The state of Canadian publishing, from a Wiley veteran
This article is written by James Gilbert. You can reach him at travelwriter.blog.
These are the excerpts from an interview I conducted with Matt Adamson, Senior Accounts Manager with Wiley Publishing, best known for their “Dummies” series of books. He currently manages a group of reps across Canada and the US that promote and distribute books by Wiley. Always technically savvy, Matt is looks to new technologies to collect information on his book sales and those of the publishing industry. Matt has had a long and distinguished career in the publishing industry. He has also worked with Oxford University Press as well as Cambridge University Press.
JG: How is the publishing industry doing?
MA: It’s doing really well. Not that long ago, about a million titles were being produced per year. Now with ebooks, self-publishing and print-on-demand, that same number is done every month. Even with all the media and streaming services available, books remain very popular.
JG: What is considered a successful book project?
MA: Five thousand books sold is considered a bestseller in Canada.
JG: Who buys books in Canada, what’s the demographic?
MA: Ten per cent of the population buys books on a regular basis. Their demographic is a true democracy. There is no one segment of the population represented more than any other. Ebooks carry 15 per cent of the market which rose to 34 per cent during the pandemic, then settled back down to 15 per cent.
JG: What’s getting published?
MA: Fiction is number one. Non-fiction books dealing with politics, war, biographies and history are down. Canadian history isn’t selling well at all.
JG: What are the hot topics in the publishing world?
MA: Social media for one. TikTok is driving the marketplace big time and it’s not just for kids as was once believed. People are looking for simple, curated content that will help them choose a book. BookTok, a sub community of TikTok, is a driving force in the marketplace and influencers are influencing purchases. If you have a following of 3,000 people on LinkedIn, publishers will notice you. They will seek you out and offer you a book deal. They want to work with people who are influencing opinions and potentially driving book sales.
Discoverability is a popular industry buzz word. Publishers need to know who the competition is and how well it’s doing. If you’re going to publish a book of blueberry muffin recipes, you need to drill down through the data on Google and find out who’s out there making similar books and how well they sold. Recently one of my sales reps started using ChatGPT to do this time consuming work and came up with some astounding results in mere minutes.
Of course AI itself is a hot topic because all publishers want to sell a book about AI. The problem is, AI and technology in general is moving at such an alarming rate, that AI books, if published in the traditional time consuming way would be long out of date before they hit the bookstores. Print-on-demand might be the only way to solve this problem since print-on-demand books can be revised fairly easily.
The other hot topic in the publishing industry is DE&I (diversity, equity and inclusion). Black Lives Matter, The Me Too movement and in Canada, Truth and Reconciliation have been huge wake-up calls for what has been a pretty non-diverse (white, well-educated, middle/upper class) industry.
JG: Where are the profits in publishing?
MA: The return on investment in publishing used to typically be four per cent. Corporate expectations are much higher now. The biggest profits come from reprints. For example, Octavia Butler’s Parable of a Sower was originally published in 1993. It’s current Grand Central Publishing/Hachette Group edition was published in 2000, reissued in 2019 and that paperback reissue is now in it’s 12th printing. Publishers love this. All the leg work and investment is done. They just need to call the printer and ship the orders.
JG: How many pages and what physical dimensions should books be?
MA: Publishers prefer books to be in standard dimensions. Our new Dummies Guide to Sustainable Travel is 14cm x 22cm. (5 1/2 x 8 1/2 inches) or half a sheet of standard paper. We don’t do coffee-table books. The number of pages depends on the subject. The first draft of Barbra Streisand’s new autobiography was 1,200 pages. Her publisher got her to parse it down to 900 pages. It also comes with a hefty $60 price tag. I’m not sure how it’s going to do.
JG: Would her book have done better say, 15 or 20 years ago?
MA: Absolutely. There’s a generation out there that has no idea who she is. Barbra’s 80 years old now. A lot of her fans are no longer alive.
JG: As an author, should I consider getting an agent?
MA: Absolutely. If nothing else, a meeting with an agent can help you decide whether your project is feasible or not, that is, if book is going to sell.
JG: What does an agent do other than negotiate a deal?
MA: Agents find the appropriate publisher, get them interested in the author and proposed book, arbitrate expectations, negotiate the terms/contract, organize payments, track royalties and track sales.
JG: Do publishers still give advances?
MA: They like it when they don’t have to but depending on the author and subject of the book they do provide advances.
JG: Authors complain that their publishers do nothing to help with book sales. Who is supposed to do the marketing aspect? Does the agent ever get involved?
MA: Publishers are supposed to market and sell the book. But with the rise of social media authors are asked and expected to do participate more and more. The agent would get involved if things are not going well on the marketing and sales front with either the publisher or the author.
JG: Are there budgets for advertising?
MA: When someone like Michelle Obama writes a book there is no advertising budget because the book sells itself. If a little known scientist writes a book on astronomy, we’ll allocate $30,000 for advertising.
JG: Other than writing the book, what are the writers responsibilities?
MA: Writers complete the manuscript on time, make the changes as suggested and discussed with the editor, may be required to pay for a finished index, may be required to pay for an initial outside edit before the manuscript is submitted. The writer also would usually agree to participate in marketing efforts with the publishers publicity and marketing staff.
JG: What advice do you have for a new writer?
MA: Develop a social media presence. It helps to appear as the expert on your favourite topic that you’re going to write about. Practice writing in different styles, whether it’s advertising copy or prose for a piece of fiction. Write every day.
Consider self-publishing. Your book will get out there much faster. Amazon has a really good platform for self-publishing as well as print-on-demand. You can decide on your own pricing and if your book’s a runaway success, you can raise its price!
Having a website is a good idea because a publisher will have their staff check out your writing and more importantly, check your following and engagement to see if you have any presence.
Daily updates to your website and maximizing your SEO (search engine optimization) set up are vital so Google can find you (discoverability). Google tends to ignore stagnant websites. It can be as simple as adding the current date and the word updated to a post on your site. AIOSEO and Yoast are popular plug-ins for search engine optimization. They’re relatively simple tools you can use to boost your site’s chances of being found. Both plug-ins tell you right away if your updates have helped or not.
Watermarking any of your own photos is also important as AI is now in the habit of stealing content from websites. Watermarking can easily be done with free utilities like Watermarkly or Batchwatermark, which add a fully customized and subtle copyright mark to your photos.
Using filenames for your photos that are more descriptive also helps Google find you. Instead of naming your photo “Waterfall 1,” use the specific location in the filename like “Coppermine Falls Blow Me Down Newfoundland Canada.” With WordPress you can also add a caption to each photo, a description as well as an alt text description, which adds another element increasing your site’s chances of being found. Google can also read text in your photos. If your photo shows a sign for Bob’s Restaurant, Google will read it and then becomes another search element.
Using an AI tool like ChatGTP is a great way to generate hashtags specific to Instagram and TikTok. AI can also generate keywords and longtail keywords for your website. Just write a specific prompt asking for keywords. For instance,
You’re an SEO expert tasked with finding keywords and long tailed keywords for a Newfoundland travel book. Please provide me with 20 keywords and 20 longtail keywords for my book’s website (travelwithme.com).
Keywords will be simple: Newfoundland, travel, vacation, etc. Longtail keywords will be more descriptive: travel adventures in Newfoundland, travel stories about Newfoundland, etc.
ChatGTP 3.5 is easily accessed via Microsoft Bing. Copilot is the official name of the service. Just click on the blue and green logo in the top right hand corner of the screen and you’re in.
JG: If Matt Adamson wrote a book how would he go about getting it published?
MA: If I was an author I would:
- Look for a publisher who publishes books I like or admire (content, cover design, price, availability/distribution). I want a publisher who has published a book that in some ways is similar to what mine might be in terms of subject, cover, paper, look, price
- Prepare a sample chapter, table of contents, working title
- Prepare a short summary of the book and its appeal to potential readers. The summary would include who these potential readers may be: geographic, demographic, profession, This doesn’t have to be detailed as it is very subjective. People who bought X book may like my book type of thing
- Prepare an up-to-date CV and samples of my writing (the latter to be made available on request)
So there you have it, the good news is that the Canadian publishing industry is alive and well. If you’re writing falls into a popular genre, you could find yourself with an agent, a book deal, a newly published book and a travel schedule taking you across the country to promote your work.
