FutureBook has a piece by Kay Sayce of digital publishing firm Firsty Group talking about the newly-recognized need for publishers to sell e-books direct to the consumer through their websites. Sayce cites a recent survey by the American Association of Publishers which indicates that US publishers’ direct-to-consumer (D2C) websites make up an average of 44% of those publishers’ sales revenue.
Creating a D2C website, Sayce explains, is a three-step process, requiring building first the website itself, then a strong relationship with readers, and finally brand awareness. She goes into more detail about the process, and notes that Firsty Group is currently helping many publishers go through it.
Going D2C certainly seems to have worked well for Baen, which has gone through all three of those steps and boasts a thriving community and a high level of brand awareness among those folks on the ‘net who read the SF and fantasy books Baen publishes. But Baen did have a ten-year head start on everybody else. It remains to be seen how well it will work for today’s publishers, and whether it will end up leading to unwanted market fragmentation as some fear.
