It is hugely sad to see long-established and well-respected publishers closing down, as is happening far too regularly at the moment. This has not been as a result of any lack of first-rate books coming to market, but a combination of the outdated business model for publishing, and fundamental changes in the way people now buy books.

Currently, every publisher is trying to cut costs, reduce staffing levels and overheads. As a result, many are only looking at ‘low hanging fruit’ –  titles that are going to be sure-fire successes. The number of new titles being accepted for traditional publishing has dropped dramatically as good authors are unexpectedly being rejected for no apparent reason other than the financial criteria now being applied.

But on a positive note, more people are buying books now than ever before but in different formats and from different places.  Many authors are building profitable global businesses selling books and knowledge products direct to their followers, without using a publisher.  It is foolish to think that nothing has changed and that everything will go on the way it used to. It won’t and we need to move forward into a new world.

The offer to an author of a traditional publishing deal has always been based on the potential for a book to earn money for the publisher. A publisher is not a charity, but a business. No matter how good the manuscript, how worthy the cause or how successful the author, the bottom line has always been “Is this book a worthwhile investment of our money and is it going to cover its costs and make a profit?” Of late, and as a result of a devastating year with Covid and Lockdowns, the criteria for offering traditional publishing has been forced to change.

Traditional publishing used to mean that the publisher would assume all costs, do all the marketing and send the author a cheque from time to time.  This arrangement is no longer serving either the author or the publisher.  It is far too one-sided. For it to work, the author has to be far more involved in the process than many have been encouraged to be in the past.

It is unrealistic for a publisher to assume all the risk if the author is not sufficiently active on social media and doesn’t have an adequate following. On the basis that ‘people buy people first before they buy anything else’ how visible is the author in their marketplace?   Do they have their own website and mailing list? Are they featured in the press and media? Do they have their own Youtube channel? Are they doing events either online or live? These are all crucial to the success of a book and publishers now expect to see this as part of their submissions process.

It is no use saying that sales magically appear when a book is published because, if nobody knows about it, won’t. Authors need to establish themselves as experts or go-to people in their niche well in advance of publishing their book or their book will not achieve its potential.

Traditional publishing is still available with a 100% subsidy but only when the author can demonstrate that they have built their profile and have achieved a viable presence out there. This is done with a Digital Audit now being included in the submissions process.

The reason we do this is simple. We want the author to be successful and make money from their book. We know from experience that this will not happen without them taking ownership of marketing themselves and creating a business around their books. It is in our interests to help and support them to do this.

For authors that don’t meet all of our criteria we will still offer traditional publishing but with a reduced level of subsidy of the production costs.  This is determined by their marketing activity. If this insufficient, it can be an incentive for authors to work on increasing their visibility in their marketplace before approaching us.

Our philosophy is, that the author and the publisher should play to their respective strengths and achieve something together that neither could achieve on their own. We also work on a transparent 50% / 50% split of all earnings to make this fair.  We have developed new marketing strategies that have dramatically increased our author’s earnings compared with any other publisher, and are proud of the profits our authors are making as a result.

Today we are looking for authors who want to be involved in their own success rather than to abdicate this to a third party.   We are looking for authors who have an entrepreneurial spirit and want to make a difference to others. If that is you, we would love to join you on your journey and to help you achieve your mission.

Chris Day   – Founder Filament Publishing Ltd   www.filamentpublishing.com