E-books and the Changing Face of Publishing: How you can get in

Whether you want to open a publishing firm or self-publish your own novels, the technology of the 21st century has opened up the door to many aspiring publishers and authors in ways unforeseen to previous generations.  In this day and age it is possible for anyone, with a small amount of capital and at a minimum risk, to publish manuscripts online at little cost.           

A Brief History of Publishing

Until most recently, publishing was relegated to large established firms with distribution networks throughout the world with millions of dollars in equipment and employee salaries necessary before the first book could come off of the line. 

To open a firm would have required a massive amount of capital and a strong stomach for risk taking.  Due to this very reason, many people did not enter the publishing business and profit margins remained high for those who entered.

For that very reason, if you were an author looking to have your newest literary creation published you only had two choices:

1. Submit your manuscript to several publishing houses in the hopes that one of them will read it and not bury it underneath a pile of other people’s manuscripts; or
2. Self-publish your work at a high price, promote it, and hope that it sells at least enough copies to recoup your costs.

Then came the internet, and with it the digital age.  Now we not only have the ability to access and select from thousands of booksellers, but also have to option of downloading a digital copy within less than a minute.

Also, with digital readers like the Apple IPad, Amazon Kindle and Sony Reader, e-books have the familiarity of reading from a paperback without the bulk.  As well, by eliminating most printing costs e-books can be sold at a fraction of the price.

In the past though, not everything in the land of digital information was rosy. Many books were being pirated through Peer-2-Peer file programs thereby hurting many publishers’ bottom lines and desire to sell their authors’ works in digital format.  But where there’s a will there’s a way, and software developers are now able to encrypt these files in a way that limits the number of times a copy can be downloaded. 

So what does this means for the future of publishing?

Many publishing firms who stick with their traditional business model will go under.  As books move from print to digital media, many firms will find it necessary to streamline their processes by liquidating unnecessary equipment and facilities, as well as reducing the number of physical labor jobs while simultaneously increasing the number of creative jobs.

Traditional publishers will move from being the gatekeeper, who decides what authors are published, to becoming an agent for the author.  Due to the ability to self-publish many firms will have to compete to keep their top-sellers as well as attract new talent.  Publishers will soon have to take on the role of agent in order to survive.

 The cost of doing business will become less expensive.  The reduction in traditional overhead costs associated with editing, formatting, printing and shipping will lead to a lower percentage of their per book revenues going to expenses.

 Books will become cheaper.  With an increase in competition and a reduction in cost it only makes sense that firms will reduce prices to attract a higher sales volume and thus more profits.

 Authors will have more negotiating power over firms.  With more choices available to authors, firms will need to be on top of every manuscript submitted and offer better compensation than their competitors in order to get them to sign to a contract.

How to get started in today’s publishing business:

1. Have a love of reading, a good taste for what sells, and strong grammar skills.
2. Create a name for your publishing company and research its availability.
3. Obtain any necessary business licenses for your location, and a tax identification number from the IRS.
4. Create a business plan detailing your business setup, purpose, and funding source.
5. Purchase quality publishing software, along with a quality digital rights management software, to use in formatting you authors’ books and protecting their content from digital piracy.
6. Start with what you know by soliciting and publishing manuscripts in book genres that interest you.
7. If you are not an expert with graphics, you may want to outsource that work to a more experienced graphic designer (See my article, “Outsourcing on the Net” )
8. Apply for and obtain the necessary copyright license and ISBN (international standard book number) you will need to list your book, either through your own site or a third party.
9. Upload and market your book(s) online. It is not necessary to establish your own website to sell books.  Amazon.com (Publisher and vendor's guide) and many other online retailers will list your book as long as you have an ISBN for it and depending on the content.
10. Download and keep track of all pertinent data regarding your sales as you will need that information not only for tax purposes but in order to analyze and improve your sales.  Salesforce.com has excellent software that can be utilized to track and analyze sales data. (See my article, “Cloud Computing:  The Future of Business IS/IT Solutions”)

For more information on the subject check out the article "How to Self-publish an E-book" by David Carnoy or go to lulu.com and take a look at their section on self-publishing.