A Digital RoadmapFor Writers

NZSA AGMChristchurch, 15 May 2010

Martin TaylorDigital Publishing Forum

http://digitalpublishing.org.nzmartin@digitalpublishing.org.nz

Outline

• The rise of ebooks• The business of ebooks• Is it time to fire my publisher?• Will writing change or books die?• A crash course in internet

marketing

• More if time permits because … there’s more.

How big is this?

• This is happening in the midst of a generational shift in technology– Decline of PC, rise of mobile web and “the

cloud”

• Proliferation of smart mobile devices connecting to the cloud– standards wars (but has Apple already

won?)

• Google, Apple, Amazon are early drivers

Music’s iPod moment

• Disruptive technology changes the game

• Apple sells billions of songs in the face of free

• Five years for 5 billion, 1.8 years for next 5 billion

• iTunes share now 69% of online music sales (Amazon 8%) and 24% of all music sales in US

Source: MacRumors.com

iTunes reaches 10 billion music downloads, 24 Feb 2010

Books’ iPod Moment (courtesy of Amazon’s 90%

share)+333% Q4 2009 vs Q4 2008

US trade ebook market growth, 2002-2009

Amazon Kindle launched

Sony Reader launched

Next?

Skiff Hearst / Plastic LogicDell Streak

Google Android

HP Slate Windows 7

Google Nexus One

AndroidNotion Ink

Adam Android / Pixel Qi

Speed of consumer technology adoption

Source: NY Times

Is this already a one horse race?

Source: Flurry.com

Mobile App Development by Platform

The iPad: Is it a new paradigm for presentation of digital

works?• iPad is part of a new

digital paradigm• Multi-touch: Pinch,

swipe, tap (no mouse or keyboard)

• Multiple media types

• Optimised for media• Connected• The sizzle to win

consumers, media

Source: YouTube, woodwing.com, the wonderfactory.com, zinio.com

Illustrated publications and the iPad

Who sells ebooks• So far, a small number of mostly global

players– Amazon, Apple, Google Editions (Jul), Kobo (NZ)

• High barriers to entry compared to bookstores– Will ebooks be dominated by a few big players?– cf Music: Apple has 70% share of paid downloads

• What are the barriers today for booksellers?– High technology costs and expertise – Difficulty acquiring ebooks and managing metadata– Scale needed to compete with large global players– High security and trust requirements from publishers

• Google Editions might reduce entry barriers

What sells?

Source: O’Reilly Research, iBooks downloads during April 2010

How much should the ebook edition of a $30 paper book

cost?More than $30

$30

$25

$20

$15

$10

$5

Less than $5

Free

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%

% respondents (n=78)

Source: Digital Publishing Forum: digitalpublishing.org.nz – online poll conducted February-March 2009

What’s driving ebook pricing?

• Major publishers typically set ebook price today equal to cheapest p-book edition– But with Amazon’s discounting, US$9.99 was becoming the de

facto retail price• April 3, 2010 it all changed: the agency model

– Catalyst was Apple’s iPad launch– Means publisher sets selling price, no discounting allowed,

all sites will have same retail price, retailer gets a commission

– Could create a more diverse market with more retail channels– Will it help to keep prices up? Consumers will decide.

• Rental or subscriptions might also work– “Owning” books will become less important– Need for multiple price points in a market– How will libraries fit into this new world?

• About 60%+ of a print book’s cost is distribution

Average selling price in iBooks (US$)

Source: O’Reilly Research, iBooks downloads during April 2010

Royalties: Print vs ebook• In general, ebook

royalties are a higher %

• Unclear how close ‘e’ price will stay to ‘p’– But volumes might rise,

eg more ‘pass along’ readers might pay

• Consumers expect lower prices – Most publisher and

author costs are similar– Industry must remove

costs from distribution, not author/publisher, to finance this

Print Ebook

RRP $100 $100

Retailer 43% 30%

Net $57 $70

Royalties

10% RRP $10.00

$10.00

17.5% net

9.98

15% net 10.50

20% net 14.00

25% net 17.50

Digital Contracts

• “Wait and see” is a bad approach for both authors and the industry

• Better to limit term than to do nothing – eg three years then a review

• Typical royalties 15-25% of net receipts• Licensed editions vs publisher editions

– Higher rate should apply to licensed editions

Contracts (cont.d)

• Should you separate digital from print rights?– Useful negotiating tactic, perhaps … but most

publishers will shun this and difficult to manage– Who does promotion? Could reduce incentives at a

critical time for a new book– Coordination: You should probably aim for

simultaneous release of p & ebook– Potential for duplicated editing and production costs– More likely to work for older backlist

• Revised NZSA contract with digital update is due shortly

Should I insist on Digital Rights Management?

Probably, but:• DRM reduces copying by encrypting an ebook

– Special software needed at reader end to decrypt• There are many incompatible DRM systems

– Same format can be incompatible if different DRM system used

– Adobe DRM is ‘open’ option (open for anyone to buy)

• Publisher will almost certainly propose DRM• Limits e-reader devices and sales channels

– Makes it harder to build audience for new author– Do sales lost to piracy outweigh sales lost from

DRM?

Is it time to fire your publisher?

What publishers do … for print

.. and digital?

Selection and endorsement ↑

Provide finance ↓

Editing and production ↔

Sales to booksellers ↓

Distribution ↓

Marketing to booksellers ↓

Collect and distribute royalties ↔

Sell other rights ↔

Marketing to readers ↑ ↑

KEY: ↑ More important to author ↓ Less important ↔ Same

So you’ve fired your publisher. What next?

• The good news: Self-publishing is easier than ever (but success probably isn’t)

• Amazon’s Digital Text Platform– Receive 30-70%, Kindle format (DRM)

• Smashwords.com– Receive 85%, ePub format (no DRM)– Also has Publisher option for multi-author list

• Lulu.com– US$4-5 per download, ePub, Adobe DRM

optional

Self publishers selling well in Apple’s iBooks store

Source: O’Reilly Research, iBooks downloads during April 2010

Making an ebook, made easy

Options1. Conversion from print PDF via conversion

service (work usually done in India)2. Upload Word file to an automated system

• eg Amazon, Smashwords, Lulu. Aimed at self-publishers.

• Fine while production expectations are low

3. D-I-Y, eg using Adobe InDesign, or Calibre• Technical skills needed (InDesign, HTML, CSS)

Making an ebook, made easy

• For books, recommended formats today are ePub and PDF

• PDF is a poor choice for new mobile devices– Useful for print including print on demand (POD)– ‘Legacy’ format for complex layouts and PC-based

access

• ePub is a variation of web technology (HTML)

– Best suited today for long form narrative works– Next ePub version 2.1 (due 2012) will be better

for highly illustrated/complex layout works

Will writing change?

• More social, less solo. Wisdom? of the crowd– More critics Internet brings opinions to the world– Shared annotations and marginalia will be an

increasing trend– Public writing process: creating new works, in real

time, with their readers contributing, eg O’Reilly

• Continuous updates: ‘Literature as a service’• Usability will be important• The ‘vook’: a multimedia extravaganza

– There should always be a place for works conceived and executed solo

– Multimedia is inevitable (and good) for some genres

Will the printed book die?

• Probably, over a generation or so– Hard to see how print will compete as reading

devices improve– Economics and usability will cement digital’s place– Preservation issues still to be solved

• ‘Beautiful books’ might remain a thriving niche

• Print on demand will extend print’s life• Will long form narrative works survive?

– Absolutely, perhaps stronger than ever

• More opportunities to read = more reading

A crash course in internet marketing

What you need to do (but, alas, not how to do it)

The Toolset

• Website or blog• Search

– Organic and paid

• Email (‘old’ but still good)• Social media• Metadata

– The unglamorous but high payback foundation

Getting found, getting bought

• Metadata (‘data about data’) describes your book to both machines and people

• It contains bibliographic information, rights and usage data, and sales information – It’s key to being discovered by search

engines (Google or a site’s own search)– And it contains your primary sales pitch for

humans

• So make it accurate, complete and rich

Search

• Paid Search – ‘Pay Per Click’ advertising – Google adwords, YouTube etc

• Organic search– Getting high up in the search results

• A big subject but for the most important thing – fresh, relevant content - writers will be better at than most

• Start with list of key words and key phrases searchers will use to find you

SEO Top 5: Tune Your Website

1. Use keywords in Title (<title> tag)– Title shows on the top bar of visitor’s browser

2. Useful, unique and fresh content– Keywords in first 50-100 words of HTML page

3. Use keywords in Heading 1 (<h1> tag)– Heading 2-6 (<h2> to <h6> tags) also useful

4. Keyword use in page links– both internal links and external (in-bound) links

5. Site design: useful hierarchy, text-based links, breadcrumbs, sitemap (and XML Sitemap), keywords in domain name and directory structure

Ranking based loosely on data from: http://www.seomoz.org/article/search-ranking-factors

Social Media

• Connects people to friends, business colleagues and interest groups– Marketing power is in the potential to

dramatically increase ‘Word of Mouth’• Facebook and Twitter (LinkedIn for

business) are the best to focus on today– A Facebook Page or Group is an alternative

to a blog or website– Twitter is a great way to share updates and

interesting links about your field of interest

Social media (cont.d)

• First principle of social media: “Give and you shall receive”– People will follow you, spread the word, if you

offer good information, opinion, etc– Be very respectful: hard sell is a turn-off

• Social networks need to be maintained regularly (but don’t overdo it)– Automation helps you update multiple media– But don’t get an ‘automated feel’: let people

know there’s a human behind it. Personality matters.

Instant website

A free website in 5 steps

A free website in 5 steps

1. Go to WordPress.com2. Sign Up for a free account then Login3. Go to Appearances | Themes

– Choose a theme (site design) and Activate it

4. Go to Settings | General– Add your site’s Title and Tagline

5. Go to Posts | Add New – Write your first story and Publish!

Add PAGES for static information

Instant website (cont.d)

6. (Optional) Go to Pages | Add New– Write pages for static info (eg Home, About

Us, Contact Us)

7. Go to Settings | Reading– For Front Page Display select A static page– Choose a Page for the Front page and for

the Posts page (ie your news/blog articles)

8. Save Changes. You’re done!

Internet Marketing Summary

• The internet puts more marketing and selling tools in authors’ hands

• You still need time and ongoing commitment to use it (after the day job)

• Authors committing to use these tools should expect strong support from their publishers– Driving traffic, creating digital resources to use on

their sites, etc

• This will become an increasingly important part of assessing which publisher is best for you

Thanks!

Martin Taylor

web: digitalpublishing.org.nz

email: martin@digitalstrategies.co.nz

blog: activitypress.com/ereport