With its emphasis on volume and hard-to-find titles, the small publisher actually makes money from ebooks
Biographies of public figures such as Kate Middleton have helped Endeavour Press make money from ebooks. Photograph: Samir Hussein/WireImage
There is no shortage of ambition at Endeavour Press. The publishing startup may have a scruffy website and scruffier offices but when its founders tell you, not entirely joking, that they could be as big as Penguin, you almost believe them. Because this is a firm that – almost unheard of in this brave new digital world – knows how to make money from ebooks.
Endeavour began two years ago after Matthew Lynn grew frustrated when his publishers were reluctant to let him publish a digital single to promote his crime novel. Realising how easy it was to do it himself, he thought there could be a business in it and teamed up with publicist Richard Foreman.
Two-thirds of Endeavour's ebooks are cannily selected out-of-print titles, from AJP Taylor on the causes of the first world war to Tim Severin's nautical adventures. It also publishes short, instantly updated, biographies of public figures such as Kate Middleton, and anthologies from writers including Mail on Sunday columnist Rachel Johnson.
Success in digital publishing, say Endeavour's founders, lies in volume (outsourcing editing and cover design, they publish eight titles a week and are hoping to reach 10 by Christmas) and flexibility with pricing. Instead of splashing out on publicity campaigns, Lynn and Foreman play around with Amazon's algorithm, increasing an ebook's price (though never above £2.99) once it breaks into Amazon's charts. They make on average £1 a copy, with authors getting 25% of the cover price, compared with 25% of revenue as with most publishers.
There are useful lessons here, especially for those who hope the ebook market is flattening out. As Lynn points out: "A year ago you had to sell 250 copies to get into the Amazon top 100, now it's 450."
Endeavour began two years ago after Matthew Lynn grew frustrated when his publishers were reluctant to let him publish a digital single to promote his crime novel. Realising how easy it was to do it himself, he thought there could be a business in it and teamed up with publicist Richard Foreman.
Two-thirds of Endeavour's ebooks are cannily selected out-of-print titles, from AJP Taylor on the causes of the first world war to Tim Severin's nautical adventures. It also publishes short, instantly updated, biographies of public figures such as Kate Middleton, and anthologies from writers including Mail on Sunday columnist Rachel Johnson.
Success in digital publishing, say Endeavour's founders, lies in volume (outsourcing editing and cover design, they publish eight titles a week and are hoping to reach 10 by Christmas) and flexibility with pricing. Instead of splashing out on publicity campaigns, Lynn and Foreman play around with Amazon's algorithm, increasing an ebook's price (though never above £2.99) once it breaks into Amazon's charts. They make on average £1 a copy, with authors getting 25% of the cover price, compared with 25% of revenue as with most publishers.
There are useful lessons here, especially for those who hope the ebook market is flattening out. As Lynn points out: "A year ago you had to sell 250 copies to get into the Amazon top 100, now it's 450."
1 comment:
Then why have they now gone into liquidation?
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