Editors used to rule the publishing house. However, in a harsh world of competition, marketing has been tasked with keeping the companies alive. One marketing strategy that threatens to upset the status quo is crowd funding. This approach offers readers the chance to govern the market.
This business model owes its success to the digital technology that enables a wide range of readers to learn about and support projects. Readers can browse through book ideas online and pledge money to those that they like in return for rewards. Only the books that raise enough money are produced.
With consumer money upfront and an informed expectation of the market publishers can greatly reduce the high risk inherent to the industry. Instead of pouring money into a book they hope will be profitable, publishers can use their resources to promote books that have already proven to be successful in preproduction. This allows companies to keep their losses to a minimum so that successful projects don't have to support failed ventures. With less wasted money comes more profit.
Unbound is one example of a crowd funding publisher. Their pledge packages are tailored to the project and correspond to the pledge amount. Prizes range from the reader’s name at the back of the book to lunch with the author. Once the book begins to make a profit Unbound splits it in half with the author (Unbound.co.uk, 2014).
Pentian, another crowd funded publishing company, offers a vastly different division of profits. They only take 10% of the profits and afford 40% to the author, leaving the other 50% to spread out among the donors. They believe that donors with an invested interest will be more proactive in ensuring the success of the book and contributing to marketing (Pentian.com, 2014).
The interactivity of the crowd funding business model could be taken a step further. Reader commissioned books are perfect for this system (Gartland, 2011?). If readers could band together and commission a book it would make gatekeeping the responsibility of the consumer.
One of the biggest problems with crowd funding is that if the money isn’t raised it is assumed that the book wouldn't sell well. However, the real issue may be that the project isn’t visible enough, especially because money generally isn’t spent on marketing until the book has proven itself with pledges. Unfortunately this is the drawback to playing it safe.
The crowd funding business model is ideal for publishing companies who lack funds or are interested in really listening to the reader. This model would give publishers without established, electronic resources the opportunity to expand into the digital market, making it a well-suited model for the current and foreseeable publishing climate. The brightest, simplest part of this business model is that readers can tell publishers what they want rather than vise versa. Crowd funding is a democratic revolution of the publishing industry.
Word count: 479
Bibliography
This business model owes its success to the digital technology that enables a wide range of readers to learn about and support projects. Readers can browse through book ideas online and pledge money to those that they like in return for rewards. Only the books that raise enough money are produced.
With consumer money upfront and an informed expectation of the market publishers can greatly reduce the high risk inherent to the industry. Instead of pouring money into a book they hope will be profitable, publishers can use their resources to promote books that have already proven to be successful in preproduction. This allows companies to keep their losses to a minimum so that successful projects don't have to support failed ventures. With less wasted money comes more profit.
Unbound is one example of a crowd funding publisher. Their pledge packages are tailored to the project and correspond to the pledge amount. Prizes range from the reader’s name at the back of the book to lunch with the author. Once the book begins to make a profit Unbound splits it in half with the author (Unbound.co.uk, 2014).
Pentian, another crowd funded publishing company, offers a vastly different division of profits. They only take 10% of the profits and afford 40% to the author, leaving the other 50% to spread out among the donors. They believe that donors with an invested interest will be more proactive in ensuring the success of the book and contributing to marketing (Pentian.com, 2014).
The interactivity of the crowd funding business model could be taken a step further. Reader commissioned books are perfect for this system (Gartland, 2011?). If readers could band together and commission a book it would make gatekeeping the responsibility of the consumer.
One of the biggest problems with crowd funding is that if the money isn’t raised it is assumed that the book wouldn't sell well. However, the real issue may be that the project isn’t visible enough, especially because money generally isn’t spent on marketing until the book has proven itself with pledges. Unfortunately this is the drawback to playing it safe.
The crowd funding business model is ideal for publishing companies who lack funds or are interested in really listening to the reader. This model would give publishers without established, electronic resources the opportunity to expand into the digital market, making it a well-suited model for the current and foreseeable publishing climate. The brightest, simplest part of this business model is that readers can tell publishers what they want rather than vise versa. Crowd funding is a democratic revolution of the publishing industry.
Word count: 479
Bibliography
- Abrams, D. (2014). Book Crowdfunding Platform Pentian Pays Writers and Readers - Publishing Perspectives. [Online] Publishing Perspectives. Available at: http://publishingperspectives.com/2014/06/book-crowdfunding-platform-pentian-pays-writers-and-readers/ [Accessed 19 Oct. 2014].
- Gartland, M. (2011?). Will Crowdfunding Books Replace Author Advances and Further Empower Readers? | Winning Edits. [Online] Winningedits.com. Available at: http://winningedits.com/crowdfunding-books/ [Accessed 19 Oct. 2014].
- Gomolin, A. (2014). On Crowdfunding Books: When People Vote with Their Money - Publishing Perspectives. [Online] Publishing Perspectives. Available at: http://publishingperspectives.com/2014/05/on-crowdfunding-books-when-people-vote-with-their-money/ [Accessed 19 Oct. 2014].
- Inkshares.com, (2014). Inkshares. [Online] Available at: https://www.inkshares.com [Accessed 19 Oct. 2014].
- Markou, H. (2014). Business Models for Digital Publishing, [Lecture] Oxford Brookes University, 14 Oct 2014.
- Pentian.com, (2014). Pentian. [Online] Available at: http://pentian.com [Accessed 19 Oct. 2014].
- Unbound, (2014). Unbound | books are now in your hands. [Online] Available at: http://unbound.co.uk [Accessed 19 Oct. 2014].