So Misguided

A many-part series, “Better Books” looks at the book publishing industry’s challenges, successes and promises from a technology perspective.

Question 1

The Canadian book publishing market faces particular challenges:

What are some of the innovative ways for book publishers to meet these challenges?

Tough question. I’m making Dan answer that.

Wow. Where to start?

Technology does provide a lot of opportunities for publishers –- we always talk about Google Books and online retailers. Then there’s all that web 2.0 + wizardry that can help publishers connect to readers. BookNet gives them all sorts of sales numbers that weren’t available before… But you’re far more informed about this stuff than me.

Dan attempts to cop out of answering the question. No such luck.

In any case, I think the tech innovations are only going to work if the book industry does everything else better than it does already. I mean they don’t really address the underlying problems, you know?

Technology is only part of the solution –- it’s great and all, but it’s like thinking we can save the planet with a few wind turbines when it’s our everyday behaviour that needs to change! We all get over-excited about technology (that we don’t really understand because we’re all Arts majors) when actually we should be worrying about the way we do business…

Wait, I’m an Arts major!

I think Dan is suggesting that lots of people talk the talk but have never seen the walk, don’t understand the walk, and in some cases don’t even want to walk.

This is our collective demand for better books. Dan’s right that technology is a part solution. The technology is about changes to behaviour—publishers’ ability to track sales, to supply electronic data to retailers, to cut costs by creating digital assets instead of physical assets-- but it’s not the be-all and end-all problem solver.

We still have a saturated book market. Technology can help us filter through the crap to find what we want, but maybe we just need less books, but also better books.

Technology doesn’t make Canadian geography any different. We still live in a country who’s commercial centres are spread apart. Shipping a book from Ontario to BC takes time. Vancouver to Halifax by truck--technology can’t really help you. It can help tell you where between those two points your package was last seen.

Diminishing in-store placement is still a problem. Stores’ websites don’t really mimic the front-of-store table in the same way. You can email me about new books. I can see them on the home page. I can see that people who liked x also liked y. But it’s not the same as walking into a store and seeing a huge stack of books. Glossy covers. Textures. Other people picking up books that catch our eye.

And then there’s diminishing book coverage in traditional media channels. Does it help that there are so many book blogs. Sure. But do people still look to mass media and bestseller lists. Yes, lots of people do.

But back to that wise crack about Arts majors. The best thing about Arts majors is our ability to think critically. Dan doesn’t want to sound like a “know-it-all-smartass-smarty-pants,” but, secretly, I assure you he is.

I’m a publicist not a CEO for heaven’s sake – I’m very low on the food chain, but for me a lot of the challenges come from our inability to get the basic stuff right… We’d rather pin unrealistic hopes on the internet and moan about all stuff we can’t change instead.

So what are those unrealistic hopes?

That with the right email campaign, or website or copy on Amazon, we can connect niche books to potential readers. The challenge Dan and I often talk about is that the resource allocations are not always spot-on and sometimes despite the best-laid plans, a book is just crap. Technology or a fine PR campaign can’t solve that problem. 

We’re aiming for results not effort.

We want better books.

Dan and I will explore what better books means in upcoming posts.

Happy BC Book and Mag Week.

Thanks for making me look smarter than I am Monique! I can’t wait to see what your readers make of these Q & As!

Hi Monique.  Dan suggested that I add my two cents to this discussion.  It will take me some time to catch up with the extensive debate, but from what I’ve seen so far, the two of you have done a great job at going over the effectiveness of this “new” (or new-er) alternative for publishers to reach potential readers.

I agree that Canadian publishers tend to have high expectations from online initiatives or so-called “web 2.0” activities.  Rather I feel publishers should look at the new online initiatives as new stepping stones towards freeing themselves from a market that is somewhat caged by diversifying where and how they promote books.  I hope I don’t offend anyone by saying this, but I tend to look at people with disdain when they refer to bestseller lists in order to determine what to purchase for themselves and for others.  I swear I’m not a snob!

I had a similar discussion with some people at the workplace and the topic of where people buy books came up.  It seemed that I was nearly alone when it came to purchasing books online.  My perspective comes from the fact that I don’t like going into a bookstore to buy a book.  No it’s not that I don’t like bookstores, in fact I do enjoy browsing and seeing what’s available but when it comes to actually making that purchase, I never actually pull out my wallet in the store.  In the end, I purchase online.

Why?  Well to make things short and simple:
1) Way too many books of all genres.  I get frustrated seeing that many choices.  My wallet is not a bottomless pit--or rather it is--just empty.  I don’t know which one to spend on so I walk away spending on none.  The only exception is when it’s an author I am aware of already and readily enjoy.  I also don’t want to talk to a salesperson and ask their opinion.  I’m not anti-social, I just want to get my book and go!

2) In store, I can’t read other peoples opinions.  I really enjoy Amazon’s “people who purchased this...also bought..” I can also randomly search on Google.

3) I just don’t have time to browse bookstores or any store for that matter.  I have a feeling that this will be a growing trend in the future as technology evolves.

I have friends who disagree with me, but as I point out to them ... perhaps I am not a true “book person” like they are.  I like books a lot but not in the sense that would get me interested in reading the arts and entertainment section of the Globe and Mail or the Book review sections of any printed medium.  If you ask me what would key into my interest, it’d most likely be context.  Hence why Google and the Internet is so powerful.  I also think that this applies to people who are not so much “book people”.

I think I better end my comment here for now ... but I will likely follow-up with comments on part 2 and 3 later.

I do agree with your final statement that regardless of how good a campaign or strategy that is put together, any great strategy or campaign will do little good if the book just doesn’t meet the level of promotion or expectation.

Thanks for posting the discussion, it’s fun to give these ideas a thorough amount of thinking!

Thanks for participating Ehren. It’s true, Dan and I are having a rather extensive conversation. Thanks again for jumping into the fray.

You have great comments about why you buy online. The interesting parallel to your experience is that the StatCan studies show that 6 of 10 offline purchases are a direct result of online window shopping--people doing exactly what you do online, they just purchase in the store.

I agree with you about bestseller lists, at the same time, there are some great books on those lists. Book buyers come in all forms: market leaders and market followers. I’m not saying one is better than the other, just that we discover books at different stages and the web offers us the wonders of discovering a new-to-us book that would otherwise be hidden in the retail store, which gives more focus to new releases.

Keep us posted on your thoughts.

Monique, I’m still catching up!  It’s rather funny when I compare why I buy online with why other people I know refuse to buy books online.  I feel it’s important to keep asking people why they don’t buy books online.  Very few argue price, some say shipping cost, others say they need to ‘feel’ the book, some argue that they want to browse the bookstore and not online, while others simply refuse to embrace online shopping as an option.  As you and Dan had discussed earlier, technology can only do so much but technology can definitely turn online shopping into a “full” alternative as opposed to a “partial” alternative as it stands now.  There are definitely more factors to keep in mind, but in my opinion, consumers require encouragement ... something to entice them to shop online.

This article popped up on the Globe and Mail today with regard to online apparel of all things being the top product purchased online.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070514.wgtapparel0514/BNStory/Technology/home

The article serves as an indicator of the change of public opinion from the challenge online retailers had with purchasing apparel online.  Quite interesting…

Here’s a link to the StatCan article with the reference to 6 of 10 online window shoppers made a purchase but directly from a retailer:

StatCan Daily article