Joe Wikert's Digital Content Strategies

Bringing democracy back to digital

By exposing us to diverging viewpoints, fostering dissent, broadcasting scientific discoveries, and stretching our imagination beyond its sensory frame, books have promoted the rise of our modern social conscience. The many societal and technical revolutions of the 20th century have often been ascribed to a unique combination of readily available literature and high schooling rates.

High-speed printing presses, global distribution, and the excellent editing work of our forebears, enable publishers to sell authoritative, if slightly outmoded, versions of classic works for a few pence a pop. These inexpensive books are the WD-40 of the publishing world: they find their way into the most unlikely places, eating away at the grime of mindless entertainment. Comfortably purchased by all, they require no special treatment. They are forgotten on commuter trains, picked up on park benches, handed out as tokens and prizes, thrown away without remorse — and saved by the dustman.

It was initially hoped that digital publishing would precipitate the fall of prices, without affecting the margins of publishers: provided authors hand out clean digital documents, the costs involved in editing, proofing and laying out a work decrease dramatically. Part of the savings can then be passed on, benefiting both seller and purchaser. We can even distribute books for free over the Internet, in essence the largest, most egalitarian lending library in the world.

Yet, in our enthusiasm, we may have collectively forgotten how tall a barrier we were erecting between the reader and the text. While printed books exist in and of themselves, old-worldly, generous, and inefficient, digital books must be accessed through a reading device, be it a computer, a tablet, or a phone. In effect, one requires costly tools to economise: the reading apparatus, access to a network, charging facilities, etc. One must also defend an attractive gadget against theft — for the tablet, unlike the book, holds universal appeal.

In our technical circles, access to a basic reader is a given. How expensive can these unmarked, outdated pseudo-smartphones be? They can run a web browser and access Project Gutenberg… To many, they are out of reach. And even if they were handed out by well-meaning librarians, they could not be charged easily, or used everywhere without fear of assault. In many regions of the world, including parts of Europe and North America, they would be useless bricks, deprived from the essential companionship of a cell tower or Wi-Fi router.

Certainly, computers are available in public places, including libraries. But how comfortable should we be, as a society, with asking the poor to register at a central government-run place to access knowledge that used to be free?

Whether by design or accident, free reading has, so far, been a right in modern society. Wonderful and convenient as it is, our current all-digital distribution model has failed to carry on this fundamental tradition. As digital publishers, we must examine ways to restore it, of putting random books back into random hands.

This article was written by contributor Francois Joseph de Kermadec

Earned Attention: More than a stack of paper

As an industry I think we're getting weary of all the various "rich content" experiments and products floating around these days. I have to admit that most make me want to yawn and move on to the next item in my email inbox. Too many of them feel like a Frankenstein project where elements are grafted onto a traditional book and there's a giant bolt sticking out of the neck.

Every so often one actually grabs my attention. Ironically, the latest one is called Earned Attention. I first watched the video embedded below and was curious to learn more about it. Here's a quote from the video foreword that really resonated with me: 

Attention is the ultimate currency. It is the ultimate scarce resource. It is the only commodity that matters.

How true. And even more so in the publishing world these days. We're all talking about discovery and rising about all the noise. If you can truly earn the attention of your target audience you're clearly doing something right, and "earn" is the key word here. 

Here's another quote from the end of the video below:

A book that you never actually finish.

I'll bet that's a turn-off to a lot of people. Most of us just want to read a book from start to finish and be done with it. Every so often though you want the book to be a part of an ongoing stream of information. That's how I view Earned Attention. It's one of those products that should continue feeding your brain with more insight, long after you read the last word of the printed book.

I'm looking forward to digging into this one. My only disappointment is that the accompanying apps are for iOS only. As an Android convert I've decided this is the worst six-word sentence I've ever read:

Available for iOS (Android coming soon)

I see that sentence far too frequently. I guess I'll have to dig out that first-gen iPad of mine and see if I can use the app there.

Earned Attention case video from ENERGIZE on Vimeo.

Pre-publication samples

This one has been nagging at me for years and I'm amazed none of the major ebook retailers offer a solution. I'm talking about the ability to pre-order an ebook sample prior to publication. Today I received a bulk email from Eric Metaxas, author of Seven Men, telling me the book is "now available." His team either pressed "send" prematurely or they just want us to pre-order today. The print book doesn't release till tomorrow and the ebook doesn't come out till a week later. (Btw, why is a publisher delaying the ebook's release by a week? That's such out-dated thinking.)

I don't want to buy the ebook today but I'd love to request the sample when it's available. The ebook isn't released for eight more days so the sample obviously won't be available till then either. The chances of me remembering to check back next week and request the sample are close to zero.

So why not add a button that lets me pre-order the sample now? You don't have to send it to me now, but have it sent to me on April 30 when the ebook releases. How hard is that? More importantly, how many sales have been lost because this sample pre-order button doesn't exist?

Lessons for all PR professionals:

1. Never send the email blast saying the book is available the day/week before it actually is available.
2. Tell your publisher to make sure the ebook is available the same day as the print book, not a week later.
3. Tell your publisher and/or retail partner to implement a sample pre-order button for all ebooks. Better yet, make the ebook sample available on your own website, in all formats (EPUB, mobi, PDF), before the book releases anywhere else. What do you care if it gets out in to the wild and everyone shares it? It's called "establishing a direct channel with your customers", and it's a good thing to do.

P.S. -- The reason I'm on Metaxas' mailing list is because I read his amazing book Bonhoeffer a year or so ago. If you haven't read it, I highly recommend it. It's one of the most inspiring books I've ever read.

Why Paperight should be distributing your content

The opening statement on Paperight's "about" page says it all:

Paperight turns any business with any printer and an Internet connection into a print-on-demand bookstore.

This isn't just about distributing content through copy shops though. Paperight helps make content available in the developing world. That's why Paperight was named "Most Entrepreneurial Startup" from TOC's Startup Showcase in February. They're opening an entirely new channel and serving the needs of readers who might otherwise never have access to this content.

That's also why O'Reilly recently signed an agreement with Paperight. We're thrilled that Paperight is distributing our content and I want to encourage you to sign up with them as well. You can learn more about the Paperight/O'Reilly distribution deal here.

Please take the time to learn more about Paperight and get your rights team in contact with them.

Best of TOC

It's challenging keeping up with publishing industry news and analysis. I have way too many content feeds to monitor and I'm sure you do too. We do our best to highlight the most important developments on the TOC website but you're forgiven if you fall behind or miss an article every so often.

Most of analysis on the TOC site is somewhat timeless but the blog format might not make it feel that way. That's why we gathered the best of the best articles and assembled them for you in a handy, to-go version. It's called Best of TOC: Analysis and Ideas about the Future of Publishing. More than 60 of the most thought-provoking articles from the TOC team and community are featured and it's available in EPUB, mobi and PDF formats. Best of all, it's completely free.

If you need to catch up on your TOC reading you no longer have an excuse. Download your copy today and tell us what you think.

Content ownership and resale

Over the past few weeks we've seen some landmark decisions on whether you really own that content you bought and if you can resell it. First, in the Kirtsaeng vs. Wiley case we learned that it's OK to buy low-priced print books from overseas, ship them to the U.S. and resell them for a profit. That's a victory for the middleman entrepreneur and everyone frustrated with high-priced textbooks. Well, it's a victory till publishers raise their overseas prices to be more in line with U.S. prices, at which point students in those foreign countries lose.

Next, we have the federal ruling against ReDigi on the digital content resale front. I'm hoping ReDigi appeals but for now this means you can't sell your iTunes library, for example. That ruling is considered a victory for labels (and publishers as ReDigi is looking to move into used ebook sales) and a loss for consumers.

The simple rule appears to be you can buy your physical product from anywhere and resell it to anyone but your digital products are really only licensed to you and you can't even resell that license. Now let's add Amazon's AutoRip service to the discussion to see how it further complicates things and the dangerous precedent it sets.

If you're not familiar with AutoRip, it's a nifty way for consumers to get the digital version of CDs or albums they've bought from Amazon. It addresses the issue everyone has experienced at least once in their life: you bought the album so why can't you have the CD, cassette or MP3 version free? Not all tracks are AutoRip-eligible on Amazon; presumably Amazon got permission from the labels for AutoRip-eligible songs.

So what happens if I buy a CD from Amazon, get all the tracks into AutoRip and then sell the CD to someone else? Maybe I'll sell it via Amazon's own Marketplace service. I get to keep all the songs I originally bought, still in AutoRip, and I've paid far less for them than I probably could have in any physical or digital format. Victory for the consumer! Maybe the labels participating in AutoRip still haven't figured out most people are ripping CDs on their own and then reselling them. By participating in AutoRip they've helped the consumer avoid the ripping step and are further encouraging resale of that physical CD. A resale, I might add, that the label gets zero revenue from. At least with ReDigi the labels were able to participate in the resale revenue stream.

Now let's consider the dangerous precedent this sets. What exactly is the value of the digital content from the consumer's point of view? In the scenario above it's the price the consumer paid after netting their original CD purchase with whatever they earn on the resale of the CD. IOW, the perceived value of the content is pretty low.

What happens when AutoRip is extended into books? Buy a print book today and get the Kindle edition free. In fact, Amazon could easily give you a free Kindle edition of every print book you've ever bought from them, including ones you sold to your local used bookstore years ago. Again, a victory for the consumer. But doesn't that further erode the value the consumer places on the digital content? The ebook basically becomes a free item tossed into the deal long after you made the purchase decision. It's like floor mats for the new car.

What worries me most about this model though is how it once again keeps publishers away from establishing a direct relationship with their customers. If you really want to give the consumer a free ebook version of the print book they bought, why not bring them to your own site and get to know them? The answer to that question, of course, is publishers would have to give up DRM to provide the free ebook. So once again, we have DRM being a tool used against publishers and their ability to create a direct channel with their customers. What a shame.

P.S. -- Here's a related article on Dear Author on how DRM also prevents independent bookstores from competing in the ebook space.

Inspired by children's ebooks

The third TOC Bologna took place this past Sunday on the eve of the Bologna Children’s Book Fair. It was a terrific show and closed with a session announcing the winners of the Bologna Ragazzi Awards for digital publishing. You’ll find all the details about the finalists here and I’ve also embedded a short video below where you can see the winners in action.

I encourage you to watch this 7-minute video, even if you’re not part of the children’s book publishing business.. You’ll see some of the amazing things happening in this space and how they’re moving away from the boundaries of physical books as they take full advantage of the digital canvas. As you watch, think too about this highly relevant quote from Mark Sigal:

The talkie wasn’t destined to become silent film with words, so too it follows that in the age of smartphones and tablets, publishing will evolve to become much more than a simple carbon copy of print.

Finally, think about how the print model you’re so accustomed to might be holding you back from making more than “silent films with words.”

P.S. – Congratulations to PlayTales for their role as the platform used to create “Four Little Corners”, the Ragazzi winner in the fiction category.

The Kirtsaeng ruling: What’s your opinion?

Wow. I’m very surprised by the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Kirtsaeng vs. Wiley case. I figured it would go the other way. Here’s a nice summary of the majority opinion from the Supreme Court (you’ll find more detailed analysis here):

Putting section numbers to the side, we ask whether the “first sale” doctrine applies to protect a buyer or other lawful owner of a copy (of a copyrighted work) lawfully manufactured abroad. Can that buyer bring that copy into the United States (and sell it or give it away) without obtaining permission to do so from the copyright owner? Can, for example, someone who purchases, say at a used bookstore, a book printed abroad subsequently resell it without the copyright owner’s permission?

In our view, the answers to these questions are, yes. We hold that the “first sale” doctrine applies to copies of a copyrighted work lawfully made abroad.

Read more...

Reverse showrooming

This past weekend a friend asked me to pick up a couple of books for them. Print books, btw, and they needed them later that day. That meant it was time to head to a local bookstore, something I'm doing less and less of these days.

B&N was the closest and when I walked in I immediately realized why online shopping sometimes offers such a better experience than in-person. My local B&N moved all their categories around from the last time I was there and I must have circled the entire store three or four times just to find the two books I needed.

Then there's the reviews and top-seller lists I'm so used to seeing online. They don't exist in the brick-and-mortar world, so I decided it was time to do some reverse showrooming.

I chose the Amazon app on my Android phone, mostly because I know Amazon tends to have far more customer reviews than B&N. So I found myself flipping through the Amazon app while standing in the middle of a B&N store. I kept waiting for a store employee to walk past and make me feel guilty, thinking I was just buying the books from Amazon instead, but that never happened.

The whole experience made me realize, once again, that a chain like B&N needs to build a mobile app to make the in-store experience more pleasant and, dare I say it, rewarding.

The only mobile app B&N has is for the Nook. They offer nothing to help you navigate your local superstore. How about simple store maps so I can find the sections I'm looking for without walking all over the place? Yes, I know this has to be done store-by-store and updated regularly. And yes, I'm sure they like it that we're all walking through the store since maybe that means we'll stumble across something we weren't even looking for. I wasn't interested in serendipity on this visit though. I was on a mission and pressed for time.

Once they create this in-store app, how about adding some other features like deals-of-the-day? Base them on my purchasing habits. Make me a deal I can't resist and customize it for me. Feel free to mix the offers between print deals and ebook deals. Let me know about upcoming events and anything else I might be interested in, especially if it ties in with my buying habits.

All I'm asking is that they give me a reason to come back. Without any of this it will probably be a few months before I return. And when I do, the experience is likely to be as frustrating as this last visit. If Mr. Riggio is serious about buying the brick-and-mortar part of the business you'd think he'd want to implement something like this to improve the shopping experience.

What's going on with readers today?

You might recall an article from our TOC site a few months ago that asked the question, "What do readers want?". It was a call for publishing types to submit questions that Goodreads could ask their members. Your questions ultimately formed the basis of the Goodreads member survey.

I was fortunate enough to join Goodreads CEO Otis Chandler on stage for his presentation of the survey results at TOC NY a couple of weeks ago. The presentation featured a good deal of Q&A between Otis, myself and the audience, making it one of the most interesting sessions I've recently sat in on. I wanted to highlight a few of the more noteworthy takeaways from it in this article. The entire deck is embedded below, so you'll want to flip through it as you read my commentary.

Slide #6 -- As an industry we've long wondered just how influential social media is for book discovery. Take a peek at this slide and you'll see, at least for the two titles in question, the answer is "not very influential." Facebook and Twitter both fall well below most other forms of discovery while the timeless option of a friend's recommendation (presumably outside of Facebook) still ranks at the top.

Slide #9 -- If a friend is best for discovery it stands to reason that they'll also influence you to actually read a book. That's exactly what this slide shows. Even Amazon's powerful review platform only ranks in the bottom half of these choices. Also, note how low both "book blurb" and "cover" rank here. Even though those blurbs typically end up in the online description for the catalog page it makes you wonder just how influential they are.

Slide #21 -- Still in denial about whether ebooks are read on mobile phones? Almost 40% of cell phone owners read ebooks on them for all the typical reasons, but mostly while commuting or stuck in line. (Btw, how do your books render on a mobile phone? You might want to check into that...)

Slide #25 -- 73% of ebook readers shop around for the best price. So that would imply they're willing to buy from different retailers, either using different devices or apps on a tablet. More on that in slide 26.

Slide #26 -- OK, here's the most fascinating slide in the entire deck, IMHO. It more or less destroys the notion that platform lock-in is a problem. How else can you explain that 18% of Kindle ebook readers also read via iBooks and 15% also read Nook books? The other charts on this slide show just how much crossover there is going in the other direction. So not only is the e-reading lock-in problem overrated, it's also clear there's quite a bit of reading happening on tablets rather than dedicated e-readers.

Slides #27 and #28 -- These two should be a wake-up call for anyone in marketing. When they get to the end, a whopping 83% of readers want to see what else the author has written. But, as slide #28 shows, we don't exactly make it easy for our customers to discover and purchase that next book. 

What's Going On With Readers Today from Goodreads