A few days ago I was feeling pretty optimistic when I wrote this post about two large publishers taking steps in the right direction regarding digital content and realizing that "Free" can be profitable in the long run. Even though the economy is taking its toll on just about every industry, including publishing, I began to feel like maybe there might be a light at the end of the tunnel.

I shouldn’t have held my breath.

Sometimes it feels like we take 3 steps forward, and 2 steps back. And when I read a post about an ebook "tax" some publishers feel is necessary, I knew we still had a lot of work to do. It’s actually not even a tax, even though it kinda feels that way. Rather, some publishers are trying to find a standard price-point for ebooks. While I applaud a standard price-point for ebooks, I think this idea totally moves in the wrong direction. Here’s a little clarification:

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I really debated hard about whether or not I should post about any issue relating to the arrest and indictment of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, as this is not a political blog (there’s tons of those out there for your daily fix of politics).

But his alleged effort to fire the editorial board at the Chicago Tribune is deeply disturbing and is a matter of free speech, which I discuss here frequently. According to this article from the Chicago Tribune website, Gov. Blagojevich wanted the Tribune’s editorial board removed:

A criminal complaint filed in federal court outlines wiretapped conversations between Blagojevich and his chief of staff—who also was arrested Tuesday—in which the governor said he wanted the Tribune to fire its editorial board, which has called for the Illinois House to explore impeaching the governor. In one wiretapped comment in the complaint, Blagojevich is quoted as saying the Tribune’s owner should be told to "fire those [expletive]."

Ouch! And what would the governor do if the editorial board wasn’t fired? He was allegedly going to make it difficult for the Tribune, which is suffering from some serious financial problems, to receive help from the Illinois Finance Authority with regards to selling Wrigley Field and the Chicago Cubs.

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If last week was full of bad news from the publishing world, I hope things are different this week. And they seem to be. I was preparing for another flood of bad news from my usual morning Publishers Weekly email. Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised at what I found instead. While the publishing world didn’t do a complete turnaround over the weekend, at least two large publishers are trying to take steps in the right direction, according to this PW article.

Penguin is jumping into the digital age feet first, with several offerings on this new part of their website. According to the PW article, the website..

…will feature a new blog and access to exclusive Penguin content, including enhanced e-books, videos and special print products.

As a proud iPhone owner, though, I’m most excited about this juicy bit of news:

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Ah, the title of this post is music to my ears! Given the bad shape the economy is in, and how most publishers are feeling the pinch as much as anyone (see Publishers continue to struggle in down economy), this is the kind of post that makes my day.

Keeping with the spirit of the holidays, Bleak House Books is giving away free books from its publishing catalog, and is also including books from their sister company Intrigue Press. Here’s a blurb from their blog:

It’s our way of saying thanks for all of the support we’ve received over the last few years. So go ahead and grab a book for yourself or as a holiday gift for somebody else. You just pay the shipping and handling, we’ll throw the book in for free.

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While Congress is mulling a bailout for the "Big 3" automakers, the publishing industry is continuing to suffer under a debilitating economy, with no holiday relief in site. Once again my inbox was filled with grim news this morning from Publishers Weekly. Here’s a quick round-up of the bad news (followed by some good news):

Simon & Schuster cuts 35 jobs

In what has to be one of the grimmest days in publishing in recent years, Simon & Schuster announced today that it has eliminated 35 positions. According to a memo from CEO Carolyn Reidy, the cuts came in all areas of the company, including S&S’s publishing divisions, operations and sales departments and international division.

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In a bad economy it seems like everyone suffers, and that certainly holds true for the publishing industry. Or does it? I wrote about the hard times some publishers are facing in this post, and one in particular, that has stopped acquiring new manuscripts. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has temporarily stopped accepting new works, a move that sent shock waves throughout the industry.

But does the entire industry really look this grim? I thought so, until I came across this article from the New York Times. Here’s the news from another publisher:

At the other end of the spectrum was Hachette Book Group, whose Little, Brown and Grand Central Publishing units together represent some of the biggest commercial authors, including David Baldacci, Nelson DeMille and James Patterson, not to mention the category-killing vampire queen, Stephenie Meyer.

The article continues:

As first reported by Publishers Lunch, an industry newsletter, Hachette is giving bonuses equal to one week’s salary to every employee in the company, in addition to the regular bonuses for which staff members are eligible.

So while one publisher has stopped buying manuscripts (except on rare occasions, the article notes), another publisher is handing out healthy bonuses to all employees. What gives?

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Tis the season for a recession!

With the state of the American economy, there is little hope that even the holiday shopping season will give a boast to the economy because most people just don’t have a lot of extra money to spend right now. And those who do have extra money are keeping any extra cash safe, under the mattress, like I do.

Needless to say, my daily email from Publishers Weekly this morning was filled with some pretty grim news. Here’s a brief digest:

1. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has stopped acquiring new manuscripts for the time being.

Josef Blumenfeld, v-p of communications for HMH, confirmed that the publisher has "temporarily stopped acquiring manuscripts" across its trade and reference divisions. The directive was given verbally to a handful of executives and, according to Blumenfeld, is "not a permanent change." Blumenfeld, who hedged on when the ban might be lifted, said that the right project could still go to the editorial review board.

There was no mention how long this stop will go for, but my guess is at least into the New Year.
HMH Places "Temporary Halt on Acquisitions

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Even before the economy tumbled, the publishing industry has always been between a rock and a hard place (please pardon the cliche`). It’s the old problem of publishing popular books that sell really well, but have little (if any) literary merit. Or, publishing great literary works that won’t appeal to a mass audience, thus not selling well at all.

I was reading through my blog roll earlier today and I read this post from Nathan Bransford, a blogging literary agent. I think he makes some good points:

But it seems to me that if you think the publishing industry should publish more books with artistic merit… that isn’t exactly a sure route to a better bottom line. Either the publishing industry should focus on the bottom line and it should publish what sells, or it should cast profit to the wind and publish what it feels are the best books period.

Mr. Bransford continues:

Or, better yet, a mixture of the two. Which is basically the industry you have now. Is it perfect? Nuh uh. Could the publishing industry be smarter? Yuh huh. But better commerce through lack of commerce is not a very appealing path to restoring the health of the industry.

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Hot off the press from this article at Publishers Weekly, HarperCollins, like most of the US, is struggling to keep its head above water. With the economy already in the tank, consumers just aren’t buying books like they once did. Here’s in part what the article said:

Revenue fell from $330 million to $315 million. Profits were also hurt by higher returns and a decline in distribution income.

As a result, according to the article, the publishing giant is going to have to cut expenses when and where they can. While it doesn’t specifically mention it, I imagine printing, storing and distributing books are a massive part of any publisher’s budget.

According to CEO Brian Murray, not even cost-cutting measures will do much to help profits until consumers (you and I) start buying books again:

All of its cost cutting measures, however, won’t mean too much unless
consumers start shopping again. The only books that have been selling
well since mid-summer are the big titles, Murray said, such as The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. Murray said there has been no indication that store traffic has picked up since the quarter closed September 30.

Most US retailers are projecting doom and gloom for this holiday shopping season, so HarperCollins and others will probably have to ride out the storm like everyone else. Where’s a new Harry Potter book when you need one?

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With the economy sinking, stocks plunging, jobs being lost and more homes foreclosed on than ever before, the word "free" is music to the ears of just about everyone! Generally, when I’m offered something for free, I’ll usually take it. Why not? I have nothing to lose. If I don’t like the free item it goes straight into the trash can.

With that said, it’s pretty easy to conclude that "free" has a lot of power. It catches people’s attention and can get consumers to try something they might not normally try. What about using free to sell more books? Yes, it does seem counter-intuitive at first. But it has been shown to work, as this post points out from my good friends over at the Teleread Blog.

The post gives a very brief summary of author M.J. Rose and her decision to make her new book, The Reincarnationist, free on Amazon (aff link) until October 30. The Teleread post then links to an article that Rose wrote for The Huffington Post, where she explains her decision in terms of other items that do well as free samples:

It’s because trying something for free is the best way of discovering it. And free doesn’t mean sampling a quarter of a cookie – it means the whole cookie. It doesn’t mean someone spraying my wrist with perfume – it means them putting a small bottle of the fragrance in my shopping bag. It means spending a weekend in a hotel and taking two showers using the same soap. It doesn’t mean reading the first five pages of my book online – it means reading my whole book for free as a way of discovering me as an author.

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