It has been stated thousands of times before – “Change is
the only constant.” Change is all around us, and ever happening with or without
us. Change knows no political, social, language, or economic boundaries. Change
doesn’t care about your calendar or even what public opinion states. Change
wears no watch, carries no baggage, and claims no special office. Change is
neither good nor bad, neither right nor wrong, change just.
In today’s business climate and in our industry especially,
change is no stranger. But what has
become increasingly obvious is the speed with which change is now occurring. I
won’t take you all the way back to the Gutenberg or the rotary press, but if
you even think about the last 10 years and the changes we have all lived
through, you really start to smile and even chuckle a bit. Though I must say as
a complete aside- the coffee on American Airlines still has not changed. In
fact I think they still use the same old stale coffee grounds. But almost
everything else has. Think about the way we communicate for instance. We have
gone from the written letter in the mail, to the non reliable fax, to the e-mail.
Does anyone remember how we used to all get off the plane and rush to the line
of telephones to call back to the office to check if everything was under
control?
Well get ready folks, I believe in our industry we are going
to see drastic change in the next few years. Actually some of these changes are
already happening and you may or may not even be aware.
1) Marketing
is an area we all recognize is changing. Already we are seeing the drastic
reduction of print magazines. One after another are shutting their doors. A few
are attempting to make the move to digital, but some are late in doing so and
may not have the revenue stream to support themselves as before. But this is
only a symptom of the underlying change. Marketing is going vertical now,
allowing you to reach specific core audiences instantly with measured results
through social mediums. “Triangulated marketing” will become the course of
action. Yes I just coined that phrase J. Triangulated marketing (think GPS tracking of your
customer) will consist of social media that composes listening, speaking, and
core community stations and platforms.
2) Publishing
formats are changing.
a. The
digital world of downloads and readers is a whole area that others who are much
smarter than I are already covering. Plus in the time that I took to write this
blog a dozen new digital issues where revealed.
b. Just
know this- we are no longer publishers of books- rather we are content
providers. If you can remember that you will be ok through this change.
3) Traditional
Author, Publisher, Distributor, Retailer definitions are changing. Without
going into the area of self publishing / self distribution, which is the best
option for many authors, I believe that we will begin to see the traditional
model of Publisher selling to distributors and or booksellers lines that have
been in place for decades begin to blur. I saw in Sao Paulo bookstore that had
as its name that of the publisher big and bold and then underneath in smaller
letters the phrase “operated by (name of the traditional bookstore). Here you
found every single title of the Publisher whether it be front list, back list,
or even remainder. Let’s give it a US look for the example: Harper Collins
Bookstore… operated by Barnes and Noble. You wanted shelf space- you got it
buddy. Wouldn’t that rock some people’s worlds? But I think it will go so much
deeper than that.
So
it matters less whether you believe, or even like the changes that you see
coming. What matters is how you and your team are adapting to them. And think
of it this way- If nothing ever changed in your business, would your business
need you?
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