Small guys are zilch
I read a story some years ago in Time magazine, about why big businesses are better than small ones. There was a story of a Japanese convenient store business in a small town where the owner knew all her customer; chats with them for a while and serves them tea before they depart with some groceries. Moral of the story: it is nice customer experience, but inefficient. Imagine the number of burgers McDonald's would have flipped within that half hour! I read another similar story in the Economist recently. The bottom line: economics is important, culture is not (except for tourists -- and that's economics). And small inefficient businesses, no matter how much cultural cache they hold, have no business existing. Biodiversity
I am no economist, but I'm a believer in biodiversity. Don't put all your eggs (not that kind, you filthy mind) in one basket, every child is taught. Wrong advice? When a big guy (like Borders) goes down, the entire industry is shaken up. Books are returned, remainder-book dealers are overstocked, retailers dealing in them have a great time and, consequently, more major stores wobble. It's happening in Malaysia; just ask anyone in the industry. If a few small guys go under, they'd be replaced by others with hardly a ripple. The new bogeyman in that universe is the e-book. A major chain in the city that halved the size of its largest outlet recently and moved one floor down, gave the e-book excuse in a newspaper story. Please, who are you kidding? You had a bad business plan, one that could only succeed with a backer with infinitely deep pockets.
A lecturer in my engineering school would say, "When in doubt, go back to first principles." The era of the major book store is over. It was an aberration to begin -- huge floor spaces in expensive down-town malls, selling low margin bestsellers at crazy discounts (ostensibly for market share) was a doomed strategy from the start. That formula didn't last a decade. So, now, we have to get back to basics.
Vermin survive holocausts
Books are culture. Bookselling is part of that culture. As much as the Harvard types want to reduce it to a commodity, the only hope for the book (dead-tree or digital) lies with the indies, the small guys -- authors, publishers and retailers. Particularly, in the last two decades, authors have been blinded by the dazzle of that big fat advance. I read in the newspapers recently that the chances of winning a certain American lottery is one in 176 million. About the same for authors who want to get on the international bestsellers' list, maybe less. Many Asian authors who publish in UK and the US, disappear after the second book, if that. The reality is grim, but that does not mean authors need to despair. Few authors can be all things to everybody. (It is not a surprise that there is only one JK Rowling in the entire population of the world.)
How is the book going to survive, then? By going small. Authors, keep your day jobs and become the champion of your town, your province, your country, your part of the world, in your genre. Enrich your community, your culture; you will be remembered for a hundred years because nobody worships heroes like small towns. With e-books, your work can still be made available worldwide at a relatively low cost. Let Amazon work for you, not you for them. However, treat any income from that source as a bonus. Your gravy will come from those who live with you, who identify with your writing. Do the local circuits; it costs a lot less. Visit schools, colleges, universities, libraries, clubs, and give talks at indie book stores, rotary meetings, at any place that will have you. Do your social thing. You have to push your book yourself. The publisher who helped you get it out there is probably too poor to do much. Publishers, promote your local writers; forget about the big hitters unless you specialise in translations. Be disciplined, stay focussed on your niche and be the best that you can be. Don't let the temptation of riches lead you astray. Enjoy what you do. Publish different formats. Have multiple revenue streams. Go into retail. Get thrilled when someone from across the globe recognises what you do. Retailers, what is there to say? I have never felt more impersonal than in a chain store; I have never felt impersonal at an indie. Indie retailer, ever thought of going into publishing? Become the Shakespeare & Co of your town. Do your thing. Host your town authors; be the nerve centre of your town.
Little guys are like vermin. And, like cockroaches, we will survive a nuclear holocaust. Hundreds of small indie publishers and retailers were trampled on and destroyed by the behemoths in the first decade of the new millennium. Now that the invaders have left, or self-destruct, it's time for us to rise again. (Sounds like a sci-fi movie; War of the Worlds? Listen to the soundtrack!)
It's the product, stupid
And, indie authors, publishers and retailers, embrace technology, technology, technology. You know the best part? There is so much free stuff on the internet, its crazy. Beware some bloodsuckers offering 'free' software; they can be damned sneaky. But most are genuinely good people. Search for 'open source'. These are the angels. (I still haven't found a good free alternative for inDesign and Illustrator, though.) Visit the Silverfish Books website that has been entirely built for free (not counting sweat and tears). A CEO of a major chain recently boasted that he spent a million ringgit on their on-line store. I remained quiet. I paid zilch. But then, one can only do the free stuff if you are small and don't have a Board of Directors hovering. If there is one thing I have learnt, it's that the PC and the web are the great levellers, a boon to all indies, no matter what trade you are in. In particular, they have brought down the cost of entry into the book industry. Silverfish Books would not have been possible without the computer and the internet. Be careful; let technology work for you, not the other way round. Go at it with a vengeance.
As Steve Jobs would have said, "It's the product, stupid!"
