Chicken Soup for the Publisher's Soul

CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE PUBLISHER'S SOUL:

5 Remedies to Protect Your Small Publishing Business from COVID-19

[This post is more for my fellow colleagues in the publishing industry, but anyone with their own business or side gig could benefit from this same recipe for surviving tumultuous times. And, if you are facing an obstacle of a different sort, read on for a little chicken soup.]

You may have stocked your personal shelves with soap, toilet paper, medicines, and canned goods, but what would be the equivalent to help your small indy publishing business survive disruptions caused by COVID-19? How vulnerable are you, and what can you do now to protect your business? Look at the publishing events cancelled or postponed to date, and you know the dominoes are falling. Bookstores in high-risk areas around the world show seemingly insurmountable sales loss. We’d like to think books would be the perfect answer to ‘social distancing’ and sheltering in place, but jittery markets and a constantly worsening landscape create vulnerabilities that could topple even the strongest players.

The good news? Small indy publishers are used to the virtual marketplace, more agile than our behemoth counterparts, and are experts at finding creative solutions to our problems. We can take steps to build up our immunity to the threat of COVID-19 or any major market disruptions. These 5 remedies will help you virus-proof your small publishing business (and most other small businesses as well):

1.  Reduce exposure. Order conservative quantities – revise open P.O.s or request a staggered fulfillment and payment schedule. Extend credit to your clients only when it doesn’t cost you anything out-of-pocket, or help them stagger their orders or requested services if necessary to stay afloat. Remember it’s in your best interests if they can complete their projects.

2.  Renegotiate. Renegotiate insurance, service contracts, and any other monthly expenses. Consider cancelling non-essential services, or freezing them for a time. Look for printing providers who could meet your needs should your current suppliers become suddenly unresponsive. Now may not be the best time to remodel the office or upgrade your equipment. Now may not be the best time for your client to create, or launch, that deluxe version.

3.  Be credit-smart. If you are in the position to set aside a cash reserve, do it. If you have balances due, follow conventional wisdom: pay off the highest interest credit first, paying minimum on the rest and rolling payments down until all are paid in full. Pay on time. Period. If you have a line of credit, protect it, use it wisely, and ask for an increase.

4.  Bet on your own house. Prepare and prioritize a list of in-house or spec projects you could complete if you find yourself, your employees, or your contracted workers, without enough to do. All those ideas you wish you had time to develop? Now you do. If you are in the black with a cash reserve, network and watch for opportunities to acquire, merge, or partner with other houses. Look for someone who shares your mission - and keep an open mind.

5.  Clean up online. Check and update your online offerings. How long has it been since you updated your metadata, including keywords, categories, and marketing language? Do you have titles not yet available as downloads? Now is the time to get those conversions done. Offer a download special on your titles, while people are looking for affordable digital entertainment. What digital markets have you missed, or not fully exploited? Foreign markets? Translations? Certain targeted audiences? Now is the time. Experiment with content delivery. Now might be the time to try emerging formats, such as subscriptions, or new marketing techniques, testing a small market first.

Finally, one bonus tip: Don’t overreact. The British like to say, “Keep Calm and Carry On” – great advice in an atmosphere of world-wide panic. If the bare truth is that you are in danger of losing your life’s work, I urge you to be smart, and honest, about your situation. Set your emotions aside, and look at these 5 remedies again through that lens. Every step will help put you in better merger or acquisition position, or may protect you from it. Consider your next steps carefully - and prayerfully. When one’s business is also their life’s calling, it’s easy to take a wild and ill-advised risk during moments of hopelessness. Seek advice, and be on the lookout for a creative opportunity, a way forward you never could have orchestrated on your own. Sometimes moving forward means taking one step back. Sometimes, we have to get sick before we can really find a healthy path. I do reference "chicken soup for the publisher's soul," so here's a heart-warming true story to give you hope if you are facing the worst.

My publishing business only exists because of a series of intractible problems, and one obstacle that stopped us in our tracks. Yet, at the same time, it was part of my deepest desires decades before I even recognized it. My first book, a memoir I co-wrote with the author, went through a difficult birth. Much of the pain was self-inflicted, but in addition to a number of rookie mistakes, my co-author suffered a devastating loss. His wife of over 50 years passed away suddenly after a bad fall. We knew we could not publish the book without telling this story, but the process was painful and raw, and of course set back the publication date. When the book was finally ready to print a year later, we took what we thought was a giant leap of faith and ordered 500 books. We sold out in 3 days, in a single market. Unfortunately, our publisher had left the country and we had no way to reach him, nor order more books.

His absence started a chain of events which quickly led to the creation of Encourage Publishing, a monumental leap of faith with lots of other providential events that propelled me forward. During those first critical weeks I labored over the perfect company name, finally checking to confirm my first choice was available as a URL. Imagine how surprised I was to learn that it had already been reserved - by me - 20 years before, a fortuitous but long forgotten act. Can we just talk about how reassuring it is to receive such a confirmation? Twenty years prior I was not writing, editing, or doing anything even remotely connected to publishing. And that story we added as a final close to our book? Readers tell us time and time again how deeply affected they were by that story, its vulnerability helping them to see themselves also moving forward through crushing obstacles.

That book is called "Diving into the Deep," and still sells 1000's of copies a year, inspiring readers not to fear the unknown, the perils of the deep, nor their own inadequacies; good medicine for these times, too. If you happen to be up against an obstacle that threatens to undo you, look deeper. Look around. And, don't be afraid. This was always part of your story, and you are more prepared for this moment than you realize.