If You Love Books, Don't Set Them Free I hope there will always be physical books They!

re one of the worl"'s most en"urin# forms of me"ia, an" one that still works well to"ay, even in "irect sunli#ht $owever, more an" more, people are choosin# to rea" ebooks an" this tren" isn't #oin# to #o away %s rea"in# shifts from physical towar"s "i#ital, there will be enormous challen#es an" tou#h times for everyone & authors, publishers, an" retailers But how tou#h "o those times nee" to be' %s a series crime author, publishe" by $o""er ( Stou#hton, I follow the fortunes of the book market with #reat interest But my "ay )ob is runnin# a successful app "eveloper, workin# with a ran#e of "i#ital publishers The #ames*apps business is a new market that moves e+tremely fast ,ompare" to books an" music, it's the youn#est, but it's evolve" at a fri#htenin# rate, overtakin# more establishe" me"ia with an e+plosion of innovation -an" consi"erable collateral "ama#e to the people an" businesses that work in the space. The #oo" news is that the ol"er, more establishe" me"ia can look at the parallels an", if they choose to, learn from the mistakes an" successes of their youn#er counterpart %s someone with a foot in both camps, it's fascinatin# to watch, but I sincerely hope that the book in"ustry won't slavishly trea" on all the same lan"mines that the app in"ustry has Let!s start with an -ironically. obvious issue/ "iscovery 0oin# "i#ital brin#s more choice, but almost everythin# is har"er to fin" 1reviously, publishers fou#ht to #et their physical pro"ucts into tra"itional retailers where it was tou#h to stan" out, surroun"e" by hundreds of competin# pro"ucts But now, as the physical shop becomes an online store, each pro"uct is swampe" by millions of others These virtual shelves are never cleare"2 they )ust #et lon#er an" lon#er as thousan"s of new titles are publishe" every week %n" with no shopkeepers to curate the content on offer, an" self3publishin# offerin# a way to si"estep the publisher!s 4uality3threshol", much of the content is me"iocre So if your title is swampe" by a "elu#e of other stuff, how "o you make it stan" out' Surely, if it!s #oo" enou#h, it will rise to the surface Isn!t that the point of all those reviews, ratin#s, an" charts' Sa"ly, the answer is no 5hen I state" that the apps business was innovative, I wasn!t ki""in# There!s now a whole sub3in"ustry, "e"icate" to 6#amin# the app3stores7 & artificially inflatin# chart positions an" sales by manipulatin# the al#orithms that "rive them %n" if you thou#ht sock3puppetin# was scan"alous in the worl" of books, you shoul" "raw the curtains an" hi"e un"er the be", because in the app worl" there are stories of 6incentivise"7 review campai#ns that woul" make your pa#es curl 5hich lea"s us to the final solution/ price 5ith no other way to "ifferentiate themselves, many app publishers lowere" their prices as a way to attract attention an" #rab market3share The theory behin" it was simple enou#h & yes, you!" make less money on each sale, but you!" sell many more titles, an" en" up makin# more money overall It was a winnin# strate#y8 8e+cept when everyone "i" it

9ery, very 4uickly, the ma)ority of apps "roppe" to :; <=, the lowest available %pple pricepoint at the time It was a "esperate race3to3the3bottom but, as it turne" out, <=p wasn!t the bottom, an" prices kept #oin# "own Some titles & bi# titles, with five or even si+3fi#ure "evelopment bu"#ets & hit >ero %n" once they were free, everyone else ha" to follow suit, or risk bein# left behin" in the tumblewee" of the 1ai" %pps section But >ero wasn!t the bottom either Soon, "i#ital publishers were incentivisin# people to "ownloa" their apps, han"in# out vouchers an" in3#ame rewar"s to try an" bribe people into playin# their free titles 1roppe" up by investment fun"in#, businesses are now "iscussin# 6new user ac4uisition costs7 of ?@ to ?A per person & meanin# the price of a free app is actually minus ?@ or minus ?A So what about book pricin#' % few years a#o, :A or :B felt cheap for a mainstream novel, but not now when the Cin"le Daily Deal offers ama>in# titles for )ust ==p There are "efinite si#ns that ebook pricin# is followin# the same "ownwar" tra)ectory as apps Some will say that it!s )ust pro#ress, that it mi#ht even be a #oo" thin# Lower prices for everyone an" more sales overall8 an" it!s kind of workin# for the apps business isn!t it' This is where it #ets "an#erous Because, unlike books, #ames an" apps are not fi+e", linear content & with a pre"efine" be#innin#, mi""le an" en" They!re built to a"apt, to moul" themselves to each in"ivi"ual user in increasin#ly subtle ways 0ames may be 6free7, but they employ a hu#e arsenal of psycholo#ical techni4ues to create a nee" in their au"ience8 then sell them somethin# that a""resses that nee" "Oh, you were almost at the end of the level do you want to buy another try?" "Oh, it's taking ages for your virtual crops to grow do you want to buy fertiliser?" "Oh, your virtual kitten is sad because its hungry do you want to buy it some food?" 5ithin this ruthlessly3optimise" ecosystem, au"ience3behaviour is tracke" an" stu"ie" in real time, with apps a"aptin# their sales approach automatically to monetise better %fter all, mo"ern #ames an" apps are never finished2 they are on3#oin# services, constantly evolvin# in the pursuit of revenue This is why the book in"ustry shoul" be e+tremely wary of followin# the apps mo"el, especially on pricepoint Dnless we want pay3walls between chapters, invasive a"vertisin#, or other consumable content to "rive in3book3purchases -IB1., how will publishers an" authors make enou#h money to cover their costs' %n" as we've seen in the app in"ustry -which has spent millions of "ollars trainin# its au"ience not to pay for content. once you #o free, you can never #o back There was a time when <=p was a small price to pay for a #ame, but now it's a ri"iculous "eman" by E#ree"yE publishers So why "oes this situation continue' The answer is simple/ because it works for the channel 5hatever the pricepoint, some people still pay for some content %n" whatever they pay, channels like %pple or %ma>on will take a B;F cut, which is completely fair when you remember that many physical retailers "eman"e" more than G;F in their "ay Hf course, %pple an" %ma>on can affor" to be #enerous & their marketplace now covers the entire planet, an"

there!s a #oo" chance they sol" you the "evice you!re buyin# the content for too ,rucially, if they are takin# B;F of a whole in"ustry!s revenue, they aren!t worrie" about whether in"ivi"ual content creators an" publishers are breakin# even or not But this isn!t a criticism of %pple or %ma>on & they "on!t set the prices, the content provi"ers "o 5hich be#s the 4uestion, if so many of them are makin# a loss, why "on!t the content provi"ers "o somethin# about it' 5hy "on!t they starve the machine rather than keep fee"in# it' In the apps business, the blunt answer is that there will always more content comin# alon#, because there will always be new people prepare" to #ive their content away in return for e+posure The overwhelmin# ma)ority of apps make a loss, an" the app3stores are #or#e" with #ames from "evelopers who have -or will. #o bust But what about books' %nyone with a 5or" "ocument can #et their novel on the Cin"le store, but it!s not )ust self3 publishin# that!s bulkin# up the virtual shelves Tra"itional print publishers all have rich back catalo#ues an", because "i#ital stock "oesn!t take up any space, they are naturally uploa"in# ol" titles as well as new ones %n unima#inable wealth of content, constantly #rowin#, always on sale whether anyone buys it or not8 it!s har" to put the brakes on a machine with that sort of momentum behin" it This is probably the point where I shoul" insert a fluffy, upbeat conclusion, to "ispel some of the #loom above But rather than #libly su##estin# that everythin# will be all ri#ht, I think it!s more reassurin# to remember that everythin# wasnt all ri#ht before The 6#oo" ol" "ays7 of physical pro"ucts an" physical "istribution were beset with problems, an" the rise of "i#ital brin#s a host of positive opportunities, not )ust challen#es There!s #rowin# talk -an" investment. aroun" the areas of content sharin# an" social "iscovery, which is very e+citin# But I "o think there!s a bullet to be "o"#e" here Let!s )ust hope that the book in"ustry rea"s all the way to the en", before it "eci"es to follow other "i#ital me"ia too closely Because unlike #ames an" apps an" music, books haven!t #iven away their pricepoint yet %n" so lon# as they "on!t train their au"ience to believe that "i#ital content has no cash value, there will always be hope for non3"i#ital content Like physical books