Help!!! HEEEEEELLLPPP!
Whew. Okay. That's out of my system.
A Publishing Dilemma
I have a dilemma and I really need people to weigh in and let me know what you think I could do. You're literally my trusted advisors and this matters to me a great deal too.
Here's the thing.
I'm writing (and have been for what seems to be an interminable time) CRM at the Speed of Light's 4th edition. As those of you who read this blog know, not only have I been publishing excerpts of the book (the unedited, unexpurgated version) on the blog but there has a been a saga worthy of The Young and The Restless (May it Restless in Peace) that goes along with the book involving my car accident and a lot of other things.
McGraw-Hill is my publisher for this edition as they have for every edition ever published. But things are much more difficult in the publishing industry now and they have to do things that they could get around prior to that. And one of those budgetary concerns is causing the issue.
The book, when the original plan was put in place was supposed to be a projected 600 pages. I thought it would be well within that at the time. As it turns out, due to the incredible wealth of information that needs to be coherently organized in a way that makes sense to a concept of CRM 2.0 or Social CRM, whichever you choose to call it (and, no, as some are saying, there are NOT two different things - just two names for the same thing), and to my legendary-in-my-own-head verbosity, it is going to be roughly 750 pages.
Yes, 750 pages. The so-called Bible of the Industry" is going to be the size of the original Bible.
The problem is that McGraw-Hill doesn't have the budget to make this more than 600 pages. (give or take a few - a very few). But, the content can't really be eliminated, nor is there any obvious places within chapters to cut without losing a lot of the content.
What's being proposed is that we remove certain chapters and turn them into exclusive to readers or something like that electronic content. That doesn't mean designed PDF files either. It just means the content would be available to readers of the book. I don't know what the mechanics of that would be at all. Meaning would readers have to register. Would they have to enter a promotional code that gets them the content? How would it be downloaded? I don't know any of that.
This is a preliminary discussion but one thing is pretty certain. The printed edition will have 600 pages unless things change dramatically.
What I REALLY need help with is what to do. Is this electronic thing a good idea? A bad idea? If a bad idea, what could be done? Is there a permutation of it that's better? What will be the impact in your eyes? If its a good idea, how should it be done? Should the electronic content be given away free and anyone who downloads it gets a coupon for a discount on the printed edition? What should I do?
Nothing is set in stone with this. Anyone who throws in a suggestion that's used, I'll promise a free copy of the book, as soon as it comes out in October.
Please, friends, help me with this. If you need more information to help, leave a comment on what you need and as long as it doesn't violate something that the publishers demand I'll make sure you have it in a comment or blog posting. If you have an idea, please leave it in a comment so others can see it.
This is really important to me. I'm genuinely counting on you to help me take care of this.
Hello Paul:
As many people above has suggested, this should not be a problem at all and other authors in my field(IT) is already doing it for other reasons( ex:an update in Technology and they update their books online as additional chapeters. So i think its a good idea to separate case studies if any as online resources and keep the content short for the printed material. People who has bought the book should be able to get to the online resource materials pretty easily.As part of this online resource, may be you can also add interesting interactive graphs and spreadsheets. I am sure there are software shops that are out there to partner up with you. I will be very happy to assist you if you have such ideas in mind.
Good Luck with your book and I am looking forward to it.
Raj
Posted by: Rajesh Kanaparti | June 10, 2009 at 11:14 AM
Paul - jettison all mentions of the word "the" as well as any and all pronouns...this book will then be the required length and serve as a fine speed reading primer.
Posted by: Martin Schneider | June 04, 2009 at 06:26 PM
Edit it down. If your goal is to influence people, then brevity will be your finest tool. Here for example is an entire short story by the master -Ernest Hemingway: For Sale: Baby shoes, never worn.
Edit it down. It will be more effective and move more people.
Posted by: Kevin Joyce | June 02, 2009 at 10:53 AM
Got to read your post only now. :( So many sooopar suggestions! My 2 cents:
1) If your book has examples, case studies, stories, try putting some of them as extra material on the web (creative commons license or such to make it viral).
2) Split it into two books! Part - I & II. But sell only bundled together. Make it hard to get unbundled, individual books. Or may be just say you are selling 2 books at the price of 1 as a promotional offer that just goes a little long. ;)
3) Make two versions of it. One the unabridged that goes the Print-on-demand route or may be pre-order. Other abridged using idea 1.
Posted by: scorpfromhell | May 28, 2009 at 10:03 AM
Brevity is the soul of whit. I would take it as a challange to edit the book down. Editing usually has a way of forcing a good author, especially on a technical topic, to discard parts that are not as compelling. But understandably it is like asking you which 8 fingers you want to keep. It is a diffucult choice to part with you hard won ideas.
Twas it I. I would edit it down and removing several chapters as a download from the web site after the book is published. This would let you send the content at the same time build the best e-mail list of all us CRM junkies.
Posted by: Pierre Hulsebus | May 27, 2009 at 08:59 AM
Paul, I like the idea of Kindle, Audible.com, or some sort e-book companion using a 2.0 tool...
Posted by: Jesus Hoyos | May 26, 2009 at 09:27 PM
Well there is such a thing as large print books perhaps you need to release it as a small print book (and ship a magnifier) - provide the whole version via online as well (private access only) so that people can read it in any font they want, but have it on paper in 9 point.
Cheers Anne
Posted by: Anne Stanton | May 26, 2009 at 09:11 AM
Crikey, doesn't your publisher know how many of us have pre-ordered and are waiting with bated breath for the release of this thing - if they knew they'd publish 1000 pages on bloomin' gold leaf!
Come on, get on with it, hurry up I want my book, don't care how it gets to me - I want every word you write
Posted by: Sarah | May 26, 2009 at 03:20 AM
8 point font?
Posted by: tien | May 25, 2009 at 02:52 PM
Seems I should have read the comments above mine more carefully. Great ideas. Mitch, Louis, great ideas. Love the term guided reading. BTW: it has just occurred to me that if the extra-chapter content was online, it might give you a way of joining people with similar challenges together. i.e. CRM in A Downturn Group in Linkedin/Facebook/Ning etc.
You could also extend the pamphlet idea by having the $5 add on per chapter as a Q&A / Study Guide/ Questionnaire etc. i.e. Sell The Work Book Element separately. 5th Discipline did this quite well if I remember correctly.
Posted by: PaulSweeney | May 24, 2009 at 10:51 AM
Paul,
The textbook publishers do this all the time. They put a code in the text that gives students access to on-line materials not available any other way. For them it discourages the sale of used books, which give the publishers and authors no money.
When you look at this way, this is an advantage. They could easily follow this textbook model--which would matter most with the textbook sales of your book. If the professor requires the on-line material, students have to buy new, not used.
Posted by: Steve LeMay | May 24, 2009 at 09:04 AM
Paul, things are changing so quickly, that even when your book is published, things will be out of date. How about covering the basics for each chapter, and then offering a link to an online blog devoted to "up to the minute" content, case studies, etc? You are already blogging, so why not use this as added content to the book?
Posted by: Gay Bitter | May 23, 2009 at 07:53 PM
I know you don't think you can cut anything but I believe we all need to start being smart about all this text. We are overwhelmed! Even June CRM mag (page 14) mentions Dave Gray (xplane.com) and Dan Roach (thebackofthenapkin.com) as examples of how we can present our ideas more easily and quicker using visuals. Any chance you can replace some text with visuals that take up less pages?
Otherwise I would choose what could most easily be the electronic part and just split it. You have a lot of choices from these comments and I don't really think it matters which you choose, it's your preference.
Posted by: Pam Barry | May 23, 2009 at 06:07 PM
Paul - here are a few ideas:
1. Would switching from hard cover to soft cover affect materials pricing enough to cover the cost of publishing the extra pages?
2. Publish on CD or DVD with search capability & extra content
2a. Add option to print chapters either personally or order customized printed versions through publisher - like colleges do with textbooks
3. Release on Kindle & Audible.com to generate extra revenue to cover costs
Posted by: Karl Wabst | May 23, 2009 at 05:31 PM
Paul,
Take this dilemma and turn it into an opportunity. Why not take serving the reader to an extreme and create an intelligent front-end “guided reader” application? Imagine being able to give readers the opportunity to define in real time their unmet needs, interests, roles in their companies, and CRM processes most need of repair? The Guided Reader front-end would assemble the most relevant chapters and deliver them. Textbooks I’ve used in courses do this and it is very effective for tailoring content to a specific classes’ needs. Just for discussion, say readers get 30% of chapters free and if they buy the book they can get a completely customized PDF or Kindle-compatible book that includes all chapters of the book precisely mapped to their needs and interests.
On the up-side this gives you and M&H some great data on readers’ unmet needs for future projects, and also keeps the entire book in front of more potential readers longer. The risk is opening up the entire contents of the book for creating this type of customization.
Yet the bottom line is that roles are changing so fast in companies right now, and CRM processes in many companies are shifting in entirely new directions as well.
Finally I’d predict that the two most popular paths with out Staying Productive In The Middle of A Downsizing and CRM Strategies In A Recession: What’s Working and What Isn’t.
Have a great weekend Paul and everyone!
Posted by: Louis Columbus | May 23, 2009 at 05:20 PM
No need for readers to register or enter a code. The online content can be a promotional vehicle for the book just as the book can point to the online content/site. The two should work together.
Posted by: Logotrope | May 23, 2009 at 04:09 PM
not a problem......the publisher can only sell the book at a certain price 600 or 800. Between that and the 1/3 cost of shipping you cut into into his margins.... So you create a pamphlet with the extra pages which the publisher can sell for S&H $5.00 with proof of purchase which they will never look at anyway because they make a profit at $5.00 and you get your percentage. Arthur (Mitch's Dad)
Posted by: Mitch Lieberman | May 23, 2009 at 04:04 PM
Hi Paul,
I agree with Ryan in thinking that this dilemma gives you the opportunity to create a truly innovative user experience using a "mixed media" format. What a better way to demonstrate Web 2.0 technologies with a collaborative and multimedia approach, rather than the didactic 2-D presentation of a standard textbook. Offering your readers access to extra online material via promotional codes (or via Hyperlinked material in the Kindle) would supplement interest in your book without reducing sales of the printed version. As you said, past editions of "CRM at the Speed of Light" have been dubbed the "CRM Bible" and at 600 pages, the material is engaging yet too dense to fully consume during an ill-spent afternoon on the Barnes n' Noble couch. Documenting your saga online has already created a groundswell of demand for this edition from other CRM-geeks like myself, why not present the material with a Web 2.0 format?
Posted by: Dik Whitten | May 23, 2009 at 03:23 PM
Totally bogus problem Paul :) Lets "segment" your audience (uh hum, have you?)
I suspect you are serving multiple audiences with the one book. Choose one and see if they need "all the chapters". Over and over again we hear our consultants say "lose the product line extensions/ return to the core/ drop the nice to have". Step back, substitute "your book" for "any other software" review you conducted, and see what happens ! in the mean time, so "out there options" -
Idea (1) Being provocative why don't you take the CRM Social Media, and TOTALLY point people online. Social CRM/ CRM2.0 should be a chapter/ nay an instruction manual for how to step up, and participate. Know By Doing. This Thing Called Ambient Conversation Shall Not Be Known By Reading Alone :)
Idea (2): Go Stephen King Route: By 2.0 Speed of Light and Get it in Weekly Installments, posted to you, ready to read.
Idea (3): Disaggregate the whole book and turn it into different paths that people can choose ("I am a practitioner so chapters 1, 4,5 etc.; I am a student so give them chapters 3, 5, 9 etc.). Choose, bind, publish online to print on demand.
Idea (4) Give it to a novelist (seriously), a blockbuster. You are telling a story (crazy idea?)
Posted by: PaulSweeney | May 23, 2009 at 03:10 PM
I wouldn't put whole chapters online but parts of chapters, all throughout the book.
Maybe examples in a blog style and size.Not to long to read. That's what I do now sometimes,lookup some additional info on parts of a book I'm reading.
That way people can react/interact to those parts of the book, which is in a way including social media in the book.
I'm very much for Open Source so I wouldn't put the content behind a login code but make it available for free.
For people not owning the book these online excerpts of the book could be a reason to buy the book.
I myself would be interested in what other readers have to say to different parts of the book.
Posted by: Wichard Noppert | May 23, 2009 at 02:54 PM
That is a dilemma indeed! I am not a big fan of reading large amounts of content (ie book) online, not there yet. I do not yet have a Kindle either. So, based on my propensity to comment within the text of a book (I seem unable to read non-fiction without a pen in hand), I would likely get less out of those chapters not in the book. I also like to, but would not be able to, take them (extra chapters) with me (I could, but it would be harder) Finally, once the book is read, the extra parts would not be in the 'library' for reference.
Of course, this would in no way prevent me from purchasing the book (nor others either, I would guess). My purpose was not to lop on more frustration, as I did not offer any real solutions, for that I apologize. Not being familiar with publishing industry, I have a bit of time understanding the logic (unless the price has already been set for the book). I suppose you could get a few sports teams to subsidize the book, maybe a Yankees fold-out in the center?
Posted by: Mitch Lieberman | May 23, 2009 at 02:45 PM
Hey Paul. Bummer McGraw-Hill can't do all 750 pages. That would be ideal (and assume Kindle edition etc can support as many pages as needed). I suggest strong consideration of the free E-book route for a few of the extra chapters. Hard to decide which to remove from the physical book, of course. Perhaps you can identify several to comprise an E-book ("Socializing CRM at the Speed of Light" for example) that stands well alone yet promotes the overall 4th edition of the book itself; an appetizer for prospective readers and bonus material for your vast following. Depending on your flexibility with McGraw-Hill, this might be released in advance of your book publishing. Nothing wrong with including a coupon for the book if you like (good measurement there too). You may likely create an online rave in CRM and social media circles, and elsewhere!
Posted by: Ryan Zuk | May 23, 2009 at 02:26 PM