The publishing industry may be centuries old, but it has been open to innovation, for example, introducing the paperback and the launch of Amazon’s Kindle. Technology is radically changing the publishing landscape all over again: allowing authors and content creators to go direct to the readers themselves, without the publisher as intermediary.
Previously publisher relied on historical sales data to decide which books should be made.
Now, using technology platforms, authors and online content creators can ‘prove’ their audience exists themselves via social media. With better ways to make sense of the vast amount of data, the tech-enabled evolution of the publishing industry is inevitable. This will democratise the industry in favour of authors and reader and create new opportunities for publishers themselves.
Let’s look at the ways the publishing industry will change in the years ahead:
Smaller publishers will increasingly provide award-winning books
While large publishing groups continue to use the same formula they’ll continue to overlook potentially game-changing and award-winning books. This is likely to include titles treading new ground or connecting with passionate and underserved audiences that smaller publishers are agile enough to capture.
This year The Milkman by Anna Burns, published by Faber & Faber, won the ManBooker Prize. Faber is a big independent publisher, but they haven’t lost their ability to find and define the public’s tastes. But going direct to readers is also becoming a key indicator for this evolution. Perseverance by Raymond Antrobus won The Rathbones Folio Prize this year. This was published by Penned In The Margins who combine publishing, performance and events. The runner–up, Mary Anne Sate Imbecile by Alice Jolly, was published by Unbound the crowdfunding publisher that gives readers the power to choose which books should be made (full disclosure: I run Unbound). The Indies are on the rise.
Data will be key to making publishing decisions
The advancement of machine learning and data science means it’s easier to generate insights into human behaviour. This extends to the books we want to read. It’s already possible to use social media data to spot trends. By developing the right tools, publishers will be able to use this data in real time to spot new ideas gaining traction and commission books capturing the zeitgeist.
Crowdfunding enables the direct-to-consumer monetisation of virality that’s inherently stored within an author or content creator’s online fanbase far more efficiently than the traditional model relying on retailers. For one thing; you can sell more than a book. Going direct opens up higher price points than are available in a bookshop.
At Unbound we have used more than seven years’ of transactional data to build a machine learning tool. It can be used to identify authors and potential authors with ideas that could be turned into high value books. For example, a video games content creator we identified raised £300k on Unbound to fund the launch of his new book. £100k came in a single day. We can also let authors know how much their book is likely to raise through our crowdfunding model in advance of it launching.
All publishers are looking for the same thing; books that audiences will love to read. Data science can’t write great books, but it can show you where they’re hiding.
Benefiting from a democratised industry
By changing the way books are chosen, and with new data analysis de-risking new authors by proving the audience exists online, even if there is no precedent in the historic sales data, a much more diverse range of voices will be heard.
The finances will change too. Authors earnings have been falling dramatically for years. Unbound already gives our authors a 50/50 profit split, but I think a more equal relationship between traditional publishers and authors is now inevitable. Authors and content creators can point to their online fanbases, that they’ve worked hard to build, as the key to the value they’ve created.
Publishers will focus on engaging reader communities
Many of the traditional marketing and advertising formats used by publishers are disappearing or becoming less effective. With bookstores shutting, publishers have fewer opportunities to physically market their books.
With declining newspaper readership, print media ads are catering to a diminishing audience, and certainly not a young one. The book reviews are also reducing. Publishers will tell you anecdotally that even good reviews don’t guarantee increased sales as they once did.
There are also difficulties in marketing via other media platforms. Authors are often neglected by broadcast media in favour of actors and musicians. New generations tend to value the opinions of friends and others in their online communities, blogs and forums, over the efforts of brands.
For all these reasons, it will be up to publishers to build a community of loyal readers; engaging them, listening to what they want, and implementing some of their ideas. Such a community means that each book will have more traction, as readers will treat new publications as recommendations rather than advertising.
I think that the publishing industry of the future will be better for all stakeholders; bringing in a new generation of diverse books from authors with all backgrounds and interests for the all of us to enjoy.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Dan Kieran is the Co-Founder and CEO of Unbound, a crowdfunding publisher that combines data science and an award-winning publishing brand with an online marketplace. Readers pre-order books through pledging, Unbound publishes and sells them, giving authors a 50/50 profit split and access to an engaged community.
The publisher’s 200k users from 195 countries have pledged £7m+ to fund 436 books to-date, including bestsellers like Letters of Note and The Good Immigrant.
By predicting future trends, Unbound funds books more quickly and can reach instant, data-driven acquisition decisions. The best example involves a video games influencer, who raised £300k on Unbound, £100k of which in a single day.