Long-time readers will remember the interviews I did with BookBaby.com’s original leader, Brian Felsen. These intereviews were key to really understanding how BookBaby saw the ebook market they entered as distributors back in 2011, and how they planned to make their business helping indie authors as profitable as they had made their indie music distribution business, CDBaby.
But as we all know, in the indie publishing world the only constant these days is nonstop change. Brian has since left the company and has been replaced by Steven Spatz, who brings a background in journalism, direct sales, and the experience of having been BookBaby’s chief marketing officer until late last year.
I took the opportunity to sit down with Steven and talk about some of the big changes going on at BookBaby and how they might work out for indie authors.
Some of the subjects covered in this interview include:
- What’s behind the change of BookBaby‘s basic service from free to a $299 entry fee
- The reason BookBaby decided to get into print on demand
- How their “massive digital distribution” might benefit indie authors
- Who the “ideal” author is for BookBaby’s services (Hint: it’s not the D-I-Y-ers)
- Discoverability: where BookBaby is going next?
You can find the details on their print on demand offerings here: BookBaby Print on Demand
The video is a fast-paced 25:54. Note that around the 11 or 12 minute mark there’s some audio interference (thanks Skype!) but it dissipates in less than a minute.
What do you think of BookBaby’s new pricing and print on demand options? Have they made you more or less likely to use this company? Let me know in the comments, thanks.
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