Sales and Marketing: The last frontier in the independent vs. traditional publishing turf war?

by A.M. Khalifa, thriller author

Connect with
AM Khalifa on Google +

[Note from Jodie: We're pleased to welcome a new member to CFC: A.M. Khalifa, my client and friend, is a talented, world-traveled author whose riveting international thriller, Terminal Rage, was published in August. Take it away, A.M.!]

I recently spent five days attending the single most important annual event for the publishing world, the Frankfurt Bookfair. The 5-day affair is an immersion in anything and everything to do with the business of books and reading, providing rare insight into where the industry is, and where it’s heading.

Frankfurt Bookfair: The public is still interested in reading

Publishers, printers, digital chain suppliers, agents, and logistics companies convene every year in Frankfurt to flex their muscles as well as make the big deals. Here is my impression on where the industry stands in terms of the rise of independent publishing vs. traditional. 

Books are going to be around for a long time

The most reassuring impression I had is that reading is alive and well. Concerns about the interest in books declining as a result of diminishing attention spans and competition from online media are by-and-large exaggerated. The fair was initially limited to trade visitors, but once it opened up to the public I felt a deep hunger and intense interest in books and authors. The handful of successful writers who showed up were hounded like movie stars.

This is good news if you happen to be a writer. Our craft is still highly in demand. Keep writing, even if the route between you and your future readers seems obstructed by the business side of the industry. It's only a matter of time before even that is democratized.

The final stage of the book revolution is coming

The revolution that's rocking the publishing world is still in its infancy - its real seismic effects are yet to be felt. And it may take a while. The publishing industry feels ominously similar to the music world ten years ago. The big players in Frankfurt seemed tentatively nervous of what is about to come. Gone is the resolute hubris of say, five years ago. Because there are intruders at the gates. Not posing any huge danger for now. But catapulting tiny fire balls at the fortress, patiently making small but effective dents. Microscopic gains that will one day add up.

Advances in technology have resulted in the explosion of electronic books and high-quality print on demand solutions, as well as somewhat reliable distribution networks. This has lowered the entry bar dramatically. Producing a professional book and making it available for sale is no longer a difficult or prohibitively expensive pursuit. 

But herein is the inherent contradiction of self-publishing that is both comforting and worrying for mainstream publishers.

Because anybody can do it, the emphasis on quality has never been higher. That’s the good news for traditional publishers because they can play up how their infrastructure filters out all the duds, and makes sure readers get only the quality material.

The ‘bad’ news however is that even though there is a lot of sub-standard material being churned up, truly amazing works can also slip through the cracks. And once enough excellent writers establish themselves outside the realm of traditional publishing, mainstream readers will start paying attention and look with a more serious intent at indie authors to discover the next great read.

The main juggernaut of the business has now been cornered to the last remaining strongholds of the big publishers: sales and marketing. As most self-published writers know all too well, even if you’ve just written the most ground-breaking novel of all time, if you can’t get it reviewed, and if you can’t get on the airwaves to promote it, and if you can’t get it stocked in all the brick-and-mortar book stores, and if you can’t flood the market with huge print runs, then it doesn't seem worth the effort. And that’s what big publishers are holding on to for dear life: Access to the public and the ability to shape their tastes and needs using unlimited resources.

So where will the revolution come from, one might ask? From a third-party.

Just like Amazon's CreateSpace and Lightning Source democratized the production process for printed books, sooner or later some smart entrepreneur will figure out a business model to provide effective sales and marketing services to independent and small publishers. Not the con artists who currently prey on inexperienced authors like vanity publishers or self-proclaimed literary consultants. But legitimate players. Of course if mainstream publishers can heed the cautionary tales of the music industry, they would be rushing as we speak to plan for the future and make sure they’re providing these services ahead of the competition. But who knows if they will.

In the future, instead of the big five, there will be thousands, even millions of smaller publishing cells, being serviced by professional and effective enabling vendors. Me, you, and others like us. Not just on the production side, but before that at the editorial level, and after that at the sales, marketing and distribution points. Social media will be a part of that menu, not as a main course or even as a side dish, as the prognosticators would like us to think. But more like a condiment.

Readers: Are you looking more to indie writers for quality fiction?

And fellow writers: other than sales and marketing, what other advantages do you feel mainstream publishing has over independent publishing?

And speaking of quality control and competing with traditional publishing, see Jodie Renner's related article on The Kill Zone yesterday: Indie Authors - Should You Revise & Republish Some of Your Earlier Books?


A.M. Khalifa, author of international thrillers, writes exhilarating, contemporary stories pulsating with life and unforgettable characters. His debut novel, Terminal Rage, is a layered thrill ride that moves seamlessly from inside a nerve-wracking hostage situation to far-flung locations across the world, challenging readers to stay ahead of its unpredictable plot.

Sign up to Khalifa's newsletter to stay up to date with his activities and posts. You can also follow him on Twitter or like him on Facebook.

Authors are not the Enemy

By Andrew E. Kaufman

There’s no question that author BSP (blatant self-promotion) is alive and well these days, and there’s no question that it annoys readers. Quite honestly, it annoys me, as an author and as a reader.

I get that. Not only do I get it, I sympathize. But what I don’t understand, and what concerns me, is the increasing hostility some readers have toward authors, along with the notion that we’re the enemy.

We’re not.

I recently dropped out of a very popular online group for Kindle readers because the contempt seemed to be reaching epic proportions. It made me uncomfortable and felt unfair, if not insulting. When the group tried to organize a monthly post where authors could list their work—a sort of online book fair—there was a huge uproar. Many simply wouldn't have it. A very adamant and heated discussion ensued, during which, one member said she didn’t want it because it was a DISCUSSION group, not a MARKETING group. Then she compared us to door-to-door salesmen who drop by and force her to watch a presentation of their product.

For me, the comparison seemed deeply flawed and unfair. A door-to-door salesman is a stranger. The authors in the group were not. Most owned Kindles, most read books on them, and most participated regularly in the discussions. Besides, nobody was "forcing” her to see anything. Hence the reason it was placed in a separate thread and offered only once a month. If she didn’t want to read it, she had the option of simply ignoring it.

What some people fail to realize is that authors do read. In fact, many of us do so in a voracious manner. We're also human beings with feelings—although, in reading comments posted in various online discussion groups, it would appear some are unaware of this. Here’s just a small sampling:

The only reason authors send friend requests on Goodreads, FB, or follow on Twitter is so you'll buy their book. The only reason they're nice is so you'll give them good reviews.

Authors shouldn't comment on reviews because it makes readers feel like they can't give an honest opinion if they know the author is lurking out there

I don't want authors contacting me. All they want to do is pimp their book.

I don't like authors taking over my threads. It keeps people from saying what they really want to say.

I don't want to talk to authors unless I initiate the conversation.

Authors shouldn't be allowed here. It's for readers who want to discuss books.

Authors send me friend requests all the time. I tell them to go f*#k themselves.

I liked this book until I saw what the author looked like. I'll never read another one of their books.

And it's not just the readers who perpetuate this attitude. Many websites, in their attempt to crack down on BSP, are enacting strict rules. And they should. But some, it seems, go a little too far. I recently got this email from Goodreads:

I am once again asking all authors (and regular members as well) to remove any signatures they use to advertise their books at the end of their posts. By "signatures" I mean links/urls at the end of your posts linking your books/website/blog that have no relation to the topic you're posting in. Any posts like this will be subject to deletion.

This is in an effort to keep the amount of author promotion to a minimum so that those members who aren't interested in reading the self-promotion aren't beaten over the head with it. Many members have expressed their displeasure with the promotion, and this is my way of cutting down on it without eliminating it.

Beaten over the head? With a signature line at the very bottom of the page that has a title or website? Even non-authors put website urls in their signature lines. It’s sort of become a standard practice, a way of telling people who we all are.

The point I'm trying to make here is this: We are not the enemy. We write books, ones that readers read, and last I checked, that isn't a crime. At the very least, we deserve respect.

We’ve worked long and hard to earn it.