ACP members get a sneak peek, share ideas for BookRiff
September 18, 2009
In a group web conference this morning, members of the Association of Canadian Publishers were taken behind the scenes to view a site demonstration of BookRiff-in-construction. In its last few days of private beta development, the software is now a bare-bones framework of a site with the potential to be an essential tool in every publisher’s belt. For now, it raises a lot of questions, and it’s our job to answer them. Here are a few of the points discussed today:
1. Pricing: How should publishers price their books and chapters on BookRiff?
BookRiff is an entirely new model for publishing, but that doesn’t mean it introduces a complex new formula of costs, revenues, and profit share for publishers to digest. In fact, that’s precisely what we’ve tried to avoid. The BookRiff business model lets publishers (and other content creators) determine their own revenues, because they set the price and receive 100% of that price each time a Riff of their content is printed. The rest of the model is just as transparent, making it easy for publishers to predict the final cost of a Riff, and then set their content costs accordingly.
Let’s take an example: A publisher wants to create a BookRiff version of a 250 pg. frontlist book with 5 pages of extra materials from the author. The book is listed at $28.95. In this case:
- The Riff base fee, including print costs (paid by Riff purchaser) = $7.73
- Book content price = publisher’s desired price of BookRiff version, minus $7.73
- Publisher’s revenues = publisher’s book content price
So, if the publisher wanted to sell the Riff at the book list price, the content cost (and also revenue) would be $28.95 − $7.73 = $21.22
And, if that book were divided into 12 chapters, each chapter might be priced at $21.22 ÷ 12 = $1.77
The next, more complex, underlying question here is: What is the value of a Riff? The way I see it, it’s up to you: the publishers, and you: the Riff composers, and you: the buyers to decide. It’s an open market, after all: your content will speak for itself.
2. Publisher channels vs. Author channels vs. Other Creator channels: whose work is whose and how do you know?
Like the first question, there’s a simple answer and a more annoying, you-decide one. The simple response is that only copyright owners can upload their content to BookRiff, or license others to do so. Each time a BookRiff Creator, be it a publisher, an author, or another individual, makes content publicly available through their creator channel, they must claim ownership of that work. They can only do that if they have an account, set up with a credit card and a TOS agreement.
Now that copyright infringement is put aside, there’s still a question of interaction between users on BookRiff. Who creates Riffs: authors, publishers, or fans? The answer: yes, perhaps, if they’re keen, and who knows who else? It will be important for publishers to communicate with their authors to gauge interest and build plans for selling books on BookRiff. We can’t wait to see who will take the lead from there.
3. Can BookRiff users sell their Riffs of publisher’s short stories (or other chapters/ chunked content)?
Yes, anyone can sell their Riff, but no, they won’t profit from anyone else’s work. (This means fans double as enthusiastic not-for-profit booksellers: can you imagine such a thing?)
4. Will Riffs have color? Will Public Domain books be available? What about sizes? Electronic books?
BookRiff is made to evolve, and we’ve got all kinds of plans. Custom covers, full color interiors, multiple sizes and formats are just a few ways we want to make BookRiff more robust. We’d love to hear your ideas, too!
5. When can publishers have access?
Soon, very soon. (Let us know if you’re eager!)
Traditional publishing, self-publishing, and BookRiff
August 26, 2009
BookRiff has recently received mention in several news articles about the rise of self-publishing websites, a trend Roberto Rocha in the Calgary Herald calls “Self-publishing 2.0.” True, much like sites such as Lulu.com, WeBook.com, and the new Book Oven, BookRiff does provide online tools anyone can use to instantly publish their writing in a book they can sell online or have printed, sidestepping traditional models of publishing. Yes, it is a site for building your own book, where individuals- rather than editors and publishers- decide the content and order of a book. It increases the role readers play in the books they purchase, and allows them to contribute to the material available to other readers. But calling BookRiff a website for self-publishing is like saying cell phones are tools for taking pictures: you can do it, but there’s a lot more you could do with that tool, and a camera might work just as well if you only want to snap a photo. More than a tool for unpublished writers to publish their own works, BookRiff is a way for readers to access more written content and consume it in the way they want. It isn’t a platform that sidesteps traditional publishing, but one that traditional publishers and authors can use to make book and other written content go further by offering it up in new ways.
Take author Michael Turner, for example. He’s planning to use BookRiff to remix his upcoming book, 8×10, which will be published as a trade paperback by Doubleday Canada in September. The book is a series of 64 loosely related fictional events that lack any defined time or place, and are ordered only by Michael’s own logic. His plan is two-fold: he’ll create a Riff of 8×10 by assigning a random order to the chapters, then work with Doubleday to make the book “open to interpretation by recomposition” by allowing readers to assign their own order. You can read more about the experiment from his blog. This is just one way BookRiff will be used by authors and publishers to engage readers in their books.
BookRiff is gearing up for Beta
August 19, 2009
Now in the final stages of a three-phase beta development plan, BookRiff is nearly complete and ready for more beta users. If you haven’t signed up for an invitation yet, now’s your chance: register here to request a beta code. We’ll only be dishing out a limited number of invites until we can ensure the site is stable and ready for the public, so hurry up and get on the list!
BookRiff on BookNet
August 14, 2009
In a nicely worded description of BookRiff on the BookNet Canada blog, Morgan Cowie calls the site an evolution of D&M Publishers’ core publishing platform: using new tools to continue making books that appeal to readers.
Self-Publishing: Harbinger of Doom or Puffy White Cloud of Hope?
I’ve recently done a spate of media interviews wherein the main topic was the ‘rise’ of self-publishing. It’s an interesting media trend, founded largely by the appearance and development of innovative new web communities that are focusing on bringing together those interested in creating great books – who may or may not already consider themselves book professionals.
There’s no doubt that it’s been an interesting summer for those interested in the evolution of book creation online. The alpha version of The Book Oven was released. The beta version of BookRiff is available to check out. WEbook, Protagonize, TextNovel and scores of other writer-based communities continue to work collaboratively to create, refine and display new talent from (mostly) unpublished authors.
So what does this all mean for traditional publishing?
Hugh McGuire, one of the founders of Book Oven, sees the role of his new site thusly (yep, I just wrote thusly. And I’m keeping it):
The key here is: cloud-publishing (and Book Oven) will provide the tools to allow groups of people to easily coalesce around the production, distribution and sale of a particular book or books. How those groups organize themselves will look different from book to book. But Book Oven’s tools will mean that book makers can focus on the important thing, the content, and not worry about the technical hurdles of making, printing & distributing books.
Hugh’s whole post is worth reading as it makes a compelling argument for the differences between ’self-publishing’ and the new tool and collaboration-based ‘cloud publishing’ that Book Oven, and arguably other sites like it, are developing.
For traditional publishing, this really invokes the spectre of what Neelan Choksi, CEO of Stanza, called a ‘flight to value’. As I’ve argued before, we as a professional industry exist because we can provide good books. Good service for authors who write those good books. Convenient access for readers who want those good books.
Is the blockbuster culture going to go away? I’m not sure. As much as we talk about Web 2.0 and the forces of collaborative culture, we’re also seeing the big head, rather than the long tail, stay big (or get bigger). But maybe that’s not the big question…maybe the question is where do projects like authoring communities, mash-up books and collaborative creation fit into the new publishing model? Where can partnerships be made to spur all to greater heights?
Instead of seeing self-publishing or cloud-publishing as a direct competitor to trade publishing, do as D&M is doing. BookRiff is not a threat to their publishing house but, rather, an evolution using new tools at hand to continue to do what they do best. Creating great books that are designed to make readers happy and keep them reading is what we all aspire to do. Working together seems like the best way to do that.
UBC Creative Writing Panel Discussion
August 5, 2009
In a July 10 panel at the University of British Columbia, students of UBC’s Creative Writing MFA Summer Residency Program discuss changing technologies in publishing, and how BookRiff will fit in the mix. Host Andrew Gray is accompanied by panel members Thad McIlroy, Jennica Harper, and myself.
BookRiff’s new face
February 6, 2009
Here’s a sneak preview of our new landing page! This is the first of many facelifts we have planned for BookRiff.com. The page design, developed by LiFT Studios in Vancouver, will be echoed in design elements throughout the site as we make further renovations.
* Images subject to change: large book image in main banner, publisher logos in partner block (these are temporary sample images and will not appear on the live page)
Chapter-by-chapter Pricing Study
January 9, 2009
Selling Books By the Chapter
Among the few websites offering sales of books by electronic chapters, pricing varies greatly but is usually dependent upon two factors:
- length of content
- price of the print book
Lonely Planet is the only site to price PDF chapters differently within one text, maybe because of the variety in length of chapters in LP books. Although the product they are selling is different from chapters BookRiff users will be purchasing (because LP offers each chapter as an individual printable download), their pricing standards may provide useful hints for pricing your own content on BookRiff.
Here are a few observations about the pricing models used by Lonely Planet, Random House, and other sites selling books by the chapter.
LONELY PLANET (based on original prices of study sample of 33 books)
- Chapters are generally priced based on: 1) the price of the print book, and 2) # of pages… although other factors like illustrations come into play.
- First chapter, and final chapters containing directories/supplementary material tend to be priced at the minimum (usually $2.00 USD)
- Discount of 20% is offered with purchase of 3 chapters; discount of 35% on 5+
- Whole books cannot be purchased in PDF
- Some free content is available for download, usually Introduction/ TOC/ extras
- Avg. cost of purchasing all chapters is 56% more than cost of paperback.
- Illustrated chapters are more expensive, i.e. full-color activity guide
Some specifics:
Southeast Asia on a Shoestring: 988 pp./ 13 chapters/ US $25.99
- Price range per chapter: $2.00 to $9.50; average: $4.35
- Price of book PDF (sum of all chapters): $56.50
- Difference in PDF & paperback price: $30.51
- Average price per PDF page: $0.06
Africa: 1184 pp./ 52 chapters/ US $35.99
- Price range per PDF chapter: $2.00 to $6.50; average: $3.38
- Price of book PDF (sum of all chapters): $176.00
- Difference in PDF & paperback price: $140.01
- Average price per PDF page: $0.15
Canada: 912 pp./ 14 chapters/ US $26.99
- Price range per chapter: $2.00 to $8.50; average: $2.75
- Price of book PDF (sum of all chapters): $38.50
- Difference in PDF & paperback price: $11.51
- Average price per PDF page: $0.04
Havana City Guide: 232 pp./ 9 chapters/ $19.99
- Price range per chapter: $2.00 to $5.00; average: $3.22
- Price of book PDF (sum of all chapters): $29.00
- Difference in PDF & paperback price: $9.01
- Average price per PDF page: $0.13
Eastern Europe: 956 pp./ 22 chapters/ $28.99
- Price range per chapter: $2.00 to $7.00; average: $3.75
- Price of book PDF (sum of all chapters): $82.50
- Difference in PDF & paperback price: $53.51
- Average price per PDF page: $0.09
Other Sites Selling Books by the Chapter
RANDOM HOUSE
- Only one book (Made to Stick) so far available to buy in chapters
- Book is also available in whole e-book format
- Introduction and Index are free with chapter purchase
- Chapters not priced according to length
- Cost of purchasing all chapters is 17% more than cost of e-book, but 16% less than cost of hardcover.
Made to Stick: 352 pp./ 6 chapters + Epilogue/ $25.00 US
- Chapters range in length from 19-50 pp.
- All PDF chapters priced $2.99
- Price of e-book: $17.95
- Cost of book when purchased by chapter: $20.93
ICHAPTERS.COM (CENGAGE LEARNING)
- Web site for purchasing textbooks and study guides only
- Books are also available in whole PDF (e-book) format
- First chapter and TOC are free for all textbooks
- Price of chapters varies some with length, but all chapters in one book are priced the same.
- Based on study sample, cost of purchasing all chapters is on average approx. 58% more than cost of e-book, but 21% less than cost of printed textbook.
Accounting, 23rd Edition: 1328 Pp/ 26 Chapters/ $185.95 Us
- All chapters priced $5.99
- Price of e-book: $92.99
- Cost of book when purchased by chapter: $149.75
Global Business, 1st Edition: 640 pp/ 18 chapters / $168.95 US
- All chapters priced $6.49
- Price of e-book: $84.49
- Cost of book when purchased by chapter: $116.80
WROX.COM
- Web site for purchasing software-related texts
- Whole e-books not available
- All books paperback, and vary greatly in page count, but are priced similarly
- Chapter 1 and additional material are free
- All chapters priced at $4.99, no matter the length or price of book
Beginning ASP.NET 3.5: In C# and VB: 768 pp/ 18 chapters/ $44.99 US
- All chapters priced $4.99
- Cost of book when purchased by chapter: $89.82
- 99% increase in cost when book is purchased by chapter
DotNetNuke Web Sites Problem Design Solution: 360 pp/ 10 chapters/ $49.99 US
- All chapters $4.99
- Cost of book when purchased by chapter: $44.91
- 10% decrease in cost when book is purchased by chapter
Professional Visual Studio 2008: 1032 pp/ 58 chapters/ $59.99 US
- All chapters $4.99
- Cost of book when purchased by chapter: $284.43
- 374% increase in cost when book is purchased by chapter
Rochelle Grayson
