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The New Blockbuster Industry

Publishing Expert Robert Follett Explains the Blockbuster Phenomenon

by Jillian Bergsma

Book trailers. Million copy sellers. Hundreds of thousands of dollars for advances. Noticing a trend? We have always had all-star authors and hit series, but today more than ever the book business is beginning to look and feel like a blockbuster industry.

I spoke with Robert Follett—former Chairman of Follett Corporation and current Publisher at Alpine Guild, Inc—about how publishing has evolved over the years. Follett, a member of the University of Denver Publishing Institute faculty, is also the author of several books, including How to Keep Score in Business: Accounting and Financial Analysis for the Non-Accountant. With his publishing background and strong business sense, Follett is a pro when it comes to the commercial side of the book world.

“Today, the publishers of adult fiction and non-fiction seek blockbusters,” Follett told me. “Their business model is based on having a few huge books that produce enormous profits, which make up for lots of titles that are unsuccessful.”

The term “blockbuster” obviously brings to mind the film industry. Like our fellow media avenue, publishers search for star quality, rely on an audience, and, of course, have to make some money. Alas, we rarely make it to The Avengers status of $1.5 billion net gross, but we do our best. Then there is the music industry, our other counterpart. Taking a leaf out of their book we now put on author tours, have promotional free downloads, and have shifted toward electronic services and devices. But should we be following in the footsteps of our cousins? Follett finds that in this day and age, you can’t always rely on big sellers.

“The few large companies that control the recorded music business have a similar blockbuster model,” he said, “but their model has been seriously disrupted by digital downloading. Successful bands now make most of their money from touring, not from records sales. Movies are also controlled by a few large companies who are struggling to find a business plan that has a long-term potential in the face of digital distribution.”

Digitization issues aside, a “blockbuster” also carries a bit of a negative connotation, as though making money—lots of money—lowers the value of the work. Sure, we can call books “bestsellers,” but that doesn’t change what they are. Merriam-Webster lists “hit,” “smash,” “success,” and “winner” as synonyms for blockbuster. Those don’t sound so bad. Perhaps it isn’t an issue of wording, but instead a connection between making money and appealing to the masses. And in publishing appealing to the masses isn’t always seen as a good thing.

Readers are an elite audience; an MSNBC poll found 1 in 4 Americans reads zero books in a year. Compare that with the number of people who don’t listen to music or don’t watch movies (I personally don’t know any of those people). E-Readers have certainly increased readership, or at least helped readers read more, but books are still not the first format of entertainment that most Americans would choose. Our blockbusters can make a splash in the mainstream audience, but at what cost?

“My favorite and most important experiences in publishing have involved books from unknown authors that became hugely successful because they were intrinsically valuable to the audience,” Follett explained. “They were books that made a real difference in the lives of those who read them. Most books, including many of the best-selling blockbusters, really don't make a difference. They are short-term entertainment. Such books cannot give the same satisfaction as publishing books that actually make a long-term difference.”

As anyone in the publishing business knows, a lot goes into making a book a success, and a long-term one at that. Endless title meetings, dozens of cover concepts, and gutsy marketing plans are only the tip of the iceberg. So why is it that some self-published authors can make it all look so simple? Write a book, put it on sale for 99 cents, and the next thing you know you’ve made a million dollars. No problem.

But, of course, this is not the norm. While J.K. Rowling can now sell Harry Potter on her own and Amanda Hocking can create a cult following without the stamp of a publisher on the (e)spine of her novels, publishing houses still have a big role to play in the creation and distribution of successful books.

“The publisher connects the author with the audience,” Follett states. “But especially for adult fiction and non-fiction by a new author, where an audience often has to be found and developed, the principle function of the publisher will be marketing—publicity, promotion, advertising, book tours, and so on. There is often a cozy relationship between New York acquiring editors, New York agents, New York book reviewers, and New York-based media outlets. But these cozy relationships do not actually require the existence of a large company.

“What does require the existence of a large company is the financing of the up-front costs of publishing a book,” Follett continued. “This money has to come from somewhere, and giant New York publishers have more access to the funds needed to create blockbusters.”

Between the connections and the resources of publishing houses—not just the Big Six—it isn’t hard to see why so many writers still want a publisher to have their back. That being said, with companies like CreateSpace, Lulu, and iUniverse on the rise, creating blockbusters may become much easier for self-published authors. Follett looks forward to the future, despite being uncertain of what is coming next.

“I don't really know what the future will hold. I believe that digital distribution of content will grow to a larger and larger percentage of sales. I believe that more and more authors will become their own ‘publisher.’ I think the coming years will see much trial-and-error, much confusion, and the process of getting books from authors to readers will have many more channels. There will be unforeseen innovations that will dramatically impact getting words from authors to their audiences; traditional publishers will only be one of many ways.”

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Jillian Bergsma is a writer and contributing editor for Independent Publisher. She graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in English. She welcomes any questions or comments on her articles at jbergsma (at) bookpublishing.com.

          

 

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