A normal start to the day really. With a tinge of indifference I begin the day by writing what will eventually become my blog entry of the previous day. I usually do this on my ‘Ebury Complimentary Slip.’ The irony just feels fitting somehow. After that I completed the mailout for “Iran Awakening”, once again allowing myself ample amounts of time to do so. I have heard office stress and panic is not a very nice feeling, so I want to avoid this at all costs. When I did finally finish, Carolina gave me a completely new assignment to do, reinforcing my theory that good things come too late and mere last a short time (at least in terms of work). The assignment required for me to do research on an author whose latest book spontaneously managed to sell 7,000 copies in one week alone. That’s a hell of a lot of copies for someone that doesn’t enjoy celebrity status and is published by a tiny company in the middle of nowhere, in a tiny country called Wales (the publisher is called Crown House Publishing and the link for them is below). This is one of the benefits of Amazon.com I suppose; it provides a platform and market opportunity that even the smallest publishers can benefit from. Although the negatives of Amazon probably outweigh the positives, this is one valuable aspect that has to be recognized by even the greatest cynics.
Anyways, this author has got another similar book coming out so I was meant to look at potential publicity angles, provide a general author biography and take a closer look at her previous book, all of which will be taken into account during next weeks acquisition meeting. (The book has been offered to Ebury but presumably also a whole of other publishers. At the meeting the publicity, marketing and sales departments will pitch their ideas on why she should choose them over another company. Generally what authors seem to consider most important is the initial fee that they will get paid as an advance, the royalties they will earn afterwards and if the he/she can get along with the publishing company in general.)
I wrote a two page report and was told by Caroline that we would discuss it after lunch. Apparently she will tell me then how she would approach it in terms of whom to do mail outs to (radio, tv, newspapers, magazines, etc.) I will have to wait and see if that happens though, as right now I am writing this during what has become an almost two and a half hour long lunch break. The rest of the afternoon was really only spend doing mailouts for books that I can’t remember at a very slow pace. Caroline did eventually come and talk to me and basically said that the report was good and then we chatted for a while about general publishing stuff. It was a good last day I suppose and I was even given a bottle of champagne and two bags full of books I could choose. Not bad but now exams await.
http://www.crownhouse.co.uk
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3 comments:
Can you expand on amazon.com from your point of view?
Can you expand on amazon.com from your point of view?
Well. In my opinion amazon.com is a tricky topic. I think it is negative for small publishers because they don't have the financial muscle that some conglomerate publishers do and so will be unable to give big discounts, which means that amazon would push the book. Pushing the book means giving greater discount and it being one of the first books you see when you go to the amazon book section. Look at the books there and 90% will come from the 4 main publishers (Penguin, Random House, Penguin + Hodder Headline). In terms of independent bookshops, which profit primarily from a community feeling by being the only shop in the local area, they are undermined by amazon because a lot of people will look at the books they want to buy and then order them from amazon. Independents cannot offer the discounts that amazon offers. Yet at the same time, small publishers can put their books for sale on amazon at full price or a smaller discount and the sales can be extremely high for unknown authors. 'Indie' publishers may not have the distribution capabilities of some of the bigger publishers but amazon can pretty much guarantee delivery in 24hrs. However, there are also reports on bookshops specialising in very obscure subjects by ordering books for customers through amazon. It is an endless debate really. A lot of people also don't think that amazon has the right business structure to succeed in the future, as they have way too much stock in their warehouses, which cost them an incredible amount of money. Add that to free delivery to anything over £15 and huge discounts and the argument is understandable. Have you heard of ABEbooks? Look them up. They are growing and getting stronger and also have a more sustainable business model. They don't actually stock any of the titles they sell but put people in contact with other people that own them worldwide. It is good, cheap and effective. I am not an expert on the subject though so what do you think?
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