access to the market and the readers.
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6. DO PUBLISHERS HAVE ANY INFLUENCE AT ALL ON E-BOOK SALES? Printed books take up space! Until recently, the exposure of books to consumers depended on the space available on the retailers’ shelves. For publishers the important thing was to make an agreement with the retailers to get their books placed in the front where they were visible to customers and would tempt them to buy. Publishers therefore focused widely on business-to-business marketing. Marketing targeted towards the consumers was largely taken care of by the retailers. But with the endless rows of shelves available in a webshop, there is no limit to the number of books that can reach the consumers’ field of vision. So how do publishers ensure that just their books will be visible to the customer and end up in his/her shopping basket? Will they still leave this job to the retailers, or should they learn to master the discipline of business-toconsumer marketing, including conversion rates, metadata, and social media? Can authors trust publishers with this task? Traditionally, one of the publishers’ strong selling points in dealing with authors has been their well-oiled marketing machine that supported sales efforts. And in a digital world, the marketing of books is no less important. The big challenge is to find a new type of marketing to reach the customers. This may well mean adopting some of the marketing methods used outside the publishing world, for example by retailers, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCGs), and not least the music industry. Product lifetime, turnover rate, conversion rates, and impact measurement are just some of the performance indicators that publishers must relate to in their efforts to optimise their marketing.
“WE MUST EXPECT THAT CERTAIN RESOURCES WILL BECOME REDUNDANT AS SOME OF OUR TRADITIONAL MARKETING PLATFORMS BECOME LESS RELEVANT. THESE RESOURCES SHOULD PROBABLY BE RE-ALLOCATED TO MORE FOCUSED ADVERTISING REACHING THE BUYERS WHERE THEY ARE IN THE DIGITAL MARKETPLACE.” Publisher But publishers also need to think differently in terms of how they reach their customers. They need to be better at keeping their knowledge about end-users up to date – so far publishers have let the marketing efforts go through the booksellers as the point of contact between publisher and reader. In a digital world, new points of contact are needed, since the point of contact has moved from a well-known physical place to the new borderline territory of cyberspace. Authors must be branded even stronger than they are today. Branding is happening in a battlefield where authors not only have to be branded against other authors but also against other products in the virtual marketplace.
“OUR ROLE IS TO WORK WITH BRAND MANAGEMENT. WE MUST MOVE AWAY FROM THE ROLE OF SALESMAN AND COME THROUGH AS BRAND BUILDERS.” Publisher
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Just as there were alliance partners in the print world where you could for example sell your book together with a chocolate manufacturer, a car or a kitchen brand, marketing of the future may be done in co-operation with major social networks that are well acquainted with the consumers who move around effortlessly in the digital marketplace. The publishing industry must break with what some in the industry call dogmas. One such dogma that may come under pressure is the perception that a publishing house is a brand that is strong enough in itself to be a guarantee of high quality.
“READERS WANT THE GOOD STORY. THEY WANT TO READ WELL-WRITTEN BOOKS, AND THEY KNOW WHAT AUTHORS THEY LIKE. BUT I DO NOT THINK THAT READERS EVER SELECT A BOOK SIMPLY BECAUSE OF THE PUBLISHER. SO SELECTING A PARTICULAR PUBLISHER IS NOT REALLY A MARKETING OR SALES PARAMETER.” Author Publishers and authors agree that the key to successful marketing will be to handle the direct relation with the customer.
“WE ALL HAVE TO GET MUCH BETTER AT HANDLING DIRECT SALES TO THE READERS AND AT HANDLING THE DIALOGUE WITH THEM ON ALL THE NEW PLATFORMS.” Publisher Industry professionals point out that the sales process in a digital industry will be changed drastically. It will be easier to get in contact with the customers and sell to them directly. To exploit this opportunity publishers must establish their own efficient sales and marketing channels. Another essential aspect of the sales effort will be to enter agreements with some of the major companies such as Apple, Amazon and Google who already have the platforms to reach the consumers efficiently. Publishers will therefore have to work with even greater players – players who are used to being the ones to set the terms of business. These partners may also be competitors when publishers choose to approach the market directly.
“PUBLISHERS MUST BE ABSOLUTELY SURE THAT THEIR E-BOOKS ARE PUBLISHED ON ALL RELEVANT PLATFORMS.” Publisher An essential tool in the recruitment and retention of authors will be knowledge about the end-users. Authors will demand proof that the publisher is the best qualified to reach the maximum number of readers and consumers. A large, existing customer database will therefore be an important competitive parameter. Thus, in the future publishers must move outside their comfort zone and learn from other industries far removed from the publishing world. Authors must also get used to a new world where their products are marketed along with a range of other commodities and accept that publishers become more and more commercial in the way they market authors and their works.
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Thank you We would like to thank all the people who have participated in our white paper survey and have shed new light on the challenges and opportunities that authors and publishers must deal with in the face of the digitisation of the publishing industry in the coming years. Therefore, our warmest thanks to all who have shared their thoughts with us – and with our readers: Publishers Lisa Edwards, Publishing and Commercial Director, Scholastic Amanda Wood, Managing Director, Templar Bonnier Publishing Belinda Rasmussen, Publisher, MacMillan UK Cally Poplak, Director, Egmont UK Jo Lal, Head of Author Care, Harper Collins Josiah Kayode, Penguin UK Nathan Hull, Digital Publisher, Penguin UK Stephen Page, CEO and Publisher, Faber & Faber UK Tine Smedegaard Andersen, Director, Gyldendal DK Peter Schrøder, Digital Director, Egmont Katherine Tegen, Publisher, Harper Collins US Joe Wikert, General Manager and Publisher, O’Reilly US Joe Mangan, COO, Perseus Books US Colin Robinson, Publisher, OR Books Sara Lloyd, Digital and Communications Director, Pan Macmillan
Authors Siobhan Curham, author Kerry Wilkinson, author Michael Grant, author Bella Andre, author Tina Folsom, author Lotte Garbers, author
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WE GROW PUBLISHING Schilling develops and provides the publishing industry with inno vative turn-key solutions. Our trademark is our know-how, employees, and the added value we create for our customers in partnership with them. Our know-how is all about innovation grounded in knowledge, personal integrity, and strong process management focused on enhancing the customer’s business. Schilling employees are second to none in the industry – that’s why we hired them. Our customers are high-profiled and leading publishing companies in the Scandinavian market. Most of them have been with us for the past 10 to 20 years. We ourselves represent more than 40 years’ expe-rience in the industry. We are situated south of Copenhagen, 15 minutes by car from the city centre and Copenhagen Airport, and in the past four decades we’ve managed to build a company known for its attractive work environment and its ambitious system developers with a vast knowledge of the publishing industry and a burning desire to make a difference. Our core competence building on close relations with each and every one of our customers and based on the unique Scandinavian “Schilling model” helps publishing companies improve their bottom line. ”Successful delivery” isn’t good enough. Our aim is to “supply success” – to grow publishing. The success of our customers is our success. One example is our service and update agreement, which is a part of the Scandinavian model. Another example is our round tables at which we share knowledge with the key opinion leaders of the industry. Without knowledge we’re unable to fulfill our promises. Our work revolves around our core, the Schilling staff.
Schilling is to a great extent grounded in knowledge – that’s why most of our employees hold a master degree from leading universities or have earned their position through experience from the publishing industry. A Schilling virtue is to hire only the best – and make them even better. But our first, last and everything is our customers. We grow publishing – in partnership with them. It is of the highest importance that we succeed in enhancing our customers’ businesses through consultancy and our innovative turn-key solutions such as:
• Contracts, rights and royalty management • Product and production management • Publishing portal • Publishing intelligence • Stock, logistics and distribution management • Subscription management • CRM
Our relationship with our customers goes beyond the traditional business relationship – it is a partnership. We grow solutions and our customers’ business together. We are proud to say that our customers are among the largest and healthiest publishing houses in Scandinavia. Publishing houses have been made more profitable through our contribution that makes handling logistics, royalty, rights, production, and the overall business more efficient. We make sure that our educational business arm serves to update knowledge of employees in the publishing industry through our tailor-made courses. And we are proud to say that through conferences, and especially the Scandinavian Executive Publishing Meeting, we are generously sharing industry trends within the whole industry. Contact For further information about this white paper, please contact Kent Valentin Fallesen at kvf@schilling.dk or see www.schilling.dk
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For more information please contact KENT VALENTIN FALLESEN VP of Sales kvf@schilling.dk Tel: +45 29 72 70 02
Schilling A/S Baldersbaekvej 24-26 DK-2635 Ishoej Denmark Tel: +45 70 27 99 00 schilling@schilling.dk www.schilling.dk
JAKOB LARSEN Principal Consultant jal@schilling.dk Tel: +45 20 21 24 03
ANJA BELTOFT Marketing Manager ab@schilling.dk Tel: +45 21 47 46 20