Book Publishing: A Tale of Two Authors
In
the last month or so I started researching the controversy over the sale
of the eBook A Tale of Two Cities
by Charles Dickens and Amazon pulling a copy with a price from its store
and substituting their own free copy. I was curious about the rendering of
the replaced book and whether the author had actually added value to the
eBook.
I
was struck by the parallel of the Dickens novel and the struggle between
the French peasants and the aristocrats and the current book industry.
Dickens initial paragraph reads like he is writing a blog on the current
book industry and the struggle between the traditional author/publisher
and the eBook author/self-publisher.
His
quote: “It
was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of
wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was
the epoch of incredulity. . . .”
That
says it all.
Content
Like
all my fellow bloggers, this one is easy. Content is king. Editing,
proofreading and spellchecking are common ground for both situations. We
start to see the difference with book covers. The paper book’s full
color covers with their professional artwork are designed to attract the
reader and create an impulse buy.
The
eBook thumbnail is more of a readability challenge than a sales tool. Of
course, full color separates the two author/publishers now but eBook color
will be the standard soon.
Publishing
Process
This
is where the two authors start conflicting dramatically. The traditional
author usually has an agent and submits a multitude of book proposals to
various publishers. After, sometimes many rejections, the author gets a
publisher to sign on to his book. The publisher then takes control of the
project and they become the aristocrat in this scenario. They take control
of the author and the process.
In
contrast, the eBook author, the self-pub author if you will, has no
proposal to shop just the eBook to publish. The indie author controls the
process including the price.
Production
The
paper version starts through the typesetting and printing process. After
many months, usually at least 12 months, the book is ready for market.
Then the publisher can start to create a digital version. If they are
smart they don’t have to go through the scan and OCR drill by using the
digital source supplied by the author. Creating a backlist eBook from
paper is an entirely different story. The editing of the new OCR product
must be completely redone.
The
eBook author produces his book, along with the appropriate formatting, to
go directly to an eBook platform, including rendering and enhancing. The
production costs are much less thus the profit is greater.
Selling
the Book
Here
is where the aristocratic publisher seeks reviews, distributes to
bookstores and sets the price. And to top that, the author has to provide
most of the marketing support while the publisher concentrates on his
mainstream books that have the largest sales potential.
The
eBook author is his own publisher with complete marketing and pricing
control. He has no middlemen and usually no agent. He has a target market
and maybe a niche market. The reader can view samples, see online reviews
and make the buy decision right now.
Get
the Book to the Reader
The
paper book goes through distribution and warehousing and eventually to
your favorite bookstore where readers browse and buy. The traditional
author is at the mercy of a shelf space problem. The paper book shelf life
can be measured in weeks and then the publisher takes the returns and
moves the title to a backlist.
The
eBook author has one upped the aristocratic author/publisher. He provides
the reader with the ability for immediate purchase and download. The
convenience of the purchase is a key advantage. There is no shelf space
problem. His eBook can be available forever for the reader.
Payday
The
traditional author’s payday is where Dickens’s forecasts the worst of
times. If the book sells, the author’s royalties will be a small percent
of the publisher’s set price. The odds of success are against the
traditional author.
The
eBook author royalties are greater with no shelf life and no backlist to
get in his way.
Granted
the books must sell in both situations.
Conclusion
The
real struggle is with the author himself. Does he continue to go only with
the system or does he revolt and go digital? The opportunity is straight
ahead of him. There are no sure things or cinches in this business but it
could end with a happy ending by going digital.
The
question to ask: Was
Dickens forecasting the current state of the book publishing industry and
the plight of the author or commenting on the revolution between
the French peasants and the aristocrats?
I
should end this blog with another quote from A
Tale of Two Cities.
“It
is possible - that it may not come during our lives … We shall not see
the triumph [but]
we
shall have helped it.”
To
read more about eBook rendering check out by blog: eBook
Author: Rendering your eBooks
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