This Business of Publishing by Curtis Richard;

Author:Curtis, Richard;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.
Published: 1998-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

13

What's New? Don't Ask!

AS A BUSINESSMAN, I TRY TO KEEP up with technological advances in order to maintain an acceptable level of service and efficiency, and to keep up with the competition. My agency has computerized its record- and bookkeeping systems, acquired state-of-the-art word processors, overhauled its primitive (early nineties) telephone system, and was among the first in its field to develop a Web site. So, I don't think anybody can accuse me of hostility to the march of progress. Yet, some recent applications of electronic technology have made me feel like little more than a well-dressed allosaurus and left me wondering whether the publishing business as we know it will be recognizable by the end of the century, or even the end of the week. Though many of my agency's authors make their livings speculating on the fantastic, I'm not sure that even science-fiction writers are aware that current techniques of writing, producing, and distributing books are transforming with breathtaking speed. If they don't keep up, writers may end up in the same tar pit as literary agents.

For example, not long ago, the mailman delivered to my office the catalogue for the list of books scheduled for a newly created publisher. The printed catalogue was typical as printed catalogues go. But it was accompanied by the first—to my knowledge—book catalogue produced on videotape. Anybody interested in learning what this house was up to could not only browse through its publication list, but see its titles presented live and in color on videocassette. MTV has come to the world of books.

Some twenty-one works of fiction and nonfiction are introduced in the video catalogue, utilizing a television magazine format. There are interviews with authors, dramatizations, pictorial exhibitions, and other imaginative techniques. While most publishing people skim catalogues in a matter of minutes, the video format tantalizes your curiosity from book to book, making it hard to reach for the fast-forward button. Even more significant, while many of the same books in a conventional printed catalogue might be forgettable, every title in the video catalogue made a memorable impression on me. Some of those books are undoubtedly midlist, but they all felt like lead titles.

The video catalogue approach offers an interesting and considerably less expensive alternative to the elaborate sales conferences conducted semiannually by the most important publishers today, and it might one day replace the travelling sales representative. If other publishers follow this publisher's lead, we may see dramatic changes in the way that publishers display their wares to the book trade.

Another innovation utilizing up-to-date technology combines the television and telephone to promote books. Your favorite author appears on a cable television commercial and pitches his new book, inviting you to call a certain 900 telephone number to hear his recorded message. After seeing and hearing the pitch, you trot out to your local bookstore to buy the book.

At first, hearing this may not sound particularly revolutionary to you. But suppose I told you that the campaign doesn't cost the publisher a penny.

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