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Re: President of Nelson Believes Christian Publishing Has Room To Grow

Marcus — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 16:50:49 -0000

Craver, you're spot on. Thanks for the post, brother!

Re: President of Nelson Believes Christian Publishing Has Room To Grow

Craver-VII — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 15:26:02 -0000

Iâ€™ll agree with Mark that an author is much more than a consumer or commodity, but I feel that I must add to that.

If an author has something good to say, it matters that it will end up being read by someone, right? But, if it doesnâ€™t sell, that wonâ€™t happen. I was at one publishing company where I saw that the editorial department was being trained to understand the mindset of sales and marketing. That was great to see them make the effort!

I donâ€™t want to scare authors, but if you donâ€™t think like a sales person, it could make a big difference to get advice or feedback from a sales/marketing type of person.

To that end, it would be beneficial to momentarily think of yourself as a commodity, even though you are much, much more.

Re: President of Nelson Believes Christian Publishing Has Room To Grow

Marcus — Sat, 24 Feb 2007 08:29:44 -0000

Charity, you are much more than a consumer or a commodity!

But... when writers make it a goal to be part of a business system, their book (and their marketable self) will work best when they fit into a specific role in the system.

To publishers, books are products. And so are writers in a certain sense.

Michael Hyatt posted some really good content on this topic last week about the ideal publisher and the ideal author.

Re: President of Nelson Believes Christian Publishing Has Room To Grow

andre — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 22:01:35 -0000

Charity, my last comment was partially intended to be a little provocative, but mostly musing out loud.

For the record, I don't believe that books are commodity products, the way say, bottled water or toilet paper are. There are too many nuances in what constitutes good writing for that to be the case. And, good writers should never feel like commodities. :-) There are far too few of them around!

Let me finish on a positive note - I actually believe that POD is a good thing and will to some degree, open new opportunities for writers and readers alike. Essentially, POD creates a "direct channel" to the reader by dis-intermediating the traditional publishers and book sellers. You can take your work to the masses and let them decide. Writers like you can now publish CSFF books and if there is an appetite for it in the broader market, presumably the readers will find you.

Re: President of Nelson Believes Christian Publishing Has Room To Grow

Charity Singleton — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 17:35:28 -0000

Marcus -- I always appreciate insights into the industry that you provide here. Even though I think of myself as a writer, I'm definitely an outsider at this point.

I often wonder exactly what industry it is that I'm looking to be inside of, however. Andre's comments have me thinking more about books/authors as commodities. Even though I don't like being thought of simply as a consumer, I'd resist being thought of simply as a commodity even more.

Re: President of Nelson Believes Christian Publishing Has Room To Grow

Marcus — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 16:41:24 -0000

Andre, I have to think about this some more. It's right at the edge of what I can understand.

Re: President of Nelson Believes Christian Publishing Has Room To Grow

andre — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 16:17:31 -0000

I may have overstated the "dysfunctional channel" point without explaining - I think the more commoditized a product is, the greater power the channel has.

For instance if there are no essential differences between the products in the market, power shifts to the channel because getting products to customers becomes all about distribution channels and lowest pricing.

The intriguing question is whether that's where the publishing industry is currently at. Has the mass availability of content over the Internet made fiction a commodity?

Re: President of Nelson Believes Christian Publishing Has Room To Grow

Marcus — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 14:12:45 -0000

Andre, you are not boring anyone! I always value your insight and business perspective.

POD is print-on-demand. I should have explained that.

You said, "Any industry where the channel controls the business is not healthy." That's exactly the kind of point I was trying to make about CSFF. A few vocal readers (including myself) want the channel to be viable. But I'm not sure our interest translates into broader interest. I'm glad to hear that you think POD could circumvent a dysfunctional channel.

For me the verdict is still out on POD. It seems like a natural innovation given the state of desktop publishing. But it also feels like a POD book hasn't been "really published."

Re: President of Nelson Believes Christian Publishing Has Room To Grow

Marcus — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 14:07:55 -0000

L.L., I don't know anything about Nelson in Brazil, but it wouldn't surprise me.

As for pulling out of CBA Winter, Michael Hyatt explains that really well in the blog post I quoted here. That's the larger purpose of his post, in fact, I just pulled a quote that I found interesting for another reason.

Re: President of Nelson Believes Christian Publishing Has Room To Grow

andre — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 12:33:30 -0000

I'm not in the writing/publishing business so I'm speaking as an outsider but any industry where the channel controls the business is not healthy and needs to be overhauled. I'm not saying this is true in the case of christian publishing but a channel just connects buyers with the product they need....so if there is an appetite in the readership for CSFF, you should eventually get traction with the publishers, otherwise it's a dysfunctional distribution channel.

Also, you used the acronym POD - I'm guessing here...does it stand for publishing-on-demand or something else all together? Because, I think self publishing on demand is one way that you can circumvent a dysfunctional channel.

OK, I'm rambling here and boring everyone...sorry.

Re: President of Nelson Believes Christian Publishing Has Room To Grow

L.L. Barkat — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 12:01:24 -0000

P.S.

You must tell me why you'd be Sushi.

Re: President of Nelson Believes Christian Publishing Has Room To Grow

L.L. Barkat — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 12:00:50 -0000

Nelson seems to be an interesting place... I read that they pulled out of CBA winter...

and are they the ones who also just started something in Brazil?