Did the Big 5 Shoot their own foot with demanding the return of Agency Pricing?

[FizzyWater]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Oh, and those Agency contracts? Multi-year...
They have at least two more years to run.

But it's all the book pirates' fault, of course. Not the pricing, right?

[Fbone]

Some of the sales decline could be customers shopping sales. There have been lots of promotions from many publishers.

[Tarana]

Did they shoot themselves in the foot? All depends on their bottom line. I know I haven't bought a single Big 5 book since they raised the prices. That's down from about 20 books on average for that same period. So, they lost my sales. I'm sure when you multiply that by all the other ebook readers who have decided to say nix on their favorite authors and move on to the library or other authors it would amount to some cash.

Depends on the purchasing of the reader. I never bought a book in hardcover - I could happily wait until it came out in paperback OR got it at the library. Price was a huge motivating factor. Later on, I was able to get used, yet pristine hardcovers of my favorite authors (alas, all sold now because I can't read them). There are a lot of people like me, but I'm not sure how much we actually affected the bottom line.

Also, just like the music industry, millions have discovered the indy market and a large portion of their purchasing power has been tunneled into that and away from the mainstream publishers.

[Tarana]

Originally Posted by FizzyWater

But it's all the book pirates' fault, of course. Not the pricing, right?

Yeah, it's so easy to blame the book pirates. Most of them would have probably bought used if the ecopies weren't available.

[SteveEisenberg]

darryl alluded to this in #6, but I don't think anyone linked to it, and it has the ring of truth to me:

http://www.idealog.com/blog/a-first-...ast-post-here/

It turns out that the real story of “agency pricing today” is that Amazon demonstrated dazzling marketplace power by keeping all the big publishers on agency terms.

I recommend reading the whole Shatzkin link. And I also recommend not responding that so and so is a idiot.

[darryl]

Originally Posted by SteveEisenberg

darryl alluded to this in #6, but I don't think anyone linked to it, and it has the ring of truth to me:

http://www.idealog.com/blog/a-first-...ast-post-here/



I recommend reading the whole Shatzkin link. And I also recommend not responding that so and so is a idiot.

I actually have some time for Shatzkin. He is one of the few prominent commentators from a hardcore traditional publishing background who seems to be genuinely trying to come to terms with the tsunami of change in the industry which is Amazon and self-publishing. We all have our prejudices and I wonder whether I would have got even as far as he has given his background. He is also prepared to admit that he is wrong on occasion, for which he is ridiculed in some circles when he should be congratulated.

Having said this, I doubt that Amazon insisted on agency at the time contracts were negotiated with the Big 5. We cannot, of course, be totally sure what happened since those involved, at least officially, are keeping quiet. But I really don't think it was clear to the Big 5 at this time that agency would be such a disaster for them and such a boon to Amazon. Immediately putting up prices the way they did to me does not show consciousness of price sensitivity. It shows an attempt to differentiate their own books from Indies/Self Published books in the hopes of maintaining a "quality" mass market at a higher price, whilst of course also serving to assist the sale of print books. Had this succeeded then Agency would not be a disaster but a great success.

Agency is only the disaster it is for the Big 5 because of the law of supply and demand. Supply has simply exploded, and, the differentiation attempt having largely failed, the price for traditionally published books simply must come down. It is just a question of who pays for it. The reasons for Amazon's subsidy no longer exist, and I doubt Amazon would discount Big 5 books now even under a retail model without the Big 5 reducing their prices accordingly. It is time for the Big 5 to face facts and re-organise their businesses for the new conditions. Competing with Indies and Self Published books requires pricing at a level which simply cannot support all of the intermediaries and outdated practices. I can also see real problems in the future for the Big 5 in attracting and keeping authors if they don't adapt. I find it quite surprising that none of the Big 5 have themselves got into self-publishing on a similar basis to Amazon. Of course, that is now a ship that has sailed long ago, and to even attempt it now would require substantial investment and risk. I just can't see it happening, which means Amazon will almost certainly continue to dominate this vibrant and growing segment of the Industry for the indefinite future. It appears that Amazon has comprehensively outclassed it's competition. It has taken a long term view seldom adopted by Western enterprises, and has proved to be remarkably prescient. I could say that it would be in the interests of the Big 5 to make peace and co-operate with Amazon, but I actually don't think this is the answer either. Amazon is not a charity but a very good business and sometimes a ruthless one. Amazon has a vision for the future of the publishing (amongst other) industries and they are not of course sharing it. However, I suspect that the long term role of the Big 5 in that vision is an increasingly marginalised one. I also think the opportunity for the Big 5 to change this has essentially gone.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by darryl

. I find it quite surprising that none of the Big 5 have themselves got into self-publishing on a similar basis to Amazon.

.

Well, they sort of did: they all have deals to front for (scam artists) AUTHOR SOLUTIONS. Of course, their idea of "supporting" self-publishers is making money off the writers instead of helping the writers make money.

All you need to know about Author Solutions is they have "helped" ~200,000 authors publish slightly more than 200,000 books. In other words, no repeat business.

Data guy looked into their "success":
http://www.thepassivevoice.com/2016/...comment-346529

Author Solutions boasts 200,000 authors to date on their website.

Out of curiosity, I took a look at how well books by ASI imprints are selling on Amazon — the largest bookstore in the world.

In total, including print and digital books, all 200,000 authors put together are selling roughly 614 books a day and making less than $8,000.

In other words, the daily sales of all 200,000 ASI authors put together don’t add up to the cost of a single ASI “publishing package”.

Caveat emptor.

+——————————–+————+—————-+———–+————-+————-+—————+
| publisher | book_count | best_salesrank | max_sales | max_dollars | total_sales | total_dollars |
+——————————–+————+—————-+———–+————-+————-+—————+
| Archway Publishing | 2 | 1090440 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 |
| ArchwayPublishing | 1 | 219137 | 1 | 18.50 | 1 | 18.50 |
| Author Solutions | 1 | 439187 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 |
| AuthorHouse | 291 | 6723 | 18 | 145.64 | 112 | 970.84 |
| AuthorHouse Pub | 1 | 1574496 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 |
| AuthorHouse Publishing | 2 | 374267 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 |
| AuthorHouse UK | 7 | 637766 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Authorhouse.com | 1 | 500360 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 |
| AuthorHouseUK | 5 | 2146548 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Balboa Press | 30 | 292063 | 1 | 4.99 | 3 | 8.98 |
| BalboaPress | 44 | 26614 | 5 | 44.95 | 25 | 200.64 |
| BalboaPressAU | 3 | 187773 | 1 | 28.81 | 1 | 28.81 |
| Booktango | 6 | 744579 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 |
| iUniverse | 331 | 12906 | 9 | 161.64 | 95 | 1085.03 |
| iUniverse Publishing | 2 | 3456362 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 |
| iUniverse Star | 5 | 212037 | 1 | 25.76 | 1 | 25.76 |
| iUniverse, Inc. | 90 | 113275 | 1 | 23.95 | 8 | 122.96 |
| iUniverse-Indigo | 2 | 1126454 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 |
| iUniverse.com | 1 | 4775017 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 |
| iUniverse.com – Hardbound & Pa | 1 | 549708 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 |
| LifeWay Christian Resources | 2 | 8094 | 14 | 279.72 | 22 | 423.48 |
| Lifeway Church Resources | 1 | 8565 | 13 | 129.87 | 13 | 129.87 |
| LifeWay Press | 32 | 1313 | 56 | 1161.44 | 242 | 4160.84 |
| Palibrio | 71 | 146203 | 1 | 16.95 | 4 | 21.98 |
| PalibrioSpain | 1 | 6011206 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Partridge Publishing India | 3 | 313020 | 1 | 1.91 | 1 | 1.91 |
| Partridge Publishing Singapore | 5 | 169012 | 1 | 2.00 | 1 | 2.00 |
| PartridgeIndia | 2 | 819409 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 |
| PartridgeSingapore | 3 | 2117076 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Trafford | 36 | 44393 | 3 | 25.12 | 14 | 105.61 |
| Trafford Press | 1 | 2108758 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Trafford Publishing | 83 | 148286 | 1 | 39.95 | 10 | 112.86 |
| Trafford Publishing P.O.D. | 1 | 4219817 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 |
| TraffordSG | 1 | 4755480 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 |
| WestBow Press | 14 | 131923 | 1 | 4.99 | 2 | 5.48 |
| WestBowPress | 6 | 202771 | 1 | 1.91 | 1 | 1.91 |
| Xlibris | 241 | 45041 | 3 | 59.94 | 32 | 261.70 |
| Xlibris AU | 2 | 199120 | 1 | 4.99 | 1 | 4.99 |
| Xlibris Corp | 2 | 4737243 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Xlibris Corporation | 7 | 292397 | 1 | 14.01 | 1 | 14.01 |
| Xlibris NZ | 1 | 56581 | 2 | 7.64 | 2 | 7.64 |
| Xlibris UK | 1 | 1551784 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Xlibris US | 32 | 137681 | 1 | 15.99 | 10 | 46.98 |
| Xlibris, Corp. | 34 | 28490 | 5 | 107.95 | 11 | 231.85 |
| XlibrisUS | 1 | 1673384 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 |
+——————————–+————+—————-+———–+———

Put another way: it will take 225 years for ASI customers to break even on their "support" packages. Of course, copyright only covers about half that span...

Note, btw, all the tradpub partner imprints fronting Author Solutions.

It is a fairly profitable business for Author Solutions and their front end partners. For the Authors? Not so much.

By now no knowledgeable author will touch any BPH self-publishing operation: that well is good and poisoned.

[darryl]

@fjtorres. Quite right. Author Solutions is the reason why I used the words "on a similar basis to Amazon". KDP and Author Solutions have very little in common. A KDP type operation is what the Big 5, with 20/20 hindsight (not Amazon's foresight), could and should have done to remain major players. People tend to underestimate the importance of Amazon's self-publishing platform, which gives it a supply of books and authors independent of the Big 5, offers attractive enough terms that it must over time make it very difficult for the Big 5 to compete for authors and, of course, gives Amazon leadership of this lucrative and growing segment of the market. It is the reason why Amazon's KU is effectively the last major subscription service standing and the only one with a viable business model. How ironic that they lent their prestige to what they sneeringly called vanity presses which might better have been described as scams when a more visionary look at the whole area of self-publishing might have saved them.

[murg]

Originally Posted by darryl

It is time for the Big 5 to face facts and re-organise their businesses for the new conditions.

This is the funniest thing I've read all week...

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by darryl

@fjtorres. Quite right. Author Solutions is the reason why I used the words "on a similar basis to Amazon". KDP and Author Solutions have very little in common. A KDP type operation is what the Big 5, with 20/20 hindsight (not Amazon's foresight), could and should have done to remain major players. People tend to underestimate the importance of Amazon's self-publishing platform, which gives it a supply of books and authors independent of the Big 5, offers attractive enough terms that it must over time make it very difficult for the Big 5 to compete for authors and, of course, gives Amazon leadership of this lucrative and growing segment of the market. It is the reason why Amazon's KU is effectively the last major subscription service standing and the only one with a viable business model. How ironic that they lent their prestige to what they sneeringly called vanity presses which might better have been described as scams when a more visionary look at the whole area of self-publishing might have saved them.

Yup.
And the really funny part is Amazon wasn't aggresively courting indies until they heard about the price fix conspiracy in November 2009. They were a part of their product mix but they weren't as indie-friendly as Smashwords, for one. Once their RH stoolies squealed, they reworked their terms and started to prop up Indie, Inc as a way to reduce their dependence on the BPHs.

That conspiracy was suuuch a wonderful idea...

[Steve H]

Do you expect the Big 5 to get a temporary shot in the arm due to Apple anti-trust customer refunds??
Seems to me that many will apply refunds to the purchase of today's way over priced books that they may not otherwise purchase. This may artificially boost sales for a short period.

[Purple Lady]

Originally Posted by Steve H

Do you expect the Big 5 to get a temporary shot in the arm due to Apple anti-trust customer refunds??
Seems to me that many will apply refunds to the purchase of today's way over priced books that they may not otherwise purchase. This may artificially boost sales for a short period.

I requested a check from B&N because I refuse to buy from them since they don't want to let people download anymore. And who knows if they will change the drm again.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Purple Lady

I requested a check from B&N because I refuse to buy from them since they don't want to let people download anymore. And who knows if they will change the drm again.

...or even stay in business

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by Purple Lady

I requested a check from B&N because I refuse to buy from them since they don't want to let people download anymore. And who knows if they will change the drm again.

Let us know if the check clears. Just saying.

[frahse]

Originally Posted by Phogg

It certainly makes it easier for indie authors to find a niche in the market.

Yes. Yes, indeed!