Joe Wikert's Publishing 2020 Blog

LibraryThing, Shelfari...Whatever

First Amazon bought Abebooks, which already owned a portion of LibraryThing.  Now Amazon buys LibraryThing competitor Shelfari.  Of course neither of these social networks for books talk to one another, nor do they interoperate with any of the other ones out there.  That's why I have a LibraryThing widget on my Publishing 2020 blog but the iRead app is on my Facebook page.  This means that as I read and review a book I have to update both services.  I started using LibraryThing first so it's always my top priority and helps explain why my iRead list is often out of sync.

In the immortal words of Rodney King, why can't we all just get along?  Seriously, there's no good reason why I should have to manage multiple services that are so darned similar.  If I read a book I should be able to enter the info about it in one place and have it picked up everywhere.  Tim O'Reilly makes a wonderful plea for interoperability in this post but I'm not holding my breath waiting for it to happen.

So here's my question: Since it's highly unlikely we'll get all these services connected, why doesn't some enterprising developer take this opportunity to create an uber-service that does it for us?  Wouldn't it be great if this uber-service provided access to all the data from the book-related social networks and allowed you to create a variety of customized widgets that could be easily dropped in to any/all websites, including Facebook?

Feedbooks is an excellent analogy. Their "newspaper" service lets me combine multiple RSS feeds into one Kindle e-book that I can easily (and wirelessly) update with one click.  It's completely changing how I utilize RSS feeds and a model that lends itself to all sorts of interesting solutions.

eBook Pricing

Does anyone know how to price an ebook?  That's a great question Tom Masters asked yesterday on his Future Perfect Publishing blog.

I gave my opinion during a Kindle webinar last week and then was asked a follow-up question about it at the end of the session.  I stated that I think Amazon is onto something with the $9.99 price point they charge for most Kindle editions and that I've clicked away from two potential purchases when I saw their prices were more than $9.99.  (Clayton Christensen's latest book is the one I'm particularly disappointed in since I'd love to read it but it's currently a $19.58 Kindle edition.)

The webinar attendee's follow-up question was, "do you feel that $9.99 price ceiling applies to all types of books?"  To be honest, I was only thinking about the kind of books I tend to read, which are mostly trade titles with print prices in the $15-$30 range.  The attendee was particularly curious about more specialized books, for example, highly targeted titles aimed at engineers, lawyers and other professionals, not the ones with more broad appeal like I tend to read.  Great point...I hadn't considered these other areas and it's clear that highly specialized content like this currently comes with a premium price tag.  So yes, I can see the logic for Kindle editions priced at more than $9.99, but I probably won't be buying any of them.

As I thought more about this and read through Tom's post I realized there's a problem with the logic we're all currently using for this debate: We're just talking about quickie ports of print books to e-formats.  If nothing else is added to the equation it's hard enough to justify the same price as the print book, let alone something higher.  But that's the key.  I'm still a big believer that as the e-content world continues to evolve we'll find ways to add more value to our products, so that an e-book offers a much richer user experience than the equivalent print book (if we can even say there's an "equivalent" print book at that point!).  When we reach that stage there should be no problem charging more than $9.99 for these products, but we're nowhere near that point yet.  (See my note about social networking capabilities in Tom's post for an idea of what I'm looking forward to.)

The Booksquare on ePublishing

Kassia Krozser is at it again on her Booksquare blog.  I have to admit that Booksquare is one of my favorites, mostly because it makes me think.  Her latest post about e-publishing, e-rights, e-sales, etc., hit some very important points.

Her article talks mostly about Terry Goodkind's decision to place his book's e-rights with someone other than the publisher who he signed his print rights to.  At first glance most authors might think, "hey, I should stop signing my e-rights over to my (predominantly print) publisher and get a deal like Goodkind did."  My advice: If you can, go for it...but be sure to think about the entire deal, not just the e-book royalty rate.

What am I alluding to? First of all, any book's rights are less valuable to a publisher if they don't include the e-component.  For example, let's say I'm willing to pay an author royalty rate of x% for print copy sales and the deal also includes all e-rights to the book.  If the author/agent comes back to me and says they want to keep the e-rights to potentially shop around elsewhere, I have to admit I'm inclined to counter with a lower print royalty rate, something less than the original x%.  After all, I based my original x% on the assumption that I'm the only publisher promoting, selling and building this brand, where "brand" could be title, author, etc.; the more diluted the brand promotional effort becomes, the less value I see in the deal, hence the lowered royalty rate for print copy sales.

Secondly, I always feel it's important to restate the obvious in these situations.  Here's the basic royalty calculation formula:

Author royalties earned = Royalty rate X Net revenue/unit X Units sold

So if I have a 10% royalty rate and the book nets the publisher $10 for each copy sold and we sell 3,000 copies in the period, the author just earned $3,000 in royalties (10% X $10/unit X 3,000 units).  Perhaps that other e-publisher will give you a 20% royalty.  The question you have to ask yourself is: Will this other publisher move the same volume?

One of the myths of the e-publishing world is that all books are on a level playing field, so you'll sell just as many with publisher X as you will with publisher Y.  This simply isn't true, at least not in most cases.  This is very similar to the complicated world of Google search results.  Just because you love chocolate and you launched a website all about chocolate doesn't mean you'll immediately climb to the top of the Google results for a search on "chocolate."

We're still in the infancy phase of e-publishing, but as this area continues evolving many of the same rules will apply.  Marketing and promotion are two keys.  When you walk through a physical bookstore all the titles on promotion are the ones that jump out at you.  I'm talking about books on endcaps, tables and other displays that really catch your eye.  Placement in these slots comes at a price and titles promoted like this generally produce much stronger sell-through results (vs. when they're not on promotion).

You don't have endcaps and tables in the virtual world, but you still have important promotional tools that help boost sales.  Just look at any e-retailer's site and you'll see them: Links to related titles, buy X get Y, other customers also like this book, e-mail blasts, etc.  The print world has a lot of titles in it but the e-world will ultimately have many more, so without the use of promotional tools how will individual titles rise above the noise?

These things all have a way of achieving equilibrium over time.  And since the e-publishing world is in such a state of flux it will be fun watching this equilibrium take place in the years ahead.  That said, rather than blindly signing over e-rights to a publisher, it's always a good idea to ask them how they plan to exercise and maximize ownership of those rights for you.  It's fair (and wise) to ask your editor/publisher what e-formats will your book be available in, for example.  The answer to that question might be even more important than the royalty rate offered...after all, even the highest royalty rate imaginable still produces zero income if the books aren't offered in e-format.

P.S. -- Speaking of publishing blogs...  I recently came across two great ones that I wanted to share.  The first is by Jeff Rutherford, a publishing PR expert I've bumped into several times over the past year.  The second is called View From the Publishing Trenches and is written by publisher/author Walt Shiel.  I highly recommend keeping up on both of these wonderfully insightful industry blogs.

Self Publishing Today Blog

I've covered numerous aspects of the self-publishing world here on the 2020 blog and I try to point out new and interesting resources for authors interested in self-publishing.  So when I got a note from Ray Robinson of Dog Ear Publishing I was thrilled to hear that he recently launched a blog of his own.  His blog is called Self Publishing Today and he's already written quite a few insightful posts.  I also like that he's taking broader posts about the publishing world in general and applying a self-publishing lens to them to present his point of view.

For example, check out this one where he takes one of my earlier posts about the 10 things editors/agents hate and puts it under the self-publishing light.  He also attended my recent Kindle webinar and applied a self-publishing perspective with this post.  (Btw, if you missed the Kindle webinar you can still listen to the archived audio and download my slides here.)  If you're interested in keeping an eye on the self-publishing sector be sure to grab Ray's RSS feed.

The Faith of Barack Obama, by Stephen Mansfield

Over the past 9 months I've gone from being somewhat of a McCain fan to more of an Obama supporter.  I'm convinced a McCain administration will be nothing more than a third term of George W. Bush and, yes, I'm looking for change.  I'd like to see more substance behind the "change" Obama always refers to, but I'm also curious about his religious beliefs and the journey that led him to Christianity.

With that in mind, The Faith of Barack Obama, Stephen Mansfield's latest book is right up my alley and it didn't disappoint.  As you might imagine, Rev. Jeremiah Wright is a person who pops up frequently throughout this book.  Prior to reading Mansfield's work I considered Wright nothing more than an unfortunate footnote from Obama's past who managed to surface at the wrong time.  This book caused me to look at Wright and Obama's relationship with him in a completely different light.

I still feel Rev. Wright was an overzealous minister who didn't do the best job of emphasizing the right aspects of the key points he's tried to make over the years.  Exhibit A is all across YouTube, for example.  And as a white person who's never attended Trinity United my comments are easily dismissed by Wright supporters.  Nevertheless, I feel he crossed the line too many times, so shame on Obama for not parting ways with Wright many years ago.  I don't plan to run for public office but I'd quickly move on from a church/pastor who regularly expressed such a twisted view of the world.  The fact that Obama stuck with Wright for so long really does say a lot about the senator, I'm afraid.  But what benefit was Wright expecting when he's spewed that sort of venom anyway?  He's so full of anger and lacking in forgiveness....gee, maybe he ought to read The Shack!

The bottom line is Rev. Wright probably pictures himself as a modern day Martin Luther King, Jr.  He isn't though, and time will easily prove this point.  If Rev. King were in Wright's shoes today I'm quite convinced he'd take a much more diplomatic approach and would be more embracing and far less antagonistic.

The Faith of Barack Obama isn't just about Rev. Wright though, of course.  The book does a great job taking the reader through Obama's youth, exposure to multiple religions and how he eventually become a Christian.  It also exposes some of the warts in Obama's beliefs, including coverage of how he voted against a bill to protect the lives of babies who managed to survive late-term abortions.  Wow, how heartless must you be to vote against something like this?!

One of my favorite parts of the book was chapter 5, Four Faces of Faith.  The author uses this chapter to contrast and compare the religious beliefs and paths of Obama, George W. Bush, Hillary Clinton and John McCain.  At first I felt this was nothing more than filler but I have to admit it's fascinating to look at all four of these political heavyweights through this sort of lens.

Finally, I think Mansfield very effectively captured Obama's critique of George W. Bush with the following excerpt: You rose on the strength of a vicious use of faith.  You then baptized a greedy conservative agenda and called it God's will.  Along the way, you labeled us Democrats as somehow antifaith.  Now, your political faith failing you, your religious base abandoning you, it is time for you to go away.  A new faith, based in the genuine compassion of the Religious Left, is waiting in the wings.  Step aside, and let us heal what you have broken.

We'll never know if that's really what Obama thinks but it sure sounds right to me, a guy who twice made the mistake of voting for George W. Bush.  I'm still leaning towards Obama but I'm not 100% committed as I'm waiting to see who he picks for a VP (please, not Evan Bayh!) and what specific plans he has to fix the limping economy.  This book has also helped open my eyes a bit wider as I realize the faith part of the equation isn't as clean and simple as I previously thought.

P.S. -- If you'd like to read an extended sample of The Faith of Barack Obama, click here to download the PDF version the book's publisher (Thomas Nelson) graciously allowed bloggers to post.

Ten Things Agents and Editors Hate

I got a great e-mail yesterday from Rick Frishman.  If you're not familiar with Rick he's an author and speaker with a very useful blog.  Rick's e-mail featured the subject line, "Ten Things Agents and Editors Hate," so naturally I was curious to see what made his list.  I couldn't find it on his website or blog, and since I didn't want to include the entire list in this post I'm forced to link to it at the Small Publishers Association of North America website.

I found the first 5-6 items in Rick's list to be the most important although all 10 items are well worth reading.  Here are my thoughts on numbers one through six:

1. Writers claim no competition exists.  Yep, that's a pretty popular one and the thing that always amazes me is that it's a claim made by experienced authors as well as new ones.  Every once in a great while a book idea has no competition.  The other 99,999 ideas do though, so be sure to research your topic before submitting a proposal.

2. Writers claim their books will be the next blockbuster.  Be an advocate but don't come across as wildly naive.  I remember an author telling me he felt his book had such a unique angle it was going to sell tens of millions of copies.  The problem was he was talking about a computer book that was based on a particular software product that only had a user base of a few hundred thousand.  Know the size of your market!

3. Writers say how much others liked their books.  That's great, but unless some of those reviewers happen to have an enormous platform and they'll let you use their it to promote your book it's not a very meaningful data point.

4. Submissions are made for books on subjects that the agent or editor doesn't handle.  Yes, this one's always a headache.  It's not that hard to figure out what areas and subjects an editor/agent handles.  Get that information before you send off a proposal or your submission may not make it very far.

5. Correspondence is not addressed to a particular agent or editor.  This one is related to #4 because it's clear the author didn't do their homework.  This is just like that mail you get at home that's addressed to "Current Resident."  Most of it ends up in the trash, right?

6. Writers call constantly, are demanding and don't let up.  Athough you are your book's biggest advocate, don't let your enthusiasm spiral out of control to the point where you're becoming a nusiance.  Editors and agents have a lot of active projects at any one time.  Yours is great and all, but it's not the only thing they're working on.

Content Marketing Interview with Author Newt Barrett

Newt Barrett is the co-author of Get Content, Get Customers, a great book about content marketing.  (Btw, here's a free 3-chapter excerpt from Newt's book that he's offering exclusively to readers of my Publishing 2020 blog.)  This is rapidly becoming a critical subject for all types of websites, not just ones related to publishing.  Newt graciously agreed to answer a few questions related to content marketing.  Here's what he had to say:

JW: What's the best way to summarize the phrase "content marketing"? Some readers might feel it sounds like an oxymoron and I'd like to get your view of it.

NB: Actually, content marketing is the best antidote to what Seth Godin calls "interruption marketing." Content marketing is the art of understanding exactly what buyers need to know and delivering it to them in a relevant and compelling way. By delivering intrinsically valuable content to your customers, you become a trusted source, first of information, and then of products and services.

The accelerating importance of content marketing has everything to do with fundamental changes in buyer behavior over the last decade. Buyers are busy on the internet becoming more knowledgeable about everything they want to buy. They aren't wandering around aimlessly hoping to be influenced by marketing messages that arrive out of the blue. In short, buyers don't want to be sold.

This is actually great news if you take an enlightened approach to these newly empowered buyers. The even better news is that companies are empowered, too–thanks to seamless and integrated technology that enables them to talk with consumers in more and different ways than ever before.

The best analogy to help understand content marketing is that marketers need to think of themselves as the new publishers.

Here's what I mean: When creating a magazine, a publisher first defines a group of readers with a shared set of common interests and concerns. He then develops a magazine that contains editorial—or content—that matches what is most important to those readers. In this way, a publication becomes a trusted source of information to people who are in a position to buy products and services from advertisers. In the world of content marketing, businesses are bypassing media companies to become the new publishers.

JW: Whether it's via e-mail, RSS feeds or any one of a number of other sources, we all seem to be sinking in a sea of content. How can even more of it, via content marketing, be a good thing and how can content marketers rise above the noise?

NB: Well, we probably are sinking in a sea of websites, blogs, flash images, intrusive banner ads, and Google ad words. But, that doesn’t mean that buyers have stopped looking for information that will help them solve professional and personal problems.

Buyers may well ignore irritating drop-down ad banners which block the text we are trying to read. But, buyers won’t ignore content that makes them smarter about what they would like to buy. It's easier than you might suppose to establish a credible online presence by providing focused content, delivered consistently, and with a modicum of promotion.

I'll try not to sound too self-promotional, but in roughly 10 months of blogging, my site, ContentMarketingToday.com, has become the #1 site on Google when you search for the phrase, "content marketing." Apart from a very modest amount of StumbleUpon advertising and a weekly eNewsletter, the content itself has pulled in marketers who want to learn more about content marketing—and given the site enough credibility to gain Google recognition.

I think the same applies to your two blogs, which I read regularly: Publishing 2020, because I am intensely interested in the future of publishing and Kindleville because I am fascinated by the Amazon Kindle, both as a potential buyer and as a publisher. You have lots to say. You say it in an interesting way. And, I come away knowing a lot more about both topics because of your content, which is relevant and valuable to me—and, of course, to thousands of others.

JW: How does your ContentMarketingToday website tie into the book and what resources can marketers expect to find there?

NB: My website is really only conceptually connected to the book. ContentMarketingToday.com is a combination company website and blog. It provides basic information about content marketing, about what we do, and about why prospects should trust me to do it. However, that really takes a back seat to the blog component of the site. That's where I dig even more into content marketing and related topics, including business blogging, good and bad websites, good and bad advertising, technology and marketing trends, successful case studies, and occasional rants about egregious corporate behavior.

Of course, we do link to the book website that my co-author, Joe Pulizzi,and I created, GetContentGetCustomers.com, That’s where you can learn about the topic, get a free excerpt, find out more about us, and actually buy the book.

JW: What are some of the better examples of where you're currently seeing content marketing working effectively?

NB: Here are two, perhaps surprising, examples:

A large UK-based law firm, Pinsent Masons, has a website and a print magazine called, Out-Law.com. As you might suspect, this is a law firm with a personality. Unlike many law firms, they understand that the people deciding to hire them are business executives, not lawyers. Therefore they have created highly informative online and print products which are designed in the best tradition of business-to-business publishing.

Not only do they have more than 150,000 monthly visitors to their website, but they have 15,000 business executives who subscribe to their print publication. Their content marketing has been so effective that they have been able to completely abandon all traditional marketing. They do no advertising or direct mail. In addition, Pinsent Masons can track millions of dollars in revenue to their content marketing efforts.

Another great example on a much smaller scale is the Coffee and Smoothies blog, created by solopreneur, Mitch York. As a franchisee of Maui Wowi, Mitch targets corporate, educational and nonprofit organizations for whom he provides themed events and drinks. His blog is very visual and serves primarily to illustrate actual events among his target customers. This gives him instant credibility for all prospective customers who wonder if he's for real.

JW: Are there any newer technologies you've found to help leverage a content marketing initiative? I'm thinking in particular about the iPhone and all the cool apps that are constantly being developed for it -- can an iPhone app be a content marketing tool?

NB: My answer here might seem a little boring because I think much more about what small and medium-size business marketers are using effectively and inexpensively. I do love the iPod and have written about some of its cool applications, including the New York Times iPod implementation. Of course, the Safari browser on the iPhone lets users view websites as they appear on a PC screen. So, that's useful.

But, for most marketers, getting the content marketing concept right is the most important element to success. Next, and almost as important, is finding affordable technology which enables you to reach out to your customers and prospects with compelling content.

So, in that vein, I would flag two favorite technology products. First, I believe that WordPress, which began life as a blogging tool, can now serve as the foundation for a rich website that can include a wide variety of content including audio and video. WordPress is free, easy to use, and easy to enhance with help from professionals. You can build out a prototype WordPress site in a few hours—and have a full-fledged, professional site completed in a few days. Of course, then it's all about filling that site with relevant and valuable content. As a great example of a giant media company using WordPress, take a look at All Things Digital from the Wall Street Journal.

Second, I believe that e-mail marketing software such as ConstantContact and MailChimp enable even technology Luddites, with minimal design skills to design and deliver professional eNewsletters to a target audience. In each case, the software itself is essentially free and you pay only based on the size of your list and the frequency of your e-mails.

Why do I believe these are so important? Because they enable even solopreneurs to create and share content just as professionally as their billion-dollar big brothers.

And, here’s a final note: successful content marketing has to do primarily with the mindset, not with the money. Because it is so easy to develop a professional web presence, even small companies can do it. The hard part is making sure that the content you create and distribute is truly relevant, valuable, and compelling to your target customers.

The DailyLit Sponsorship Model

If you're searching for new and innovative approaches to the content business I recommend you keep an eye on DailyLit.  They've produced a number of interesting products over the past several months and the latest is a sponsorship deal for a title called College Knowledge: 101 Tips.

College Knowledge is a book originally produced by University of Michigan Press and retails for $17.95.  The DailyLit version is delivered directly to your e-mail in-box in 101 installments and is completely free thanks to a sponsorship deal with GalleryCollection.  Sponsorships are an excellent win-win model for everyone.  Customers will love them because the price is low/free and sponsors obviously feel it's worth the investment to get their message in front of what could be an entirely new audience.

The sponsorship model enables publishers to distribute content at a lower price to customers.  This is particularly important in the e-content world where consumers are frequently looking for a lower price than the print equivalent.  Look for more sponsorship deals as this area evolves.  (If you're in the content distribution business you ought to take some time to think about who might be a good sponsor for your content...)

This particular sponsorship deal is set to expire on September 30th, so act now if you want to take advantage of the completely free content.  Kudos to DailyLit CEO Susan Danziger and the rest of her team for launching this new initiative.

Don't Miss My Free Kindle Webinar on 8/21

Book Business magazine has asked me to present a Kindle webinar later this month. It's called Leveraging the Kindle -- How to maximize the Kindle's benefits to your readers and your business. As you can tell from the title, the webinar is mostly intended for book/content publishers, but I think Kindle owners and anyone considering a Kindle will get something out of it as well. The best part: It's totally free.

The link above provides more information about the event and includes a registration form. The webinar is scheduled for 2PM ET on Thursday, August 21st and includes a Q&A session at the end. I'm looking forward to this webinar and I hope you're able to attend.

The Flaw in McAfee's "Technology Flip Test"

Even though the piece was written well over a year ago, I keep seeing new references to Andrew McAfee's Technology Flip Test article.  The most recent appearance was on the O'Reilly TOC blog.  I felt compelled to add my two cents on TOC but I think there's such a big hole in McAfee's logic that I wanted to do a separate blog post about it on my own blog.

Here's the fundamental flaw: Print books have pretty much finished their evolution.  They are what they are.  They look very much like they did 100 or 200 years ago and they're not likely to change much in the next 100 years.  On the other hand, e-books are very much in their infancy and will change dramatically in the next 2, 5, 10 years and more.  Dramatically.  So I believe it's a silly test to compare the fully evolved print book to the rapidly evolving e-book.

As I mentioned in my TOC comment, there are already a number of things an e-book can do that a print book can't.  That list is going to grow every year.  Can we wait till the e-book has fully developed and has no further enhancements, just like the print book has today, before we start comparing the two?  Btw, as I also noted in that comment, even when this happens I believe the demand for print books will remain.  Print books are not going away, but can we please stop acting as if e-books have no (or a very limited) future?