Comments on: Here’s the problem with book publishers’ discovery problem http://paidcontent.org/2013/02/15/heres-the-problem-with-publishers-book-discovery-problem/ The economics of digital content Wed, 22 May 2013 08:14:01 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: shakawimber http://paidcontent.org/2013/02/15/heres-the-problem-with-publishers-book-discovery-problem/#comment-200897 Wed, 27 Feb 2013 07:37:18 +0000 http://paidcontent.org/?p=224750#comment-200897 But for the writers is it perfect!
I can’t see the problem here. The publishers are a golden link between the writers and the readers. And with this discover ability it is doing good for these two which are the most important. A problem we could have in the future is exclusive titles to only one device, which we also see in the game industry. That would be really bad! So i hope they don’t go that way too much.

Shaka Wimber
kindlefiresupport.net

]]> By: Laura Hazard Owen http://paidcontent.org/2013/02/15/heres-the-problem-with-publishers-book-discovery-problem/#comment-200586 Fri, 22 Feb 2013 01:40:31 +0000 http://paidcontent.org/?p=224750#comment-200586 We’ve written about this a little bit — but there are a few reasons why a “Spotify for ebooks” is a lot harder than a Spotify for music (which, I guess, is Spotify). Part of this is the way that publishing contracts work — most author contracts simply wouldn’t allow a book to be included in a Spotify-like system, and it’s unclear how the authors would be paid. There are also other differences between book and music consumption — books are a lot longer than songs, you can’t “read a book in the background,” etc.

]]> By: Laura Hazard Owen http://paidcontent.org/2013/02/15/heres-the-problem-with-publishers-book-discovery-problem/#comment-200584 Fri, 22 Feb 2013 01:36:01 +0000 http://paidcontent.org/?p=224750#comment-200584 Thanks @txpatriot. I also hope print books survive (I think they will) and I read a mixture of both. Thank you for commenting.

]]> By: txpatriot http://paidcontent.org/2013/02/15/heres-the-problem-with-publishers-book-discovery-problem/#comment-200535 Thu, 21 Feb 2013 15:54:01 +0000 http://paidcontent.org/?p=224750#comment-200535 Laura: I’m not a publishing “insider”, just an avid reader and book collector, but I very much enjoy reading your columns about the publishing industry and the challenges it faces.

You’re not like so many other bloggers who delight in bashing “old media” and take every opportunity to talk about how “new media” (i.e., the Internet) is the only way to go. Although I enjoy physical books, I also enjoy listening to audiobooks on long drives, and I’m not opposed to the occasional e-book.

I know digital is the future, but I also hope physical books survive. Thanx for letting me share my thoughts.

]]> By: Tessa Smith McGovern http://paidcontent.org/2013/02/15/heres-the-problem-with-publishers-book-discovery-problem/#comment-200230 Mon, 18 Feb 2013 12:32:24 +0000 http://paidcontent.org/?p=224750#comment-200230 Our goal at BookGirl.TV is to have readers turn on their TVs (or whatever device they use to consume video) and shove books into their hands. Readers who typically read 6 books a year can easily read 2 or 3 more books a year if those books – and their authors – are made appealing enough. This is the video age, and writers and publishers have to meet readers where they are to give them compelling reasons to forego alternative media in the interests of their own well-being. Video will never be a substitute for a good book, but people who care about books have to think anew about how to reach readers.

]]> By: Ben http://paidcontent.org/2013/02/15/heres-the-problem-with-publishers-book-discovery-problem/#comment-200177 Sun, 17 Feb 2013 18:32:21 +0000 http://paidcontent.org/?p=224750#comment-200177 Keep in mind how data is interpreted. You may see only a small 5% gain, I might see that as something is working. So instead of saying something is useless, figure out why that 5% is working and find a different approach to improve that further. If B&N reports a 1-2% gain from their stores, everyone cries doomsday. Whereas when Amazon does it and never report any of Kindles sales numbers, their stock keeps going up. The data and how we interpret them matters. There are simply too many factors that can affect that data. To say “free” or .99 cents ebooks is useless is foolish. What you are after is that “good” word of mouth to spread not the $0 you see.

If Spotify or Pandora isn’t the solution for books, nor is social networks. Have you seen data supporting wild success from Facebook, Pinterest or Tweeter for a mass of authors? I think “discovery” is simply the tip of an iceberg, issues runs deeper into publishers’ print first workflow, where editors can’t or don’t plan for the digital version ahead of time so that the ebook can compliment the printed book or vice versa. Simply blogging or tweeting or like a book on the internet isn’t going to help you sell more books and connect with your target audience. One more thing, social networks relies on ads, if anything, I see that as a distraction.

I’m a big fan of TED, love it! Do you see them help promote each speaker’s book? Hardly, that is because TED isn’t about promoting any one speaker or author, rather their ideas. You never find a direct book link for purchase at TED’s website.

All I’m saying is we are no where near a solution for publishers, good thing most can survive on backlist books for now.

]]> By: carmen webster buxton http://paidcontent.org/2013/02/15/heres-the-problem-with-publishers-book-discovery-problem/#comment-200172 Sun, 17 Feb 2013 16:36:51 +0000 http://paidcontent.org/?p=224750#comment-200172 As a self published writer, I don’t find offering free downloads useless. It’s not as successful a technique as it once was, mostly because so many writers are doing it, but it’s not useless. It works best when the work being given away has a sequel or is the first in a series. I currently have a book that is free on Kindle, iBooks, Nook, and a bunch of other retailers. What I have found is that the number of copies of the sequel I sell is about 5% of the free copies of the first book. So, yes, many people don’t read the free book, but some do. The hard part is getting big enough free numbers to make an impact on book 2. So far, Kindle is the only platform where this happens.

My other books have been free from time to time but because none of them have sequels the most direct benefit I get is a few Amazon reviews.

]]> By: David Thomas http://paidcontent.org/2013/02/15/heres-the-problem-with-publishers-book-discovery-problem/#comment-200171 Sun, 17 Feb 2013 16:29:39 +0000 http://paidcontent.org/?p=224750#comment-200171 Ben:
Recent analytics derived from e-reader use data suggests that the ‘free excerpt’ and ‘free book’ approaches are futile. Yeah, there are a ton of downloads, but the vast majority are left untouched by the consumer. A book, btw, is vastly different from a song (see my comment above) — think of passive versus active consumption. The spotify/pandora model exists in the 3D world (libraries) and content about books and authors is available in print and web services 24/7. Ever watch TED talks on youtube? Most of the speakers have current books out and they’re giving you a quick synopsis. The transformation you ask for is here and has been in the works, well, since the emergence mozilla and internet social network communities of the mid-eighties (the Well, as example).

]]> By: David Thomas http://paidcontent.org/2013/02/15/heres-the-problem-with-publishers-book-discovery-problem/#comment-200170 Sun, 17 Feb 2013 16:17:36 +0000 http://paidcontent.org/?p=224750#comment-200170 Yep — this is a very interesting point of discussion. To cite the obvious: the book as a consumable media is quite complicated, requires sophisticated skills and sustained effort to absorb by comparison to either video/film or music. The digital reader use data is collected and some portion of the market is monitored by a company called hiptype, which provided some insights publicly. Time and attention — or, more accurately, distraction — are some of the greatest foils to reading.

]]> By: Ben http://paidcontent.org/2013/02/15/heres-the-problem-with-publishers-book-discovery-problem/#comment-200159 Sun, 17 Feb 2013 06:57:55 +0000 http://paidcontent.org/?p=224750#comment-200159 I would argue book and music industry are alike and yet publishers are repeating the same mistakes. There is no Spotify or YouTube or Pandora for books. With all the copyrights and region rights, it is not possible to even solve this “discovery” issue now. Free new books for reading? Impossible! (I don’t consider 10-15 preview sample pages any useful for ebooks). Yet, this is how new musicians and the music industry is re-connecting with their audience, successfully!

Many would agree IF B&N would build a stronger local reader/writer community via their stores “re-connect” with their readers and hence improve sales…as if, they are losing as ton of money via poor book sales…on the contrary, B&N is in such a bad shape because they are continuing the bad digital strategy of putting all their money in one basket, the NOOK. If anyone is following B&N results, digital is where they are bleeding cash the last few years and fast.

Unless some form of Spotify or Pandora solution is available for ebooks, we wont see this issue go away anytime soon. Amazon has become the iTunes for ebooks, so at least that solution is already here. For discovery to happen, you need to transform the way publishing works today, with is still print first workflow and treating ebooks as after-thought file conversion production, which leads to a host of other issues.

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