Is This the "Worst Publishing Environment"--or Best?

I recently received an email from the publisher of my book, Abundant Gifts (New Hope), which included a a press release from Publisher's Weekly "about the issues that are sending all publishers back to the drawing board."

It was entitled, "Worse Publishing Environment May Be On the Way" which summarized an address given by Simon & Schuster president and CEO Carolyn Reidy.

It was pretty gloomy, as the title suggests. Reidy spoke of critical issues facing publishers, including: "significant decrease in retail traffic, less consumer purchasing, a gloomy economic forecast, declining backlist sales, brand name authors continuing to sell but 'everything else is far off normal levels,' and retail partners who demand more favorable terms and concessions 'as if we are the answer to their problems,'" Reidy said. (That would tick me off, too. In my opinion, publishers already give retailers way too much--like complete return privileges. Don't get me started!)

Other pre-existing problems Reidy enumerated include retailers competing with publishers, low barriers to self-publishing, and "the economics of digital publishing that appear to bring in less revenue."

This latter puzzles me. I'm not sure what kind of digital publishing she means. Because my experience has been, digital publishing offers more profit margin--by far--than print books. A course taught via teleseminar with perhaps a print Study Guide--all deliverable via instant download, to be listened to when the consumer wants--can fetch a much heftier price than the typical $14.95-24.95 of a print book. And it costs almost nothing to deliver (compared to printing and distributing a printed book).

Yes, publishing is an industry in trouble, but as Reidy points out, it's been that way for a long time: "Ever since I have been in the publishing business it has been considered an industry in trouble … you could reliably mark your calendar that every few years the mainstream media would run a big thumb-sucking article signaling the end of our days." Reidy said publishers have met challenges in the past by "adapting to new realities, changing business practices and putting forth their best publishing efforts."

Reidy told PW that "now we have the chance to actually find the reader where they are spending their time-in front of a screen-and cement a relationship with them through e-mail newsletters, viral marketing, mobile delivery and other tools." Yes, yes, and yes!

Publishing as we knew it may be dying ... but if you look at it as simply a way of getting information out to people who want it, publishing will never die.

In fact, looked at this way, now may be the BEST time to publish and be an author.

You just may have to redefine what "publishing" and "being an author" mean. If publishing means only printing and distributing books ... well, that may be in big trouble. But if publishing means "getting information out to people who want it, in the ways they want to consume it, so that a profit can be made"--well, then the possibilities abound!

And if "being an author" means "being enough of an authority that you can garner a following, and serving your followers well by providing truly valuable content that they can consume when and how and where they desire ... then this truly is the best time to be an author.

The old publishing model is broken. But so what? As Reidy said, we can adapt to new realities, change business practices and put forth our best efforts, and we can reinvent what publishing means.

I call it the New Era of Publishing. And I for one am nothing but excited about what can come of it ... because I'm experiencing firsthand the many things that are working.

More on that later. For now, your comments? Oh, and if you have a question--ask it here. I answer questions on my Your Book Publishing Coach blog.