Publishing Trends

Ann Coulter, contentious as she is, saw page views (and book sales) skyrocket when she launched her website www.anncoulter.com. “A website that’s an instant hit is like having 10 Oprahs at once,” Joni Evans, ex-William Morris agent and Coulter rep said. “It really is the future.”

To better understand agents’ involvement in their authors’ e-lives, PT invited 400 agents to participate in a survey* with questions that ranged from: How often do you read a blog to How do the following platforms raise an author’s value to the publisher? Below are some responses from our online survey and follow-up interviews.

Market Your Books Online!
(But We’re Not Sure If You’ll Sell Any Books)

While virtually all agents (98.1%) encourage their authors to market their books online, some are more optimistic than others about the influence that an online presence and promotion has on sales – most don’t (and don’t know how) to quantify online efforts as they relate to hard revenue.

Wendy Sherman said, “It’s more a place to have in case someone who has read a book wants more information. It’s definitely important, but I can’t know if it sells more books.”

So what should agents be pushing, and what do authors need to do? Carol Fitzgerald, President and Founder of the Book Reporter Network, suggests, “The more interaction with fans without the message being diluted the better. The voice, tone and attitude is the most important – not a commercial message. What works is when the site feels like a personal message written in the same style that the author usually writes in,” she said.
The majority of respondents say it is almost mandatory that their authors have websites (72% found author websites – either static and/or interactive – to be crucial). Jud Laghi, Ex-ICM-er and current agent at LJK Literary Management, said that for authors, “The website is always there. It’s your identity. A book is solid, permanent – it can’t update itself. With a website, you can shift around.” Laghi gave the example of a successful website for the first book he sold – The Hipster Handbook (created by author Robert Lanham) – which, at the height of the site’s popularity in February 2003 was receiving 500,000 hits a day for a month. One of the most buzz-worthy features on the site was an “Are You a Hipster” quiz that was linked to on numerous blogs and websites.

Three-quarters of agents said that they’ve advised at least one author on building an online community of fans – from getting authors to set up a mailing list sign-up on their homepage, to recommending web designers, to MySpace consulting to proffering advice on all things online. Many emphasized the importance of harvesting emails – either through a database of loyal readers, a guest book, email blasts, etc. – which they may or may not share with the publisher (agents were split down the middle, with a slightly higher percentage, 54.9%, saying that they do share).

“In my experience, the key to internet marketing is making sure the author’s and the publisher’s marketing activities are coordinated across all marketing channels and push the online component,” one respondent said. “Sales, publicity, promotion, advertising – all of these things need to mention the book’s or the author’s online presence. This means that as an agent, I try to make my authors and their publishers discuss marketing places several months in advance of a books release, so that each party knows who will be doing what and when.”

The question is, who should be doing what and when? Who is responsible for developing and maintaining an author’s online presence? Agents? Publishers? Authors? Outside firms?

Increasingly, responsibility is falling on authors themselves to create and maintain their online world. John Burke, VP of FSB Associates said that more and more the company is working with authors directly. “For Web publicity projects, the authors account for about 20% of our business, but for Web site development it’s probably about 60%. I think it is a healthy sign that more and more authors are taking the lead when it comes to their online identity.”

At Bookreporter, Fitzgerald estimates that they are approached to design and market author websites 50% of the time by authors and 50% by publishers. She emphasized that the point isn’t to eschew synergy, but instead create a place where the author can connect directly with his or her fans. “Publishers do not want to build and maintain author websites,” she said. “It’s a lot of work to stay on top of, and in the end the author is really the only one who can make it work.”

Fitzgerald has been going out to agencies to explain what services the Bookreporter offers – managing, designing and editing sites. “We show them what we do, tell them about some success stories,” Fitzgerald said. “It’s not just taking out a full page ad,” Fitzgerald said. “You have to see what will work with each author. There’s more needle to the internet.”
For the most part, websites created by third parties are funded by the authors (very occasionally by the publishers, and never by the agents). Respondents held varied opinions as to how much an author website costs, with estimates ranging from under $1,000 to more than $50,000 (see chart below). However, nearly half (40.9%) responded that the annual cost of maintaining a site once it was created to be under $1,000. The majority (66.7%) thought that the person in charge of maintaining the site should be the author him/herself, and that s/he should spend either 1-5 hours per week doing so (41.7%) or 5-10 hours per week (41.7%).

Liza Dawson said that she’s seen a definite increase in how willing authors are to promote themselves and eat the cost. “Essentially, the price will come down. But, authors need to get in the habit of promoting their books all year long. They’re too dependent on publishers. I worry that they’re too passive.”
One respondent gave the example of a bestselling novelist-client who spends well over $100,000 every year on marketing on her own – completely separate from her publisher’s six figure marketing budget.

While not every author can spare thousands out of their own pockets, many are finding innovative ways to come up with the tools they need – friends, family members, that teenager down the street. “Most authors can create their website easily,” Richard Curtis, Agent and Founder of ereader.com said. “With templates, through an old college buddy, it doesn’t need much – just a picture, a bio and some covers. For under $1000 they should be able to create everything they need. I don’t know any authors that aren’t receptive to the idea of creating a web presence. I don’t know anyone who would say, ‘no, manuscript only.’ None are that primitive.”

Publishers do sometimes foot the cost, depending on the project. One book that LJK’s Laghi repped, Why Do Men Have Nipples, didn’t have a website even after massive media coverage and an appearance on the Today Show. “It was when they were doing 75-100,000 reprints a week that the publisher paid for the site – once the momentum justified payment.” Laghi said such an instance is rare, and often publishers will only go as far as registering a domain name. “It’s not up to an agent,” Laghi said. “But it’s in your best interest to make sure your authors are doing their best to succeed. It’s difficult to get people to put money on the table.”

Do Publishers Care About Digital Bells & Whistles?

Although almost half of respondents consider a static author website to be “crucial”, only 28% think that having a site “significantly raises the advance” when submitting manuscripts to a publisher. In fact, most agents responded that many web-based platforms (blogs, chapter excerpts, online columns, wikis, interactive author sites) matter little, or do not matter at all to publishers when agents are pitching a book.

Still, some agents help their authors to build some sort of web- based platform before putting a book up for auction. “As soon as I mention a name to an editor, I can hear the editor’s fingers clicking away at the keys,” Curtis said. “And I know that they’re Googling the name, looking at their Amazon ranking, etc.” Curtis said that he now routinely invites publishers to “click and bid” on the “web-based pitches” he sends them – a digital “visual package” that includes author website links and videos among other things – allowing publishers to simply click a link, see the necessary information, and bid in an instant.

Although Curtis said that all authors should have a website – as it is key to identifying and locating an author online – he has nothing against a static site. “All of those bells and whistles don’t necessarily enhance a publisher’s appreciation of an author. The minimum should be a static site as long as it’s colorful and informative.” Videos, for example, aren’t necessary for every book. But for the high-profile books where the Curtis Agency has pulled out all of the stops, the effort has resulted in good sales.

In addition to whether web efforts by the agent up the selling price, PT asked whether a publisher’s internet marketing strategy was a consideration when submitting a project. Most agents were on the fence with similar numbers saying that it wasn’t a factor at all, 14%, and that it was a high priority, 12%, (the majority of respondents, 57%, said it was a factor only sometimes or rarely).

Agency Websites

The majority of agents (80.4%) have agency websites, and many more are in the process of developing one. Some, like the Wylie Agency are minimalist, with no cover thumbnails, and an unlinked list of clients. Others, like LJK’s site are extensive and easy-to-navigate with PDF submissions guidelines, agent information, author and title info with large cover thumbnails with click-thru to multiple etailers, and numerous outbound and internal links.

Laghi, the point person at LJK when the agency designed their website this year, said, “We wanted to have information on the site,” so that if, for instance, “someone Googles The Expected One, they can see rights information quickly – who the co-agent is, etc.”

Just as with author websites, Fitzgerald said that the features of successful agent websites vary depending on the agency, their client list, and who they are hoping to attract to the site. Cover thumbnails are great for example, but not always necessary. Linking to online retailers is always good (“the click should always be there so as not to lose a sale”) – but both agents and authors should always include more options that just Amazon. And, of course, there are the numerous consumers who still browse online and purchase in stores. (The Bookreporter now offers a text only print out/shopping list of books that readers can take to the store with them.)

While 97% of respondents claim to feature authors on their website, in interviews (and through a survey of agent websites) it seems that the percentage is actually lower – perhaps around 65-75%. Almost half of respondents claimed that they offer links to buy authors’ titles from their site – a number that again seems high, perhaps a product of the sample demographic, or a misunderstanding of the nature of the link. (On further investigation, we found that many sites may offer links to author pages which in turn link to etailers, but that only about a quarter of agent sites link directly).

Agents, authors and publishers are still trying to figure out what each brings to the party, defining an refining their approach.

“Finally our business is doing more than playing catch up,” Bob Mecoy, of Creative Book Services, said. “We’re throwing money, brain cells and sweat at the issue, and we hope that we’ll see truly effective strategies. Still, I haven’t seen anyone who’s found the basic mix that’s repeatable yet. That’s when we’ll know that it works – when it can be spread across a category, a line, a profile.”