Even for the eBook skeptics of a year or two ago there can now be little doubt that the Age of the eBook is indeed upon us. Sales statistics at Amazon.com and at Barnes & Noble show that eBooks are now surpassing printed books in sales, albeit that many eBooks are priced well below the SRP of their printed counterparts, and the trend is likely not only to continue but also to grow stronger. The writing seems to be on the wall – or perhaps on the Kindle, or the Nook, or the iPad or iPhone – eBooks are here to stay. And in just a few short years from now, eBooks will comprise 90% of all new titles published, leaving only coffee table books, and other print-friendly editions, for the traditional printing press.
This revolution in the way books are published, distributed, sold and read is this century’s equivalent to the invention of the printing press several centuries ago. It is interesting to point out that Gutenberg’s printing press was the single biggest non-political factor in the Protestant Revolution, not to mention that the rate of literacy in Europe went up a full 10% in just one year after its invention. No small impact, to be sure. So, what might the impact of the eBook be as the next few years pass? And what new role will publishers and literary agents play in its development and dispersion? Big questions with only speculative answers at this point, but there are a few things we can see developing right now.
eBook technology renders the product (a book) cheaper to produce and easier to distribute. Therefore, it stands to reason that more books by a wider range of authors will be published, the books will be distributed globally to online retailers and will be bought by customers who once might not have had access to them. The logistical model is somewhat similar to the dispersion of mobile phones in that those devices actually found a customer base in countries that never had a highly developed traditional phone line system because it was not necessary to re-tool an entire industry. In Mexico City, for example, certain mobile phone makers were handing out handsets free to potential subscribers who had never had a landline. So far, neither Amazon nor Barnes & Noble, nor Sony, nor Kobo is handing out eReaders free, but the price is falling and will no doubt continue to do so as Chinese knock-offs begin to hit the market in earnest. The day is fast approaching when virtually everyone will own some sort of an electronic eReading device, probably one that serves multiple purposes and performs multiple functions. Already it is becoming necessary to read newspapers online, as the print editions are falling away literally by the day. Magazines will face the same challenge that printed newspapers have faced – decreasing sales because of limited audience proximity, high production and distribution costs, cost of physical space, cost of raw materials, and so forth. Digital publishing circumnavigates all these problems, and publishers know it! The traditional audience may well balk at the idea of an ePublishing world, but publishers will make them conform simply by not offering the (old) alternative anymore. Simple, but not so simple…
Escape Media was at the forefront of this revolution, publishing our first digital editions in 2006 under the Open Books imprint. Were there eBooks prior to that date? Answer: yes, of course. But the ground was shaky, parameters were hardly solidified, and even formats were still in question (as they remain today). But we were there – experimenting with classic titles, as well as original publications. Our literary magazine, Moronic Ox Literary & Cultural Journal first saw digital publication way back in 2003; it was not well received then but was revived in 2009 and has had a loyal and growing readership ever since. All well and good: a publisher with enough vision to see the “writing on the tablet”. But the bigger question of just what role publishers (and literary agents as well) will play in this new terrain remains.
Open source publishing, as practiced by several able companies (Amazon’s DTP, Barnes & Noble’s PubIt, and Mark Coker’s amazing Smashwords among others) enables authors to publish, distribute and sell their works as eBooks online. How dramatically open source has widened the field of published authors, and we at Escape Media/Open Books applaud and support that effort! In short, open source publishing makes each author a publisher (with all that that entails – editing, designing, formatting, and most of all marketing). The open source (publisher) takes care of sales records, payments and distribution to customers. Sounds great! Except, who among us is an expert at all these disciplines? In the end it could be said that it is a writer’s job to write, and a publisher’s job to handle the rest. Yet, open source has made it possible to exist in the literary market place as an ‘indie’ author. Kudos to those who take this path and succeed!
Taking the route of open source publishing certainly circumnavigates both the literary agent and the traditional publisher, yet we suspect as the eBook Revolution gains a greater and greater footing, both publishers and agents will re-assert their value as collaborators. Even now some well known literary agencies are offering their services as a digital publishing venue for clients whose work may be worthy of publication yet not profitable for a traditional (print) publisher. Is this a conflict of interest? Some say yes. We say: to be determined. As publishers of eBooks, we at Open Books believe a well- versed e-publisher even now holds a distinct advantage over the so-called ‘indie’ author. For example, it is well known in the literary world that no author – no matter how good he might be – should edit his own work. We agree. Good editors make good books into better books. It is also often said that a good cover can make or break a book for sales. Again, we agree. Every author we have ever worked with has had his own ideas about the cover of his book; and every author we have ever worked with has expressed his pleasure and gratitude when we present him with a professionally designed cover. Publishers also have access to distribution venues that ‘indie’ authors do not. Publishers may also have the distinct advantage of being able to promote books via social media and other online sources using the publisher itself as an endorser. Indeed, that is the very reason that today’s agency model publishers enjoy prestige and advantage over lesser-known houses. Those engaged seriously in e-publishing will establish themselves as primary players in this emerging industry, and Open Books intends to be one such ‘player’. By establishing core groups of writers, eBook publishers will be able to ‘guild’ themselves and their authors, and customers who are searching for a particular product will inevitably know exactly where to find it. Remember, human beings, under the auspices of ‘civilization’, have been attempting to make order out of chaos since the beginning of time. Right now digital publishing is literally ‘all over the map’, yet even as I write this update, countless e-publishers (as well as ‘indie’ authors) are bringing order to that chaos. And it’s going to be very interesting to see which names command respect and attention in just a few short years from now. Will those names be the same ones we are accustomed to hearing – the agency model publishers in New York, London, L.A.? Or will there be new names? We suspect some of both. But the one thing that seems obvious is that no matter which publishers those might be, they will all be publishing, promoting and selling eBooks. And that is something that we at Open Books have learned a little something about.
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