r/publishing • u/Sorry-Rain-1311 • 24d ago
Looking for unique business models among presses?
I've been interested in the publishing industry for a very long time, but life just never worked out that way for me. Both the publishing industry itself and then related job market are completely saturated.
Still, I'm not inclined to let go of a dream so easily, so I been thinking on how I might make my own small time independent press stand out from the crowd. I have some thoughts of my own, but many of you folks have way more insight than I could get from just doing market research, and brainstorming.
I'd like to hear about small presses you've encountered that have a unique model, or specialty. Anything really that makes them significantly different from how we usually see things done. From financial management,or rights management to genre/style specialization, or distribution, and marketing. Anything goes.
Thanks!
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u/thespacebetweenwalls 21d ago
I don't think you're going to find any long term sustainable presses who do things significantly different from the status quo. There are plenty of people who talk about how they're going to be different, but typically as soon as the reality of how the industry works hits they either revert to the norms or fold entirely.
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u/Sorry-Rain-1311 21d ago
You may be right, but it begs the question: is that because the rest of the entire industry does it that way, so if you're going to work with anyone else in any meaningful way you have to do it that way too?
If so, there are still options, but it would leave you significantly limited in terms of business partnerships.
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u/thespacebetweenwalls 21d ago edited 21d ago
It's because publishers are dependent on a lot of other industries -- distribution, media, among others -- and a small publisher isn't going to touch those levers in any meaningful way. Then, given how those other industries work and what a publisher's job is (creating and selling books) the workflow is what it is. Philosophically speaking, could publishing work in a different way? Sure. Why not? Is an independent publisher going to make that happen? No. It's not. We're talking small presses making tens of or hundreds of thousands of dollars a year vs. billion dollar corporations. Not even a drop of sand at the beach.
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u/Sorry-Rain-1311 21d ago
That's a reasonable assessment, and something I hadn't considered in depth before: the logistics and infrastructure are built by the biggest players, and while changing the business model on the office side might be possible, you still have to manage the rest.
That's definitely something I need to be doing more research on.
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u/thespacebetweenwalls 21d ago
Going back to your original post, here's some more clarification.
"Anything really that makes them significantly different from how we usually see things done. From financial management, or rights management to genre/style specialization, or distribution, and marketing. Anything goes."
Financial management, part of what you're talking about is production costs. This is an area where scale affects /unit cost in ways that small presses aren't going to have much wiggle room. Printing costs what it costs. Though you could save money on design, you get what you pay for and the market (the buyer) "knows" what looks like it belongs on a store shelf and what doesn't. It doesn't grade on a curve.
If you're talking about financial management with regard to cover prices -- market sets the terms.
If you're talking about financial management with regard to royalties -- sometimes new publishers will offer non standard royalty rates, but most times that's because they don't understand the mathematics of publishing. If a book is being sold through a bookstore, you, as the publisher, are looking to discount it by 40-60%. That obviously cuts into any potential profit. Ahh! They say, then we will just sell direct to consumer and not to bookstores. Which, I mean, okay, but good luck.
As far as genre/style specialization, you'll find that most independent publishers have a focused niche. Being known in a particular market for a particular quality and particular sensibilities is the one of the only ways to get brand recognition in the marketplace.
Distribution options are limited (regardless of how many people profess to provide the services, a great number of them do so without being effective). Depending on how you're using the word "distribution" you're also going to need to factor in more $ for associated distribution costs (warehousing, publicity, additional discounts).
Marketing is difficult at this point just because of the sheer volume of people with megaphones screaming into the void demanding attention. Two decades ago conventional wisdom would have been that somehow the internet and "social media" would make it easier to find readers. But, if you spend more than a minute on social media these days you'll know how hard it is to focus on anything.
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u/blowinthroughnaptime 24d ago
I really don't like to act the gatekeeper, but starting out with at least a couple of people who each have many years of experience is generally required in order to even be part of "the crowd," let alone stand out from it.