Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware
As reported today in the Wall Street Journal, Thomas Nelson, a major independent Christian publisher, is adding a self-publishing line to its business.
Books from the new imprint, West Bow Press, will be designed, printed, and distributed by Author Solutions, the self-publishing mega-company whose brands include AuthorHouse, iUniverse, Trafford, Xlibris, and WordClay.
Per the WSJ article, "Thomas Nelson editors won't edit the self-published manuscripts, but they will monitor sales to identify potential big sellers. Specific terms of the arrangement weren't disclosed."
Certainly this is an indication of the ambition and clout of Author Solutions, which over the past couple of years has acquired several rival companies, and attempted--in my opinion extremely misleadingly--to reinvent itself as an "indie publisher".
But might it also be a sign of things to come in the commercial publishing world? According to the WSJ article, Nelson is "searching for new revenue as the book industry continues to struggle." And that potential for new revenue is large indeed; in 2008, according to PW, the number of on-demand and short-run titles (the bulk of which represent offerings by self-publishing companies) jumped by 132% (total growth since 2002: 774%), outstripping books produced by "traditional production methods". Not only does adding a self-publishing line allow a publisher to cash in this trend, it presents the possibility of monetizing rejections. By the same token, the self-publishing service's connection with a major publisher will be a major attraction for authors--especially if the publisher suggests that it may take the better-performing books commercial.
I've speculated before about the possibility that more commercial publishers may add self-publishing divisions in order to keep their core publishing business afloat, as has Jane Smith at her How Publishing Really Works blog. I don't often prognosticate about the future of publishing--but I have a hunch that this is something we'll see more of in coming years.
Edited 10/14 to add: Michael Hyatt of Thomas Nelson has written a long blog post about West Bow Press.
It appears that there will be a referral fee component to the program. Nelson is looking "to work with agents and consultants as 'WestBow Press Affiliates,' so that they can help more authors realize their dream of getting published. Rather than simply send a rejection letter, they can now offer a legitimate alternative and earn a referral fee in the process." Given the potential for abuse inherent in such referral programs, this is a dismaying development, and I hope that Nelson will reconsider.
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24 comments:
Victoria,
Obviously, we are very pleased to join with Thomas Nelson to offer this opportunity to a wider range of authors. It will give more authors the chance to have their works exposed to one of the world's greatest publishers.
Additionally, I'd like to address our positioning as an "indie book" publisher. The indie movement in films, and later music, has been led by artists who've been rejected by the large studios, or chosen not to work within their restrictive framework. These artists believe in their works, thus they choose to finance the production of their films and music or books rather than accepting no for an answer. They choose to get their work to the marketplace and let audiences decide on their quality.
That's where we draw the parallel with the "indie" movement.
Our authors have either not been accepted by a traditional publisher or want complete control of their works. As well, they believe in their work enough to finance it and tirelessly market it. I think most can agree this is a fair comparison.
Thanks for the platform.
Best,
Kevin A. Gray
Author Solutions, Inc
Joining traditional publishing with self-publishing is interesting.
If I want to be published by XYZ big publisher, I self-publish using their services & then do my darnedest to move my product and catch their attention.
It definitely takes the risk out of the equation for big publisher as I've already proven I can make money before they even look at me. On the other hand, I've now put all my eggs into one publishing basket.
For me personally, this isn't attractive, but for those already dong the self-publishing thing I can see why going through a big publisher might be desireable.
I wonder at price though. Is it cheaper to self-publish through this new imprint than any other Author Solutions service or is the sole draw the idea of being picked up on a more traditional contract?
Victoria, I actually think this is one of the most interesting news stories of the self publishing year and is highly significant, perhaps more for ASI than even Thomas Nelson.
I have just posted an article about this.
http://mickrooney.blogspot.com/2009/10/thomas-nelson-form-self-publishing.html
Lehcarjk,
I wonder at price though. Is it cheaper to self-publish through this new imprint than any other Author Solutions service or is the sole draw the idea of being picked up on a more traditional contract?
The prices being quoted by WestBow Press for a multiple of different packages start at $999 right the way up to $19,999. The base package at $999 is exactly that - pretty basic and delivers the bare essentials, though at the moment it is hard to judge book cover quality and interior layouts until we start to see the first few titles coming out. One can only assume these will be at the standard offered by AuthorHouse, Xlibris and the like. I would not consider them particularly competitive compared with other author solution services. But then authors will be drawn in on the reputation, not of Author Solutions, but Thomas Nelson.
The press releases and my perusal of both company sites (Thomas Nelson and WestBow Press) make it clear that Thomas Nelson are merely performing a watchful eye. Their editors, designers or marketeers will have no input into the self-published product.
What authors will be hoping for is that their opus flourishes under WestBow Press and catches the eye of a Thomas Nelson editor.
also, I do notice that many of the packages from the $2700 mark upwards mention 'reps' directly selling books. Now that can't be through Author Solutions - so one can only assume that Thomas Nelson may be providing some kind of indirect assistance or push on distribution. They don't acknowledge this - in fact they push this responsibility all over to ASI. But I wonder how much Thomas Nelson will sit on the fence and simply count the dollars as they come in.
Its a little like having a Ferrari and watching someone else drive it around all day. But then, self-publishing was never meant to be a Ferrari - maybe a beat-up old pick-up, but Thomas Nelson's beat-up old pick-up none-the-less!
Lehcavjt,
If this is the only real motivator for authors to chose the TN imprint over another imprint, then what TN is doing is putting a dollar sign on dreams.
That is certainly one way of looking at it, but this model of business for publishing has been tried with various companies with mixed success. Publishing companies have crossed the fence from both directions commercial publishers offering publishing services, and a publishing service offering a traditional contract.
I'm not sure there is anything wrong, as such, with these approaches - it is simply a reaction to a business which is changing very quickly.
I don't get these vanity presses? If the authors aren't even going to get basic editing, why don't they just use Lulu or CreateSpace?
I guess it is inevitable, in a way, especially in such a digital age, age of computers and things like that. And from a dollars and cents point of view, perhaps it makes sense.
If I were a publisher, I would likely be very tempted to have a "print on demand" division... sure, why not? It may very well help my bottom line and keep the company afloat when other authors' sales are down.
Interesting topic... vanity presses are not going to go away (and I'm not saying they should), so perhaps publishers (as well as authors) need to find a way to turn them into a win-win situation.
Thanks, Jill
www.jilledmondson.blogspot.com
The news that a reputable publisher is taking this move saddens me.
Vanity presses (no matter what they call themselves) offer the worst of both worlds: 1) the author pays up front (meaning no risk to the publisher - and no reason for them to make the book sell) and 2) the publisher then pays pitiful royalties (on the off chance a book actually sells) to boot.
I suggest any would-be authors reading this go straight to http://www.lightningsource.com (the company most vanity presses use anyway), click the publisher option and become a publisher.
If getting an ISBN worries you then believe me it is easy - pop me a message and I'll tell you exactly what you need to do - free of charge!
Doing this you'll see just how much of a markup the vanity presses make. Plus you will then be able to buy copies of your book at a reasonable price and keep any profit from sales.
Joe Gregory
co-author of The Wealthy Author
PublishingAcademy.com
Kevin A. Gray:
It will give more authors the chance to have their works exposed...
I'm sceptical of this kind of verbiage. It's vanity-house speak, this time with the added incentive of being offered to "go commercial" with a respected house.
Careful consideration is in order here. If the manuscript really has enough commercial appeal for Thomas Nelson to pick up and reprint, you can probably sell first rights for a better deal elsewhere, without first having to shell out for the self-pub.
BTW. If Thomas Nelson picks up a book this way, will they refund the author's initial outlay?
BTW. If Thomas Nelson picks up a book this way, will they refund the author's initial outlay?
An excellent point Erin, though somehow I can't see TN refunding the author for their self-publishing expenses paid to Author Solutions. After all, TN must be getting some form of commission from Author Solutions for giving them more business in the first place.
I question the "Westbow Affiliate Program" they're starting to encourage agents to refer rejected writers to them (as seen here): http://michaelhyatt.com/2009/10/should-you-consider-self-publishing.html
I don't know if the AAR has any concerns about programs like that, but to me it just smells bad. Thoughts?
What's even sadder is that West Bow Press used to be a regular publisher itself. So how does that affect people who are published with West Bow (or Westbow) already? Do they have to then overcome the vanity-press label? Do they have to spend a lot of time explaining how they aren't with "that" Westbow?
There is NOTHING about this arrangement that sounds, or smells, good...from the name on down. I'm astonished that TN would resort to this kind of foolishness.
JB
Adding linkage to Mick Rooney's blog post on Nelson, West Bow, and Author Solutions. Mick comments that "This is a shrewd and significant move by Author Solutions—perhaps one of the most significant moves ever in the relatively short modern history of author solution services globally." I agree.
Mick also lists the hefty prices for West Bow's publishing packages.
Kevin Gray said,
The indie movement in films, and later music, has been led by artists who've been rejected by the large studios, or chosen not to work within their restrictive framework. These artists believe in their works, thus they choose to finance the production of their films and music or books rather than accepting no for an answer...That's where we draw the parallel with the "indie" movement.
In my opinion, this isn't an accurate parallel. True self-publishing--where the author does everything him/herself and keeps 100% of the sales proceeds--is comparable with these indie artists. But the kind of self-publishing provided by Author Solutions and similar companies isn't like that. As I pointed out in my post Why You Are Probably Not an Indie Author, writers who publish with a self-publishing company grant limited licenses to their work, are dependent on whatever choice of services and distribution the company provides, do not own their ISBN number, and must give the lion's share of every sale to the company. In other words, they are not truly independent.
Actually, I hesitate to call this self-publishing at all. If you don't own the ISBN and you pay-to-play by someone else's rules, with the lion's share of whatever profit there is going to the house...that's vanity/subsidy.
Calling it indy-publishing instead doesn't really turn it into something roguish and trailblazing.
Hello Victoria,
With all the blogs and comments buzzing through the blogsphere, I would say this is a change of earthquake significance - 7.5 on the Richter scale. What remains to be seen is whether this "seismic activity" brings any actual value - with the new(?) brand - to Thomas Nelson's bottom line. Check back with them next year to see if it made any significant difference.
"May we all live in 'interesting' times." ;>)
Be blessed,
Lynnda
What on earth is a reader to do? Just because a book is published near a big publishing house or on the same planet as a big publishing house or the book is written in English (the same language used by a big publishing house in the US, Canada, or UK) doesn't mean that the book is *any darn good*. I am so sorry but I don't *care* about the writer's dream -- I care about reading a good book.
Janny wrote:
What's even sadder is that West Bow Press used to be a regular publisher itself. So how does that affect people who are published with West Bow (or Westbow) already? Do they have to then overcome the vanity-press label? Do they have to spend a lot of time explaining how they aren't with "that" Westbow?
If I were a former WestBow author, I'd be really annoyed. Many bookstores still have backlist titles with the WestBow imprint on the shelves. This is going to lead to confusion once the newer titles come out. People might buy one of the self-published books "Because they pubished Ted Dekker" or whatever author they like. Once people have been burned, backlist sales of those existing WestBow authors could suffer unless those titles are brought out under yet another imprint.
I don't buy many Christian novels (except some historicals lately), but even I recognize WestBow and the cute little logo. So fans of Christian novels will be sure to at least look at one of the new WestBow books, thinking they will get a guarantee of the level of quality they expected from that imprint in the past.
Money flows TO the writer. Not the other way around.
This is vanity press, pure and simple. No matter how you try and dress it up or validate the business model, it's a vanity press.
Kenneth,
Money flows TO the writer. Not the other way around.
This is vanity press, pure and simple. No matter how you try and dress it up or validate the business model, it's a vanity press.
I don't think Victoria or anyone here - those who carefully assesses what is happening in the publishing business - are trying to dress up anything. The reality is - whatever you think of vanity presses - they are a part of the overall publishing industry and are used by authors, albeit, many inexperienced authors. To ignore this is simply to ignore the elephant in the room.
A vanity press repositioning itself as an indy is like Hannibal Lector repositioning himself as a chef.
Yes, again, wonderfully emotive language. But as I have said, Hannibal is cooking away in the corner of the publisher room. We can either pretend we don't smell some author's brain cooking away, or we can choose to rewrite the cookbook.
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