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Rankin tells Orion: 'Authors need publishers'
21.02.12 | Charlotte Williams
Author Ian Rankin stressed that authors "really need publishers", especially "as more content floods the market, of varying quality", as his own publisher Orion celebrated its 20th anniversary at a reception at the Natural History Museum in London last night.
Rankin, who was one of the original authors to join Orion 20 years ago along with Lady Antonia Fraser and Maeve Binchy, said in a speech to the assembled company that publishers were needed by authors to produce "well put together, well edited, displayed and marketed" stories to "fans of the written word in all its forms". He said: "Publishers need authors but authors really need publishers, especially as more content flood the market of varying quality". He himself had signed another two-book deal with the publisher earlier in the day, he added.
Meanwhile, Orion chief executive Peter Roche said that over the past 20 years, "the world of the written word has experienced its biggest transformation since the invention of the printing press". He referred to many "household names" on the high street having closed in that time, as well as 500 independent bookshops, adding: "The rise of online sales has been relentless."
He said that while print remains at the core of Orion's business, "e-books are here to stay", adding "digital is crucial right across our business", and Orion aiming to have 100% of its backlist titles converted to e-books by the end of 2012. He dedicated the future to Orion's authors, saying: "Our future is in your words".
The evening marked Orion's "20 years as a publishing business, from birth through acquisition to the mature business it is today", Roche said.
Among the nearly 1,000 attendees were Orion founders Anthony Cheetham and Rosie de Courcy, now of Head of Zeus and Preface respectively, Weidenfeld & Nicolson founder Lord Weidenfeld, as well as Orion authors and publishers including managing director Susan Lamb, deputy publisher Jon Wood, the Hairy Bikers, A A Gill, Lady Antonia Fraser, Lord Browne and Anthony Horowitz. Colleagues from throughout the industry, including rival publishing houses, joined in the celebration.
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Angelo Flippo
from Angelo Flippo on Wed, 07/03/2012 - 22:32Thanks a lot for the blog article.Really looking forward to read more. Many obliged.
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Certainly he would say that as his publisher just gave him a two book deal. What would he be saying if his publisher had decided that the vagaries of the market dictated they not give him a deal for whatever reason, often having nothing to do with the quality of the work as he alleges? Everyone is in a different situation and views publishing quite differently because of that. Because of that, certain views are apt to change as their situation changes.
We're back to the concept of publishers as gatekeepers. I view readers as gatekeepers.
Big name authors like Rankin owe a lot to their publishers but it's easier these days for authors to become established household names and to build their tribe of followers (Godin) if they self-publish rather than rely on the agent/publisher network, there is also a better and fairer distribution of revenues.
As with music and musicians or bands, the book and the published word is no longer hamstrung by an outmoded system of approval, editorial filters and mass market distribution model, and emerging authors writing for tight niches can satisfy their readers' tastes, needs and cravings more easily and spontaneously online and via mobile devices. Publishing is not cooked, it's thriving as never before thanks to the disintermediation in the marketplace.
The Future is here and many new players are quicker and smarter at identifying gaps and creating for them. The traditional barriers between magazines, books and video are blurring and community of interest and passion are the new Commercial Opportunity. Many publishers (fiction less so but non-fiction very much so) need to turn their businesses inside out, occupy niches, develop communities, embrace new digital skills, new methods of creating, curating and managing content and new styles of sales and marketing practices, with community at the centre point. Here is a link to a slideshare presentation of a talk I gave to cook book authors in Paris http://slidesha.re/Agdt46
People buy big name authors, and they buy the latest big news books by the big name authors. This is one of the toughest challenges when promoting books. As a publisher one of my main tasks is to help an author establish a name and a reputation, to help get press and media coverage, to enter them in awards and so on. To design a good cover and have a good quality print run so that bookshops will order and judges will consider the book for prizes.
Authors really need publishers to do this for them. I decided to keep my own novel with our company to be part of our 'family' of authors, and because I know how much we do for authors, but I'm not sure it was the best decision. Because of it I understand what it's like if you're both author and publisher and I wouldn't recommend it. I can promote our other authors in so many ways, and it would no doubt have been better to have a publisher doing that for me. Self promotion just doesn't work in the same way.
I also had to hire readers, editors and proofreaders for my own book, whereas that is all provided for our authors. I also hired a PR company, but they don't compare to a publisher in terms of the time and effort spent and genuine interest in wanting the author to succeed. It's expensive to be a self published author if you have a book professionally edited and promoted, so it's not the great egalitarian step forward many imagine.
I would just comment that it's a two-way street, and publishers, especially small publishers, need authors to market their books. What we provide as a publisher is professional graphics, professional editing, and professional marketing and PR services. So we help the author have a product that stands out from the crowd of books because of its look and content. However, we need the author to help us with our marketing efforts. Our model for business books is now a partnership model in all respects. We share revenue 50-50 with authors, but we also require authors to invest in their projects and to help us with marketing.
Yes, I agree that it needs to be a collaboration. We pay 10% of cover price in royalties, which can turn out to be more than a 50/50 share of revenue. We share ebook revenue 50/50. Authors can have a mistaken idea about how much profit a book makes, so we keep them well informed about everything we're doing for them and they do get a more realistic understanding. They do work with us to help promote books.
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