Hesperian Press have generously provided an online guide to publishing your book with them. This guide explains the process involved, from preparing your manuscript right through to printed book.
http://hesperianpress.com/publishingyourbook.pdf
The various stages in which you, as the author, will be involved are explained.
Should you wish to have a book published with Hesperian Press please pay close attention to this guide. By adhering to it you will ensure that your book is published quicker and cheaper (for you and Hesperian Press). Further, they know from many years of experience and after having published hundreds of titles, the information in this guide will assist you in the preparation of your manuscript.
'Publishing Your Book with Hesperian Press' is a guide only and the information it contains describes the way they publish books and the style they require. It is recognised that other styles are equally valid and no pretensions are held that this guide is the definitive text on spelling, grammar or style.
Hesperian Press is run by a Non-Profit organisation.
Friday, April 27, 2007
Thursday, April 26, 2007
GETTING DISTRIBUTION THROUGH AMAZON
Anyone interested in self publishing has probably at least heard of author services like iUniverse, Xlibris, AuthorHouse, Lulu.com, Booklocker, Outskirts Press, and Amazon’s own BookSurge — services commonly referred to as “self publishing companies.” (Many self publishers prefer to call them subsidy publishers, but I’ll stick to the common usage here.)
You may also know that these businesses are based on print on demand. Though this term describes a printing technology, it usually refers also to a distribution model—which, to the self publisher aiming at Amazon, is just as important. But to understand print on demand as a distribution model, you need to know a little about how the industry is set up.
Most people assume that the big self publishing companies print the books they sell, but in most cases they don’t. In fact, the only one in the U.S. that does is Amazon’s BookSurge. Nearly all the rest rely entirely on the company that is the real heart of the industry: Lightning Source Inc.
Never heard of it? I wouldn’t be surprised. Lightning—as I’ll often call it for short—doesn’t want you to! They don’t want to work directly with “authors” at all, only with publishers and author services, because otherwise they’d be overwhelmed.
So, Lightning Source lets the self publishing companies act as “front ends” for the operation. Those services take your book, convert it to a form that Lightning can use, and take care of all the submission and administrative details. Meanwhile, as of 2006, Lightning churns out a million books a month!
But let’s get back to distribution. There’s something else you need to know about Lightning Source: It’s owned by the same company that owns Ingram Book Group, the biggest book wholesaler in the U.S. Almost every bookstore in the country, along with many libraries and schools, orders books from Ingram.
As you might expect, Lightning Source has a direct line into Ingram. In fact, Ingram “carries” every title printed by Lightning—even if Ingram doesn’t really keep the title in stock. Actually, it does stock popular Lightning titles, but the others it can get from Lightning overnight. So if a bookstore inquires, Ingram reports any Lightning book as immediately available.
So, by working with any of the self publishing companies that feed into Lightning Source, you automatically make your book available to booksellers throughout the U.S. (Contrary to what many new self publishers think, though, Ingram does not promote books and get bookstores to buy them. Ingram only makes them available and waits for orders.)
Foremost among the booksellers that can get your book from Ingram is Amazon.com. And because Amazon draws book data directly from Ingram’s electronic catalog, you are guaranteed that Amazon will automatically list your book. What’s more, because Amazon regularly uses Ingram for drop shipping, all Lightning titles are normally listed on Amazon as in stock or available within 24 hours, even if Amazon doesn’t have its own copies at the time.
The connection between Lightning Source and the rest of the U.S. industry is even stronger than that. A few huge booksellers have the resources to tap into Lightning Source’s electronic systems and order directly instead of going through Ingram. These include
Baker & Taylor, the second largest U.S. book wholesaler and the largest supplier to U.S. schools and libraries.
NACSCORP, another major wholesaler, as a service of the National Association of College Stores.
Barnes & Noble, including BN.com.
And of course, Amazon.com. Though Amazon normally orders from Ingram to fill immediate customer demand, it orders directly from Lightning to stock a book.
Meanwhile, Lightning’s overseas branch, Lightning Source UK, is similarly well connected. Among the companies it supplies are Gardners Books and Bertram Books—prime U.K. book wholesalers and major suppliers of Amazon.co.uk—and the national chain Blackwell’s. Books handled by Lightning in the U.S. can easily be earmarked for printing and distribution by Lightning UK as well—and vice versa.
Despite its printing in only these two countries, Lighting Source’s books show up on all Amazon sites worldwide. Books from Lightning in the U.S. are sold also by Amazon in Canada, while books from Lightning UK are sold by Amazon in Canada, France, Germany, and Japan.
Of course, BookSurge—Amazon’s own self publishing service—will get your book onto Amazon.com as easily as can any company associated with Lightning Source. But it can’t begin to match the rest of the distribution that Lightning automatically provides. In fact, at this writing, BookSurge can’t even get your book onto Amazon in other countries! Amazon.com might be your main marketing target, but you still want your book available as widely as possible.
So, just as print on demand can remove cost as a deciding factor in publishing, print on demand through Lightning Source can also remove what has traditionally been the biggest roadblock for self publishers: lack of access to the channels of distribution. What’s more, it does it in a way that eliminates most of the ongoing labor of publishing. Success no longer means you must spend your time taking orders, shipping copies, and sending invoices and reminders for payment.
Instead, just let booksellers, schools, and libraries order your book from Lightning Source or one of its partners or major accounts. Then all you need do is sit back and wait for your monthly check. In fact, except for maybe a few copies for promotion and gifts, you don’t need to keep a stock of your book at all. (And as one who remembers having a hallway full of printed books in the “old days,” I can’t begin to tell you what a blessing that is.)
So, you should run right out and sign up with one of the self publishing companies, right?
Not if you can help it!
As I said, self publishing companies like iUniverse and Xlibris are basically front ends for Lightning Source Inc., which does all the printing and maintains the distribution channels. The cut that these companies take for their middleman role is no doubt well-earned, but it’s hefty. In fact, for each copy printed, it about doubles your cost of getting the book out.
But what can you do about it? Lightning Source declines to work directly with authors, limiting its dealings to publishers and author services. How can you get around that?
Well, you can become a publisher.
Now, this may or may not be the best idea if you’re handling only a book or two. But especially if you’ll be producing any more, then setting yourself up as a publishing company makes very good sense—even if it’s only to work with Lightning. Doing that can not only cut your costs in half, it can also let you set your own terms on discounts and returns!
If you live outside the U.S. or U.K., you’re not left out. Because of the Internet, it’s no trouble to work directly with Lightning or Lightning UK from anywhere in the world. Once you set yourself up as a publishing company, you’re ready no matter where you live.
No other avenue to Amazon can match the full range of benefits available to publishers who work directly with Lightning Source. Working with Lightning, then, is a key element to the new business of self publishing. If you plan to keep going in publishing and don’t need a lot of handholding, Lightning is the very best way to aim at Amazon.
By Aaron Shepard
Excerpted and adapted from the book 'Aiming at Amazon: The NEW Business of Self Publishing', Shepard Publications, 2007
For more resources, visit Aaron Shepard’s Publishing Page at www.aaronshep.com/publishing
You may also know that these businesses are based on print on demand. Though this term describes a printing technology, it usually refers also to a distribution model—which, to the self publisher aiming at Amazon, is just as important. But to understand print on demand as a distribution model, you need to know a little about how the industry is set up.
Most people assume that the big self publishing companies print the books they sell, but in most cases they don’t. In fact, the only one in the U.S. that does is Amazon’s BookSurge. Nearly all the rest rely entirely on the company that is the real heart of the industry: Lightning Source Inc.
Never heard of it? I wouldn’t be surprised. Lightning—as I’ll often call it for short—doesn’t want you to! They don’t want to work directly with “authors” at all, only with publishers and author services, because otherwise they’d be overwhelmed.
So, Lightning Source lets the self publishing companies act as “front ends” for the operation. Those services take your book, convert it to a form that Lightning can use, and take care of all the submission and administrative details. Meanwhile, as of 2006, Lightning churns out a million books a month!
But let’s get back to distribution. There’s something else you need to know about Lightning Source: It’s owned by the same company that owns Ingram Book Group, the biggest book wholesaler in the U.S. Almost every bookstore in the country, along with many libraries and schools, orders books from Ingram.
As you might expect, Lightning Source has a direct line into Ingram. In fact, Ingram “carries” every title printed by Lightning—even if Ingram doesn’t really keep the title in stock. Actually, it does stock popular Lightning titles, but the others it can get from Lightning overnight. So if a bookstore inquires, Ingram reports any Lightning book as immediately available.
So, by working with any of the self publishing companies that feed into Lightning Source, you automatically make your book available to booksellers throughout the U.S. (Contrary to what many new self publishers think, though, Ingram does not promote books and get bookstores to buy them. Ingram only makes them available and waits for orders.)
Foremost among the booksellers that can get your book from Ingram is Amazon.com. And because Amazon draws book data directly from Ingram’s electronic catalog, you are guaranteed that Amazon will automatically list your book. What’s more, because Amazon regularly uses Ingram for drop shipping, all Lightning titles are normally listed on Amazon as in stock or available within 24 hours, even if Amazon doesn’t have its own copies at the time.
The connection between Lightning Source and the rest of the U.S. industry is even stronger than that. A few huge booksellers have the resources to tap into Lightning Source’s electronic systems and order directly instead of going through Ingram. These include
Baker & Taylor, the second largest U.S. book wholesaler and the largest supplier to U.S. schools and libraries.
NACSCORP, another major wholesaler, as a service of the National Association of College Stores.
Barnes & Noble, including BN.com.
And of course, Amazon.com. Though Amazon normally orders from Ingram to fill immediate customer demand, it orders directly from Lightning to stock a book.
Meanwhile, Lightning’s overseas branch, Lightning Source UK, is similarly well connected. Among the companies it supplies are Gardners Books and Bertram Books—prime U.K. book wholesalers and major suppliers of Amazon.co.uk—and the national chain Blackwell’s. Books handled by Lightning in the U.S. can easily be earmarked for printing and distribution by Lightning UK as well—and vice versa.
Despite its printing in only these two countries, Lighting Source’s books show up on all Amazon sites worldwide. Books from Lightning in the U.S. are sold also by Amazon in Canada, while books from Lightning UK are sold by Amazon in Canada, France, Germany, and Japan.
Of course, BookSurge—Amazon’s own self publishing service—will get your book onto Amazon.com as easily as can any company associated with Lightning Source. But it can’t begin to match the rest of the distribution that Lightning automatically provides. In fact, at this writing, BookSurge can’t even get your book onto Amazon in other countries! Amazon.com might be your main marketing target, but you still want your book available as widely as possible.
So, just as print on demand can remove cost as a deciding factor in publishing, print on demand through Lightning Source can also remove what has traditionally been the biggest roadblock for self publishers: lack of access to the channels of distribution. What’s more, it does it in a way that eliminates most of the ongoing labor of publishing. Success no longer means you must spend your time taking orders, shipping copies, and sending invoices and reminders for payment.
Instead, just let booksellers, schools, and libraries order your book from Lightning Source or one of its partners or major accounts. Then all you need do is sit back and wait for your monthly check. In fact, except for maybe a few copies for promotion and gifts, you don’t need to keep a stock of your book at all. (And as one who remembers having a hallway full of printed books in the “old days,” I can’t begin to tell you what a blessing that is.)
So, you should run right out and sign up with one of the self publishing companies, right?
Not if you can help it!
As I said, self publishing companies like iUniverse and Xlibris are basically front ends for Lightning Source Inc., which does all the printing and maintains the distribution channels. The cut that these companies take for their middleman role is no doubt well-earned, but it’s hefty. In fact, for each copy printed, it about doubles your cost of getting the book out.
But what can you do about it? Lightning Source declines to work directly with authors, limiting its dealings to publishers and author services. How can you get around that?
Well, you can become a publisher.
Now, this may or may not be the best idea if you’re handling only a book or two. But especially if you’ll be producing any more, then setting yourself up as a publishing company makes very good sense—even if it’s only to work with Lightning. Doing that can not only cut your costs in half, it can also let you set your own terms on discounts and returns!
If you live outside the U.S. or U.K., you’re not left out. Because of the Internet, it’s no trouble to work directly with Lightning or Lightning UK from anywhere in the world. Once you set yourself up as a publishing company, you’re ready no matter where you live.
No other avenue to Amazon can match the full range of benefits available to publishers who work directly with Lightning Source. Working with Lightning, then, is a key element to the new business of self publishing. If you plan to keep going in publishing and don’t need a lot of handholding, Lightning is the very best way to aim at Amazon.
By Aaron Shepard
Excerpted and adapted from the book 'Aiming at Amazon: The NEW Business of Self Publishing', Shepard Publications, 2007
For more resources, visit Aaron Shepard’s Publishing Page at www.aaronshep.com/publishing
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
SHOULD YOU FIND A DISTRIBUTOR FOR YOUR BOOK?
Not all self publishers give thought as to how they will market their book once the final product is in their hands. There are many ways to market a book, which usually involves the publisher doing the leg work. However, not all publishers see themselves as marketers, so one way to sidestep the sales process is for them to find a distributor.
Vanity Press Distributors (www.vanitypress.com.au) was originally set up to keep distribution costs for the publisher down. It's aim was to simply be an online bookshop for use by Australian small and self publishers to sell their books.
Today I had a telephone call from a brand new self publisher seeking distribution advice. Naturally, I want her book on my site, where our commission is 25%. However, as her print run was in the thousands, it occurred to me that perhaps I could phyically distribute the book for her, as well as posting it on our website. The topic on which she wrote has a potentially wide appeal, and I was confident that bookshops, even the major high street stores, would be interested.
It took only a couple of phone calls for a reality check.
The Recommended Retail Price (RRP) for her book is $29. The major book chain I called wanted a 45% disount. This is a modest discount as far as bookshops are concerned, being that some stores are asking for up to 60% trade discounts AND MORE.
So let's do the math.
As a self publisher, my client had spent about $10 per book. This included editing costs, the cover design, and the print run. At $29 for a direct sale, she should make $19 per book, if postage charges are paid for by the buyer. This does not include the freeby copies she would give away in her own marketing adventure.
On the Vanity Press Distributors website, the commission would amount to $7.25, leaving the publisher $21.75. Compare this to the bookshop's commission, which would be $13.05, leaving only $15.95 for the publisher - a profit margin of only $5.95 per book.
If I were to physically represent her book to book chains for a further 25% commission, that would leave the publisher a mere $11.96, reducing her profit margin to a tiny $1.96, hardly worth getting out of bed for!
This is the rather tough world of publishing as it exists today.
So, do you find a distributor, or do you D.I.Y?
That is a question only you can answer. However, a combination of means can be used. As there are few online distributors in Australia, Vanity Press Distributors is certainly filling a void in niche publishing, with one of the lowest trade discounts in the industry. This means can be used in combination with others, which have been addressed in previous articles on this site, and which will be addressed in further detail in the future.
Dallas Robertson
Vanity Press Distributors
www.vanitypress.com.au
Vanity Press Distributors (www.vanitypress.com.au) was originally set up to keep distribution costs for the publisher down. It's aim was to simply be an online bookshop for use by Australian small and self publishers to sell their books.
Today I had a telephone call from a brand new self publisher seeking distribution advice. Naturally, I want her book on my site, where our commission is 25%. However, as her print run was in the thousands, it occurred to me that perhaps I could phyically distribute the book for her, as well as posting it on our website. The topic on which she wrote has a potentially wide appeal, and I was confident that bookshops, even the major high street stores, would be interested.
It took only a couple of phone calls for a reality check.
The Recommended Retail Price (RRP) for her book is $29. The major book chain I called wanted a 45% disount. This is a modest discount as far as bookshops are concerned, being that some stores are asking for up to 60% trade discounts AND MORE.
So let's do the math.
As a self publisher, my client had spent about $10 per book. This included editing costs, the cover design, and the print run. At $29 for a direct sale, she should make $19 per book, if postage charges are paid for by the buyer. This does not include the freeby copies she would give away in her own marketing adventure.
On the Vanity Press Distributors website, the commission would amount to $7.25, leaving the publisher $21.75. Compare this to the bookshop's commission, which would be $13.05, leaving only $15.95 for the publisher - a profit margin of only $5.95 per book.
If I were to physically represent her book to book chains for a further 25% commission, that would leave the publisher a mere $11.96, reducing her profit margin to a tiny $1.96, hardly worth getting out of bed for!
This is the rather tough world of publishing as it exists today.
So, do you find a distributor, or do you D.I.Y?
That is a question only you can answer. However, a combination of means can be used. As there are few online distributors in Australia, Vanity Press Distributors is certainly filling a void in niche publishing, with one of the lowest trade discounts in the industry. This means can be used in combination with others, which have been addressed in previous articles on this site, and which will be addressed in further detail in the future.
Dallas Robertson
Vanity Press Distributors
www.vanitypress.com.au
Thursday, April 12, 2007
DOES MEDIA COVERAGE TRANSLATE INTO SALES?
It’s wonderful to get media coverage for your book or business. But even if you’re successful in getting publicity in magazines and newspapers—how can you guarantee that your publicity will translate into sales? Here are five ways to up the odds that your media coverage will translate into sales:
Target the right publications and media.
Getting media attention, by itself, is no guarantee of sales, particularly if your media attention is in the ‘wrong’ media. While it’s probably true that there’s no such thing as bad publicity, there definitely is such a thing as ineffectual publicity: If you’re a vendor trying to target homewood floors manufacturers, an article in “Homewood Floors Magazine” will go straight to your target market—and probably will result in more sales than a generic article even in The West Australian. So think carefully about what your market is reading and listening to, and target those specific outlets. (A side benefit is that those publications will probably be easier to break into than more high-profile publications.)
Be sure your distribution is set up and seamless.
There’s nothing worse than getting the perfect media attention, and sending thousands of potential buyers out to stores in search of your book or product—and then finding out, belatedly, that your book wasn’t available to be purchased. If you’re going to go to all the effort of going after the media coverage, be sure your distribution is set up and ready to roll. Otherwise, you’re wasting your time and energy.
Make sure the publicity you’re getting ties into your product.
A lot of people end up pursuing media attention for the sake of media attention. And it’s true that any publicity is a good thing. But if the media attention you’re getting has nothing to do with the product you’re selling, or if you make it too hard for people to make the connection to your product, then that is sure to diminish, if not completely curtail, your sales.
Be careful about word of mouth.
Regardless of how good your ‘official’ publicity is, companies are made and lost on their reputations. So be sure that your product, and company, stay immaculate. Try to address problems early and respond to customer complaints promptly. The mark of a good company is not that they don’t have problems from time to time—it’s inevitable—but how you respond to your customers over time.
Keep the buzz going.
Remember that regardless of how much publicity you garner, the public’s memory is very short. So however good your publicity is today, be sure that you’re also keeping an eye on tomorrow. The better you are at keeping your company and book’s ‘buzz’ going, the more successful your publicity, and your sales, will ultimately be.
So get out there and rustle up some publicity. And then be sure you reap the sales that you’ve earned.
Fern Reiss for http://blog.selfpublishing.com/?p=182
Target the right publications and media.
Getting media attention, by itself, is no guarantee of sales, particularly if your media attention is in the ‘wrong’ media. While it’s probably true that there’s no such thing as bad publicity, there definitely is such a thing as ineffectual publicity: If you’re a vendor trying to target homewood floors manufacturers, an article in “Homewood Floors Magazine” will go straight to your target market—and probably will result in more sales than a generic article even in The West Australian. So think carefully about what your market is reading and listening to, and target those specific outlets. (A side benefit is that those publications will probably be easier to break into than more high-profile publications.)
Be sure your distribution is set up and seamless.
There’s nothing worse than getting the perfect media attention, and sending thousands of potential buyers out to stores in search of your book or product—and then finding out, belatedly, that your book wasn’t available to be purchased. If you’re going to go to all the effort of going after the media coverage, be sure your distribution is set up and ready to roll. Otherwise, you’re wasting your time and energy.
Make sure the publicity you’re getting ties into your product.
A lot of people end up pursuing media attention for the sake of media attention. And it’s true that any publicity is a good thing. But if the media attention you’re getting has nothing to do with the product you’re selling, or if you make it too hard for people to make the connection to your product, then that is sure to diminish, if not completely curtail, your sales.
Be careful about word of mouth.
Regardless of how good your ‘official’ publicity is, companies are made and lost on their reputations. So be sure that your product, and company, stay immaculate. Try to address problems early and respond to customer complaints promptly. The mark of a good company is not that they don’t have problems from time to time—it’s inevitable—but how you respond to your customers over time.
Keep the buzz going.
Remember that regardless of how much publicity you garner, the public’s memory is very short. So however good your publicity is today, be sure that you’re also keeping an eye on tomorrow. The better you are at keeping your company and book’s ‘buzz’ going, the more successful your publicity, and your sales, will ultimately be.
So get out there and rustle up some publicity. And then be sure you reap the sales that you’ve earned.
Fern Reiss for http://blog.selfpublishing.com/?p=182
Sunday, April 08, 2007
BOOKER PRIZE VICTORY FOR SMALL PUBLISHER
October 24th 2002 Times Online UK http://timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/magnus_linklater/article816965.ece
A BOOKER VICTORY FOR THE LITTLE MAN HAS MADE THE BIG PUBLISHERS EAT THEIR WORDS
There is, after all, a God of small publishers. By awarding the Man Booker Prize to Yann Martel for his delightful novel Life of Pi, the jury also gave a massive boost to the tiny Edinburgh publishing house of Canongate, the only independent company on the list.
At a time when media empires are expanding farther and faster than ever before, when booksellers are setting increasingly ferocious terms, and proud names such as John Murray, Harvill Press and Fourth Estate have fallen victim to the conglomerates, it is reassuring to learn that there is still room for the small enterprise armed with passion, enthusiasm and a devotion to good writing.
Not that these alone will do. The lesson of Canongate’s success is that passion and enthusiasm are no longer a nourishing enough diet in the harsh world of modernpublishing. The days of the gentleman publisher, armed with nothing more than an elegant back-list and a promising young writer, will never return. On the contrary, with nearly 120,000 new titles being published in Britain every year, the market has never been more crowded, nor the competition so bitter. Unless you have a commercial sense which is every bit as keen as that of your larger rivals, you will not make it for long. As the hero of Life of Pi says at one stage: “I had a plan and it was a good one. I only needed to survive to put it into effect.”
Surviving means facing daunting odds. With the ending, in 1995, of the Net Book Agreement which protected the publisher’s cover-price, the booksellers have grown increasingly powerful, devouring their smaller rivals and imposing tough conditions on publishers. Chains such as Waterstone’s, Ottakar’s and Borders demand a discount of 50 per cent and sometimes as much as 65 per cent if they are to put books on sale. In order to guarantee a decent display in the front window a publisher will have to pay even more. It is known in the trade as a “marketing contribution”. The less charitable might call it a bribe.
The bigger companies, like Random House, Transworld, or HarperCollins, have far greater resources than Canongate could ever muster to ensure that their potential bestsellers are given the prominence and publicity they need. One recent report estimated that Time Warner in the United States has to allocate $100,000 (£65,000) to each book it publishes to cover the cost of promoting it. With overheads such as this, it is not surprising that the big players are looking for sure-fire successes in the form of proven writers, and that if their latest book fails to cover its costs, it will be rapidly remaindered.
Against this kind of background the chances of a small publisher surviving at all, let alone putting its long-term plan into effect, might seem remote. What Canongate has spotted, however, is that this apparently ruthless climate offers an opportunity to the independent firm. Authors who feel themselves squeezed out by the system, or underrated by a larger publisher, may be on the lookout for someone who can offer them the personal commitment they lack elsewhere. It is no coincidence that Mr Martel, whose previous two books were published by Faber, was drawn to Canongate’s owner, Jamie Byng, because he had heard about his drive and enthusiasm.
Although Faber was offering five times more than Canongate, “their warmth felt a little stale”, according to the author. What Byng had instead was tireless ambition, a determination to see the book succeed, and the marketing skills to match. Since he had already demonstrated his ability to pick winners, and, unlike many small publishers, was able to match his book production to the retailing schedules of the big sellers, doors that might have been closed sprang open.
By winning the Booker, Canongate stands to sell an extra 100,000 hardback copies and, by the time the paperback goes on sale, will have made at least £2 million net profit from this book alone. Its challenge now is to stay small enough to retain that personal touch, while growing sufficiently to take on the authors who will increasingly beat a path to its door. Other independent publishers have gone to the wall or been taken over because growing sales have led to unsustainable overheads.
Canongate has to avoid this if it is to survive. Its plan, surprisingly, is to publish less rather than more. In 2000 it published 125 books. This year it brought out 85. Next year it plans to reduce that total to only 75. Along the way, however, it has managed to increase its revenue and its profits. By choosing only those books in which it believes, and to which it can devote personal attention, it believes it will be in a better position to nurture and promote its authors.
Small, it seems, can indeed be beautiful.
Mangus Linklater
A BOOKER VICTORY FOR THE LITTLE MAN HAS MADE THE BIG PUBLISHERS EAT THEIR WORDS
There is, after all, a God of small publishers. By awarding the Man Booker Prize to Yann Martel for his delightful novel Life of Pi, the jury also gave a massive boost to the tiny Edinburgh publishing house of Canongate, the only independent company on the list.
At a time when media empires are expanding farther and faster than ever before, when booksellers are setting increasingly ferocious terms, and proud names such as John Murray, Harvill Press and Fourth Estate have fallen victim to the conglomerates, it is reassuring to learn that there is still room for the small enterprise armed with passion, enthusiasm and a devotion to good writing.
Not that these alone will do. The lesson of Canongate’s success is that passion and enthusiasm are no longer a nourishing enough diet in the harsh world of modernpublishing. The days of the gentleman publisher, armed with nothing more than an elegant back-list and a promising young writer, will never return. On the contrary, with nearly 120,000 new titles being published in Britain every year, the market has never been more crowded, nor the competition so bitter. Unless you have a commercial sense which is every bit as keen as that of your larger rivals, you will not make it for long. As the hero of Life of Pi says at one stage: “I had a plan and it was a good one. I only needed to survive to put it into effect.”
Surviving means facing daunting odds. With the ending, in 1995, of the Net Book Agreement which protected the publisher’s cover-price, the booksellers have grown increasingly powerful, devouring their smaller rivals and imposing tough conditions on publishers. Chains such as Waterstone’s, Ottakar’s and Borders demand a discount of 50 per cent and sometimes as much as 65 per cent if they are to put books on sale. In order to guarantee a decent display in the front window a publisher will have to pay even more. It is known in the trade as a “marketing contribution”. The less charitable might call it a bribe.
The bigger companies, like Random House, Transworld, or HarperCollins, have far greater resources than Canongate could ever muster to ensure that their potential bestsellers are given the prominence and publicity they need. One recent report estimated that Time Warner in the United States has to allocate $100,000 (£65,000) to each book it publishes to cover the cost of promoting it. With overheads such as this, it is not surprising that the big players are looking for sure-fire successes in the form of proven writers, and that if their latest book fails to cover its costs, it will be rapidly remaindered.
Against this kind of background the chances of a small publisher surviving at all, let alone putting its long-term plan into effect, might seem remote. What Canongate has spotted, however, is that this apparently ruthless climate offers an opportunity to the independent firm. Authors who feel themselves squeezed out by the system, or underrated by a larger publisher, may be on the lookout for someone who can offer them the personal commitment they lack elsewhere. It is no coincidence that Mr Martel, whose previous two books were published by Faber, was drawn to Canongate’s owner, Jamie Byng, because he had heard about his drive and enthusiasm.
Although Faber was offering five times more than Canongate, “their warmth felt a little stale”, according to the author. What Byng had instead was tireless ambition, a determination to see the book succeed, and the marketing skills to match. Since he had already demonstrated his ability to pick winners, and, unlike many small publishers, was able to match his book production to the retailing schedules of the big sellers, doors that might have been closed sprang open.
By winning the Booker, Canongate stands to sell an extra 100,000 hardback copies and, by the time the paperback goes on sale, will have made at least £2 million net profit from this book alone. Its challenge now is to stay small enough to retain that personal touch, while growing sufficiently to take on the authors who will increasingly beat a path to its door. Other independent publishers have gone to the wall or been taken over because growing sales have led to unsustainable overheads.
Canongate has to avoid this if it is to survive. Its plan, surprisingly, is to publish less rather than more. In 2000 it published 125 books. This year it brought out 85. Next year it plans to reduce that total to only 75. Along the way, however, it has managed to increase its revenue and its profits. By choosing only those books in which it believes, and to which it can devote personal attention, it believes it will be in a better position to nurture and promote its authors.
Small, it seems, can indeed be beautiful.
Mangus Linklater
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