Crowdsourcing: Why Publishers Should Rethink Content Acquisition

Traditionally, publishing has been an unpredictable business that relies on big hits. Publishers often pay advances and spend marketing budgets without any definitive proof of how well a book will sell. In a time when the risks and costs of experimentation are dropping dramatically, it’s puzzling why more publishing companies do not crowdsource their content in order to curb unpredictability and increase profit.

New authors see the potential of crowdsourcing, even if most publishing houses do not. Unknown writers and artists who want to heighten their exposure are increasingly adopting publishing methods that reflect what the lean startup movement advocates: Use hypothesis driven thinking and iterative releases to reduce product development time and obtain insight faster.

By setting up a website via a platform such as WordPress, using Smashwords to distribute an ebook for free, or selling merchandise through a company like Zazzle, an author can build a fan base and monetize content at a very low cost, as well as learn what their readers enjoy. With the disintermediation of many key benefits of publishing houses, the era of publisher-as-trendsetter is over. If these companies want to evolve and survive, they should embrace the opportunity to crowdsource and aggregate content as a means of promoting authors.

Crowdsourcing is the future of the publishing industry. Here’s why:

  • Sure bets are better than risky ones. Why pay an advance or prioritize marketing budgets on a small sample based on historical performance when there is a way to see how well a certain work is doing now? Authors no longer wait for their entire works to be completed before they publish digital chapters to gauge their readers’ feelings. This also means publishers can collect valuable data and provide a much more concrete direction for publishing houses to prioritize investments and plans.
  • Cross pollination sells more. Crowdsourcing relies heavily on content aggregation, which in turn naturally gathers individuals with similar interests. These individuals are open and interested in discovering related content. On our site, MangaMagazine.net, we see on average that our subscribers follow almost five different series within three months of when they first join. Imagine if you could sell four more books for every one you sold to a customer.
  • Data saves costs and aligns incentives. Publishing houses are not sure when success can occur for an author and in what medium or form the success will come. This lack of clarity in turn requires the wholesale purchase of all possible content rights by publishing houses. However, getting greater clarity on engagement across a medium, geography and demographics through data allows publishing houses to better bid and purchase specific content rights, while also giving authors a chance to take advantage of opportunities with any other remaining content rights they still hold. Authors feel a sense of empowerment and publishing houses save cost.
  • Passion is contagious. The passion and excitement of readers and fans has no limits. By engaging readers earlier and showing them that you value their feedback and opinions, you build the most fanatical and supportive reader groups first. This allows for many interesting reader-based initiatives that might not have been possible before. For example, instead of paying for a professional translator to translate an entire book, an author could ask for user-contributed fan translations of a smaller portion of the content to release and gauge foreign language interest.

Content will always be king, but instead of gambling on which content to buy with large bets, publishing houses can serve as trusted advisors and service providers for authors. Only time can tell whether publishing houses will adjust or struggle with their myopic view of the content acquisition pipeline. For the sake of the publishing industry and all that it stands for, it would make sense to take the plunge sooner rather than later.

Victor Chu is the co-founder of MangaMagazine.net, a digital comic publishing platform.

Views: 642

Tags: artists, chu, comic, crowdsourcing, digital, houses, industry, managamagazine, manga, publishing, More…victor

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