Publishers are signing never before seen deals, and it shows the industry is thinking about adaptation to the power shift. The big players are making hard decisions, and often reasons for doing things are not strictly financial. This counts as much for the authors as illustrated by Timothy Ferriss. Amazon’s “big new hardcover” book secured Ferriss a 7-digit deal with the industry giant, selling the rights to bestselling new self-help book The 4-Hour Chef. A publisher that has direct relationships with the ultimate consumers maintains a large advantage in offering this to authors like Timothy Ferriss in signing up.
The acquisition of the print bestseller could be a sign of things to come. Authors might begin to deal less so with agents and commissioning editors, instead moving to the companies that sell their work direct to the consumer.
Some authors are opting for technology driven businesses rather than a purely publishing focused company. Others continue to publish and sell their own e-books under their own imprint while printed versions are marketed and sold by the publisher through its distributors. Some publishers are prepared to hand over control to authors with marketing skills, as they still want the fame and attention. Author John Locke is a good example of the quick rise to fame some self published authors have seen selling well over a million e-books on the Amazon platform.
Many authors consider the advances they can get for royalties on signing a contract. Large players such as Amazon have more financial sway than any publisher. Advances are an area they can compete on comfortably when dealing with authors, as well as offering the consumer base and technological expertise. Publishers are aware that the big players often sell titles at a loss. They should be concerned they would likewise be willing to sign big authors at a loss as well.
Traditional book-publishing hasn’t been able to keep up; disrupted by self-published authors who gain success without any publisher or agent. Discounts provided to retail chains and Amazon in order to move stock and lower unit prices, have both been eating away at the royalty rates of their authors. Some authors might self-publish and build a large following but that doesn’t mean publishing is dead. Book publishers have to innovate and find new ways to provide value to their writers.
Self publishers look to build their audience outside of the e-book market. Authors have not given up on traditional print, but deals such as e-book exclusivity prevent print sales at the largest retail outlets. Loss of printed copies and exposure are the biggest negative in doing these kind of deals. Giving up the storefront sales is a hard choice for any author, particularly when considering the marketing impact of books in stores, which is real, as compared to sales of digital copies.
Authors can make a success of books before they are completed. Building a large online following through channels like YouTube and Twitter followers are quickly acquired and retained. Writers have a large variety of resources available to market their work, and this can lead to them no longer feeling the requirement of a traditional publishing deal entirely necessary. J.K. Rowling with her Pottermore website has conveniently cut out the middle man, distributing her e-Books directly to the consumer without any compromising deals to her ownership of content.
Another aspect is consumer access to e-Books. A big part of the e-book market not using a Kindle device is accessible through the Kindle reader on an iOS or Android device and much of the Kindle reading is done on non-Kindle devices. Amazon has meaningful access to a large portion of the total e-book marketplace. The changing of the book-publishing business is in Amazon's sights and it is looking to profit from aligning itself as a major player in all disciplines of book publishing & retail.
