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Countdown
Version 2.0 – The Publishing Side Of course, the $17,000 question was rhetorical.
I did get a few e-mails from some of you offering to help me brainstorm a
few ideas. Some of you had some
interesting ones, too, even though I wasn’t necessarily looking for help. The answer, in short is, I have the money already to start
this up. I posed it more as a way
of sparking some thought. I’ve
seen a lot of people decide to enter the publishing fray and not have the means
to do so. As a result, fledgling
outfits fold before they even get a chance to unfurl their wings. It’s disheartening on all sides as it leaves the
publisher’s name in shambles as well as those of the authors they might have
dealt with. And then there are the
disgruntled consumers… This isn’t an easy thing, nor is it to be entered into
lightly. I knew going in what I
wanted to accomplish, where I wanted to go, and how I was going to do it.
I have a tight schedule planned out (as you’ll see) and if things
progress as they should, it’s going to be exciting and fun to watch. Back to the business at hand, however.
When we last left off, I was discussing the importance of direct sales,
especially with a new outfit like Maelstrom.
Direct sales are the best way to help get an outfit off the ground
because all the money goes to the publisher (and then the author) without a
middleman collecting a share. But retail sales are also an important cog in the wheel of
business, so allowances have to be figured in for them as well.
Based on a print run of 750 books, I calculated that I could sell 150
copies at a wholesale price (normally, this is a discount of 40%) to other
booksellers. If I could then sell
600 copies directly from the Maelstrom site and at personal appearances, that
would more than earn back my initial investment, allow a small profit and
reinvestment for the next Maelstrom project. Why wholesale at all?
It comes down to distribution. The
retail outlets I’ll wholesale the book to have an established customer base.
They can push product that I might not be able to push as well.
It helps gets the name out there. It
helps bring more future customers into the fold.
Even if they only ever order from the retail outlets, they’ll still be
looking out for Maelstrom Books. And
that’s what every business needs to succeed: constant demand for quality
product. That 150-copy number is firm, also.
If the retailers sell over that amount, it will affect Maelstrom’s
bottom line to supply any more at that 40% discount.
For now, that doesn’t seem to be an issue.
I’m placed with several retailers and am working on contacting a few
more. Again, distribution, even for a small press, is vitally
important. I don’t want to just
reach out to the online bookstores, but also to have a presence in some of the
brick-and-mortar places as well. Each
will have a different client base and I’m trying to get penetration into each
one. Especially since The Kensei
will be Maelstrom’s debut project, our launch has to be awe-inspiring, if at
all possible. A lot of the grizzled old small press vets will look at a
number of 600 direct sales, shake their heads, and smile or grumble.
“Impossible,” they’ll say. “Can’t
be done. Not by a new guy
on the block.” And maybe it hasn’t been done before this, I don’t
know. But I do know that while I
haven’t yet sold the 600 copies direct, I have already met my initial goal and
am well-positioned to meet my next level goal before the holidays descend upon
us. How? I’m not
entirely sure, to be honest. I’ve
attempted to create buzz about this project.
Certainly this newsletter is one method of getting people to read about
Maelstrom on a constant basis. I’ve
serialized The Kensei into a weekly e-book that you get delivered for
free right to your inbox (TheKensei-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
if you want to check it out) that has resulted in a flood of new direct orders
and does so each time another chapter goes out. I’ve also launched a media blitz to announce the project.
Publisher’s Weekly is running a nice-sized article on Maelstrom
Books some time in December. I
answered some follow-up questions last week and the reporter is excited about
the press and its future plans. Add to this the fact that I have an established fan base
for my fiction-- people who are demanding the next Lawson Vampire installment
– and 600 doesn’t seem unattainable at all.
In fact, with the most recent chapter of The Kensei I sent out, I
suggested readers get their pre-orders in soon as the copies are going fast. Perception also has a lot to do with it.
If people perceive a project is worth getting behind, they’ll buy it.
There’s a huge market of collectors out there, some of whom buy
multiple copies to both read and resell for profit. So, between die-hard fans, curious onlookers, and
collectors, 750 copies of Maelstrom’s first book, The Kensei, will
vanish quick enough I’d expect. Add
to that the excitement that will be created upon unleashing samples of the bonus
comic artwork, and some added extras and I have every reason to be as optimistic
about the future as ever. I also recently announced Maelstrom Books’ second
project-- a sleek urban thriller titled Sins of the Flash by David Niall
Wilson. David’s fiction has
impressed me greatly over the years and he’d been developing this book for a
while. I can say it’s unique in
its approach and nail-biting in its intensity.
I’m pleased as hell to be bringing it out within the next year.
Pre-orders for this are also being accepted at Maelstrom’s site at http://www.maelstrombooks.com/order.html.
For collectors and fans, I also recently announced that famed artist JK
Potter has been commissioned to do the cover art for Sins of the Flash. Next week, more about publicity and more on the numbers. Thanks for reading! Countdown Version 2.0 is copyrighted 2004 by Jon F. Merz. All rights reserved. This newsletter may be reproduced and posted anywhere, provided the content remains unchanged and the contact information is included. Jon F. Merz is the author of six novels (The Fixer, The Invoker, The Destructor, The Syndicate, and Danger-Close), including the forthcoming book The Kensei from his publishing company, Maelstrom Books. His short fiction has been most recently seen in From the Borderlands and Vicious Shivers. He lives outside Boston, Massachusetts with his wife and son. |
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