Post on 13-Sep-2014
description
LAUNCH COMMUNITY PUBLISHING INITIATIATIVES WITH
SELF-PUBLISHED EBOOKS
How Libraries Can Foster a Culture of Authorship
April 11, 2014San Antonio, TX
Mark Coker Founder, Smashwords
Twitter: @markcoker
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What We’ll Cover
Publishing past and present
5 Trends shaping the future of publishing
Aligning the common interests of writers, libraries and patrons
How libraries can promote a culture of authorship
How to publish and distribute an ebook (checklist)
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Publishers Said “No”
• Despite great efforts of our agent, every major NY publisher said NO (TWICE!)
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I evaluated our options
1. The rational (conventional) option Give up, admit failure
2. The irrational option Believe in ourselves
Try to fix the problem
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How to fix a problem
1. Identify the problem Big 6 Publishers!!!
Toxic to the future of publishing
Don’t value all writers
Unable to take a risk on all writers
2. Visualize the utopian solution Every writer should have the freedom to publish
Readers should have the freedom to judge what’s worth reading
3. Create the Solution
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My Answer: Smashwords
• * FREE * eBook Publishing Platform
Free ebook publishing tools help writers become ebook publishers
Free learning materials to help writers adopt best practices of professional publishers
Distribution to ebook stores and libraries
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2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 20130
50,000
100,000
150,000
200,000
250,000
300,000 Chart Title
Ebooks published at Smashwords
1406,000
28,800
92,000
191,000
276,000+
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How Smashwords Works
• UPLOAD
• Author uploads their manuscript to Smashwords (Word .doc or epub)
• Instant, free ebook conversion
• For sale within 5 minutes of upload
• DISTRIBUTE
• Distribution to retailers and libraries
• GET PAID
• Author earns 60-80% list
• Quarterly payments
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Publishers were the bouncers at the pearly gates of author heaven
• Promised Perks of the Writer’s Afterlife
• editing
• printing press
• distribution
• marketing
• royalties
• fame and respect
• readers
• “published author” inscribedon their tombstone
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writers taught they couldn’t graduate to author heaven until a publisher blessed them
… and unless they got a book deal, they were a failure
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Writers were told to keep toiling, and waiting…
Rejection would make them stronger
“You’ll get published when you perfected your craft like these other great writers” …
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The old model of publishing is broken
It has become harmful
to writersto readersto libraries
to the future of books
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Publishers have amassed too much power
• Publishers Decide
• What writers can publish• What readers can read• What libraries can buy
• limiting ebooks at libraries• outrageous pricing of ebooks
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Big Publishers Not Friendly to Libraries
• Reluctant to sell ebooks to libraries
• Publishers fear library ebooks
• will cannibalize print books
• will cannibalize retail ebook sales
• don’t wear out
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Big Publishers Fail to Understand that Libraries Drive Discovery and
Sales
• Libraries help reach new readers
• 41% of library cardholders who read ebooks purchased their most recently read ebook (Pew)
• 50% of library card holders go on to purchase books by authors they first discovered at the library (Library Journal, Bowker)
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Ebooks as a percentage of US wholesale trade market
Source: Association of American Publishers, publishers.org. 2012-13 Smashwords estimate
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Readers are Embracing Indie Ebooks
• Indies scaling all the bestseller lists
• Every week, indie ebooks are in the bestseller lists of every retailer
• Almost every week, an indie ebook is hitting the NYT bestseller list
• Every week, every retailer is featuring Indie ebooks
Advantages of Indie Authorship
• Indie ebook author advantages• faster time to market
• creative control
• better distribution to global market
• immortal ebooks never go out of print
• lower expenses
• lower prices to consumers
• earn more per book
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Indie Ebook Authors Earn Higher Percentage of List Price
• Indies earn more at lower prices
• At $2.99, an indie author earns more (~$2.00) than a traditionally published author selling an ebook at $10.00 ($1.20-$1.70)
• Lower price = reach more readers = more sales at higher profits per sale
60-80% 12-17%
Indie Traditional
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Big Publishers Losing Their Monopoly
• Publishing tools andknow-how are freely available:
• Printing press
• Distribution
• The knowledge of professional publishing best-practices
• Writers asking:
• “What can a publisher do for me that I can’t do for myself?”
• “Will a publisher actually harm my ability to reach readers?”
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Stigmas to Reverse: More Authors will Aspire to Indie Publish
Aspire Traditional
Aspire Indie
Today?
Aspire Indie
Aspire Traditional
6 yrs ago Soon?
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TREND FIVE
As Publishers Turn their Backs on Libraries, Self-Published Authors Ready
to Embrace Libraries
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Self-Published Authors Are Pro-Library
• Survey of 200+ Smashwords authors/publishers (June 2012)
• 82% believe by exposing their books to library patrons, they’ll sell more books at retail
• 2/3 said they’d price their books for libraries equal to or lower than the retail price
• 24% said they’d give their books to libraries for FREE
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Libraries
• Libraries• Promote a culture of reading• Satisfy patrons with
• Accessibility• Discoverability• Diversity• Curation
• Deliver readership to authors
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Embrace Indie Ebooks (Step 1)
• Implement ebook checkout systems. Three options:
1. Outsource
• Baker & Taylor Axis 360, Overdrive, 3M Cloud Library, EBSCO, others
2. Insource
• Douglas County Model + Smashwords Library Direct + direct relationships with progressive publishers
3. Hybrid
• Multi-library cooperative such as Califa/ENKI
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Utilize Crowd-Sourced Models of Curation (Step 2)
• Aggregated retailer bestseller lists reveal what paid readers are purchasing
• Smashwords can provide purchase lists
• Leverage social reading sites
• Library Thing, Goodreads
• Library Journal and Publishers Weekly now reviewing select indie ebook titles
• Implement patron-driven models
• Gardners UK example
• Multi-library collaboration on reviews by librarians?
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Promote Culture of Authorship (Step 3)
• Facilitate Community Publishing• Orchestrate workshops, seminars, panels to
promote best practices for writing and publishing
• Help your community of writers to publish locally, distribute globally
• Smashwords can help• Free training materials
• “Publish to the library” with co-branded Smashwords publishing platform
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Community Publishing Pilot Program with Los Gatos Public Library
• Kudos to Henry Bankhead of LGPL for his mentorship and encouragement
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Henry Bankhead Recognized as 2014 Mover and Shaker
See March 12 Library Journal for more
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Community Publishing Pilot Program with Los Gatos Public Library (Goals)
• Goals:
1. Marshal local resources to develop and promote a culture of authorship
• Library staff
• Graphic designers
• Published authors
• Patrons
2. Develop a future supply of library-friendly authors and books
3. Help authors publish locally, distribute globally
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Community Publishing Pilot Program with Los Gatos Public Library
(Implementation)
• Implementation:
1. Education:• In partnership with Smashwords, educate local writers
about ebook publishing best practices
• Leverage the physical space of the library to bring together patrons, published authors, aspiring authors, library staff
2. Co-branded publishing portal• Help authors publish locally, distribute globally
3. Partner with local high school to publish ebooks in the classroom
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1. Education: LGPL/Smashwords Community Publishing Program
• Working with LGPL, Smashwords presented a 3-part seminar series of one-hour workshops
1. Introduction to ebooks (patrons, writers, library staff)
2. Introduction to ebook publishing (writers, staff)
3. Ebook publishing best practices (writers, staff)
Smashwords will supply updated presentations to any library that requests them
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2. LGPL Co-Branded Publishing Portal
• Co-branded publishing portal with Smashwords• Free ebook publishing and distribution
services for library patron authors
• Local writer asks, “How do I…”• publish an ebook?
• make my ebook available to my community’s library?
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2c. LGPL Publishing Portal
• Free publishing and global distribution
• Smashwords manages end-to-end relationship from publishing to payments
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2d. LGPL Publishing Portal Free Author Tools
• FREE publishing platform
• FREE, best-practices resources:
• Smashwords Style Guide (how to format an ebook)
• Smashwords Book Marketing Guide (how to market any book)
• Secrets to Ebook Publishing Success (best practices of successful authors)
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3. Ebooks in the Classroom: LGPL/Smashwords Community
Publishing Program• A first-of-its kind experiment
• 125 freshman high school poetry students across five classroom periods will collaborate with Smashwords and LGPL to professionally produce, publish, distribute and sell a class poetry anthology
• Mark Coker addressing five classrooms to teach two classes:
• Introduction to Ebook Publishing
• Ebook Publishing Best Practices
• Students collaborate with one another to write, edit, format, publish and promote anthology
• Will be used as a freshman class fundraiser
• Official book launch will happen at Los Gatos Public Library May 6
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Future plans for LGPL/Smashwords Collaboration
• Future plans
• Underway: LGPL and Smashwords are partnering with local high school (LGHS) to integrate ebook publishing into creative writing curriculum
• Once LGPL implements an ebook checkout system, the building blocks will be in place for local authors to “Publish to the Library”
• With over 90,000 authors, Smashwords has authors in nearly every zip code in the US.
• These authors can be invited to the library to for seminars, workshops and panel discussions to mentor fellow writers about ebook self-publishing
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Checklist for Publishing an Ebook
Finish a super-awesome book
Format the book prior to conversion
Prepare cover image
Prepare the metadata
Ebook conversion to multiple formats
Pricing
ISBNs
Copyright
Distribution to retailers, libraries
Piracy
Marketing
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Finish Your Super-Awesome Book
• Ebook publishing tools make publishing fast, free and easy, but…
• They don’t make it easy to write a great book
• The author is the publisher, so must act like one
• Edit, edit, edit, revise, revise, revise
• Involve beta readers (then revise again)
• Hire professional editor if necessary
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Formatting Secrets
• Forget (some of) what you know
• Don’t try to make e- look like p-
• Ebooks consumed differently than print
• Less = more with ebooks
• Remove narrative from images
• Liberate text from complex formatting and layout
• Design for reflowability, small screens
Reflowability: Ebook devices (and customers) shape shift text
• Example of Smashwords novel, Heller by JD Nixon as viewed in iBooks e-reading app
• Users can select font style, font size and nightime mode, or view in portrait or landscape mode. Reflowability enables this!
Create Your Ebook Cover
• Covers are important
• First impression
• Great covers make a promise
• Make it:
engaging, matched to target audience
professional
good as thumbnail
good as B&W, greyscale
DIY Cover, or Hire Professional?
• Unless the author is an expert graphic designer or cover designer, they hire someone (covers are inexpensive!)
• Email list@smashwords.com for low cost cover designers and formatters
• $50-$150 (Mark’s list) or under $300 elsewhere (still cheap!)
• Library Idea: Find patrons expert in graphic design to leverage library’s multimedia lab to produce covers
Metadata is data that makes your book discoverable in a store
Book title
Book description
Author name
Book category
Price
Publication dateISBN
Language Tags
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Conversion = Turning your formatted manuscript into an ebook file readable on
multiple ebook reading devices
Pricing
• Determine objective
• Platform building, sales, or both?
• Non-fiction supports higher prices than fiction
• If you publish multiple books, cover multiple price points to capture the most readers
• FREE, $.99, $2.99, $3.99, $4.99+
• Pricing strategy is integral to building readership
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What’s an ISBN?
• What it is:
• Unique digital identifier
• A 13-digit number
• Helps supply chain communicate about book
• Required for distribution to Apple, Sony, Kobo
• What it is NOT:
• Does not connote ownership or copyright
• Does not imply “professional” or “real”
• Not a common discovery method
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Where to Obtain an ISBN
• Go to Bowker.com
• Expensive unless you purchase blocks of 10+
• Lists you as “publisher” in Books in Print
• Go to Smashwords
• FREE ISBNs
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Copyright Simplified
• By publishing something you created, you have copyright
• Copyright entitles you to an exclusive bundle of rights
• The notation of © is optional
• For best legal protection, go to Copyright.gov and register copyright online
• Learn more at the Copyright Clearance Center at www.copyright.com
Maximize Availability, Avoid Exclusivity
• Ebook retailing is not like sports, religion or politics
• If your book is not available at every retailer, it’s not discoverable or purchasable
• Exclusivity
• angers fans
• limits audience
• increases your dependence upon a single sales outlet
Two options for getting your book on a retailer’s virtual shelves
1. Use a Distributor (such as Smashwords)
• Spend more time writing, less time on everything else
• Upload one file, reach many retailers
• Centralized metadata management
• Time-savings, consolidated payments and tax reporting
• Preorders to Apple, B&N, Kobo
2. Direct to Retailers
• Format for each specific retailer
• Upload to, and manage each retailer separately
• Some retailers (Flipkart, Oyster, Scribd, etc) and Libraries require distributor
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Libraries and ebooks
• Libraries are important to the future of books. Libraries…
• Make books available and accessible to everyone
• Promote literacy and a culture of books to children and adults alike
• Facilitate community around books
• Bring readers face to face with authors
• Beginning to offer ebook lending
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Smashwords and our 90,000 authors and publishers see opportunity
• Smashwords library initiatives:
• Custom library pricing
• Smashwords Library Direct (direct sales to libraries)
• Distribute via library aggregators
• Baker & Taylor Axis 360
• Overdrive (coming soon!)
• 3M Cloud Library (future)
• Others in the works
Everything you need to know about piracy
• Obscurity is bigger risk
• Black hat pirates who steal your book wouldn’t have purchased it anyway
• Most piracy is accidental – it’s an enthusiastic fan marketing your book for you
• Combat piracy by making your book easier to purchase than steal
• Broad distribution
• Low, fair price
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Irrational fear of piracy leads leads to obscurity
• The only reliable method of piracy prevention is to NEVER PUBLISH
• Anti-piracy measures such as DRM only limit availability, accessibility and enjoyment
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Traditional marketing isn’t as important as you think it is
• Marketing is a catalyst, not fuel
• Your book is your best marketing
• Reader word of mouth determines your success
• Viral catalysts amplify word of mouth
• Build permanence
• Platform building
• Platform is your ability to reach readers, or people who can help you reach readers
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Summary: How to Foster a Culture of Authorship in Your Community
• Indie authors are
• the future of publishing
• pro-library
• It takes a village to publish a great book
• Help your community publish great books
• Marshal local talent of patrons to mentor next generation of pro-library writers
• Hold events featuring local authors who can help mentor the next generation of authors
• Help your patrons publish locally and distribute globally (Smashwords PubPortal can help!)
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Learn how to e-publish like a pro with Smashwords Tutorials at Youtube at
youtube.com/user/Smashwords
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Free Ebook Publishing Resources
• NEW! Secrets to Ebook Publishing Success (best practices of successful authors)
• Smashwords Book Marketing Guide (how to market any book)
• Smashwords Style Guide (how to format an ebook)
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Q&A
Connect with Mark Coker and Smashwords:
Web: www.smashwords.com
Blog: blog.smashwords.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/markcoker
Facebook: facebook.com/markcoker
HuffPo: huffingtonpost.com/mark-coker
Twitter: @markcoker