Just when you thought I’d retired from the interviewing business, here’s a fascinating chat with Kenneth Shear of Booktrope. Let’s get started.
ML: What types of books does Booktrope publish?
KS: We publish a wide range of books, fiction and non-fiction. We’re trying to create a new model for publishing that will work for a variety of different types of books. You can see a list of what we’ve published so far on our website for authors and creative teams, http://www.booktropepublishing.com/booktrope-publishing/books/.
ML: Your business model is a little different from the others I’ve interviewed. Why don’t you just explain exactly what formats you publish books in, how long they stay in print, and whatever else strikes you as relevant?
KS: First let me say, our idea of how publishing should work is quite a bit different from traditional views. We now have a website that pretty much lays out our model, www.booktropepublishing.com That’s the best place to go for a summary of what we’re up to.
We publish printed versions of books (paperbacks so far, but we could do hardback for the right books), as well as ebooks in a variety of formats (for the Kindle, Nook and iTunes stores, as well as other platforms).
We’re new so we haven’t had any book go out of print yet. In our model, there’s not much cost to keeping the book in print. One thing that really troubles us about traditional publishing is that authors are often tied into publishers pretty much irrevocably unless the book goes out of print. An author signs the contract and then it’s pretty much out of the author’s control what happens to the book from then on.
Maybe this was justifiable in the world of traditional publishing where the publisher did print runs of thousands of books and invested large amounts of money in the process. But today, where ebooks are outselling printed, and where online sales of printed books exceed independent bookstore sales, there’s an opportunity to produce books at low overhead. So, there’s not much justification for the publishing contract to be irrevocable.
Booktrope recognizes this by having a limited term on our contracts, usually 5 years, at which time the author can decide whether to continue with us or not. We ask for 5 years because we do put some resources into the book and we think it’s a fair time period for most books. We really think, if the author isn’t happy with what we’re doing for them as a publisher after giving our process a fair chance to work, they should be free to look elsewhere. As bookstores disappear, online marketing becomes ever more important, and in our approach, the author has a big role in that. So if the author isn’t happy, it’s not good for us anyway.
Okay, one other big difference from a traditional publishing model: we put books that we’ve published, and books from other publishers, on our website, www.booktrope.com. We have a great video that Neil Gaiman has kindly allowed us to put on the site, which explains why free copies are a good idea; there’s more about this on the website at http://www.booktropepublishing.com/faqs/.
ML: Do you accept submissions from authors, from agents, or from both?
KS: We’ve had a great response to our new publishing model, and we have lots of books in the pipeline. So we can’t accept unsolicited submissions right now. We do still accept referred submissions (i.e. ones coming from a trusted source such as a Booktrope author), as well as submissions in person when we attend conferences or workshops.
We are working on a new intake process where there will be a site for submitting manuscripts and for authors, editors, designers and marketing people to sign up and find the projects and teams they want to work on. When this is in place we will become much more open about submissions, so keep an eye on our website for the announcement.
ML: I want to stress, as I do in every interview, that authors do not pay publishers. Readers pay publishers. Publishers pay authors. But let’s get the other “money questions” out of the way. What can an author expect in the way of royalties?
KS: We agree. Authors do not pay for publication in our system. And, we’re very transparent about our royalties. We take the revenue from the book and divide it between Booktrope and the creative team members. An author typically receives about 35% of the revenue (wholesale price less print cost or ebook download charge). This usually translates to something like 20-25% of the retail cost, but it depends on book pricing structure. An unusual part of our payment structure is that the creative team on a book can adjust the allocation of revenue. There are examples of how we allocate revenues at http://www.booktropepublishing.com/teams/financials/.
ML: What editing process can an author expect from Booktrope?
KS: In the Booktrope system, the editing process is part of our Team Publishing structure – the author and editor are a team who divide royalties (along with other creative team members). We do not assign an editor to a manuscript; rather, we have created a framework for editors and authors to work together. Editors only work on manuscripts that they choose and believe in, since their compensation, like the author’s, depends on sales. Similarly, authors only work with editors they select or approve, as well. Booktrope’s role is to connect team members, to assist with the workflow and to manage the financial side of the process.
Also, we want to acknowledge the role of the editor in the creative process. It might be on the title page or the copyright page, depending on what the editor’s contribution is.
This is a big difference between the Booktrope model and traditional publishing, where the author is assigned an editor who is paid in advance and usually has no stake in the book’s success. It’s also a major way we differ from indie publishing (aka self-publishing) where the author often has to find an editor on his or her own, and then pay the editor up front. We don’t look at the creative process that way – we think it should be a collaboration and our goal is to provide a framework to foster that.
ML: What is your procedure for producing cover art for your authors?
KS: Again this is part of the team publishing model. The creative team usually includes a cover designer who often is added after the author and editor have finished the manuscript. But it’s a flexible system. For example, we occasionally reissue out of print books, sometimes with a new introduction, so there may be no need for an editor. In that case, the author usually receives a larger part of the revenue, but there’s still a designer.
With the books we’ve published so far for you, Michael, we were at an early stage in putting together the team publishing model. So we were more hands on in connecting you with a designer, but he’s also paid by a part of the book revenue. As the model has evolved, there’s more room for a variety of designers and it works very much the same as the author – editor process.
ML: I know I’m thrilled with the two covers you’ve created for me thus far, and I expect to love the third one as well. Speaking as an author, I know it can be tempting to think, “I got it published. My work is done here.” Unfortunately, the world doesn’t work that way. Just because a book is published does not mean it will automatically have readers. What does Booktrope do in regard to getting its authors’ manuscripts to book reviewers?
KS: We have a role on the creative team called a book marketing manager, which is a crucial part of our publishing model. The book marketing manager’s job is to work with the author to promote and market the book. This includes getting out review copies and other publicity for the book. But reviews are only a small part of what’s needed to sell books in today’s world. In a world where more copies sell on Amazon than all the indie bookstores combined, marketing is becoming crucial, so the book marketing manager starts by developing a marketing plan for the book. This can include reviews, sending sample copies to opinion makers of various kinds, connecting with organizations that might be interested in the book based on its subject matter, finding advertising opportunities that connect with readers, and a variety of other steps. And, in many cases, it involves working with the author to develop his or her online presence, which can be a huge factor in attracting readers to book.
ML: What other methods of promotion do you pursue?
KS: As I mentioned, the book marketing manager is part of the creative team that produces the book. In our view, a book that’s published but not marketed is not complete as a product. Connecting with readers is a crucial part of the creative process. Our model is to encourage and support creative teams to produce and market books. As with editing and design, Booktrope itself does not provide marketing services. We do provide support and guidance overseen by Katherine Sears, our head of marketing. We work hard to connect book marketing managers to books, but it ultimately depends on whether a marketing person believes in the book strongly enough to work for a share of the revenue.
Where a book does have a book marketing manager, he or she works closely with the author to promote the book itself through online interviews, author presence in book groups and the like. Also we encourage book marketing managers to work with authors to make use of social media that can be very effective in fostering interest in the books.
ML: Do you do anything regarding educating authors on promoting their own work?
KS: Ultimately, we’d like most teams to include a book marketing manager, and as we move forward, it will become less likely for a book to be published by Booktrope unless it’s attracted a book marketing manager first. That said, we believe in flexibility, so should an author prefer to act as their own book marketing manager, or we are unable to attract one to a project we are committed to, we are open to that arrangement. In which case, the author would be trained, mentored and supported in their marketing efforts in the same way any other book marketing manager would be. We have training materials, and in fact, Katherine is in the process of writing a book on book marketing that will serve as the primary platform to train our teams in marketing.
ML: I’ve often said that “writing is a calling but publishing is a business.” That’s my way of reminding my fellow creators that our dreams are lovely but they aren’t enough. But you’re a publisher, and I believe your vision for Booktrope isn’t simply “let’s all get rich.” What is your vision?
KS: Well, as publishers we’re trying to build a new kind of business, with light overhead, so more of the revenue goes to creative teams. The way we look at it, there’s a gigantic challenge for publishers today in how to connect books to readers. It used to be, even a few years ago, the most important thing to connect books with readers was distribution, getting the books into bookstores, but now the bookstores are fast disappearing. It used to be there were reviewers in newspapers and magazines who played a large role in helping readers find books worth reading. But newspapers and magazines are playing a smaller role. So, even if you publish really excellent books, it’s still a challenge to connect them to a readership. If you want your book to be read widely, marketing is becoming ever more important.
So, one of our basic ideas is that marketing – connecting books to readers – is a crucial part of the creative process. Most publishers would put marketing on the business side of things and handle it through the marketing department. We look at it differently. A book is just an object if there aren’t readers for it. Its life depends upon being read. When you look at it that way, marketing and promotion of the book – in the sense of connecting the book to readers – is not secondary at all. So, we put the role of book marketing manager into the creative team, and the book manager in our system gets a bigger share of the revenue than anyone other than the author.
Technology has also transformed publishing very quickly in the past few years. Even five years ago, or less, the only way to distribute books effectively was to do a print run and send them to the bookstores. Today, print on demand services can print a book the very day it’s ordered; if you buy on the Internet, you really can’t tell a print on demand book from a pre-printed one. Some bookstores now have Espresso Book Machines that allow printout right there on the spot. This dramatically reduces the amount of set up charge overhead for producing books. With ebooks, of course, there’s no such thing as pre-printing. Where bookstores used to get about 50% of the retail price, on line book sellers typically charge 30%. It means that books are going to become less expensive, and also that more of the revenue can be distributed to the creative team.
Our vision is to extend these trends by stripping publishing down to essentials, eliminating most of the overhead, and allocating more of the revenue to creative teams. We want to create a publishing organization that’s more nimble and less tradition bound, so that we can adjust to the changes that have already taken place in the publishing world and the new challenges that are coming. We also see it as a great business opportunity, because the book business is not going back to what it used to be, but many of the biggest players are inflexible and entrenched. So we’re building an organization to take advantage of the new opportunities that are opening up.
ML: How did you prepare for this career?
KS: I have done several startups in the information retrieval world. I’ve had very good friends in the publishing world who’ve given me a great inside look at what’s going on in the book business. From my point of view it’s pretty important that I haven’t spent years in the publishing business, because I think it’s a business ready for a whole new approach.
ML: What do you love about it?
KS: I have met some wonderful people in the brief period of time since we set up Booktrope. Katherine Sears, our head of marketing, has given me a completely new perspective on what that’s about. You know, people sometimes think of marketing to consumers as manipulative and worse. But Katherine has this wonderful focus on marketing as promoting connectedness. I think the book business is one of the best environments for this type of marketing which I regard as a real art. And I’ve gotten to know some amazing creative people, authors, editors and designers. Every day I get to help these creative people connect with each other and with readers.
Plus, there’s the excitement of developing a new model for an old business, and as more people get involved, I can see it taking a life of its own. I started it with ideas about how to reinvent publishing, and of course most of those were pretty much wrong. The mantra of Internet business is “make mistakes quickly” or even “fail fast”– you try an experiment, learn more about how it works in this new environment, change things, and do it again. If it’s working, other people start to get involved, and you get more and better ideas, if you’re open to them. Few things more exciting than that, if you ask me.
ML: What are its challenges?
KS: Well, this is a difficult environment to sell books. We see book prices declining due to the availability of so many great free books and inexpensive ones. All publishers face these economic issues. There are any number of challenges in putting together a new version of an old business. We make mistakes and it’s embarrassing. A big mistake can set us back. When you’re working online, technology can do funny things. For example, Google changed its algorithm for search results not long ago, so if you’re looking for Internet traffic you have to adjust. As a small business we have to find ways to get things done without much money. Yes, it can be a challenge!
ML: What makes Booktrope special? What makes it different from other publishers?
KS: Well, I’ve tried to give an impression of how we’re different in earlier answers. We’re lower overhead and less centralized than traditional publishers. We’re broader than niche publishers. We’re more supportive of authors than self-publishing (and without charging for it). We are far more transparent to the creative teams on everything from compensation to sales – why wouldn’t we want you to know how your books are selling? We focus on marketing rather than bookstore distribution. We’re more flexible, hopefully, than most publishers. We’re trying to build a new model, mistake by mistake, that can take advantage of the new environment that technology has created to make publishing more open and more rewarding for readers, authors and creative teams.
ML: Thanks for a great interview, Ken.
In case any of y’all want to visit the Booktrope website but don’t want to go to all the trouble of scrolling up to find the URL, it’s right here.
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