Eoin Purcell's Blog

It's that simple — and that hard. And that inescapable.

Month: February, 2010

February 27, 2010

Introducing The One Stop Self Publishing Conference – 16th October 2010

Eoin Purcell

Eoin Purcell, Conference Organiser

The face of publishing is changing. Digital print, print on demand, digital books and new online services are making it easier than ever to print and publish a book with or without the support of a big publisher or any publisher at all.

BUT, printing a book is just one part of the publishing process and many self-published authors simply don’t know where to start when it comes to getting into print.

They often waste money on services they don’t need or just aren’t appropriate for them. Or they make bad decisions simply because they don’t have basic information.

I found that frustrating and I still do. On the one hand, technology is opening up the potential to see your work in print despite the sometimes overwhelming barriers that the commercial industry puts up and yet, people’s efforts are being undermined by basic problems that could be surmounted by just a little knowledge.

I discussed the idea for a conference that would tackle these problems and offer a ONE STOP solution for authors with Vanessa O’Loughlin of Inkwell Writers Courses. Vanessa was taken with the idea and full of suggestions and energy. So together we worked out a schedule, gathered experts in the areas we felt had to be addressed and created THE ONE STOP SELF PUBLISHING CONFERENCE.

The One Stop Self Publishing Conference will solve dozens of problems for anyone who attends. We will tackle every step along the self publishing road, from editorial to PR. Speakers and panellists will include industry experts who have worked as professional writers and in the book publishing industry as editors, designers and commissioning editors. The Conference will also feature keynote speeches from authors who have self published with great success.

In short, The One Stop Self Publishing Conference will arm any writer with the tools and know-how to self publish properly and successfully.

Read about our sessions here and our speakers here
The first 50 participants to register can avail of the Early Bird Discount saving a full €30

Eoin Purcell is the founder of Green Lamp Media and editor of Irish Publishing News. He has previously worked as Commissioning Editor for Mercier Press and Publishing Manager for Nonsuch Ireland (now The History Press Ireland).
CROSS POSTED ON THE ONE STOP SELF PUBLISHING CONFERENCE BLOG

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February 27, 2010

Hughes & Hughes: It’s Anything But Simple

FOR FULL COVERAGE OF THE HUGHES & HUGHES STORY VISIT IRISHPUBLISHINGNEWS.COM

Over at MediaConact there’s a blog post that puts the blame squarely on high prices for Hughes & Hughes’ failure:

In the analysis of the failure of the business in the media today there is mention of high rents, and the move by consumers online as the main reasons for the closure of the chain. The truth behind the collapse is a little more simple. Their books were just far too expensive, with many titles being more than twice the price they are on Amazon. It maybe the prices were a direct result of the high running costs, but there is no way they could have survived by continuing to over charge customers.

Just before Christmas we wanted to buy 60 copies to the wonderful “Tribes” by US marketing Guru Seth Godin to send to customers as a thank you present. I phoned around and the price in Hughes & Hughes was €16 per copy. We ended up getting the books on Amazon.co.uk for just €7.50 per copy. The price was the same on Amazon whether we were was getting one copy or 70.

Do you see now why Hughes & Hughes is gone out of business?

I responded because I really felt that the post was far too simplistic in its analysis:

I agree and disagree with you on this. On the one hand H&H had a real challenge on Price in that Amazon and other internet retailers have a very impressive price advantage. But that can be easily explained.

* Amazon get a much higher % discount from publishers than even a chain like H&H did. That is one reason for the price differential.

* Secondly H&H sell much fewer books and unlike Amazon couldn’t make up for cheaper prices by relying on volume sales, especially in a small market like Ireland (Amazon buys and sells internationally).

* Thirdly and perhaps most importantly, H&H had bricks and mortar stores which Amazon does not. When you add in the distribution network that a Bricks and Mortar chain imposes and the redundant stock it very quickly becomes obvious that the kind of expenses imposed by real world bookselling is what made up for most of the price differential. It was unavoidable.

BUT, and this is important, many independents simply refuse to compete on prices and are doing pretty well. They tap customer need in their locality and provide services that a chain or Amazon simply can’t. So Price alone is not the reason why H&H closed. It didn’t help, of that I am sure, but given the thriving stores that sell at the same price or higher, I think it’s the wrong focus.

Not a good weekend for the Irish Publishing and Book Trades
Eoin

8 comments
February 19, 2010

Things Publishers Fear: #2 ~ Google (Over At Green Lamp)

The second part of my series about modern publishing over at The Green Lamp Media Blog:

The database brings the reality of competition with EVERY SINGLE BOOK EVER PUBLISHED into sharp focus for publishers as new books face increased real challenges from books published 10, 20, 300 years ago and in every conceivable context, on a phone, laptop, desk computer, iPad, iPod, wi-fi enable device, anything that connects to the cloud and has a screen (not to mention an increase in POD).

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February 19, 2010

Transworld Running A Literature Festival

The Bookseller reports today (19/02/2009) that Transworld will run a book festival featuring star authors:

LitFest 10 will be held in libraries across Hertfordshire from 25th March to 27th April. The event is being run by Transworld and Random House Children’s Books and will be promoted in independents such as Maher Books and Books@Hoddesdon, as well as local Waterstone’s branches.
As well as Child and Harris, other authors will include Channel 4 “TV Book Club” pick Belinda Bauer, John O’Farrell, teen authors Bali Rai and Anthony McGowan and S J Bolton.

This is a very interesting move and really highlights what a well positioned publisher can do to enable connections with readers outside of any social or online media. Why wait around for Hay or any other festival to invite your authors when you can rally a fine crop of excellent crowd pleasing writers yourself? The link up with independents is also a clever strategy.

I’m impressed and I hope it comes off for them. I’d expect to see more of this as publishers seek more effective ways to create audience engagement and to build lists and contacts.
Eoin

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February 17, 2010

Go Tell Declan To SELF-PUB His Book

Declan Burke has asked for reader feedback on whether he should self-publish his book:

The basic idea is that I set up a project with a total amount that needs to be raised (€2,570). I let people know where and how they can pledge their €7, and hopefully 367 people buy into the idea. If the amount is raised within a specific time period (three months, say), then your pledge is accepted and transferred to my bank account, and shortly afterwards you receive your copy of A GONZO NOIR; if the total amount isn’t reached in a specified period, all pledges are cancelled and it costs nobody anything, except possibly yours truly’s pride. For more information on the Kickstarter project, clickety-click here.
So there you have it. Any takers?

I’ve read Declan for some time now and love his style and think he has been unfortunate not to a much bigger star. Please go tell him to try this out and when he does, please pledge him some cash!

Eoin

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