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Here's the next installment in author Jon Merz' Countdown Version 2.0 column. If you missed part 1, click here.
Countdown Version 2.0 -- The Publishing Side
By Jon F. Merz
www.zrem.com / www.maelstrombooks.com
Of course, the $17,000 question was rhetorical. I did get a few emails from some of you offering to help me brainstorm a few ideas. Some of you had some interesting ones, too, even though I wasn’t necessarily looking for help.
The answer, in short is, I have the money already to start this up. I posed it more as a way of sparking some thought. I’ve seen a lot of people decide to enter the publishing fray and not have the means to do so. As a result, fledgling outfits fold before they even get a chance to unfurl their wings. It’s disheartening on all sides as it leaves the publisher’s name in shambles as well as the authors they might have dealt with. And then there are the disgruntled consumers…
This isn’t an easy thing, nor is it to be entered into lightly. I knew going in what I wanted to accomplish, where I wanted to go, and how I was going to do it. I have a tight schedule planned out (as you’ll see) and if things progress as they should, it’s going to be exciting and fun to watch.
Back to the business at hand, however. When we last left off, I was discussing the importance of direct sales, especially with a new outfit like Maelstrom. Direct sales are the best way to help get an outfit off the ground because all the money goes to the publisher (and then the author) without a middleman collecting a share.
But retail sales are also an important cog in the wheel of business, so allowances have to be figured in for them as well. Based on a print run of 750 books, I calculated that I could sell 150 copies at a wholesale price (normally, this is a discount of 40%) to other booksellers. If I could then sell 600 copies directly from the Maelstrom site and at personal appearances, that would more than earn back my initial investment, allow a small profit and reinvestment for the next Maelstrom project.
Why wholesale at all? It comes down to distribution. The retail outlets I’ll wholesale the book to have an established customer base. They can push product that I might not be able to push as well. It helps gets the name out there. It helps bring more future customers into the fold. Even if they only ever order from the retail outlets, they’ll still be looking out for Maelstrom Books. And that’s what every business needs to succeed: constant demand for quality product.
That 150-copy number is firm, also. If the retailers sell over that amount, it will affect Maelstrom’s bottom line to supply any more at that 40% discount. For now, that doesn’t seem to be an issue. I’m placed with several retailers and am working on contacting a few more. Again, distribution, even for a small press, is vitally important. I don’t want to just reach out to the online bookstores, but also to have a presence in some of the brick-and-mortar places as well. Each will have a different client base and I’m trying to get penetration into each one. Especially since THE KENSEI will be Maelstrom’s debut project, our launch has to be awe-inspiring, if at all possible.
A lot of the grizzled old small press vets will look at a number of 600 direct sales, shake their heads, and smile or grumble. “Impossible,” they’ll say. “Can’t be done. Not by a new guy on the block.”
And maybe it hasn’t been done before this, I don’t know. But I do know that while I haven’t yet sold the 600 copies direct, I have already met my initial goal and am well-positioned to meet my next level goal before the holidays descend upon us.
How? I’m not entirely sure, to be honest. I’ve attempted to create buzz about this project. Certainly this newsletter is one method of getting people to read about Maelstrom on a constant basis. I’ve serialized THE KENSEI into a weekly e-book that you get delivered for free right to your inbox (TheKensei-subscribe@yahoogroups.com if you want to check it out) that has resulted in a flood of new direct orders and does so each time another chapter goes out.
I’ve also launched a media blitz to announce the project. Publisher’s Weekly is running a nice-sized article on Maelstrom Books some time in December. I answered some follow-up questions last week and the reporter is excited about the press and its future plans.
Add to this the fact that I have an established fan base for my fiction – people who are demanding the next Lawson Vampire installment – and 600 doesn’t seem unattainable at all. In fact, with the most recent chapter of THE KENSEI I sent out, I suggested readers get their pre-orders in soon as the copies are going fast.
Perception also has a lot to do with it. If people perceive a project is worth getting behind, they’ll buy it. There’s a huge market of collectors out there, some of whom buy multiple copies to both read and resell for profit.
So, between die-hard fans, curious onlookers, and collectors, 750 copies of Maelstrom’s first book, THE KENSEI, will vanish quick enough I’d expect. Add to that the excitement that will be created upon unleashing samples of the bonus comic artwork, and some added extras and I have every reason to be as optimistic about the future as ever.
I also recently announced Maelstrom Books’ second project – a sleek urban thriller titled SINS OF THE FLASH by David Niall Wilson. David’s fiction has impressed me greatly over the years and he’d been developing this book for a while. I can say it’s unique in its approach and nail-biting in its intensity. I’m pleased as hell to be bringing it out within the next year. Pre-orders for this are also being accepted at Maelstrom’s site at http://www.maelstrombooks.com/order.html. For collectors and fans, I also recently announced that famed artist JK Potter has been commissioned to do the cover art for SINS OF THE FLASH.
Next week, more about publicity and more on the numbers. Thanks for reading!
Countdown Version 2.0 is copyrighted 2004 by Jon F. Merz. All rights reserved. This newsletter may be reproduced and posted anywhere, provided the content remains unchanged and the contact information is included.
Jon F. Merz is the author of six novels (The Fixer, The Invoker, The Destructor, The Syndicate, and Danger-Close), including the forthcoming book The Kensei from his publishing company, Maelstrom Books. His short fiction has been most recently seen in From the Borderlands and Vicious Shivers. He lives outside Boston, Massachusetts with his wife and son.
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