Posts Tagged ‘Publishing’
Thursday, January 21st, 2010
There is an unsettling myth being perpetuated about the death of print books. The news of print’s demise is simply not true. It sounds a bit like Mark Twain having to write a note to a reporter saying “The report of my death was an exaggeration.”
To fully explain I need to start with the music industry.
The impression is that all sales are now digital. And iTunes has killed the physical CD. This is not true.
Approximately 12 songs fit on a CD. And since individual songs can be downloaded, the only way to compare physical CD sales with download sales is to divide the number of songs downloaded by 12. That way you have a one-to-one comparison.
With that assumption in place, Apple is the #1 retailer of CDs in America. No surprise. The surprise is that they only comprise 25% of sales. Walmart is #2 at 14% and Best Buy is #3 (my guess is that Amazon.com is #4 but wasn’t mentioned in the article).
Why is that surprising? Because that means 75% of all sales are still “hard copy.” Physical CDs. It is significant that Apple’s share has increased as a percentage of all sales from 21% in 2008, up from 14% in 2007. But it still means the physical product is outselling the digital by 3 to 1. (In total dollars, across all forms of music, digital downloads comprise only 35% of all music sales.)
Turn that same conversation to the book industry. The Amazon Kindle has impact primarily because they were first and did create a pretty cool device (I bought one the week it came out in Fall 2007 and upgraded in 2008). The Barnes & Noble Nook is shipping with reports of modest success. The Sony Reader has its followers. Plastic Logic just announced their cool tablet sized reader. And everyone is wondering what Apple will announce in the near(?) future regarding their answer to the “hardware” question. But despite this we really don’t have an “iPod” equivalent. Mike Hyatt, CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers, wrote in 2005 that we are “one device away from a digital revolution.” In my opinion we are still waiting for that device. The iPhone is not the answer for most people. The screen is simply too small. And for someone like myself who reads rather fast it can be very annoying…
Don’t get me wrong. My head isn’t buried in the sand. That revolution is coming and some would say it is already here. But the “tipping point” has yet to occur.
Amazon had a lot of fun announcing that they sold more digital books than physical books on Christmas Day 2009. Think about it. On Christmas Day recipients of the Kindle opened their gift and downloaded stuff while playing with their new toy. But who else would be shopping on Christmas Day? No one. So while it made a fun press release it really isn’t as astounding as it first sounded.
I see the royalty statements. I know exactly how many digital versions of my client’s books are being sold. And while there are a lot more sold than there were two years ago (of course there would be) the volume is still less than 1% of the print version sold. LESS THAN ONE PERCENT.
So let’s do some math. Let’s say that e-books have 100% growth in the next year. That would mean they would comprise 2% of all sales. Then let’s say it grows by 100% again, to 4%. We have to keep doubling the number for 4 years before we get to a little less than 20% of all print sales. But that still means that 80% of all sales are still hard copy. Eighty percent.
Certainly this revolution could happen and is quite likely. The implications are huge, especially for the newspaper and magazine community. But it does not mean that print books are dead.
It is even possible that in one generation (twenty years) that the conversion will take place..at least in some form or fashion. If the e-book reader cost drops to under $100. If the device is in every home, on each family member’s nightstand. If the younger generation’s textbooks are placed into e-book format and that generation becomes used to it. A lot of “ifs.”
It is a very exciting time to be in the publishing industry. I almost get giddy when thinking about the possibilities.
If you want to read someone who will challenge every assumption you’ve ever made about “curling up” with your favorite book, get a copy of Print is Dead by Jeff Gomez. Get a group of friends together to talk about his conclusions, I guarantee a rousing discussion. If you want to learn how the music industry was ambushed by technology read Appetite for Self-Destruction: The Spectacular Crash of the Record Industry in the Digital Age by Steve Knopper.
All I’m trying to say is that we need to stop buying into the myth that books are dead. It simply is not true. We are being influenced by the flood of media attention on the “new” and the “cool” and not looking past the sound bite. It is like relatives or friends writing to say “I saw that there was a flood in Phoenix…are you okay?” Yes. It flooded…in an area with a river wash and someone tried to drive thru it and got stuck. That picture hit the national news. The media gave the impression that the entire city was under water with their breathless coverage. So when you read that publishers are going under, and print books are dinosaurs, and all authors need to rethink everything…take a deep breath. It is different. It is a time of careful consideration. No publisher wants a repeat of what happened to the record industry. But it is not as bad as you think.
In the end I implore you not to be one who helps perpetuate the myths and misinformation.
Tags: Bookselling, Digital Books, Publishing
Posted in Publishing | 16 Comments »
Wednesday, January 6th, 2010
To your left is an actual picture of the pile of proposals our office has received since December 1, 2009. About 30 days worth of incoming mail…during a slow time of the year. The stack of books next to the pile include books sent for review (consideration) and recent publications that I want to look at.
That does not include the myriad of email submissions we get (many simply ignoring our guidelines regarding email submissions)…inquiries from those who use the contact form on our web site (many of those ignoring the request to “Please do not copy and paste your entire manuscript into this form.“)
Or the poor soul that failed to proofread their email before sending this sentence, “I would like to send you my quarry letter….”
Nor does it include those that do an Internet search and call us. Recently we got a call that went something like this:
Agency: This is the Steve Laube Agency…
Caller: What kind of agency are you?
Agency: We are a literary agency.
Caller: What does that mean?
Agency: It means we represent books to publishers on behalf of our clients and manage our client’s careers.
Caller: Oh good. I do comic strips…and they are really unique… [caller's voice gets faster and louder as they talk]
Agency: Well, we don’t represent artists or comic strip artists.
Caller: But I’m a philosopher too! ….. [further explanation followed]
Agency: Well, we [caller interrupts]
Caller: And I’m also a musician with over 500 songs to my credit.
Agency: Unfortunately we do not represent musicians at this time.
Caller: But I was named Rock musician of the year…
Agency: We’re sorry but it does not appear that our agency would be a good fit for you.
Caller: You want to listen to my stuff for free on Myspace?
Agency: I don’t see how that would be a good use of our time.
Caller: Someday someone will discover it and make millions.
Agency: We wish you the best in all your endeavors…
The day before, the office received a call from an aspiring author who was a psychic who had an “amazing” personal story to tell…oh, and by the way, they also have two novels done and five children’s books ready and waiting.
Meanwhile I look at my to-do list compiled last weekend in preparation for hitting the ground running on Monday January 4th:
- We are waiting for final contract paperwork on four new book deals.
- We have three authors whose proposals will get thumbs up or thumbs down at a pub board in the next week or two.
- We are waiting for proposals from fifteen clients (all in development over the last couple months).
- We need to have “career counsel” conversations with at least ten other clients. (All very different in scope and intensity.)
- We need to make the “do we represent?” decision on five successful and published authors who have approached us and the same decision on at least a half dozen excellent unpublished authors whose full manuscripts have been reviewed and now sit on the floor near my desk…staring at me (they are not in the picture above).
And that was just the to-do list and does not include the review of cover designs and marketing plans for forthcoming titles. Nor does it include the contracted clients who are wrangling with their editors over any number of issues (everything from copy edit/grammar questions to editors not returning a phone call). Don’t get me wrong! I’m not complaining. In fact this is quite an exciting time. But this post is for those who wonder why agents take so long to make representation decisions. I’ve written about rejection before and no agent takes the process lightly. But a little understanding and self education would make every writer’s experience while approaching an agent a little more tolerable.
I fully expect that at least 90% of that stack pictured above isn’t ready yet. It doesn’t mean it isn’t good. Only that it isn’t ready. The competition is fierce and a little extra effort to learn the industry (read Rachelle Gardner’s and Chip MacGregor’s blogs), learn the craft by going to a good writers conference in 2010, and realize this is a marathon, not a sprint.
Tags: Pitching, Proposals, Publishing, Rejection
Posted in Publishing | 18 Comments »
Tuesday, December 29th, 2009
This is one of my favorite times of the year. The Christmas glow is still present and since the publishing world is, in essence, on vacation, it is a perfect time to to reflect on the past twelve months.
This was a hard year for many as the economy touched everyone in some way. And yet, despite the ominous cloud of doom and gloom, there were many exciting things to celebrate.
On a personal level our middle daughter was married at the end of June. What a joy to see God at the center of the ceremony. And our oldest daughter had a blast playing keyboards for Alice Cooper (singing “School’s Out”) in front of 50,000 people at the ASU graduation ceremony in May.
On a professional level we had some authors receive wonderful recognition:
- Susan May Warren won the RITA award for best inspirational fiction.
- Margaret Daley won the Holt Medallion award for best short inspirational novel.
- Both Tracey Bateman and Marlo Schalesky won the Christy Award for best Christian fiction in their respective categories.
- John Olson, Pamela Tracy, and Sharon Hinck won four ACFW Book of the Year awards (Sharon won for two different titles).
- I was honored as the Agent of the Year at the ACFW banquet in September.
- Cindy Woodsmall was featured on the front page of the Wall Street Journal and hit #24 on the NY Times bestseller list. She was also featured in segment on Nightline.
- Ellie Kay was featured in two separate segments on ABC’s “Nightline”.
But even more exciting is to see a finished book in print. There is such a long time from idea to contract to writing to publication that we can forget the “birth” itself! Therefore I would like present a list of books published in 2009 by authors represented by The Steve Laube Agency. It is really great to see this list all in one place and to think of the hundreds of thousands of readers who have been inspired by these words. It is truly a privilege to work for such incredible writers.
The books are grouped by fiction, children’s/YA, and non-fiction. They are listed in approximate order of their release starting with January. (Note that in some cases we represented only one of the co-authors or collaborators.)
FICTION
The Someday List – Stacy Hawkins Adams (Revell)
Daddy for Keeps – Pamela Tracy (Steeple Hill)
According to Their Deeds – Paul Robertson (Bethany House Publishers)
City of the Dead – T.L. Higley (B&H Publishing Group)
Play it Again, SAHM – Meredith Efken (Steeple Hill Cafe)
Insight – Deborah Raney (Steeple Hill)
If Tomorrow Never Comes – Marlo Schalesky (Multnomah)
Road to Nowhere (paperback release) – Paul Robertson (Bethany House Publishers)
Everybody’s Suspect in Georgia – Cecil Murphey (Barbour Publishing)
Yesterday’s Embers – Deborah Raney (Howard Books)
Nothing But Trouble – Susan May Warren (Tyndale)
Miss Match – Sara Mills (Moody Publishing)
Enduring Love – Bonnie Leon (Revell)
Certain Jeopardy – Jeff Struecker with Alton Gansky (B&H Publishing Group)
Breathe – Lisa Bergren (David C. Cook)
Above All Things – Deborah Raney (Steeple Hill)
You Make Me Feel Like Dancing – Allison Bottke (David C. Cook)
Worth a Thousand Words – Stacy Hawkins Adams (Zondervan)
Return Policy – Michael Snyder (Zondervan)
The Enclave – Karen Hancock (Bethany House Publishers)
The Great Christmas Bowl – Susan May Warren (Tyndale)
The Hope of Refuge – Cindy Woodsmall (Waterbrook)
Meltdown – Chuck Holton (Multnomah)
Sweet Waters – Julie Carobini (B&H Publishing Group)
Fugitive Family – Pamela Tracy (Steeple Hill)
The Sound of Sleigh Bells - Cindy Woodsmall (Waterbrook)
Bride Backfire – Kelly Hake (Barbour Publishing)
Thirsty – Tracey Bateman (Waterbrook)
Blessed (paperback release) – Lisa Bergren (Berkley)
Guardian of the Flame – T.L. Higley (B&H Publishing Group)
Christmas Lamp – Lori Copeland (Zondervan)
Powers – John B. Olson (B&H Publishing Group)
Christmas Peril: Merry MayhemYule Die – Margaret Daley & Debbie Gusti (Steeple Hill)
Clandestine Cover-up – Pamela Tracy (Steeple Hill)
CHILDREN’S / YA
Sir Bentley and Holbrook Court - Chuck Black (Multnomah)
Sir Kendrick and the Castle of Bel Lione (AUDIO) – Chuck Black (Oasis Audio)
Sir Bentley and Holbrook Court (AUDIO) – Chuck Black (Oasis Audio)
Sir Dalton and the Shadow Heart – Chuck Black (Multnomah)
God Found Us You - Lisa Bergren (HarperCollins)
God Gave Us Love – Lisa Bergren (Waterbrook)
NON-FICTION
Only Nuns Change Habits Overnight – Karen Linamen (Waterbrook)
How Can I Run a Tight Ship When I’m Surrounded by Loose Cannons? – Kathi Macias (New Hope)
The Life of A.W. Tozer: In Pursuit of God – James Snyder (Regal Books)
The Purpose of Man: Designed to Worship - A.W. Tozer, edited by James Snyder (Regal Books)
Marriage 101: Building a Life Together by Faith – Jewell Powell (Revell)
Thrive, Don’t Simply Survive – Karol Ladd (Howard Books)
The Jesus of the Bible – Stephen M. Miller (Barbour Publishing)
Life on Planet Mom – Lisa Bergren (Revell)
American Heroes: In the Fight Against Radical Islam – Oliver North and Chuck Holton (B&H Publishing Group)
Reclaiming Christianity: A Call to Authentic Faith – A.W. Tozer, edited by James Snyder (Regal Books)
Your Jesus Is Too Safe: Outgrowing a Drive-Thru, Feel-Good Savior – Jared Wilson (Kregel)
The Diseasing of America’s Children (paperback release) – John Rosemond (Thomas Nelson)
When God Takes Too Long (Book & DVD package) – Joseph Bentz (Beacon Hill)
LT & Me: What Raising a Champion Taught Me about Life, Faith, and Listening to Your Dreams - Loreane Tomlinson with Ginger Kolbaba and Patti Britton
The Little Book of Big Savings – Ellie Kay (Waterbrook)
And He Dwelt Among Us: Teachings from the Gospel of John- A.W. Tozer, edited by James Snyder (Regal Books)
Thrive: Dare to Live Like God- Kevin Johnson (Zondervan/Youth Specialties)
Soar: Sail into God’s Plan for Your Future – Kevin Johnson (Zondervan/Youth Specialties)
Follow: Walk in the Rhythm of Jesus – Kevin Johnson (Zondervan/Youth Specialties)
Think: Figure Out What You Believe and Why – Kevin Johnson (Zondervan/Youth Specialties)
Lord, I Just Want to Be Happy – Leslie Vernick (Harvest House )
The Well Behaved Child: Discipline That Really Works – John Rosemond (Thomas Nelson)
God is Great, God is Good: Why Believing in God is Reasonable and Responsible – William Lane Craig and Chad Meister, general editors (IVP)
Tags: Book Review, Publishing, Writing
Posted in Publishing | 4 Comments »
Saturday, October 17th, 2009
I went to high school in Hawaii (I know.. a rough life) where I learned the joys and perils of body surfing. That experience is a great metaphor for the new “waves” of digital revolution we are seeing in the publishing world.
The key to great body surfing is waiting for the right wave and then time your push just right. The ride is exhilarating (I still remember riding inside the tube of a perfect wave off the beaches of Kauai). BUT if you catch the wrong wave or mistime the push, there is no ride. Or worse, catch a wave that throws you wildly into a bunch of rocks…
But unless you are in the water and making attempt after attempt you will never achieve the perfect ride.
I see this metaphor applied to the new world of digital publishing. It is really fun to play a small part, but even more fun to watch others be extremely creative in their experiments. There are some very bright and exciting people trying new things in merging the traditional book with all things “interactive.”
One well publicized idea is the Vook (video book). This concept blends text and video into one package. Priced very low ($6.99 direct or less via iTunes) Simon & Schuster is starting with two novelists and two non-fiction projects. The 90-Second Fitness Solution, for example, features 13 short videos and 11 text chapters to present a simple fitness program. You can either read/watch it on your computer or download on your iPhone or iTouch.
The idea is creative but sales will determine its long term viability, especially at the prices they are charging. I downloaded the above title and found it fascinating to be able to see exercises demonstrated in video instead of still pictures.
Of course my purchase will be added to their “sales numbers” which makes me wonder how many “test drive” sales are going to happen.
Note that the fiction titles are using recognizable authors. The stories are novellas, not full length novels. Text for the Jude Deveraux title is declared to be 130 pages long but also has 17 videos to accompany the story.
If you are a Simon & Schuster author, don’t expect them to convert your book just yet. Their Vooks are a division of the Atria Books imprint and will be highly selective on where and with whom they put their investment.
In late October 2009 Harper Collins put Gary Vaynerchuk’s new book Crush It into an $11.99 Vook (complete with 17 videos.) This article pulls back a bit of the curtain regarding the costs associated with the Vook.
The next idea is also fascinating. Level 26 by Anthony Zuicker (creator of CSI) with Duane Swierczynski. This serial-killer terror novel has the premise that murderers can be classified according to 25 levels of evil according to the FBI. But now there is one that tops all the others…a “Level 26″ killer…the ultimate evil. Not a book I would recommend you read unless you love bloody horror novels or watch very disturbing movies.
What makes this novel different is that it is the first “Digi Novel.” You ask, “What is a Digi Novel?” Let me quote from the author’s description on Amazon.com:
“…where the traditional story ends, a deeper level of immersion is available at www.level26.com, exclusively to readers of the book. About every twenty pages, you will have the option of logging in to experience a digital cyber-bridge—a three-minute motion picture scene with A-list actors you might’ve seen in blockbuster films and award winning TV shows. Before your eyes, the characters will spring to life, crime scene details will explode off the screen, and the Web site might even ask for a phone number—where the killer can reach you directly. You might call it CSI with an edge.”
I can’t even imagine the amount of money this cost to produce. But again, a very creative way to merge visual/digital interaction with a book.
Another is ScrollMotion’s Iceberg Reader. This is an iPhone app that began with traditional text (and was competing with the dozen other e-book reader software packages) but has recently expanded to include full color kids books. They have both a Curious George alphabet book and a James Patterson Daniel X graphic novel (plus others, of course). There are lots of rumors about this expanding considerably if/when Apple’s tablet computer is launched. They are working with Hachette, HarperCollins, Random House, and Simon & Schuster, according to Publisher’s Weekly (August 24, 2009). From what I can tell this is one of the first e-book readers to fully incorporate color into the experience. But I have likely missed someone else’s software.
Last is a very creative use of the QR code (Quick Read Code). The square label looks a little like a Rorschach image. What makes these unusual is that with the right app on a phone you can take a picture of the image and it will then take your phone immediately to the web site embedded in the barcode. The QR technology is very big in Japan.
I used the QR-Code Generator to create this actual QR code…embedded in this image is the URL to my web site! If you look closely you can see me waving back at you. Just kidding, but this is a real QR code. Create one of your own.
According to Publishers Weekly (September 21, 2009), what HarperCollins has done is to incorporate this technology into books for Teens like Lauren Conrad’s L.A. Candy. According to Carolyn Pittis, HarperColliins senior v-p, global marketing strategy and operations, “In addition to the codes on the Candy jacket, QR codes were featured on posters used at the book launch party, and HC did a cross-promotion with Mark Cosmetics on the Mark site that drove consumers to the harperteen.com site.”
HarperCollins is breaking ground with the use of this technology by putting the code into ads in the NY Times and the Wall Street Journal. Imagine clicking a photo of the code while reading the newspaper and being taken to a site that has a complete video of the information you are looking for…along with an ad to buy something.
By starting with the Teen market they are truly capturing the “cool factor.” The problem of course is explaining what it is and how to use it. We visually block out bar codes because they are so prevalent. My concern as a parent would be “Where is this publisher taking my child?” But that is a topic for another writer to tackle.
Look on the back cover of the new Super Freakonomics book by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner (published by William Morrow – a division of HarperCollins). You will see an OR Code and instructions on how to use it on your smartphone.
This must be what the music publishers felt like when the industry shifted from record albums to 8-Track to Cassette to Compact Disk to MP3 (and from record players to Walkman to Diskman to iPod) in less than 20 years. I hope to address some of the text based digital issues (Kindle vs. Sony vs. the world) in another blog, but for now, revel in the creative energy that is being expended to keep people reading and interacting with their books!
Tags: Digital Books, Publishing, QR Code
Posted in Publishing | 10 Comments »
There is an unsettling myth being perpetuated about the death of print books. The news of print’s demise is simply not true. It sounds a bit like Mark Twain having to write a note to a reporter saying “The report of my death was an exaggeration.”
