Observations on Successful Publishing:
Controlling Your Own Destiny

by Bob Erdmann, Publishing Consultant

I recall my first ABA over three decades ago at the Shoreham Hotel in Washington, DC. It was as low key as low key can be. Two hours in the morning, a merciful two-hour lunch break, then a final two hours in the afternoon. Truly a "gentleman's" industry. The only attendees were bona fide booksellers visiting DC from all parts of America. How does that compare to today's frenzied marathons at McCormick Place in Chicago where foreign rights agents may soon outnumber the scarce blue badges of America's booksellers?

Much has been written recently, in this publication as well as others, about the horrendous situation concerning returns. Are returns a change in our industry? No. Has the policy been abused? Absolutely! Are we going to see this abuse end in our lifetimes? Maybe, maybe not. Do we have to let it control our destinies? Hell no! But let's not dwell solely on returns because there are many other factors which can influence successful publishing ventures.

The publishers that I have witnessed become successful during my rather long tenure in this industry are those who have found ways to control their own destinies, whether or not those ways followed conventional wisdom. Conventional wisdom may work if you're a conventional publisher. But who are the conventional publishers? Random House, Simon & Schuster, you? Probably the first two could be considered conventional publishers, but what about you? Do you publish hundreds, perhaps thousands, of new titles per year? Do you have a John Grisham, Stephen King, or Oprah Winfrey in your stable of authors? Do you have very deep pockets to help you over the cash-flow bumps? Possibly some of you may have answered "no" to these questions and for those who say "no" let me pose a question. How could you possibly consider yourself a conventional publisher by those standards? Therefore why bind yourself to playing by the same conventional rules? It's simply ludicrous! So why be conventional? Why not march to the beat of your own drum and do what works for you?

What's the strategy? I think it's more of a mindset than a strategy. First, I think today most small-sized to medium-sized publishers need to avoid falling into the trap of considering themselves or being perceived as a "general trade publisher." Publishing a mix of unrelated nonfiction and/or fiction titles places you in that trap and therefore narrows an already very narrow and tilted playing field. You are now going head to head with the Random Houses, Simon & Schusters, et al for sales, display and shelf space, publicity, budgets, etc. You're on the book trade's fast track that says your book is never going to sell better than during its first few weeks, so why give it any longer than that before returning it to you? If this isn't your idea of controlling your own destiny, read on.

Let's get back to those publishers who have found success by controlling their own destinies. What have they done? The most important thing I suspect that they did was to recognize that less than half of the books purchased by consumers are purchased through bookstores. Indeed, there is glamour and pride connected with saying that Barnes & Noble carries your book, your author had a signing at the local Borders, or the world's largest wholesaler (Ingram) carries your books. But what really matters is how many copies have been purchased and brought home by the consumer.

Now there are many ways that a consumer can purchase your books and the more options you create the better off you will be and the less vulnerable you make yourself. You're now controlling your own destiny! There's no magic formula that I am aware of that lists the exact trade channels through which a publisher must make its books available. But it certainly should be a no-brainer that a publisher doesn't want to be dependent on a very, very fickle book trade (bookstores & book wholesalers) to control its destiny.

Second, a successful publisher today needs to be focused. Focus on your readers (market), the content of your published works, wide and varied channels of distribution, marketing and, above all, profitability. I am saddened when I hear a publisher blast its distributor, wholesalers or retailers for not selling/ marketing its books. To me, it looks like the publisher is letting the tail wag the dog, allowing someone else to control its destiny and then complaining about it.

Third, maximize the value of your titles. Consider your publishing house as your net worth and each of your titles as individual assets. Is it prudent to keep all your wealth in a checking account? (Is it prudent to limit the sale of your books to the book trade?) Wouldn't you maximize your return by balancing your funds in limited risk investments? (Wouldn't you capitalize on your assets by selling translation rights, clubs, catalog houses, and direct mail, and reach the consumer via nontraditional markets?)

Finally, successful publishers create options for themselves. They talk to knowledgeable people, get advice, but don't have "knee-jerk" reactions to everything they hear. They qualify the advice from the publishing experts before heeding their sage wisdom.

Publish for all the right reasons! If there truly is a need for your book(s), and that doesn't mean self-gratification, there are many, many ways to be successful in our industry.

Find out what works best for you. Maintain a very broad base of methods to get your books into consumers' hands. Try several methods. Eliminate the mediocre and maximize what works best. Above all, be selfish and control your own destiny. Never, never bemoan the publishing industry. Simply understand it, and then figure out how it works best for you.

Bob Erdmann is a California-based publishing consultant. As a two-term President of PMA, he created the highly successful Trade Distribution Program that has gained $10 million in sales for PMA members. Erdmann's worldwide clients use his consulting services to help them reach that bestseller status.