I pondered – why would amazon buy a print on demand press? I didn’t have to wait long for the answer. A few months ago, they launched a service aimed at helping publishers keep their books in print. When the stock of a book runs low, amazon takes the publisher’s file and reprints the book at amazon’s own plant and fulfills back-orders. How do publishers feel about outsourcing their printing and fulfillment? What’s not to be thrilled about? They’re making money at no cost to themselves whatsoever. It’s all done virtually, and everybody makes money, including you the author.

But remember, so far, all we’re talking about is a service aimed at helping publishers keep books in print when stocks run low. But why stop there? Let’s let our imaginations run wild. Let’s revisit that Random House novel. Right now, in order to satisfy those subscription orders on amazon, Random House has to print five thousand copies at its printing plant and, ship them to amazon’s warehouse. Well, that’s perfectly fine if you’re in the twentieth century. But this is the 21st, and publishing is becoming virtual. How about this alternative: amazon prints all five thousand copies at its BookSurge plant in Charleston, South Carolina. Booksurge then ships the books directly to the customers who pre-ordered them months ago.

Pretty sexy, yes? Neither Random House nor amazon are out of pocket for the printing cost, because it’s covered by the price of the book; nor is there any shipping cost to the publisher, because shipping is paid by the customer. Nor is there any warehouse cost, because there are no warehouses! I used the term “virtual;”we know that in a digital world, all middlemen become impediments. I say unto you categorically that direct bookselling to the consumer, with no middlmen, is the way of the future. And here’s something more to think about: as stupendous as amazon is, it is only a middleman for book publishers. Is there any reason why publishers have to outsource their fulfillment to amazon? None that I can think of. Once the Random Houses of the world see the profitability inherent in the subscription/print-on-demand model, if they’re smart -- a condition we cannot always take for granted – but if they’re smart, they’ll realize they can do it themselves.

Actually there are impediments to the Random Houses and HarperCollinses and Penguins selling books directly to consumers. One is internal: their books are sold by commissioned sales reps whose noses tend to get out of joint when their companies cut them out of opportunities to make commissions on store orders. The other impediment is external. Direct bookselling cuts out the major bookstore chains, and Barnes & Noble tends to get cranky when publishers go into competition with them in the retail marketplace. (That hasn’t prevented B&N from competing in the publishing marketplace – the retailer publishes its own books, and its “store brand” often undercuts similar titles supplied by traditional publishers.)

Those obstacles notwithstanding, selling directly to customers is the only way that the book industry will find its way back to profitability. And just think how profitability will liberate publishers and enable them to return to their core competence: publishing books of lasting cultural value. Like, THE APRHODISIAC COOKBOOK. And HOW TO MAKE SOCK MONKEYS. And I HATE MYSELFAND WANT TO DIE: THE 52 MOST DEPRESSING SONGS YOU’VE EVER HEARD.

Thank you.

Copyright 2006 by Richard Curtis

Richard Curtis, president of Richard Curtis Associates, Inc., is a leading New York literary agent and a well known author advocate. He is also the author of numerous works of fiction and nonfiction including several books about the publishing industry.

He graduated from Syracuse University in 1958 with a BA in American Studies and from the University of Wyoming with a Masters degree, also in American Studies. He joined the ScottMeredith Literary Agency after graduation, and was foreign rights manager there for seven years. In 1967, he launched a freelance writing career, and has had some fifty books published by many major houses. In the early 1970's, he began his own literary agency, and in 1979 incorporated it. Richard Curtis Associates, Inc. currently represents close to 150 authors in all fields. The agency reports millions of dollars in annual sales for leading authors in every area of nonfiction and in such categories of fiction as romance, westerns, thrillers, science fiction, and fantasy.

His interest in emerging media and technology has enabled him to help authors anticipate trends in publishing and multimedia. He has lectured extensively and conducted panels and seminars devoted to raising consciousness in the author and agent community about the future of communications.

Early in the 1980's, he started writing an advice column for Locus, a science fiction newsletter, and out of his articles several books have been published including HOW TO BE YOUR OWN LITERARY AGENT, BEYOND THE BESTSELLER, MASTERING THE BUSINESS OF WRITING, and THIS BUSINESS OF PUBLISHING. He has testified as an expert witness in several publishing trials.

He was the first president of the Independent Literary Agents Association and was President of the Association of Authors' Representatives in 1996 and 1997. His company served for over a decade as agency for the Science Fiction Writers of America. In 1994, he received the prestigious Romance Writers of America Industry Award for Distinguished Service to Authors. In 1998 he was invited to serve on the editorial advisory board of Writer’s Digest. In 2000 he was invited to serve on the Publishing Master of Science advisory Board of Pace University.

Late in 1998, Richard Curtis announced the formation of e-reads, a publisher dedicated to reissuing, in e-book and print formats, previously published books in such popular categories as romance, fantasy and science fiction, and thrillers. The company commenced operation in 1999 with over 1200 titles, many by famous names in their fields, and concluded strategic alliances with all a dozen major distributors including Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, and Ingram Book Company. As a byproduct of his e-book activities, he collaborated with a programmer to create the Royalty Tracker, a program designed to quickly convert vast amounts of royalty information generated by e-book vendors into simple royalty statements. In 2002 Writers Digest Books published his HOW TO GET YOUR E-BOOK PUBLISHED co-authored by William Quick.

Richard Curtis is married to author Leslie Tonner and has two children. He currently resides in Manhattan. His hobbies are sports, music and painting.