@jennybullough @angelajames

Introduction

Decisions

Decisions

Why Do Digital First Who’s Going to Do It Budget and Business Plan Contracts Accounting Format Retail Marketing

Challenges and Roadblocks

It’s tough to be first! Getting buy-in

› Company commitment to it as a real business (not a hobby or sideline)

Money › Expectations of immediate return

Perception of quality

Thinking outside the box Helping readers discover your product Pricing – what price will the consumer

accept (and expect)? Royalties

Scheduling systems ISBNs – by product or by format? Changing your workflow or creating a

new one

Who’s Going to Do It?

Editorial Marketing Social media / community / blogs Production Merchandising Website Affiliates Who’s in charge?

Adapt, Adjust, Alter

Product – think about it differently Contracts Royalties Job descriptions Marketing techniques Consumer relationships Deadlines

Find your allies/advocates Work within the existing system

› Develop workarounds› But!

Develop and use your own systems & processes while you work to change the system to incorporate digital

@jennybullough

Production database/tracking systems

ISBNs

Metadata

Formatting

Proofreading / QC workflow

Ensure that you are delivering a quality product to the end-consumer – the reader

Author copies› How will you handle this digitally?

Author promotional support› How much and how soon?

Do it Yourself

Take ownership of processes as soon as possible › Metadata, conversion, warehousing,

distribution› Make it manually if necessary› work directly with partners

Take ownership of marketing

Educate› be an in-house evangelist› work your grassroots —start with

authors

Guerrilla marketing Direct relationships with bloggers vs.

going through PRDirect control of metadata› Adjust taxonomy on the fly to respond to

market Reflowable text = adaptable content

› Repackage, chunk

Not Done Yet

“not real books” Quality Getting to the reader Innovating

› Marketing› Business model – contracts› Keep business going while constantly

looking to the future

Industry data standards out of date

Adapting to a constantly changing market

Time and Energy

Advice

Be in it for the long haul Stay the course! BUT don’t be afraid to admit

something’s not working Adapt, be agile Never lose sight of the future!

Jenny_Bullough@Harlequin.ca

Angela_James@CarinaPress.com