In sports, it’s called a game-changer. It’s that play, that moment, that person who shakes everything up and changes forever the course of a game. Recently, J.K. Rowling has decided to be a game-changer in the publishing industry and where this may lead, no one knows. Ms. Rowling has announced the launch of Pottermore, a website from which she will exclusively sell her famous Harry Potter book series in digital format.
Until now, if you wanted to read any of the Potter books you’ve had to do it the old fashioned way and actually buy or borrow an honest-to-goodness, book of printed word on bound paper. But starting with the release of the Pottermore site on Harry’s birthday, July 31st, you’ll be able to pay for and download the e-book version of each of the seven bestsellers over a wide number of platforms.
Yesterday, publishing companies were cutting book stores out of the loop by shifting sales to e-book and online-related merchandise and today, just like that, in one fell swoop, Rowling has eliminated the need for publishers by skipping them in the process. The question is what does this mean for the future?
Initially, it means very little. J.K. Rowling has power that very few other authors do and that is the power to make the buyer come to her. The Potter books are a proven commodity, they are books that draw people in not just to read once, but to re-read multiple times, like visiting old friends. They are also collectible in that parents want to have them for their own kids to read someday (and to help explain why they might have a tattoo of a Hippogriff on their chest). To tech savvy young parents that means collecting them digitally, not on some dusty old shelf. In other words, Rowling can confidently set up her Pottermore website, announce it to the world and fully expect the buyers to come to her.
She doesn’t need the book resellers. She doesn’t need a publishing house. She doesn’t need Amazon or anyone else. All she has to do is ring the dinner bell and wait for the crowds to come running. In doing so, she deprives resellers and the publishing industry of millions, if not billions of dollars—all of which they would have gladly taken for doing what actually amounts to very little. If Rowling had announced that she was simply releasing the books in an e-reader compliant version and gone through traditional channels, it would have been seen as a boon to the entire industry. Instead what they receive is a harsh wake up call.
Fortunately for publishers, it doesn’t mean much more than the loss of some free revenue in the short term--the U.S. & U.K. Publishers are only receiving a small percentage of the earnings with Pottermore Publishing receiving the lion's share. J.K. Rowling may have the power, influence and product to be able to step out on her own and cut out all the greedy little hands grabbing at percentages of her work, but few other writers do. Even writers as prolific as Stephen King would have trouble, drawing customers to a site, which sold only his works. Cult favorites like Stephanie Meyer may be taking notice though.
Looking ahead, you can almost map out the strategies for the publishing giants. They will insist on total control from new writers. They will squeeze even more than they already do from writers who are desperate to make their way into the business. That strategy is as flawed as is it is obvious the direction they will take. It reminds me of a line from Star Wars when Princess Leia says: “The more you tighten your grip…the more star systems will slip through your fingers.” Substitute dollars for star systems and you can see the murky future of book publishers and retailers.
What writers are going to start to do is to take a good look at what exactly they get from their publishers. Do they offer marketing support in line with the percentage of revenue and rights they demand? The answer for most writers will be, simply, “no.” By pushing the publishing industry toward the e-reader and sales through online platforms, they have essentially made themselves obsolete.
Do you think the people at Amazon aren’t taking notice of this event? What they have to be asking themselves is what is it exactly that the publishing houses offer them? Amazon is the unquestioned king of online retail and marketing. As we steer closer to a paper-free world, why wouldn’t a company like that approach recognizable authors and tempt them to sell directly and only through their company? The publishing giants have made themselves irrelevant middlemen in the process.
Authors have to ask what a publisher truly does for them now? They demand much, that’s for certain. But what do they provide? Do you think the online outlets will stop selling the works of best-selling authors simply because they are no longer attached to publishers? Of course not. Do the publishers manage the distribution of the product to stores around the world? Not anymore they don’t. Do the publishers market books to the world in a way that creates excitement and generates sales? No. The marketing arm of the publishing industry is as impotent as old men before Viagra and as creative as a 4th grade math teacher.
The answer, plain and simple is that the publishing industry, which is going to demand more and more, is capable of providing less and less. The tighter they squeeze, the more writers and dollars will slip through their fingers. Self-published books have been something of a joke until now, but in the blink of an eye they have become so much more. Every author in the world is questioning his or her relationship with their publisher today. Every one of them is asking themselves, besides stifle creativity, sap financially and control draconically—what does my publishing house do for me?
The next question they’ll ask is who can do it better? Who can do it for less, allowing me to earn more for the work that I have done? The weeks of touring cities and doing book signings will become a single sit down for a live webinar marketed to millions. It will be twice as effective, take a fraction of the time and allow the writers to more quickly get back to what they do best—write.
The launch of Pottermore is historic one. It won’t be overnight, but this is the beginning of the end for book publishers. They worked to usher in the next age, forsaking trusted, long-term partners and now they will pay the price for their lack of vision. They have made themselves obsolete. J.K. Rowling is just the first in what is sure to be a long line of defectors. The game has changed and nothing will ever be the same again. The switch to e-reading platforms is now solidified and the need for publisher is gone. The online giants will take over now. Here’s hoping they take better care of literature than their forbearers have.
13 comments:
Excellent post. Sad that books will become obsolete, but sort of interesting to watch the way the culture of literature & the business of publishing will shift. Food for thought, as usual. Thanks, Al.
Well said! I enjoyed reading this :)
On the flip side, what will become of public libraries who offer a service to the thousands who cannot afford to buy every book they read. I, for one, read about 3 books per week on average ... and I have the cheapest possible broadband and a desktop PC. I *need* books!
On a tangent, may I have a quick rant about how I am seriously hoping that job recruiters go the way of the dodo. It seems to me all they do is send your resume to a potential employer and then you do all the work -- the getting to the interview, the testing, the awful interview itself. Then if you get hired (and after two years I'm still waiting for that to happen) the recruiter gets a fat commission in the thousands! Not only that, but they treat you these days like they are doing you a favour!!!
//end of rant
Good rant DK!
Have to disagree with this sentence:
"self-published books have been something of a joke until now, but in the blink of an eye they have become so much more."
It's hard to describe Rowling's foray into ebooks as self-publishing. Self-selling, maybe, but not self-publishing. Rowling's books have already been vetted by agents and editors. The marketing was already done by the publishers. All the things that differentiate (most) self-published books from traditionally published books are nonexistent in this case.
Still it will still be interesting to see where this goes.
Not everyone missed the Star Wars quote... ;)
The fact that you can buy books for a fraction of the price just a few months after the release date, and for pennies when paperback comes out, furthers this movement. Those who know they won't keep a book on the shelves will stop buying altogether. Then again, how many printed versions will be made available?
Do you see the same happening with movies/TV? Are DVD's on their way out?
Dakker: I do think DVD's are on their way out. People already store movies on their computers and I think eventually we'll all have a computer/device that plugs into our televisions on which we store our entire movie collection.
As for TV/movies--the advertising makes it an entirely different monster.
Chemist Ken: do you disagree that self-published books have been something of a joke or that they have instantly become much more?
As for whether or not Rowling's books are self-published the digital versions are officially being published by Pottermore Publishing and it will be the same publisher worldwide, unlike the actual books which were published by different publishing houses in the U.S., U.K. and many other countries as well.
Yes, the book has already been edited and proofed and marketed by the original publishers (and for that Rowling is giving them a small percentage of profits) but there's no reason why freelance editors and copy editors can't handle that job for Rowling specifically in the future. Online giants like Amazon--a master in marketing--will take up the marketing efforts directly for a larger percentage of the earnings (coming out of what used to go to a publisher) and still Rowling will get more from her books than she had previously.
And other authors will follow suit.
Thanks for the comments everyone! I appreciate the feedback/debate!
I agree that self-published books are generally looked-down upon. I just don't think that redistributing traditionally published books in an electronic format will change that perception in any significant way.
I agree with that Ken--for now. I just think it leads to the opportunity of the publishers playing a much smaller role in matters--if any at all. If things pan out the way I see them going, the sellers will be the ones to start making decisions about what to sell and what not to sell eventually.
Every person who writes a book isn't going to have it sold on Amazon, there will have to be some system of deciding what's worthy and what isn't and maybe that's the role publishers will now play but even that means small publishing firms with good marketing departments can and will compete with larger ones.
Very true. If publishers were smart, they'd start reinventing their own usefulness as so many threatened industries are already attempting.
There is a lot of chatter going on in the film industry that the variety of platforms for movies is eventually going to turn on itself in a similar way. The theory for so long has been no matter what content you can get on an iPhone, DVD, Blu-Ray, On Demand, etc that most people will always want to go to a movie theatre, share the collective experience in the dark, with popcorn, candy and soda (and cheeseburgers and martinis if you're into that gimmick!)simply because it's a cultural experience. Just yesterday it was announced that AMC theatres are starting to sell monthly passes to go to the movies ala Netflix. It's going to be very interesting to see the evolution of the arts and how fast it comes.
I'd much rather read a real book and watch a movie in a theatre but the lowest common denominator will likely prevail. Boo.
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