NPL Publishing Consultants

Let me start, as always, by saying how much I respect Jeff Bezos. This post is NOT about Mr. Bezos, or Amazon, or the Kindle, really, but about what happens when people see a new technology or a company and pronounce it as the next closest thing to God, unbeatable, world-beating, paradigm-changing, …….. insert your own hyperbolic remark here. And what happens to the rest of us in the process.

Denny Hatch, a well known marketing guru (an odd word, maybe better to say, plain old ‘expert’?), sends out an enewsletter every week or so, I guess. I have been getting it for a few months now. He is, without question, sharp, insightful, and capable… using real world examples to make his points and reminding us all that we MUST be: insanely customer focused, innovative in our products and services, and fleet afoot as small entrepreneurs to survive.

In his enewsletter of today, his article,click here was a wonderment of the Kindle. While I agree that Mr. Bezos has taken the best parts of prior e-readers and conceptually improved on them with a huge library of eBooks, he was neither the innovator nor the risk taker here. What he did, as I like to say, was; “He sees the opportunity and the he seized the opportunity”.

If you get a minute, much of his article is of value, but as usual, as a non publisher, I believe he has missed the overview. After you read it, you’ll notice I took a few minutes to send him a comment. It is worth repeating here, but only in the context of his article.

Mr. Hatch:

May I suggest you take your own advice and not speak about things about which your knowledge or information may be limited. While I usually find your posts fascinating, extremely knowledgeable, and informative, I have been in this field for 35 years and have seen the evolution firsthand. And, I believe you are using what you see and hear to guide your opinions, instead of what has and is happening.

Mr. Bezos’ Kindle is not a new business model. Franklin, Sony, and a host of other players predate Mr. Bezos’ “invention”. What he has done has, arguably, taken it to a whole new level, but he did not ‘take the initial risk’. That was done almost 20 years ago with the first incarnation of e-readers.

You somehow see this as a bookstore vs. Bezos thing… it isn’t. Most publishers have already or will begin to, make their books available as eBooks on their own sites… likely partnering with other Kindle type companies, and offer ‘programs’, not unlike the old ‘book of the month’ clubs. Others simply will make their eBooks available and you as the buyer can download them to your own e-reader or to your computer, netbook most likely, or television if you so choose to read truly large type books. Think music downloads as a pretty close analogy.

While I predicted, going back to 2001-2, the demise of commercial ‘print’ publishing AND public libraries as we know them… I don’t see quite the ‘one player’ scenario you lay out. In fact, if I understand your general philosophy correctly, there will be others, faster and fleeter of foot, more innovative, and far more customer focused, who will compete and win parts of this potentially huge market from Amazon.

Keep up the good work, and if you need some expert insight into our pitiful but necessary industry, feel free to call on me. It would be my pleasure to work with you.

Martin Foner

But, here’s the point. Bookstores are screaming about Amazon, publishers are screaming about Amazon, seems like everyone is screaming about Amazon. And this is not unlike much of the noise about the growing pains of Wal Mart destroying small town business and taking over the world.

Amazon is only going to take over the publishing industry if the rest of us abandon it. And he won’t want it if that happens.

He needs content as much as you need wide distribution. This IS NOT a one sided deal. Don’t like his deal; DON’T do business with the guy!

Do we need to be reminded that there was an industry before Amazon, and with POD, eBooks, online magazines, and instant content… with the ability to send a chapter of a new title to every last customer on your mailing list, in seconds, by email, at virtually no cost (I pay roughly $150 a month for unlimited emailing ability to the 40,000 or so publishers on my mailing list)… and any number of other technological whiz bang concepts… notwithstanding we are one step closer to our customers than Amazon…

I guess I am asking why we rail at those who are successful at what they do, ifr their success impact us, or threatens us in any way? If you happen to be in the way of their steamroller, either get the heck out of the way, or get squashed. So, to avoid getting squashed, you have to innovate, change, morph, be fleet afoot……. insert equally compelling motivational change phrase here. Do you believe Mr. Bezos said, hey, Sony has one of these and I had better not compete with them… Sony… huge company, might kick my ass… Hardly. He innovated and competed with a better business model (not the only business model in the universe, as Mr. Hatch contends).

And now, since he has what seems to be temporary ‘control’ over our industry (according to publishers, bookstores, and who knows who else is complaining), our focus is “dealing with Amazon”. Why? Do business with the guy or don’t. But your focus IS NOT Amazon, or it had better not be!

Your focus in on making sales, doing more business, and doing profitable business. I don’t think there is anything else as important. Yes, yes, creating great works of literature would be nice, but, as a subsequent blog will address, University Presses are dropping like flies and not in a very dignifed way… so that idea is out the window. Maybe your profitable publishing can underwrite your “serious” publishing, but something had better pay the bills… or… rummbbbleeeee rrummmblleeeee… I think I hear a steamroller.

Keep your powder dry, your eye on the ball, and your stick on the ice.