A recent CNN article highlighted the spread of online piracy into ebooks, stating that although Dan Brown’s “The Lost Symbol” was a phenomenal ebook success it also spurred 100,000 illegal digital downloads within 24 hours of the book’s release. By comparing previous trends of illegal music and movie downloading, the author of the article goes on to say that “Experts say the problem may only get worse.”

You don’t need to be a publishing expert to predict this result. It will get worse, a lot worse, as piracy follows the exploding ebook market. Ebook sales and consumption are now reaching the point of exponential growth, and although second quarter ebook sales of $37M are only 3x those during the same period in 2008, my guess is that 3Q and 4Q sales are rocketing skyward. Consider, for the first time ever, that Amazon sold more ebooks on Christmas Day than print books. Now, throw in the new Sony and Barnes and Noble readers–putting more ebook devices into the hands of consumers–and you’ve got an unstoppable ebook wave that is transforming the publishing world.

But not all authors are jumping on board. Some, like J.K. Rowling, are holding back from ebook releases altogether. In addition, Stephen King delayed the recent ebook release of his latest book, practically forcing fans like me to buy the hardcover version while my Kindle cried in the corner. The crazy thing is, however, that in this particular case I would have gladly paid more for the privilege of buying the ebook version right out of the gate–for I was reminded once again how hard it was to wrestle with a thousand page book during my nightly bedtime reading.

What I’m trying to get at here is that the recent technological advances and affordability of ebooks and ereaders are a good thing for the book consumer, and authors and publishers should realize this and embrace this phenomenon–not shy away from it due to piracy concerns. Over time, as the ebook industry matures, different business models and standards will be adopted to provide more practical, friendly and efficient alternatives to illegal ebook downloading (although it will always exist). Barnes and Noble is already experimenting with “legal” sharing of ebooks between Nook ereaders. Libraries are experimenting with more contemporary ebook programs. Some authors are even getting creative and selling their books a chapter at a time, while others are considering some type of subscription arrangement with their readers.

Some of these ideas will work, while others will fail miserably. Many authors strongly believe in robust digital rights management (DRM) to protect their works, whereas many readers don’t want to be burdened with a lot of restrictions. Other authors, notably Cory Doctorow, choose to give away their ebooks as part of their overall marketing strategy. Although we’re a long way from consensus on ebook formats or DRM, if publishers and authors listen to their buyers I’m convinced they’ll still find a way to make a fair and sustainable profit–regardless of the piracy situation.

That being said, older publishing tactics and paradigms that once worked will have to change. As with digital music, the overall price points for ebooks are going to drop, which means that publishers (and probably authors) will make less per book. Anyone thinking otherwise is deluding themselves. But, as I mentioned in an earlier post, some authors are making more money overall by selling their ebooks for less.

Things are already starting to shake-up as we speak. The “traditional” book publishing industry is doing quite a bit of belt tightening, just like we witnessed when music made the shift to digital. Remember how the music companies laid thousands of people off as the CD market crumbled, and how Apple forced major royalty concessions from the labels and distributors in regards to selling music via their iTunes Store? It wasn’t pretty, but it eventually created a legitimate and efficient way for the music business to make the transition to digital, while keeping the forward-thinking companies in business. It was successful too, for as the CNN article mentions, iTunes is still the “world’s biggest seller of music.”

In my previous post I discussed how this ebook revolution will affect today’s authors, and the choices we’ll be faced with–many of which we never anticipated, such as accepting the premise that some people will be “stealing” our books. That fact in particular can be hard to swallow for many of us that are working to earn a living as authors. It also hurts to consider the long term reality–ebook piracy is here to stay.

But that’s a small downside when compared to the burgeoning digital ebook marketplace and the opportunities that it presents for authors and readers alike. It’s growing faster than we ever imagined. My advice? Adapt your book strategy to be a part of it, and continue to adapt as the landscape refines itself. If you wait for things to settle down it’ll be too late.  I agree with the article’s statistic that Kindle owners buy three times more books than typical book buyers. Why? Because it applies to me. Owning the Kindle made reading so easy and convenient, and–dare I say it–fun! And from the looks of it, I’m not alone.

Tackle the publishing challenges that await you, and don’t let the possible pitfalls slow you down. Yes, it’s a crazy time in publishing for sure, but it was clear back in 2003 when we started Lulu that the old publishing model didn’t work for most authors. The new model, for better or worse, will be here for a while. 2010 may be the year of ebook piracy, but it can also be the year of publishing success. You’ll never know if you choose to remain on the sidelines.

Hang in there, and best wishes with your book efforts this year–ebook or not. Until next time, keep publishing!

Henry

Henry Hutton
PublishandSell.com
hhutton@publishandsell.com
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