Rory Gilmore IRL

For those of you with questionable taste in 90s television, Rory Gilmore is a fast talking, book loving, delight from the WB/CW comedy-drama series “Gilmore Girls”. More specifically Rory dreams of getting in to Yale. (For those of you die hard fans, we all know that Rory actually aspires most of her life to go to Harvard but changes her mind last minute… because YALE).

And so started my ‘life long’ ambition (that actually began in March 2015) to become Rory Gilmore and attend the prestigious Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.

 

An overwhelming honour!

And what an incredible group of international leaders in book publishing. Not to mention the speakers included a hugely impressive and distinguished mix, as promised. Including: Bruce Harris (the man who brought “Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy”, to America), Martin Levin (the legend himself), David Godine, Marcus Leaver (Quarto), George Gibson (Bloomsbury), Ed Nawotka (Publishing Perspectives) and many more!

 

Now without further ado, I’m delighted to share some insights from the program with you all. The overarching message to come out of the short course was that at the end of the day it all comes back to the importance of Storytelling and Storytellers. 

This is a key focus for us at Pantera Press. Our publishing model is designed to not only find the next generation of great storytellers but also invest strategically and financially in storytelling as well as writing culture. Several years ago we changed our corporate motto from “Good Books doing Good Things” to “Great Storytelling”. While the philanthropic underpinning of Pantera Press, and the contribution to writing culture is a key part of our business, our rebranding was to better capture the core piece of our business: Great Storytelling. Be it, through our philanthropic endeavours, our support of handpicked storytellers (existing and new), and the joy the works our talented storytellers brings to the world.

With that in mind, allow me to share some of the discussion areas I see as important to come out of the Yale Publishing Course

 The Concept of Book Publishing

• A book is an object that lives forever
• Good books continue to find their way
• Book publishing is about advancing culture in someway
• “The book industry is precious and wonderful” – Martin Levin
• Relationships are of upmost importance. I highlight this as at Pantera Press relationships are key to all that we do, including the “nice guy” policy we have in all of our contracts. Following on from this, Bruce Harris provided us with his own 5 key elements for successful publishing
  • Content
  • Relationship
  • Expectations (note, all authors at one point picture themselves on the NYT bestseller list)
  • Planning
  • Timing

The State of Play

Those involved in the publishing (or storytelling) industry, will know the full extent of the disruption the industry has faced over the past 5+ years. To put this in context Pantera Press saw this as an opportunity, and in fact we formed the company during the beginning of this disruptive period, seeing innovative new opportunities for growth and development. However it has certainly been a fast moving and continually changing ride.

For those less familiar with the industry, in response to the global financial crisis in 2008 many industries including our own became more risk averse and really had to focus on their core competencies. At Pantera Press we saw this as a new opportunity to re-imagine a traditional business model and create a new way to ‘take risk’ on a void in our market, by discovering and nurturing new Australian writing talent.

Soon after this time, another major disruption hit the world: the concept of the eBook and tablet reader was born in a functional way and brought to market.

In the beginning eBooks and digital reading were considered by many as a huge risk to print publishing, a sexy (and scary) way of the future, with crazy growth forecasts.

What we know now (and this is of course my own spin) is that

• An eBook, like a print book, is just a device to house a great story (because, remember, it’s all about Great Storytelling)
• eBooks allow authors to connect with a wider pool of readers (an international audience, a group of readers who wouldn’t traditionally have gone into a bookstore – and many more)
• We at Pantera Press are agnostic about how people choose to read, we are just delighted to bring readers great stories in a multitude or formats for them to select their preferred choice
• With technology changing rapidly, there are likely many mechanisms and platforms for reading that will be developed. We look forward to these opportunities
• Digital reading in general allows us to connect with engaged readerships we previously wouldn’t have access to
• The world is an exciting place, and access to information is crucial
• However, this accessibility is also a growing difficulty. While digital reading has had a direct impact on the ability to self-publish, it means that there is more ‘competition’ and begs how we readily find these stories amongst the noise.
• Thus, curation and referral is as important as ever. However, the ways we are doing this are changing. For example, a trusted source may be an online blogger or a favourite GoodReads reviewer rather than limited to your neighbour down the street

All that said, eBooks are no longer the sexy story they once were.

 

Of course they do provide all of the above, most specifically a way to reach global markets. But it is a different story to our thinking 5 years ago. 

Let me share some key statistics and thoughts on the current state of play that came out of the Yale Publishing Course:

• ebook growth has plateaued in mature markets
• eBooks are longer a sexy story, but still a very sexy way to reach global audiences
• Print currently occupying 81.5%+ of all global publishing revenue
• Forecasters predict in 2019 print books will still dominate 70% of the market
• 390,000+ books published in US in 2012 – lots of books and lots of competition
• The number of titles being published each year has increased dramatically. The number of units sold has not
• That said, growth is predicted (2%+) in the entire Book Publishing Industry over the next 5 years
• 85% of book sales come from people who read 10+ books a year
• About 17% of e-commerce sales in Australia are done via mobile
• As a direct result of how we consume media on mobile, audio books are booming
• Apps, interactive eBook designs, or reimaging of print books into speciality eBook formats were once all very exciting concepts, but now we’re seeing that they generally aren’t showing any real result in terms of increased interest or sales (compared to a regular ebook). Globally, publishers are now pulling back on interactive content.

And on a lighter note, in the words of David Godine: “The book, a perfect machine… We barely get any calls on how to use it”. 

The importance of Innovation & Emerging Models

As the industry and world continues to change, the importance of innovation and emerging models in publishing is crucial.

Small publishers are thriving. We have a fragmented marked with thousands of publishes making up the universe. 

The importance of building author brand

IT IS VERY VERY VERY VERY IMPORTANT. I think that says it all.

The future

• There are no rules
• Passion is key.
• “It’s a marathon, relationships matter” – Ed Nawotka (Publishing Perspectives). It’s all about relationships, building brand, great content and connecting with a engaged readership… it’s all about Great Storytelling

Tips:

• A simple formula for finding the next great read: “What is the next book you want to read?”
• “2/3 of your business should be in your backlist”- Martin Levin
• We talk abut enticing the mysterious “reader”. Remember, ‘the reader’ is a real person… a friend, a neighbour, a family member. 

And so finally, I’d like to end this by reminding you…

It’s all about Great Storytelling.

Thank you for reading and allow me to introduce you to our wonderful stable of hand-picked storytellers.