To: Macmillan Authors and Illustrators
cc: Literary Agents
From: John Sargent
I am sorry I have been silent since Saturday. We have been in constant discussions with Amazon since then. Things have moved far enough that hopefully this is the last time I will be writing to you on this subject.
Over the last few years we have been deeply concerned about the pricing of electronic books. That pricing, combined with the traditional business model we were using, was creating a market that we believe was fundamentally unbalanced. In the last three weeks, from a standing start we have moved to a new business model. We will make less money on the sale of e books, but we will have a stable and rational market. To repeat myself from last Sunday’s letter, we will now have a business model that will ensure our intellectual property will be available digitally through many channels, at a price that is both fair to the consumer and that allows those who create and publish it to be fairly compensated.
We have also started discussions with all our other partners in the digital book world. While there is still lots of work to be done, they have all agreed to move to the agency model.
And now on to royalties. Three or four weeks ago, we began discussions with the Author’s Guild on their concerns about our new royalty terms. We indicated then that we would be flexible and that we were prepared to move to a higher rate for digital books. In ongoing discussions with our major agents at the beginning of this week, we began informing them of our new terms. The change to an agency model will bring about yet another round of discussion on royalties, and we look forward to solving this next step in the puzzle with you.
A word about Amazon. This has been a very difficult time. Many of you are wondering what has taken so long for Amazon and Macmillan to reach a conclusion. I want to assure you that Amazon has been working very, very hard and always in good faith to find a way forward with us. Though we do not always agree, I remain full of admiration and respect for them. Both of us look forward to being back in business as usual.
And a salute to the bricks and mortar retailers who sell your books in their stores and on their related websites. Their support for you, and us, has been remarkable over the last week. From large chains to small independents, they committed to working harder than ever to help your books find your readers.
Lastly, my deepest thanks to you, our authors and illustrators. Macmillan and Amazon as corporations had our differences that needed to be resolved. You are the ones whose books lost their buy buttons. And yet you have continued to be terrifically supportive of us and of what we are trying to accomplish. It is a great joy to be your publisher.
I cannot tell you when we will resume business as usual with Amazon, and needless to say I can promise nothing on the buy buttons. You can tell by the tone of this letter though that I feel the time is getting near to hand.
All best,
John
“I remain full of admiration and respect for [Amazon].”
:0)
And once again Tor.com posts it at the top of the blog but removes the ability to add comments.
Let’s hear it for “the Tor.com community”, everyone. Yay.
Not one word in there about the rights or concerns of readers. To MacMillan and other big publishers we are just cash cows to be milked.
Binko is right on the money.
And speaking of money, I doubt that I’ll be spending any of mine on new MacMillan titles. I’ll wait for them to start popping up in the used book market.
So Mr. Sargent – how much money will you and your authors make from me then?
e book? That shows you just what he thinks of them – he doesn’t even know that 99% of people use the word ebook or the Teleread style e-book.
Seriously, I haven’t seen them refereed to as e books in about a decade.
He really must be doing a ton of research about them :rofl:
@Binko Barnes
As a reader, I am heartened to see a more open and flexible market, not one artificially driven solely by the profit in e-readers. So I do not understand the comment about “cash cows to be milked.”
Under the new formula, Macmillan will, as I understand it, make make less money from Kindle books than at present, but under a sustainable business model. That has to be good news: for publishers, yes, but also for readers–there will continue to be good books, with appropriate rewards for writing and publishing them.
How much should electronic versions of a book cost? 50%? More? Less? I don’t know. As a reader I can say, 10% sounds terrific. Or, how about free? Great!
Now just find those first-rate writers and publishers who do not need to eat.
Libraries and used books are terrific, but the key to the reading eco-system is a healthy and vibrant market among ALL the players (authors, publishers, retailers, readers).
This is great! I was hoping that the publishing bigwigs were every bit the morons studio heads in the music and movie industry are! I mean hell, look at all the success they have had pissing on their customers since the dawn of the digital age! It will be so awesome when book readers get upset enough to create the book version of an MP3! I will love it, keep it up Boneheads! Ohh btw Amazon, you tried to keep it reasonable and you win BIGGGGG points with me for your efforts!
I don’t like it. If all retailers are agents and the price is being set by the publisher, then how can retailers compete with each other? Can they even have specials if they wanted to? How would they stand out from the rest?
And ebooks _should_ be priced less, because they are less. You give up the right to resell, to lend, to giveaway. You can’t put it on a shelf in a collection to look pretty.
You do get some benefits, but some are overrated. I can carry my library on one device. Whoopie. How often have you wanted to do that with your real library? I tend to read a handful of books at the same time, and when they are done I don’t look at them again for at least a year or two.
I buy books for the Kindle because the savings per book are worth giving up some of the benefits of paper books. The low price also encourages me to impulse buy. I’ve spent more on books in the last year then I ever have before. Why can’t publishers see this as a good thing?
I am on a stright budget and purchase books on my Kindle because they are cheaper. I’ve purchased and read more books. The CEO of Macmillan sounds like one of the many CEO’s that have run their company into the ground. I don’t buy books over ten dollars and I’m not about to start. I hope more and more people stop buying books at these prices.