Your insights into publishing are so spot on. I've been an author since 1992 and it's astonishing to me how the business has clung to everything that doesn't work. I'm forever thankful my first publisher Harper San Fransisco held a seminar for their authors in the 90's and told us to build an email list. It saved my butt as times changed.
I think you have a point when you mentioned branding. I think about Persephone Books or Virago, I buy all the books they publish, because of the branding. Some of those books have been on my TBR since forever, but I still like to own them and to look at them on my bookshelves. They stand for something bigger than the book itself.
Thanks for your thoughts on the layoffs/buyouts. Of course it has been a huge topic of conversation in author circles; your comments help clarify things.
As a long-time publisher, editor, reader, and bookseller (in various guises), I'd suggest a couple of key points that may be underemphasized here or overlooked. (1) Brand Awareness: The central challenge facing "general" publishers is that their publishing model runs counter to the current dynamics of brand building. Very, very, few book consumers could identify the publisher of the book they most recently read. There are exceptions, but these are largely subject niche publishers or publishers who are distinctive in some other way. Brand awareness is helpful in creating community around a publisher's book content, but it is hard work to get significant engagement to drive sales in a cost effective way. (2) The Coming Tsunami of Content: This last decade saw a huge surge in the volume of content published in book form. It's been a heyday for Bowker (who sells ISBNs) and anyone who charges self/indie publishers for services. But it's also created a huge increase in the cost/effort of driving engagement and sales. More books--about the same number of eyeballs. That's self/indie publishing but AI publishing is going to have a much bigger impact. The "signal-to-noise" ratio is a good metric to consider. As the volume of content published in book form increases (noise) the cost requirement to reach consumers (signal) goes up and up. There are some possible solutions but those require innovation that traditional and self/indie publishers are not in a good position to address.
The market is quite oversaturated and amazon has made it more so. It’s become exhausting searching new books, so I often rely on ads, lists, word of mouth, and bookstores, and other recommendation methods like on StoryGraph rather than searching due to to volume of books
Publishers would have an easier time with appealing and distinct branding if they weren't primarily all part of the part of the same handful of conglomerates. Can't undo what's been done but it would be nice to go back to an industry filled with a lot more big- and medium-sized independent publishers--more New Directions and Europas, fewer indistinguishable imprints under the umbrella of a Big Four.
A different kind of publisher than the ones you're talking about but the only real branding success story of recent that I can think of is New York Review Classics, which has really become the Criterion Classics to the extent they have a loyal following who buy their "new" books basically on the branding alone.
Great article - subbed & rec'd to my readers! Appreciate it may alienate this audience with excessive detail but, as you dig deeper into the biz analysis aspects in your MBA, it might be worth trying to assess how book publishing classifies itself re. B2C vs B2B. It seems to fall into both camps: on the one hand selling to distributors, libraries and booksellers, but on the other marketing directly to readers. What I don't see is bundling their contracted authors into, say, genre groups and promoting them as an overall package. This could spread out the risk and reliance on big hitters, simplify publicity template material, help train up 'junior' authors on marketing aspects and might provide more impact via cross-media posts etc. I suspect this doesn't happen because employee incentivisation and the publishing pipeline processes are structured around an editor/manager and their team being bonused on 'their' assigned author(s) and book(s), rather than a cross-pipeline group effort. Would be interested in your thoughts!
On the "Must See TV" concept for publishers--as a longtime romance reader, this was basically Avon in the 2000s. Outsiders thought romance novels=Harlequin, but for genre fans, especially historical romance fans, Avon was THE imprint to read. Their roster of authors had a website where they'd interact with readers, we pretty much knew all of the editorial staff (and publicity!), and there was no need to even look at any other publisher's releases when Avon published the top names in the genre. Other romance imprints belatedly followed suit with their own attempts to build a fandom around their authors and brand. Avon ironically began to loose its grip on its place in the ecosystem when other imprints lured away the top authors with huge contracts!
Love this post! As a writer and marketer of 20+ years, I have been lurking in the industry weeds (industry expert newsletters, PW, biz-focused agent musings, etc.) wondering why the traditional publishers haven't embraced some of the tried-and-true methods of SKU rationalization/fewer-bigger, brand hierarchy, % of sales marketing allocation, consumer journey mapping, consortium marketing, category advertising/demand creation, customer joint business planning, and others you've touched on or alluded to in this post. Thank you for continuing to provide clarity and insight! I find myself extremely wary of partnering with a traditional publisher because I doubt the support I'll receive as a debut (if I get any at all!). I'm also wary of self-publishing because I know the constant whack-a-mole I'll face with Amazon and other algorithms. It's a daunting industry to understand and rely upon for a living!
"Readers are loyal to authors, not to publishers."
This is so true. I've read a lot of Harlan Ellison and it always amazes me the way he writes about publishers like they have personalities which matter to people. They may matter to authors and other publishers and people in the industry, but readers have no idea from one publisher to the next. Same thing with movie studios. I haven't met the person who would say, "I have no idea who this author is but Ballantine has never steered me wrong!"
Add to "What I'm Watching": the new "Justified: City Primeval" is very good for those of us who are Elmore Leonard fans. Much the same bunch of folks who made "Justified" so good are on board for this (it's based on "Fire in the Hole" - which was the basis of "Justified" - and "City Primeval"). This writer loves the fact that this time it's not on F/X broadcast, so they get to use dialogue they couldn't then, making it even more Leonard. Tuesday nights at 10, be sure to record because F/X has as many ads on their streamer as they did on broadcast.
I’ll also say that relying in any way on social media to sell books, outside of paid advertising, is an exhausting, aggravating and generally pointless game.
Your insights into publishing are so spot on. I've been an author since 1992 and it's astonishing to me how the business has clung to everything that doesn't work. I'm forever thankful my first publisher Harper San Fransisco held a seminar for their authors in the 90's and told us to build an email list. It saved my butt as times changed.
Good point about the brand awareness of media and beer companies as contrasted with publishers. (Also, another vote here for Hijack!)
I think you have a point when you mentioned branding. I think about Persephone Books or Virago, I buy all the books they publish, because of the branding. Some of those books have been on my TBR since forever, but I still like to own them and to look at them on my bookshelves. They stand for something bigger than the book itself.
Thanks for your thoughts on the layoffs/buyouts. Of course it has been a huge topic of conversation in author circles; your comments help clarify things.
As a long-time publisher, editor, reader, and bookseller (in various guises), I'd suggest a couple of key points that may be underemphasized here or overlooked. (1) Brand Awareness: The central challenge facing "general" publishers is that their publishing model runs counter to the current dynamics of brand building. Very, very, few book consumers could identify the publisher of the book they most recently read. There are exceptions, but these are largely subject niche publishers or publishers who are distinctive in some other way. Brand awareness is helpful in creating community around a publisher's book content, but it is hard work to get significant engagement to drive sales in a cost effective way. (2) The Coming Tsunami of Content: This last decade saw a huge surge in the volume of content published in book form. It's been a heyday for Bowker (who sells ISBNs) and anyone who charges self/indie publishers for services. But it's also created a huge increase in the cost/effort of driving engagement and sales. More books--about the same number of eyeballs. That's self/indie publishing but AI publishing is going to have a much bigger impact. The "signal-to-noise" ratio is a good metric to consider. As the volume of content published in book form increases (noise) the cost requirement to reach consumers (signal) goes up and up. There are some possible solutions but those require innovation that traditional and self/indie publishers are not in a good position to address.
The market is quite oversaturated and amazon has made it more so. It’s become exhausting searching new books, so I often rely on ads, lists, word of mouth, and bookstores, and other recommendation methods like on StoryGraph rather than searching due to to volume of books
Publishers would have an easier time with appealing and distinct branding if they weren't primarily all part of the part of the same handful of conglomerates. Can't undo what's been done but it would be nice to go back to an industry filled with a lot more big- and medium-sized independent publishers--more New Directions and Europas, fewer indistinguishable imprints under the umbrella of a Big Four.
A different kind of publisher than the ones you're talking about but the only real branding success story of recent that I can think of is New York Review Classics, which has really become the Criterion Classics to the extent they have a loyal following who buy their "new" books basically on the branding alone.
Great article - subbed & rec'd to my readers! Appreciate it may alienate this audience with excessive detail but, as you dig deeper into the biz analysis aspects in your MBA, it might be worth trying to assess how book publishing classifies itself re. B2C vs B2B. It seems to fall into both camps: on the one hand selling to distributors, libraries and booksellers, but on the other marketing directly to readers. What I don't see is bundling their contracted authors into, say, genre groups and promoting them as an overall package. This could spread out the risk and reliance on big hitters, simplify publicity template material, help train up 'junior' authors on marketing aspects and might provide more impact via cross-media posts etc. I suspect this doesn't happen because employee incentivisation and the publishing pipeline processes are structured around an editor/manager and their team being bonused on 'their' assigned author(s) and book(s), rather than a cross-pipeline group effort. Would be interested in your thoughts!
On the "Must See TV" concept for publishers--as a longtime romance reader, this was basically Avon in the 2000s. Outsiders thought romance novels=Harlequin, but for genre fans, especially historical romance fans, Avon was THE imprint to read. Their roster of authors had a website where they'd interact with readers, we pretty much knew all of the editorial staff (and publicity!), and there was no need to even look at any other publisher's releases when Avon published the top names in the genre. Other romance imprints belatedly followed suit with their own attempts to build a fandom around their authors and brand. Avon ironically began to loose its grip on its place in the ecosystem when other imprints lured away the top authors with huge contracts!
Great piece, Kathleen
Love this post! As a writer and marketer of 20+ years, I have been lurking in the industry weeds (industry expert newsletters, PW, biz-focused agent musings, etc.) wondering why the traditional publishers haven't embraced some of the tried-and-true methods of SKU rationalization/fewer-bigger, brand hierarchy, % of sales marketing allocation, consumer journey mapping, consortium marketing, category advertising/demand creation, customer joint business planning, and others you've touched on or alluded to in this post. Thank you for continuing to provide clarity and insight! I find myself extremely wary of partnering with a traditional publisher because I doubt the support I'll receive as a debut (if I get any at all!). I'm also wary of self-publishing because I know the constant whack-a-mole I'll face with Amazon and other algorithms. It's a daunting industry to understand and rely upon for a living!
Great post! Subscribed.
"Readers are loyal to authors, not to publishers."
This is so true. I've read a lot of Harlan Ellison and it always amazes me the way he writes about publishers like they have personalities which matter to people. They may matter to authors and other publishers and people in the industry, but readers have no idea from one publisher to the next. Same thing with movie studios. I haven't met the person who would say, "I have no idea who this author is but Ballantine has never steered me wrong!"
Thank you so much for sharing all of this information and your insights about the book publishing industry!
Add to "What I'm Watching": the new "Justified: City Primeval" is very good for those of us who are Elmore Leonard fans. Much the same bunch of folks who made "Justified" so good are on board for this (it's based on "Fire in the Hole" - which was the basis of "Justified" - and "City Primeval"). This writer loves the fact that this time it's not on F/X broadcast, so they get to use dialogue they couldn't then, making it even more Leonard. Tuesday nights at 10, be sure to record because F/X has as many ads on their streamer as they did on broadcast.
I’ll also say that relying in any way on social media to sell books, outside of paid advertising, is an exhausting, aggravating and generally pointless game.