More on TechnologyTell: Gadget News | Apple News
Scribd almost has it right—but how do I find good books? ‘Independent publishers’ a possible solution?
May 20, 2009 | 5:40 am
|
By Michael Harris, Assoc. Prof., Information Systems, Indiana U. - Southeast
An article in the New York Times notes that Web site Scribd now allows independent authors to upload and sell their own books.
Scribd’s authors set their own prices and keep 80 percent of the revenue. What’s more, smart authors can choose to keep their books DRM-free. Also, Scribd’s move should help lower the entry cost for first time and niche authors.
But if my tastes are typical, there are still formidable market barriers for these smaller authors.
Spotting the winners
For example, it isnt’t enough to print books—how to spot the good ones? Publishers can help. Anyone who has read through the slush piles of a major publisher will tell you that the dregs far outnumber the gems. Frankly, I don’t mind paying for someone else to pick out worthwhile books for me.
Closely related to this selection process is that of marketing. I find the online book search process at the Amazon’s of the world to be quite limiting. It works well if I want to find the latest book by a known author. It also works if I want to see similar works that are already hot. How do I find undiscovered works? Today, I turn to publishers I highly regard, such as Baen, and trust their recommendations.
Finally, there is the issue of editing. I know that it is popular for authors to complain about heavy-handed editors. However, there is something to be said about having a fresh pair of eyes at work before your book reaches consumers.
The independent publisher concept
It would be interesting to see the emergence of “independent publishers”’ just as Scribd is enabling independent writers. This could be accomplished through the introduction of a multi-tiered affiliate system. Book reviewers read and select top quality books for display on their web sites. Excellent reviewers who gain a following in a specific genre will be able to build a revenue stream as the books they recommend are sold. Authors who opt in to the system would pay an additional fee (20%?) for any affiliate (reviewer) sales.
In addition, authors could open their books for editing. An editor might provide basic copyediting services, or they may provide more significant editing and even re-writing. How this is enabled is up to the original author. I do worry about author control of their content. However, it would be interesting to see free information flow such that there might be a Jim Smith edition of Jane Doe’s "Easy Macramé Projects for Halloween" and a Shelia Spade edition of the same work. Some authors might choose to personally screen all edited books, while others may freely allow editing and distribution.
Marketplace effect
Although there will be some abuses of editing privileges, I can see a marketplace effect. Reliable, trusted editors will be able to command full editorial rights before they begin work on a book. Up and comming editors may need to prove their value and may need to concentrate on less known authors.
The affiliate system required to support this would need to be a bit more sophisticated than the practice today. The percentage payment to affiliates could vary based on the services provided. Furthermore, authors would be able to set custom rates for influential affiliates. Oprah Winfrey might be able to command 60% commissions on the books she recommends.
This system might lead to charges of abuse as reviewers cherry-pick high commission novels. However, I see it as a self-policing system that lets the market decide the best commission levels. Established authors may be able to set lower commissions, but newer authors will need to offer higher commission rates. A savvy reviewer would probably recommend a mix of book options: some lower commission books by proven authors and some higher commission books by new discoveries.
Of course, there is nothing to keep authors from becoming reviewers on their own. An author may only be able to produce one or two books a year. However, they can always link to similar books by others: “If you like my books you might try this one by Jane Smith.”
As I mentioned in the opening, I do think Scribd is headed in the right direction, but I also believe there is value provided by the publishing community. I believe the next step is to open the doors to independent publishers just as Scribd has opened the doors to independent authors.
Editor’s note: I love the possibilities here of the “Independent Publishers” concept, at least for appropriate nonfiction—just so the writer and original publisher allows this. Why do you think—especially if you’re a publisher or writer? Meanwhile, speaking of “enhancements” of writers’ works, check out Salinger’s lawyer looking into Rye sequel in The Bookseller. – D.R.
|
Previous
SUBSCRIBE TO RSS
Comments:
What’s needed is something like AlexLit, a great collaborative filtering system for books. In its heyday, it was an amazingly good resource for finding new reading matter. Sadly, it’s not in good working order right now, and the placeholder page still claims it will be coming back in 2008.
If it were up and running, and people could enter Scribd titles into it, then it would soon start popping out recommendations including them. The site could (if its operators wished) even be set up to give recommendations specific to Scribd books, if some provision were made to mark books as Scribd when they were entered.
It’s a shame that Alexlit is lying fallow right now. Something similar could be created from scratch, but it would have a huge startup time. It took months to gather enough user book rating data that Alexlit could start giving recommendations.
I don’t think Scribd needs to reinvent the wheel. They can employ collaborative filtering and social networking/reviews, the same thing that enables niche and self-published work to rise to the top on Amazon.
Most, perhaps 99 percent, of the stuff on Scribd now is crap. The Kindle bookstore isn’t much better. That doesn’t necessarily mean we need traditional gatekeepers.
There is no “barrier to entry” for publishing a Kindle edition, other than the use of a word processor and Internet connection. It’s the revenue split Amazon is trying to get away with that stinks. Glad to see some competition.
http://www.Docuter.comaccount
1. Sign up for an account at the Docuter Home page (www.docuter.com). If you already have an account, simply log into your account. Click on the “Upload” button at the top of the page.
2. Next, click on the button labeled “Click to Select Files” and browse your file which you want to upload
3. Click on “Upload Files” button to upload the file. You will see the upload progress and then conversion status.
4. You will then see a Describe Document window, where fill in the document details and enter the folder if any where you might want to save the document. Click on “Save” button. You can also skip this step by clicking on “Skip” button. You will now see your document under “All Documents”. The document is already published now.
5. Click on Document to go to the document page. Click on the Embed button to get the “Embed Codes.”
Here you will see an Embed Code, which you can use to put document on yoru blog or website and a link code which you can use to link to the document from anywhere. Copy the Embed code.
6. Log into your blog site, and Open the post you want to embed the Docuter Document into, or create a new post. Click the tab to switch to HTML mode. Press “Control + V,” which will paste the code into your blog. (for Macs, press Command + V). Click on Save or Publish and your document is embeded into your blog.
Check out a sample document posted on docuter.com