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Distribution of a Publishing house

By Chetan Soni on 47 Comments / 2801 views

Hello Everybody..

This is my first post at Rodinhood.

We have started a literature platform called as “Half Baked Beans” which is in initial stage , we are starting with a publishing house aimed at giving a platform for debut writers as getting that is very difficult for them . The objective is to make authors as brands. We have done creative writing workshops and have a blog as well as we do not want to be just publishers. 

The publishing industry is very dis-organized in India . No timely payments , wrong count of books sold given to authors by publishers etc.

The biggest problem is distribution , no distributor wants to take a new publisher or author because they dont guarantee good money and even if they do they charge 55-60% of MRP and no timely payment also.

After giving royalty and input expenses the publisher gets 20% of MRP which is actually not very much.

So most of the publishing houses end up taking money from the author to lessen their expenses.

Now we want to change that , we are willing to put our money and publish the author but the scenario of distribution scares us.Moreover not many distributors have shown interest . Even to upload on sites you need a distributor as they are the ones who supply books to them.

Now my question is how can we minimize the role of distributors? We are looking at models where we can directly sell the books to the customers because that would increase our profits but that requires big marketing budget and innovative techniques.

So we are looking at suggestions : how can we bring a change…

 

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47 Comments

  1. hey chetan,

    quick q – is your fb page Half8akedBeans on purpose?

    i love the idea of providing a platform to debut writers. i know how hard it was for my sister to get her first book published (indialog) – thankfully her second one was published by penguin india. 

    https://www.uttarachauhan.com/

    okay… we have a few members who run publishing/writer/books related startups – pls check these posts and feel free to reach out to them if there are any synergies worth exploring…

    https://www.therodinhoods.com/forum/topics/page99-a-better-bookstore-and…

    https://www.therodinhoods.com/forum/topics/stab-me-kiss-me-kill-me-love-…

    there is a rodinhooder who has just written a novel

    https://www.therodinhoods.com/forum/topics/i-wrote-a-novel

  2. Thanks for all these links ..

    Yes the name of FB page is on purpose because we could not get halfbakedbeans..

  3. Hi Chetan,

    I’ve taken some time to think about your idea, and also gone through your website. I think it’s great that you’re trying to do this. While I had many thoughts, my first and most important one was this:

    I could not locate your editorial team on the website. 

    I find that publishing is first a passion, and then a business. You might want to consider getting some people on board who believe in your goal and also have a strong literary background. 

    I hope this helps you in some way. I’m sure you’ll settle into the business and will get everything going in the right direction very soon!

    Best

    Nivida

  4. Hi Nivida, 

    There is no editorial team on the website because we have freelancers as of now since we are starting up.

    I agree that publishing is more about passion thats why I dont want to get somebody  on board who is not passionate about books and we are waiting.

    So we are outsourcing our editing as of now.

  5. That’s quite an interesting approach, and I suppose it doesn’t hurt to try. All the best!

  6. Hi Chetan,

    I like the name – Half Baked Beans – and the logo.

    I believe more important than getting the distributor is the marketing. So you and your authors will have to figure out how you’re going to create the buzz for the book. Once that is done, and there is a curiosity for the book, any distributor will take you. 

    No matter how disorganised the sector is, I can’t think of a way to bypass the distributor. As far as I know, e-comm store, chain stores, even single shops, take only from distributors. Also, as a publisher, you don’t want to chase each and every retailer. If the big names like IBD, IBH or Prakash are not biting, then you could try the next lot like Amit Book Corp. Because like I said, distributors play a small role in a books success. Marketing does.

    You have a lot of FB Likes!

    If I can think of anything more relevant, I’ll surely add here.

    All the best!

    PS: How are you soliciting manuscripts for the novel? Do you get direct inquiries or you’ve tied up with lit agencies?   

  7. Hi Rishabh,

    Thanks for the reply and appreciation.

    We invite entries from our page , all the entries till now have come through Facebook..

    Marketing plays an imp role and we would be doing it.

    The reason we want to by-pass distributors is because of financial conditions:

    I’ll put it straight across – distributors take up 55-60% of the MRP of the book which leaves the publisher with only 40% return on his investment in which he has to give royalty also and marketing expenses too..

    So the publishers end up taking money from the authors to lessen their risks.

    All the big houses have their own distribution so it doesnt affect them but it affects the smaller ones.

    If we invest in 2-3 books and end up in loss we would also start charging from the author..so thats why we are looking at direct sales and tie-ups because with distributors small houses like us can never make money..

  8. btw… i really like what you guys are doing on social!

    [and i don’t say that to many people 🙂 ]

  9. Hi Chetan,

    But why can’t you do both? I think one way to reach readers directly is to tie up with as many book fairs and fests that happen. Maybe you can get space in someone’s stall, and make sales from there. It is not a simple way to make sales, but it is direct. You could go to comic-con as well if you have multiple titles. Ofcourse its mostly comics there, but I’ve seen books a few times too.

    Try corporate gifting. A few go-aheads also move many copies in one shot.

    I wonder if college tie ups will work. We had a co-op society in our college which sold academic books, maybe these stores could stock your book as well.

    I don’t know if you’re looking for such solutions, or a total radical new way for distribution. Believe me, if I had that, I would have applied it :).

    PS: I had thought of one way when I first read this post. It’s a network of new publishers like you. Who are finding it difficult to get a distributors attention, and hence the retailers. Its like this, maybe you’ll can put in all your titles under a distribution arm that is co-owned/managed. And this arm represents to all retail chains. Every publisher is responsible to make his/her own title available to the retailer. This is very cryptically put, but I’m sure you’ve understood the idea. Also, this is difficult to execute unless there is some owner of the distribution arm. Anyway, its just an idea, and you may think up a derivative from it. I’m just throwing ideas as they come to my mind :).

    Cheers.

  10. Hi Rishabh,

    Corporate gifting is a good idea. 

    We can do both but as I said being with distributors will actually render us losses because of the amount they charge, but you have surely given good insights and we are thankful for that.

    You should throw more ideas when they come in your mind.

    We should do some tie-up with litizen.com. What say?

    Cheers.

  11. Then we are honored and hope it continues.

    Would love to get some tips to increase activity.

  12. see – u’re doing something right chetan! i commented on your page. the idea is to keep the audience involved. so asking questions/opinions/throwing ideas/call for action etc all works.

    in my experience the most simple q’s work like magic. it doesn’t take any effort for people to answer and then they do!

    e.g at night – ask people what they’re reading/what books are lying by the bedside table…?

    fav short story author

    fav indian author

    take one book a day. and share the most quotable quotes throughout the day or pose a question. god of small things has amazing ones!

    now share a para and ask a question from it – if people have read the book they will reply! eg. post a para from ‘a suitable boy’ (or something more recent like ‘life of pi’) and ask something about that particular character.

    or dedicate a day to a particular author and share memorable stuff from his/her books…

    gosh. i could go on and on and on about the art of engagement…. that could be an entire post in itself 🙂

  13. We recently held an event at our office where we invited two writers in two different stages: one who is awaiting the publishing of her first book and the second who has finished publishing her first book and writing the second!

    They gave us insights into the industry and provided some valuable feedback for new writers and how to deal with publishers!

    The event: https://www.therodinhoods.com/events/i2write

    The excerpt: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Mdvhyj5dC4

    Writers need a lot of support, first in honing their skills before they even approach a publisher or distributor. Perhaps you should look at getting the editorial team and the influential writers behind you and the distributors may eventually follow suit.

  14. Hi Pawan,

    The problem is not getting distributors , the problem is them taking up 55-60 % of MRP  which leaves the publisher with nothing.

    Most of the big houses are distributors themselves so it doesnt matter to them.

    But it matters to start-ups like us. 

    And getting a big author to write for us would require funding because otherwise they would also not be interested in working with non-branded house

  15. This is very insightful information , has given a lot of content now.

    May be you should have a post regarding engagement on social media, would help start-ups 

  16. Hey Chetan,

    I am truly appreciative of the problem you are trying to solve. I would recommend you look at this issue in a similar manner as the airline industry that changed its rates after deccan adopted a different ticket processing method.

    Distributors take 55% to 60%  to cover a certain cost. Perhaps by bringing down this cost, you could ensure better margins.

    It just occurred to me that you are also in the right space to market a writer’s work to publishers and distributors if you are able to filter good work and give it a test run, this may ensure that the right work gets to see a store front or not so good work goes back to writers and ensures they spend less time chasing publishers or distributors.

    Post this effort you could always help all entities market the chosen work ensuring a little ROI for yourself.

  17. Hi Chetan,

    Sorry for replying so late. I just saw your question to me (I’d returned to see if there were any new suggestions being posted) Litizen is a short story platform predominantly. You are publishing something in short stories, or they’re novels?

  18. Hi Rishabh,

    We are publishing novels and theme -based anthologies .

    Here is the link of page of our first book;https://www.facebook.com/Timeslostatlas

    https://www.facebook.com/events/587718694603109/

    this is the link of the current competition we are conducting for short stories.

  19. Hi Chetan, 

    I discussed the same business with my friend last year . Its really a good idea.. and it will work for sure.. I dropped it for personal reason. 

    While I was doing research on this, I met few new writers.. I will surely share links with them.. 

    Thanks 

    Alok

  20. Hi Alok,

    That would be very nice and helpful of you.

  21. Frickin awesome name:  Half Baked Beans.  The state of most debut writers.  🙂

    Let’s think through this here a bit.  What exactly is the distributor’s role? Are you saving significantly on the costs of logistics, storage, and shipping?  Once you factor that in that 55-60% on MRP will be more like 30-40%.  So the real question? Is a net saving of 20% (or whatever the real number is) worth it?  

    As a strategy avoiding the distributors is a good one.  You are small and till you have some winners in your stable there’s no point in talking to them. You’ll have to stand with the begging bowl and they lords of the universe will grant you a few crumbs.  🙂

    There are two audiences that I think should be your primary targets: bookshops and individuals.  

    Bookshops (assuming you are cutting out the distributors): Identify every bookshop in india with an email address and send them special offers on a regular marketing cycle.  Don’t bother physical mailing etc coz of logistics and other overheads.

    Individuals: 

    Each book becomes a website on its own with a blurb about the book, excerpts blah blah blah, and other knick knacks like interview with the author etc.  

    Target individuals to this website using social media and social media advertising (FB Ads are just about right for this kind of stuff).

    FB Ads has a lot of demographic targeting options so you can slice and dice the audience of the books very effectively.

  22. chetan, 

    you may not know abey. pls check his post in DIGITAL MEDIA. internet marketing god just spoke to you!

  23. Asha, internet marketing gods have millions in the bank and go on long holidays to Bali. I don’t have or do either.  :))

  24. High Five for the name and Logo,Chetan!.:). Must say an interesting concept, will definitely keep a tab on this.

  25. Hi Abey,

    Thanks for the appreciation, that was our rationale behind choosing this name.

    These are good suggestions, we are using FB ads also.

    As for the bookshops thing problem is all the chains take it from distributors , only one-off stores would be interested.

  26. Thanks and gratitude.

  27. Then I must say we are highly obliged and would wait for some more tips and tricks from the God himself.

  28. Get them on your email list anyway and keep sending out your offers and announcements.  If the chain stores start asking your distributors the distributors will in turn contact you.

    The primary objective here is branding and top of mind recall.  Sales are a secondary consideration.  I doubt it is carved in stone that chain stores will ONLY buy from distributors.  Since you are talking to them directly you can offer better margins than through distributors.  

  29. Yes, I will also join you and stand in queue.  😛

  30. That is a very nice suggestion sir, I’ll get to work.

  31. Very encouraging, thanks.

  32. hey chetan,

    long time no word – not even half baked?!

    what’s happening at your end? we’d all love to hear some updates on your ventures… (yeah the travel one too!)

  33. this comment made me look in to their fb page. Indeed for a publishing house, its awesome! 

  34. Thanks a lot Aparna, it gives us much encouragement.

  35. Hello,

    We have come out with 2 books – “Nazaqat” and “Time’s Lost Atlas’ both of them are available at all major online stores.

    Had been busy with their stock keeping .

    We plan to have 1 book per month from April onwards..

    Lets see whats in store for us..

  36. Are you using FB ads ?? I can get you some free credit 😉

    Hope it helps .

  37. Hi Chetan,

    I have written a novel and would like to discuss it further about the approach. Can we get in touch offline about it?

    Mail: Sankalp.vishu@gmail.com

    Mobile: +918861023526

    Twitter: @qwerty_sg

    Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/sankalp.vishu

  38. Hi Sankalp,

    Have sent you a mail from half baked beans id.

  39. First, thanks for publishing my first story.(howsoever, your editor changed it to its death.)
    Second, I never got paid for the social banner work for marketing & not even for the book cover which i designed.

    Just consider it as a gentle reminder.

  40. Praveen are you sure you are talking about us?

    Can you please remind which story and cover are you talking about?

  41. Yeah i am pretty sure about it.

    For reference : use ISBN no 9788192893655. Story no. 28, & also in acknowledgement page. And if you want, i have all the files for book cover too + campaign banners too.

    And i apologize for not pointing it early as i was busy in my personal projects. Plus, i didn’t want to communicate through Suhail.

  42. Well you could have simply said Myriad Tales book and yes you should have pointed out early and preferably to us directly rather on rodinhoods.

    As we have paid everything for the cover and banners to Suhail because we were dealing with him and not you . 

    For e.g if we hire a creative agency to do our designs then we will communicate to them and not to their individual designer , the case is same here . We asked for cover and banners , got them and we paid . How are we supposed to know what is going on behind the scene?

  43. Yeah, I guessed that must be the case. That is why I stopped communicating with Suhail.And do not take it personal if i am have put it on rodinhoods(it just came to me as i saw the post). Its  network, better take it as a feedback.

    And the point was not that you have to pay me. The point was, if you talk about responsible trade among the sellers & marketplace. You should check even your firms dealing. Things can be easily offloaded to another party. As is being done by Flipkart. You are pointing to Flipkart, the intermediary will tell one that the fault is on the other side.

    One more thing, is the selection of stories in anthology rigged?? I have some source & personal experience that all such anthologies have fixed stories already. Stopped participating after things like that came up.

  44. As for your second question if stories are fixed then you are challenging selection of your own story.

    As for first in flipkart issue there is no intermediary its between them and us directly so both the cases are entirely different .

  45. Yes I am challenging it. 😀

  46. praveen & chetan,

    why don’t both of you take your pow-wow offline now? enough has been said. and i’m sure 10k of us have better things to read about on the homepage. thank you.

  47. Then I have nothing to say..

    Asha, I apologize for my immature behaviour , should have taken it offline . 10k of us have a lot of better things to do.

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