In the meantime, I see the same book on the agenda for the next meeting from another editor here in the building.  Ironically the book aimed to teach business readers the importance of being “open” and “transparent” in the Web 2.0 Age.  Since the editor had prepared a very nicely done presentation for the book, it was obvious that they had been working on it with the author for quite some time.

Now don’t misread me – I think it is absolutely fine to shop your book proposal around.  This is a very competitive industry, and you absolutely should be sure you are partnering with the right publisher for you.   But if you know you are sending your proposal to multiple editors at the same publishing house, be sure you let them know that.  We aren’t all going to publish it after all and frankly if several of us know we are looking at the same thing we can collaborate to be sure we place it in right group for maximum sales potential.

(Image credit: Mekong Virus)

In the past, an improved store experience was an excellent proxy for improving the customer experience. But not so much anymore. Being a good retailer these days has more to do with relevance than it does with ambiance. Being relevant to customers means removing barriers, not adding new ones.

I’m not going to spend time going through loads of statistics confirming that nearly every man, woman, and child at every age in every country and continent is online, buying stuff, finding jobs, partners, and hopefully our books.   What I would like to put in front of you briefly is the idea of our customer’s EVOLVING EXPERIENCE EXPECTATION.

Some would argue that, and I include myself in this camp, that the Experience is the product.  When someone buys a book or a new perfume or cologne, they will judge that product on the experience that it create. Did the book empower me, did the perfume or cologne get me a date?  Did it make me feel better about myself?

The experience of music and the evolution of the music business is always held up as the harbinger for the book business.  And I think this analogy has reached a fevered pitch with the release of Amazon’s Kindle seven months ago.

Some of you probably saw this picture of Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, in the Economist a few weeks ago with the heading “YOU’RE ALL DOOMED”.  Many have recognized that Amazon seems to be following a similar “digitize, divide and conquer” strategy masterminded by the maestro himself, Steve Jobs.

I don’t think many of us would question that Jobs and the iPod have revolutionized the music business,   BUT is it right then to assume that Bezos and his new toy will have the similar impact on the book business?  Last week , analysts in the US predicted that by 2012 global ebook sales at amazon will reach $2.5 billion. An astounding number considering amazon’s overall revenue in 2007 was $10.7 billion. How did they get there, with the music comparison of course.

If we look at some key points in history for both the music and book business in the context of the customer’s EVOLVING EXPERIENCE EXPECTATION, which I mentioned before. I think it starts to become clear that this comparison doesn’t really hold water.

A long time ago, when you wanted to experience music, you had limited options. You had to be in the presence of those creating the music, so your mobility was limited.  Unless you were royalty, or whoever was paying the orchestra, your choice of music was limited.  So, improving the mobility of music and the choices that were made available were huge factors in music’s widespread adoption.

Along came the phonograph and suddenly music could be mass produced and distributed, widening its market.
Now, personally, I think the real breakthrough moment in music, that paved the way for Apple, was the dawn of the boom box.

Clearly, this is when music became an accessory for fashion (have you ever seen a better matched bandana and boombox?) The point is, when music went mobile, it fit more readily into people’s experiences.

Then the race was on to make it more portable, stylish, all changing experience expectation. Now, when we think of a comparable breakthrough moment for the reading experience, many wonder if it happened 7 months ago with the release of the Kindle,  but I would argue it really happened just under 700 years ago with our friend, Mr. Movable Type, Gutenberg, himself.

Think about it. Since then, the experience of reading has changed very little. They come in all shapes and sizes. Mobility isn’t much of a problem. And as those traditionalists always say, I like books because you can curl up with them in bed, or read them in the bath.

So, I guess the point I’m trying to make is, unlike the music business the relationship customers have with the printed book is still quite strong and have been meeting the experience expectation for hundreds of years. And I don’t say this because I’m overly sentimental traditionalist.  But I do think it’s an important time to remind ourselves that the printed book still provides an excellent user experience.  And this is a real strength that only enhances our position in a digital age.

So, having read Christine thoughts, what do you think?  Are books still the ultimate experience when it comes to reading, or can what we think of as a book be so much more?  How will the book customer’s experience expectation evolve in the coming years?  Are we indeed doomed?

Do you think this approach is more effective than “traditional” marketing methods?

Admittedly, I was not very familiar with Capstone prior to this morning, but they are really out there on the cutting edge and producing some really amazing products.  To get a feeling for what I mean, take a look at this promotional video for one of Capstone’s business titles.

Awesome.  Not typical of Wiley’s other imprints, and I suppose that’s why I like it so much.  It’s edgy, risky and funny.

What do you think?  Effective?

]]> http://ckwebb.com/publishing/capstone-publishing-wiley-emea-sales-conference-day-2/feed/ 5 http://ckwebb.com/publishing/go-ahead-ask-anything-wiley-emea-sales-conference-day-1/ http://ckwebb.com/publishing/go-ahead-ask-anything-wiley-emea-sales-conference-day-1/#comments Mon, 30 Jun 2008 15:53:54 +0000 Chris http://ckwebb.com/?p=298 Learning New Things

This week, I am in Malta attending the Wiley EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Sales Conference.  What a way to start a new job!  The location is obviously fantastic and exotic, but I had so many great meetings with new colleagues today.  I have been exposed to more of our business today than I thought would be possible on the first day, and it is simply through the face to face interactions with account reps, other publishers, and editors from around the globe.  The global perspective really changes my view of our business, and I am really looking forward to the opportunity to learn and grow.

Your Chance to Learn with Me

I thought I would offer the opportunity for you to learn with me this week.  Leave a comment with your questions, and I will be sure to get them in front of the right people here this week for an answer.  Try to keep things focused on a global perspective, or specific to a country or region.

So, what do you want to know?

(Photo: Where the rocky Malta coast meets the Mediterranean Sea)

A couple of days ago, Chris posted Straight Talk on the Price of Free Content, a discussion post on the role of free content in publishing.  The problem with such discussion points is that much of the discussion around Free Content tends to get muddied by traditional business thinking.

If you have grown up prior to, well, now, or have and MBA, you expect a direct relationship between what you do and your income.  There is probably a formula for it, which is every bit as iconic as e=mc2, a formula like: W=$ (work=money). You do some work, you get a tangible result, commensurate payment.

With Free Content, that relationship is broken. If I post some Free Content, doesn’t matter what kind it is, the immediate payment is:

• The opportunity to display my mastery of a subject and a chance to increase my standing in the community I address.
• A chance to draw attention to or generate traffic for my blog/business/consulting/design gig.

Both of these are intangible payments. It is revenue of a sort, but if you plug that into the common understanding of what happens when we work, we do not expect to be repaid in website traffic, or acknowledgment.

It’s very hard to put food on the table with what amount to personal accolades.

The problem is that consulting types, VCs, and people looking to make a living off the web is that they are looking for revenue in the wrong place: free content is about generating indirect revenue.

For example:

• I post to a Blog for a year, and get a publishing deal from it.
• I run a Blog and post a detailed Presentation, and that leads to speaking offers.
• I post a Podcast, and that generates the traffic that drives my advertising revenue.
• I post a Webcomic, and that leads to marketing gig.
• I code some Open Source Software, and sell support for it.

Notice that in all of those examples the initial transaction is free. The author is giving up their time to entertain and educate the reader, listener, or viewer, without asking for direct payment.

There are many people that want to make a claim that this is a brand new world we live in, a new economics…um, no, it isn’t. Sorry. The Free Content business model is nothing new: it is the same model that broadcast television has been using for 50 years.

For a television broadcast, the viewer pays nothing, other than the opportunity cost of watching another show. The cost of the production of that broadcast is shifted, to advertisers, syndication outlets, or purchasers of the inevitable DVD collection.

With Free Content, the consumer of the information pays nothing to the producer; instead income comes from speaking engagements, book sales, or consulting contracts. The payment for the content is decoupled from the consumption of the content, but theoretically the model does not change, just the degree of separation from content to revenue source.

That is why things like Matt Maroon’s Bubble 2.0 post seem off the mark.
In a sense, he is right: you need to ask where the revenue is coming from, and a revenue model that is based on generating revenues directly from Free Content is not sustainable in the long term. Once the money dries up, that’s the end of the show.

I think there is still question that needs to be asked before we automatically write off one of these “Bubble 2.0” companies: how far removed from what we want our audience to do is the revenue stream?

If there is revenue tied indirectly to the content produced, then there is a repeatable, sustainable, revenue model. It may be hard to quantify, and it may be less than if you were getting paid directly, but forecasting revenues from that content is possible. All you need to do is keep producing Free Content.

Where does that leave the venture capitalists, private investors, and fortune seekers that are backing “Bubble 2.0” endeavors?

They need to ask if the Free Content they are producing generates repeatable indirect revenues, and if not, what they can do to align their Free Content with a business model that does.

Preferably, before the seed funding runs out.

Authors can learn a lot from the personal branding and social media marketing advice of Chris Brogan who recently offered 100 Personal Branding Tactics Using Social Media. Of course, Chris is not speaking about books in particular, but that’s the beauty of his advice – it can be applied to many different situations where your personal brand and growing online network can make a difference.

I’ve written quite a bit on the subject here as well, but with a focus on book publishing. Check out the following and the Related Posts links for some of my thoughts on how book authors can promote their work with social media.

• Why Word of Mouth Matters
• Book Marketing for Authors: The Author Questionnaire
• Crowdhacking: 10 Simple Ways Authors Can Help to Increase Sales at Amazon.com
• Amazon.com as a Social Network
• Looks Like We Are About to Get Bum Rushed by the Age of Conversation
• The Making of A Bestseller: A Case Study in The Meme

(Image credit: emdot)

With the slumping economy many are shopping for the best bargains, including my family. Recently we visited a local retailer that offers “low prices, everyday” and picked up a few items at prices that were certainly lower than I had seen elsewhere.

But when I had to return one of the items the next day, I realized where I was really going to pay the price – customer service. Before I could enter the store with the item, I had to “check in” with the employee at the door. There were 4 people in a line ahead of me who also needed to check in returned merchandise. Each item had to be scanned, and then verified by the store employee. However, the employee had no idea how to run the scanner and spent most of the time staring blankly at the handheld screen. I waited in this line for 20 minutes.

Next was the line at the “Customer Service” desk with my newly verified merchandise (despite the fact that I had a receipt.) One employee, six customers in line, and not a smile to be found. I waited in this line for an additional 20 minutes.

Now to purchase the replacement item, and back into the line for checkout. Of course the employee in my line closed her register with 2 people still in front of me because it was time for her break.

So what does this have to do with publishing?

It seems that with all the discussion about the future of publishing, one item that seems to recur is the fact that books are too expensive. Simply switching to e-books eliminates that problem, or so many would have you believe.

Consider for a moment customer service. Not only does the publisher need to provide customer service to it’s customers – book stores, distributors, retailers – but we also need to support the ultimate consumer: readers.

Inside the front cover of Wiley trade publications you will find an 800 number. On the other end of that number you will find a dedicated customer service staff ready to answer a variety of questions and provide solutions to reader problems. You can also access customer service via support.wiley.com

Often these questions are solve on the spot, but sometimes they are routed to editorial staff, and we sometimes send them on up to the authors.

For our Wrox programming titles we also provide a support forum at p2p.wrox.com where readers can interact with a variety of technical experts and authors.

It’s not just paper and ink

Customer service is but one area where book publishers have an opportunity to differentiate themselves from other content providers. It is certainly not enough – we still need to be innovating (faster) – but it is certainly part of the cost equation.

…this all just goes to show what publishers are up against. I mean, do people really think — in the face of enormously changing consumer habits and online trends — that it’s that simple? The fact is, many people do indeed think it’s as easy as just slashing prices.

Click through for Jeff’s entire post which likens Blodget’s argument to a past Seinfeld episode.