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By David Rothman

Grammar GirlThe old news hound in me hates the months and months it takes for a paper book to come out. No, I’m not saying book publishers should turn themselves into newspapers and do away with the elegance and careful editing of the final editions. But what’s wrong with taking advantage of a little serendipity to help preview P via E and benefit from reader feedback?

Suppose, as I’ve written here before, that e-books on occasions could precede more polished p-books—a kind of beta approach, in techspeak. For example, if a project were close to completion and major news unfolded, or if another publicity break happened, such as an Oprah appearance, then the publisher could get an e-book online almost instantly. Thoroughly edited and perhaps longer editions, in E and P, would appear later on, reflecting input from readers. Rather than junk, the end result would be superior books, with the writers and editors free to pick up the smarter suggestions and ignore the rest. Buyer of E might even enjoy discounts on P or on the more polished digital editions. Who knows? A beta approach—perhaps done with a tiny focus group, sworn to secrecy if the publisher cared about such matters—might even have saved Judith Regan’s job. Some computer book publishers allow previews of manuscripts in development; now it’s time to systematize book-betas, and apply the idea to general trade publishing, too, with news pegs and other twists.

The Grammar Girl audio book experiment

The above thoughts come to mind in the wake of a New York Times article (subscription required, apparently), telling how Mignon “Grammar Girl” Fogarty recorded a short audio book to take advantage of her new Oprah fame even though she hadn’t even written her paper book yet. Her publisher, Henry Holt & Company, a unit of Holtzbrinck, didn’t even have to press CDs. It just put her work online and watched the money roll in—from thousands of orderes. We’re not talking giant numbers, but the statistics were still impressive enough to have justified the experiment.

Like many publishers, Holtzbrinck saw synergies between online efforts and paper. As reported in the Times, others houses, too, are trying out audio books in advance of P (perhaps inspired in part by the Scott Siegler phenomenon, even though there was no news peg involved). Maybe they could even add the P-discount angle.

A TeleMouse for the lab

Will this work with e-books, however? I don’t expect miracles, but with the technology expected to benefit from improved E Ink, Nemoptic‘s offerings and other progress, it’s time for book people to be far, far more adventurous than they are now. What’s fascinating about this preview concept is that I myself have written some fiction that jibes nicely with current headlines—a news story that the national networks are playing up. In the most direct of ways, with dollars and cents at stake, I’m hoping that publishers can transfer the lessons of audio books to e-books and deftly use them with news pegs to promote paper books. More than a few other writers, I suspect, feel likewise. Are any publishers willing to follow through on these ideas?

 
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