The New Era of Selling Books

Sixteen years ago, when Tyndale House published my first book, my big concerns included,

• "Will bookstores order and continue to carry my books?" After all, bookstores can carry only a small portion of this year's new books, and a much, much smaller portion of books published in the past (the backlist).
• "Will my book go out of print after the first printing?"
  

What if a publisher had told me, back in 1993, that they could assure me that my book would be ordered by the largest bookstore chain in the world, stocked in every one of their stores, would be reordered continually to make sure it stayed in stock, and would never go out of print?

First of all, I'd laugh at the outrageous claim. Then I'd demand proof. It would be a dream come true!

But isn't that what we have today with Amazon.com? From what I read, it's selling more books than any of the other bookstore chains. The book I'm now publishing through BookSurge (a subsidiary of Amazon) is guaranteed to stay in stock through Amazon. Twenty years from now, heck, sixty years from now, it will still be on display at the world's largest bookstore.

The implications to authors are staggering.

But take it one step further. Back in 1993, my only hope for international distribution was to land agreements with distributors in other English-speaking countries, or land publishing contracts with foreign publishers. What if they told me, in 1993, that they could guarantee worldwide availability through a device that allowed anyone to download it immediately and pay via credit cards. Again, I would have laughed at the outrageous claim.

Yet, today, people can order my books globally through Amazon.

I'm simultaneously publishing my book in a Kindle format, making it available to Kindle owners. Yes, Kindle is taking hold. Princeton, Yale, Oxford, and UC Berkeley offer textbooks on Kindle. According to the Boston Herald, a full 10% of Amazon's revenues from book sales are digital sales for Kindles. Impressive.

It's a new era for selling books. Let's take advantage of it!

The State of Traditional Publishing

Simon & Schuster president and CEO Carolyn Reidy addressed the Evangelical Christian Publisher's Association's CEO Symposium and Publishing University the first week in November. Some of her comments are enlightening and thought provoking. I'm pulling from an article at Publishers Weekly by Cindy Crosby: Reidy: Worse Publishing Environment May Be On the Way.

For several reasons (e.g., a terrible economy and new publishing options), traditional publishers are struggling.

Here's one significant snippet:

"brand name authors continuing to sell but 'everything else is far off normal levels.'"

That tells me that, at this point in history, traditional publishing is for top-selling authors. It may become more and more difficult to be a small fry author in traditional publishing. They're gonna stick with those authors (and bias their marketing dollars) to those who have already established themselves as brands. They'll likely take new authors who already have huge platforms.

Another thoughty statement:

"Reidy also wondered out loud that with self-publishing so easy, 'is it only a matter
of time before one of (the major authors) actually strikes out on his or her own?'"

Hmmm...sounds like they fear that when big-time authors realize how easy it is to bypass the big publishers, they will cut out the middle man and start getting 35% royalties on Amazon sales like those publishing through BookSurge.

Traditional publishers still have a lot to offer, but there are certainly lots of great alternatives out there to consider.

Latest Book With BookSurge

Since printing and publishing are changing so rapidly during these revolutionary times for the industry, we're having to keep up with best and worst publishing practices on blogs and forums rather than books. We're trying to do our part by posting our experiences.

So here's my latest:

I couldn't be more pleased with BookSurge's reprint of the Spanish version of my music book - Debate de la Musica Cristiana Contemporanea. I marked my calendar June 18 as the day I mailed them a copy to scan. They advised me that there was a slight mark on the cover, so I sent them another copy, thus delaying the process several days.

Yesterday, July 9, I received their new copy for my approval. Except for having the name of our new publishing company on it (Wisdom Creek Press, LLC) and the copyright in my name instead of the old publisher, I couldn't tell any difference in quality or content between it and the original! Both the print and the cover were beautiful!

They say it will be live to order on Amazon within a week or two. I'll revise this article to reflect the actual date when it goes live.

I've not done a new book with BookSurge, but this reprinting of an out-of-print book is a snap. And to get all this printed and available at Amazon within a month?

They have also been very responsive to my e-mails and questions and have contacted me immediately when my book arrives with them, etc.

Author Copies

How much does it cost for me to purchase copies of my own books? Example: for a 250 page paperback book with a black and white interior and a list price of $15.99, I pay:

1-9 copies - $5.60 per book
10-50 copies - $4.80 per book
51+ copies - $4.16 per book

Sales Channels

Besides Amazon.com, they also will sell my book through www.BookSurge.com, www.Abebooks.com and www.Alibris.com . It will appear on www.BooksinPrint.com and www.GlobalBooksinPrint.com in approximately 2 - 3 weeks.

Bookstore Distribution

Distribution is offered through Baker and Taylor. That is set up free through BookSurge. Yet, there is no policy with the free account that bookstores can return unsold copies. A rep at Baker and Taylor told me that "retailers will not order a non-returnable title." A manager at Books-a-Million told me confirmed that he'd be reluctant to purchase anything that wasn't returnable.

A contact at BookSurge tells me that I can set up Baker and Taylor with a returnable policy for for about $250-$300 (more work on my part, but cheaper) if I work through them directly or through BookSurge for $600.

Galley Proofs

Some big-time reviewers will only look at Galley Proofs, since they want to get their reviews out prior to publication. But BookSurge doesn't offer a Galley Option. So I'm considering getting my early copies, ripping off the cover, and gluing on a temporary Galley-looking cover. Any other ideas to overcome this hurdle?