We’ve had multiple discussions at Gumroad HQ about the term ‘ebook’. If we should just start saying ‘book’, or if the distinction is still important. Not to stray into Newt-Gingrich-trying-to-redefine-cell-phone territory (look it up if you’re not familiar), but books are rectangular stacks of paper marked with words and/or pictures. An ebook can be that, but it can also have embedded music, hyperlinks, video, etc. Really, though, perhaps the distinction is still important more because of perceived values, marketing techniques, and distribution models that don’t apply the way they do to physical books.
Factory, a new publishing company founded by Jason Glaspey, both considers the history of publishing and modernizes it to adapt to the massive paradigm shift of getting stacks of words into the world.
Their site sums it up like this:
Publishing isn’t what’s changing, it’s product distribution that is. And at Factory, we’re experts in modern marketing techniques and distribution channels that are leading edge and effective.
I talked to founder/writer/entrepreneur/conference-maker/ebooker Jason Glaspey about the beginnings of Factory, what they’re focusing on, and what they’re doing differently.
Tell me about your path from writing to founding a publishing company.
Well, in college I was an English and Journalism major, focusing on advertising. I also loved anything digital, so websites and online content were fascinating to me. This led me to a lot of different experiences—from running the website for a car magazine to dabbling in the blog world. Producing content was just always something I was comfortable with.
With that background, I ended up somehow writing a book about starting an online bacon business. Some friends and I gave ourselves a challenge to create a new business in three weeks, and it became kind of a cool story which gave me an opportunity to write my first book with a real publisher. Then, while running Paleo Plan, I had another opportunity to co-write a print book, while also producing several ebooks.
I’d also spent several years working the agency life. Working at interactive shops and ad agencies I was able to fine tune my understanding of marketing, telling a story, building products, and launching websites. I really enjoy building and launching, but I never really enjoyed working for clients.
When it came time to do something new, piling all of that experience into a digital publishing company just made for this exciting opportunity. It felt like I had been preparing for it my whole life.
This is an incredibly leading question. What advantages do you have as a writer getting into the publishing business?
It’s funny. Even with my background so dominated by writing and publishing, I don’t consider myself a writer. I consider myself to be someone who loves to make products and solve problems. It just so happens that a lot of my products are driven by the written word. However, if I had to pick an advantage, it’s that I’m not easily intimidated. I’ve already made so many mistakes. But I’ve also had some decent success in areas I was completely under-qualified to even attempt. I just didn’t know any better so I did it anyway. Now, if I don’t know something, I find someone who does, and I don’t let that stop me from going forward with an idea.
Things are changing in the publishing landscape. Not to be overly dramatic, or that it’s news to anyone, but it’s adapt-or-die time. How does your model differ from traditional print publishing?
Traditional publishing still seems to be locked into the idea that a book is, first and foremost, a printed, physical product. And because of that notion, everything created is bound to that starting point. With Factory, we can really experiment with the best way to distribute a piece of information, and build the product around that.
Also, there’s this established pattern that a book should cost between $10-15. It also has to be a certain length, or thickness (not too thick, but not too thin either). You walk down an aisle at a bookstore and books that stand out from that paradigm better have a good reason for doing so.
However, I’ve read dozens of non-fiction books that are 150 pages longer than they needed to be. The information you needed was all there by page 30, but there was a demand to fill up another 200 pages to demonstrate value. And then, you still only get to charge around $15 max.
With eBooks, people aren’t as sensitive to price, let alone length. Value becomes much more about the content versus the perceived value. We charge the right price for the right product, and are able to distribute it in the way that makes sense for that content.
We’re also able to go from idea to selling a product in far less time. Both of my experiences with print books took about a year from the contract to a book on a shelf. Which is just crazy to me. That feels like forever in the digital world, and we just move so much faster. Our Dropbox Guide took about 4 months total, and much of that was slowed down because we were a brand new company still getting processes in place.
Lastly, I think there’s a huge advantage when it comes to marketing. I’m able to quickly put together a promotion with someone, modify the price and terms of the deal, and engage a large audience all within a day or two. Stuff like that just never happens in a traditional publishing environment.
On the other side of the coin, what can we learn from traditional publishing? What’s tried and true?
I think one of the things missing from this giant DIY movement is the quality control you get from traditional publishing. If you buy a book from Penguin, or O’Reilly, you can assume it will be good, verified information. That it will be without serious errors because someone carefully edited it. There is also someone with a reputation standing behind the book verifying it is worth reading. In DIY publishing, anyone can sell an eBook. And while that’s really opening a lot of doors for changing the model, I’ve also seen some products that are just poorly done.
At Factory, we try very hard to not lose sight of tried and true editorial processes and standards. For our Dropbox guide, we had a talented writer (who is also a freelance editor), then two more editors look over it before finally having it proofread. The end product is very polished and (hopefully) free of errors. We also have an amazing designer who created a product that is just really pleasant to read. We think it stands up against any book on the subject regardless of who published it.
What is Factory’s focus, and who are you producing content for?
We’re making content for people like ourselves. People who use their computer every day, who love what they do, and who are interested in being better at being a geek.
I consider myself in love with everything the Internet can give us, and I think people who share that optimism will love the products we make. Whether that’s knowing a little bit more about how to use Dropbox, or safely transitioning to a standing desk, or even how to be an effective marketer for your startup.
We’re finding that a lot of ebooks, especially in the tech/educational space, are being priced above what has become standard ebook prices. In a guest post from Nathan Barry, he said, “You can charge premium rates if you are teaching a skill that makes money to people who have money.” In other words, if you’re saving a designer/programmer/etc. time and energy week after week, that’s worth more than $1.99 or $7.99. How much is value-base pricing a part of your model?
I think Nathan Barry is spot on. As I said earlier, when you get away from the idea that you’re selling a book that can only cost so much, and then the eBook needs to cost half of that, you open up the conversation to what something is really worth. At my last company, Paleo Plan, we sold our primary eBook for $34. And that’s a fantastic price if you consider that you can save hundreds of dollars in grocery bills using our system, as well as hours and hours of your own time. Our weekly meal plans also save people tons of money and time. That was really the first time I encountered the idea that I wasn’t selling an eBook; I was selling people their time back— at like $2/hour. Most people will buy efficiency at that price.
At Factory, we’ll definitely experiment with several different price points, but we’ll also experiment with product values as well. $2.99 for a Kindle book that is 10 pages long, but teaches you exactly what you need to know about a topic, and saves you an hour of wandering around the web trying to decide who to trust… that’s a good value.
I know you’ve done some testing with a product that’s not quite the focus of Factory. What’s the scoop on that, and what did you learn from it?
I had a health-based product that I’d produced a few years ago, but never got around to publishing. While we were waiting for our first Dropbox Guide to be finished, we were able to use this older product as a test ground. For instance, we did a promotion with a blog that was on topic for the eBook, and during that test, we learned about sending Gumroad buyers straight to the checkout by modifying the URL. We wrote a blog post about it here.
We’ve also tried a few different tools, using unbounce.com and leadpages.net to see if there were quicker ways to get a sales page up. It’s been pretty valuable. And because the cost of the eBook is a sunk cost, we’re not worried about making a ton on it. We just want to learn all we can. Now, our core products will be better off and we’ve dealt with those little process issues that come up when you’re doing something with a new team and in a new way.
So tell me a little about your first big release.
Our first real homegrown product is the Ultimate Unofficial Dropbox Guide. I’m a huge, HUGE believer in Dropbox, and I personally think it’s the single most important piece of software on my computer or phone. It makes everything I do better, and I use it in just about every area of my life. However, I’m regularly baffled that other people barely scratch the surface of what you can do with it. So, we worked with a fantastic author to have the ultimate guide written. I think anyone who uses a computer can get a ton of value from understanding Dropbox better. And thus, everyone should buy our eBook.
I get chastised at least weekly by (Gumroad’s) Alex for not using Dropbox for everything I do. Is this book going to change my tune?
I think it will. Maybe it won’t happen overnight, but I think once you shift your paradigm into thinking about how Dropbox can help you, you’ll start finding little ways to get more out of it, and pretty soon you’ll be an evangelist yourself.
What other projects do you have coming up?
We’re making a quick guide to help people transition to a standing desk. It’s not rocket science, but there are some things that you can do to really improve your chances of enjoying it quicker while preventing the chances of injury. We’re also really excited to be working with Rick Turoczy (@turoczy) on a project aimed at early-stage startups. He’s got a really deep background in marketing and PR, and he has a vision to create a product that helps those startups use their limited capital most efficiently when it comes to marketing and product launches. We’ve all seen too many people spend too much money on PR firms only to get a press release that nobody wants to cover. We think this is going to really help a lot of people and it’s perfectly in line with the type of projects we want to build.
We love Gumroad, and it’s been a huge asset for us. It’s allowed us to focus on the product we’re making and not on the technology. Which, when you’re a young company, can be gold. I was hoping we could give the Gumroaders (is that a word?) a discount on our Dropbox Guide. From now until Sunday night at midnight (PST), December 14th, you can use the coupon code “Gumdrop” for 50% off.