Is Something Better than Nothing?

Although most of the online book sales are through online book retailers like Amazon, there’s no loss for a publisher to try and market books on their website. Maybe they lose the cost of hiring the person to build the website, but as the old adage goes: something is better than nothing.

If a publisher is getting only dollars on the book by selling traditionally through bookstores, then even if they sell only a few books directly from their website they make a greater profit. If they earn $2 on a book sold through Amazon, and $6 on a book that they sell directly, then selling directly is equivalent to selling three books through Amazon.

This would be true for other niche publishers like Timber, who have a corner of the horticulture market, and Underland Press, who specialize in underground dark fantasy. Timber and Underland both have done a good job of creating attractive websites where consumers know that they are getting high-end products with the content they want.

However, the lack of direct sales should affect the manner in which publishers present their websites to the general public. As they stand, most publisher’s websites act more like an insider tool for ordering books for one’s mother. I might send her to Ooligan’s website to pick out book she might like. So she might surf the site, but the general public does not. Why would they even go there when Amazon is a staple?

If publishers can offer something different than Amazon, or even physical bookstores, then they can probably see more web traffic and more direct sales. Publishers that provide extras to their market, such as educational materials to teachers on W.W. Norton and Co.’s website, or ways to buy in bulk, could drive direct sales. They should take advantage of the poor economy by increasing their online marketing towards direct sales, not backing off.

That is, if a publisher actually wants to improve direct sales. Perhaps they shouldn’t. Unless they are a self-publisher or a niche press, maybe they should let the big dogs, wholesalers and distributors, handle their sales. If a large portion of sales came directly through the website, then the publisher would need a system to handle all of the requests and probably a customer service department.

This costs money and would distract from the publisher’s overall focus of making physical book objects. With the added costs of direct sales, the publishers might as well pay the people who have streamlined the bookselling process and pick a different audience to target on the website instead of the general public.