These days, since the pendulum swung away from the traditional 19th century Business of Publishing to a new era in which an author can be found online from anywhere in the world in three clicks of a mouse, there is a massive realignment going on as everyone in the industry seems to be reinventing themselves to take advantage of new routes to market and the alternative business models now available. At Filament we have always known that the 16th century technology of printing books, with a 19th century business would have challenges in a 21st century digital age. It should not be a surprise!
Since being founded in 1999, Filament has been at the forefront of challenging convention and creating innovative ways of working that put the author at the heart of their project, rather than on the periphery.
The one thing that seems to have been overlooked in the process, is to help the author to build a successful business around their book – and to use it as a stepping stone to achieve a bigger objective. Indeed so many book projects fail to achieve their full potential because the author was so busy writing their book that they forget to create a strategy for their project, and create a plan to achieve it. As the saying goes, "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail". Sadly that is why there are so many garages full of damp books that will never end up being bought and read.
At Filament, the passion is to partner with an author to help them make a commercial success of their project, by treating it as a business. In reality, every new book is a start-up business and needs to be treated as such. As more authors experiment with self publishing, which seems on the face of it to be such an easy option, many of them are realising that, for their project to succeed, there is far more to it than is apparent at the start.
Getting the business model right, understanding their niche and their perfect reader, knowing the different routes to market — especially the most profitable ones, and knowing how to be quickly and easily found by customers, are all necessary skills which today's author needs to develop. To be successful means not just being an author but also becoming a Knowledge Marketeer.
The advantage of working with Filament is that they think ahead on your behalf and take you through the process, one simple step at a time making sure that nothing is forgotten.
Filament do not have a production line. Every author and every book is different and special. Filament like to weave their own magic over each title by playing to their strengths, and giving the author freedom to play to theirs.
Not every book will be a match for Filament. Filament only accept a title that they know they can add value to, and work with authors who are prepared to step up and take advantage of the many new technologies that can quickly bring them together with their readers.
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