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The Future of Books Is Digital, On-Demand and Indie
Earlier this month, I had the good fortune to attend Digital Book World 2013. DBW is the premiere educational event for publishers, editors, agents, production managers and high-level publishing execs. Attendees spend three days learning how to make the industry stronger by embracing new technologies and publishing strategies, learning about new publishing options (and what authors think about them), and thinking ahead to anticipate changing reader habits.
It would be well worth your time to visit the DBW website and sign up for their daily newsletter. Though the conference itself is geared more toward the publishing industry, the daily newsletter provides readers with a ton of great information about what’s happening in the world of publishing, including self-publishing.
Sessions this year covered e-book pricing, e-book piracy, digital marketing, self-publishing (AKA indie publishing) and more. It also included a case study of Hugh Howey, one of the most successful self-published authors of the past year. His book, Wool, has broken the mold for how successful self-published authors can work with agents and publishing houses to get the best deal possible for one’s work.
I was thrilled to present a keynote based on a survey that we submitted to aspiring, self-published and traditionally published authors. Our goal was to learn what they thought about editors, social media, the state of publishing today and much more. Nearly 5,000 authors responded, and there were a few fun statistics that I thought you might enjoy reading:
- Only 18% of aspiring authors maintain a Facebook page about their writing, while 56% of self-published authors do. That’s good to see. However, 68% of traditionally published authors do the same. Similar increases can be seen in the use of Twitter, Goodreads and blogs. This suggests that traditionally published authors are putting more effort into promoting their work. Don’t let that be the case! As a self-published author, you need to promote yourself and your work even harder. The data shows that as you do so, books sales will increase.
- Authors who have only self-published are 73% more likely to want to self-publish again. Authors who have only traditionally published are 36% more likely to want to self-publish. However, when you ask those authors who have published both ways — and therefore have a basis for comparison — which way they’d like to publish in the future, nearly 70% would choose self-publishing. My, how the world has changed!
We might wonder what’s driving this high interest in self-publishing, even amongst traditionally published authors. The data clarifies:
- 84% of traditionally published authors think that publishers are important to the editing and design of a book. But only 62% of authors who have both self-published and traditionally published agree.
- 55% of traditionally published authors believe that publishing a book involves a lot of complexity that is best run by a traditional publisher. Only 27% of authors who have published both ways agree.
- 46% of traditionally published authors think that publishers add value to the positioning of a book in the marketplace. Only 31% of authors who have published both ways agree.
So what does all of this suggest? If you’ve ever had doubts about the decision to self-publish, take heart! The data shows that those authors who have experienced both types of publishing don’t really think that highly of what traditional publishers are bringing to the table. And it was clear at DBW that much of the conversation revolved around how publishers can make themselves more relevant in a time when self-published authors are learning how to market themselves more effectively and put out a finished product that rivals the quality of any traditionally published book.
The self-publishing revolution is here to stay. Of that there’s no doubt. If you’re self-published, or thinking about it, take a minute to congratulate yourself for being on the industry’s leading edge.
What’s your take on the state of publishing today?
It makes me wonder if one day the ratio of self-published authors will be much larger, even a majority, and most editors are freelancers competing for jobs. I mean, among other things! The stats were really interesting to see.
I agree. The traditional publishing industry is always going to be an attractive option because most everyone dreams of getting their book onto the shelves at B&N and independent bookstores. But earlier this week, B&N admitted that they would be closing another 200 stores (minimally) over the next ten years. Most think that’s a conservative estimate. So even traditional publishers are going to have a harder time getting a brick & mortar presence for all of their books, which means they’re going to have to start offering a lot more to authors in order to remain the most attractive option (and I know, because I’m one of them). It’s a hugely exciting time to be in publishing – or to be a writer for that matter!
I think the survey may not have put enough focus on the core value proposition of traditional publishers, and it has less to do with print vs. digital, or online vs. in-store–it’s sales. Before the advent of digital books, the ability to get books in stores was fundamental to driving sales. It wasn’t always sufficient, and there are exceptions, but without books in-store you just weren’t going to see sales. And since the number of readers and publishing books were pretty stable, publishers had a pretty good track record of selling almost every book the publishing the at least the thousands.
The core value proposition traditional publishers provide authors is diminishing because their supply chain and marketing/publicity reach are less relevant to sales. All this has clearly changed, less because of digital, then because of online retailing. If traditional publishers are able to develop online marketing platforms that drive sales more effectively than authors could do on their own then self-published authors will migrate back to traditional publishers. But, these new marketing platforms are going to have to be significantly and demonstrably more effect.
The other dynamic that doesn’t get enough attention is the effect that the digital and print self-publishing has on sales. As the number of published books go up (print or digital) the average sale of any particular is going to go down, regardless of whether it was published traditionally or self-published (though, the averages are going to be higher with traditional publishers).
Good insights for sure. The one thing I would note is that the survey was actually much more extensive than noted in the original post. We’ve only just pulled the data and the editorial together and it’s 60 pages of material. So a lot more to come.
There was one sentence in your post that wasn’t clear to me:
“And since the number of readers and publishing books were pretty stable, publishers had a pretty good track record of selling almost every book the publishing the at least the thousands.”
Seems like there are a couple of words missing from that last sentence. Can you clarify?
Re: your final point about the effect of digital and print self-publishing on sales, is there any particular data reference for that one? Would love to look at that in light of the survey as well. Thanks!