Book Publishing

The Boston Globe has a story of self-publishing success:

With a draft of her novel completed, Brunonia Barry of Salem wanted to find an audience. But instead of chasing after publishers - often a discouraging task for any new author - she and her husband took a different tack. They published "The Lace Reader" on their own.
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Then something amazing happened: Buzz exploded around the book, both online and in stores, and mainstream publishers came calling. In October, a literary auction was held, and Barry sold the book, and a future one, for more than $2 million.

It is one of the biggest deals ever for a previously self-published first novel and a vivid example of how old publishing norms have changed. Self-publishing was once a consolation prize for a pipe-dreamer. But today it's possible for writers such as Christopher Paolini, author of the fantasy blockbuster "Eragon," Richard Paul Evans, author of the bestseller "The Christmas Box," and Zane, whose first three novels were self-published, to bypass publishers, then score lucrative contracts with them once their books are proved.

Before us self-publishers get too excited though, perhaps the most pertinent piece of information is on page two: Barry spent $50,000 in publishing and promoting the book...

The Scotsman has a report which asks the question, "Are we seeing death of the book shop?" Based on the bad figures posted by Borders and Waterstones, Susan Mansfield poses the question of whether megabookstores are competing themselves out of existence:

The key event, however, was the abolition of the net book agreement in 1997, which ended publishers' ability to set book prices. Now, book retailers could compete to undercut one another with low prices on the most popular titles. That gave rise to bestsellers being sold at little more than cost price, and today's ubiquitous three-for-twos.

"In most industries, the must-have product is sold at full price because people have to have it," says Ms Fannin. "In bookselling, we have huge sellers like Harry Potter being sold at cost price. It's terrific for the consumer but it's not sustainable. You can't sell books at cost price and still offer service and range and choice."

It's a strange old setup in the book industry - old-school publishers have to provide books at a 60% discount to distributors/retailers, *and* on a returnable basis! Retailers then demolish their own possible windfall (at the expense of publishers) by offering ridiculous discounts. Small wonder that publishing via print-on-demand through Amazon is becoming such an attractive route for small publishers.

Two of the world's biggest publishers, HarperCollins and Random House, are now offering readers the facility to browse their books online.

A look at the feature on both sites shows that readers can access front and back covers, title pages and the first few pages of the first two chapters. The experience, although undeniably technologically impressive, is slightly less engaging than picking up a book and leafing through it. The future of the coffee table, unlike that of traditional publishing, is probably assured for a few more years.

No doubt one of the reasons why Gerry Johnson, managing director of book retailer Waterstones, recently warned of a digital revolution which would have major impact on his industry.

However, some critics are asking why publishers feel the need to do this, when Google has been doing it for free for them (and listing the results in its search results), only to be threatened with litigation. Probably all to do with controlling the content I'd imagine, though one could also question HC and RH's judgement in trying to usurp Google as an effective publicity engine.