Several times in the past few months I've looked for a specific book because of an article I read or a podcast I heard. (That's a big thumbs up for marketing.) But the book was only available in hardcover or paperback.
Why?
Some indie authors say that potential readers can “search on my blog for the posts.” While that is literally true, very few blogs are organized like a book. For example, I've been writing this blog since 2003. All my books have elements from this blog. But my blog is not organized like a book.
I want to read a book, not search through blog posts for the “same information.” (If you wrote the book well, you refined the blog posts, so it's not the same information.)
Traditional publishers wait to publish the ebook because they think the early buyers will pay more for the hardcover. That might be true for Very Famous People. Or for coffee table books. Or for Very Important Books that too many people don't read. But most of us know that the hardcover is much more expensive than paper. And often, the paper is more expensive than the ebook. (Very few writers are Famous or Important enough to merit this business of early buyers paying more.)
These publishers try to maximize their revenue, not provide the reader with the best possible experience. That's one strategy—and it's shortsighted.
Instead, consider all the pieces of a publishing strategy and how each affects the users, both the buyers and readers.
Publishing Strategy Requires Thinking About Users
Many publishers think readers only buy and then read in only one of these categories:
- Ebooks
- Paper
- Hardcover (and this might include large print)
- Audio
While that might be true for libraries, because of their funding, it's not true for people who buy books. Many people who buy books fall into two or three categories. Some readers start with the ebook and then buy a paper or hardcover format. Some readers start with audio and then buy one of the other formats. And so on.
I don't like to read in paper—I much prefer ebooks. (That's a function of how I prefer to take notes and my wrists. Too often, paper/hardcover books hurt my wrists. And I only hear out of one ear, so I don't like audiobooks because they are “too long.” I can listen to a podcast and know I'll be done “soon.” Not so with audiobooks.)
I have my reading preferences and you have yours.
But from the publishing perspective, once the writer finishes writing the book, it's all digital bits. Why not publish in all the possible formats and allow the reader to choose? (I am glossing over the various print formats and how that's different from ebooks. Worse, audio requires changes to those bits. That makes audio a different problem, so I'll address that in the future.)
When we publish in all possible formats, we treat our books as if they are products. Not some format to pry the most money out of a reader now or a product that will expire after some time.
The more a publisher optimizes for immediate money now, the writer's marketing falls flat and pushes the potential buyer away. That's because we are not treating our books as if they are products.
Product Thinking Requires Several Strategies
If we consider books as products, we need these strategies:
- Product strategy: That includes the problems the book solves for that book's ideal readers. This strategy helps the writer decide what's in and out of a given book.
- Product marketing strategy: How to find those ideal readers. Most successful writers use several tactics to implement a given book's marketing strategy.
- Product distribution strategy: How the user can acquire the book, which includes where to sell which formats.
Product distribution strategy is about customer acquisition.
(Note: I am just starting to write these ideas down, so I retain the right to change the terms in the future as I think more.)
Think about the software products you use every day. How many of them live on your computer as an application and how many live in the cloud? That's the product distribution strategy.
Readers don't “buy” ebooks or audiobooks from most distributors. Instead we license them—we're not supposed to resell them because it's a license*, not a sale. That's similar to a subscription-based application that lives in the cloud.
(* If you buy an ebook or audiobook directly from the author, you often own it. It's your copy to do with as you wish.)
On the other hand, we literally buy paper books. They are ours. We can choose what to do with them later: sell them, give them away, put them in our libraries and hope our children don't hate us when we die.
When publishers choose to limit either the format or the distribution, I wonder about their product strategies. Why wouldn't they give all possible readers an opportunity to buy the book?
But when traditional publishers offer a hardcover-only edition first, I know they're focusing on immediate revenue over long-term customer retention. I've never found short-term thinking as useful as long-term.
Consider pirate metrics for a book's product strategy.
Pirate Metrics Explain Why Books Need Product Thinking
The pirate metrics are: customer acquisition, activation, retention, referral, revenue.
When writers or publishers choose their marketing strategy and use effective tactics, they can “acquire” customers in the sense that the customer is interested. However, customer “activation” (as in buying) depends not only on the problems the book solves but on the price of the book. (Not talking about pricing in this post.) The story I told in the beginning of this post? Those writers had created a marketing strategy that hooked me.
However, even though I was interested, I did not buy because my preferred way to read was not available. In pirate metrics terms, I was not activated. Worse, I no longer remember which books they were, so the publisher cannot retain me. I'm not referring people to those books. And the immediate or lifetime revenue from my purchases? A big fat zero.
That does not create a bestselling book.
Bestselling books consistently sells copies week after week, year after year. That requires a product marketing strategy so people know about the book (a form of acquisition). Then, people need to be able to buy the book because you have an effective product distribution strategy (activation).
How many ways can people buy the book? Several options at different prices allow the publisher to use the anchoring effect. Three book options, such as ebook, paper, and hardcover can create more demand for the middle option.
However, when publishers restrict their formats, and therefore reduce the anchoring effect, they make it difficult to create a bestselling book. Unless you are Very Famous or wrote a Very Important book.
Instead of focusing on short-term revenue, create a product focus that allows the reader to choose which format to buy and when. And that's all about your product strategy.
Books Are Products
Books need product strategies for the ideal reader, the marketing, and the distribution. That means writers decide on the overall product strategy: who is the ideal reader, the content they need and the form of that content.
But the product focus does not end there:
- Create a marketing strategy to attract readers
- Choose a distribution strategy to activate and retain those readers.
Other products use the anchoring effect. Writers and publishers can do the same. That's why I urge you to consider multiple formats for the same bits: ebook, paper, and hardcover.
But as you think about your book, treat your book as if it's a product—because it is. Allow your potential readers to buy your book in the format that works for them.