Is Amazon’s BookSurge Really a Raw Deal?

Recently, Amazon announced that all self-, subsidy, and small publishers would have their “buy” buttons turned off on their Amazon pages unless they produced those books through its BookSurge POD printing/publishing unit. The outcry from the self- and small publishing community was immediate and fierce. How dare Amazon force them into an in-house production model against their will? Surely, the move would favor Amazon at the expense of the small and self-publisher. Doesn’t everyone know that BookSurge has a reputation for poor quality and horrific customer service? Here we go again—the little guy getting trounced by the big, bad, monopolistic retailer.

But is that really the case?

As a niche publisher who also offers book development and editing services, the announcement was alarming. Would I be forced to set up a BookSurge account and add all of my titles to its inventory in order to keep my relationship with Amazon? Would the quality be inferior? Would it cost me a bundle? What was I to tell my editing and book development clients who were planning to self-publish?

After monitoring the situation through the online community and hearing very little new information—just the same complaints over and over again—I decided to call BookSurge myself. What I found was that there is a lot of misinformation out there. In fact, the situation was more favorable for small and self-publishers than I’d initially thought.

Correcting Misinformation

After talking to an Amazon executive, I found that BookSurge did, in fact, have problems with production quality and customer service at one time. But when Amazon purchased BookSurge three years ago, it overhauled its staffing, production equipment, and business practices. It is not the same BookSurge that many consultants, printers, and publishers remember.

Although the executive would not disclose what type of equipment was being used, I had already heard product names filtered through the grapevine, and if accurate, they meant that BookSurge is using cutting-edge production quality equipment, the same as any commercial-quality print-on-demand production facility. I had also read list serve posts from more than one author/publisher who—in the face of the onslaught of negative comments about BookSurge—countered that they had recently set up with BookSurge and were thrilled with the quality. In fact, they felt that the quality was comparable to (or even better than) that of one of the top POD printers.

I had heard many complaints about limited trim sizes, too, but like the complaint about quality, I found these to be unfounded. Trim sizes from 4x6” to 8 ½ x 10 ½” were offered by BookSurge, in ¼” increments, with more being added all the time.

As for cost? BookSurge charges a $50 per-book set-up fee, which is less than my current POD print provider charges, and during this transition period, the cost is being waived entirely for authors and publishers adding files to the BookSurge inventory on a one-time basis.

So much for Amazon being a tyrant forcing publishers into unprofitable business relationships. In fact, it would cost me nothing to set up my entire title list with BookSurge, and based on its low per-book pricing, my Amazon margins would actually be higher than I am currently getting. Plus, Amazon isn’t requiring exclusivity. I could continue to maintain my current supplier relationship for all non-Amazon sales.

“Forced” to Work with BookSurge?

It had also been rumored that at least one major publisher had been “forced” into the BookSurge relationship. I also found that to be untrue. In fact, more than a dozen major publishers have already signed on with BookSurge. But they weren’t forced to do it. They did it back in 2007. Among them: HarperCollins, John Wiley & Sons, McGraw-Hill, Pearson, Springer, Gale, Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, Princeton University Press, SAGE Publications, Kensington, Hal Leonard, LexisNexis, and the International Step by Step Association.

This list is from a press release dated May 2007. That’s more than one year ago. Those publishers weren’t “forced” into a relationship with BookSurge. They made the move because it was beneficial. How many more publishers have signed on since then?

Some have wondered why large POD printers like Lightning Source have not been more vocal about their opposition to Amazon’s decision. With a stable of large publishing clients with thousands of titles, this would surely give them the clout to fight. But the number of large publishers who have already set up with BookSurge may provide the answer. Those printers may have lost their big stick long ago.

After extensive talks with BookSurge, I have a far more favorable impression than when I went in. In fact, I wonder how many of the negative experiences circulating the online community came from its pre-Amazon days. If this is the case, so much has changed since that time that those experiences are irrelevant.

I also wonder whether all of the fuss that is being kicked up over Amazon’s decision is actually helping BookSurge. The chatter creates a high level of fear and anxiety among authors and publishers, and no matter how offended they may be, out of a sense of self-preservation, they look into BookSurge. When they do, they find that it’s not as bad as they thought. In fact, they could potentially make more money from POD sales than they would with their current subsidy publisher or print provider.

So as authors, publishers, and industry consultants rant about the unfairness of it all, BookSurge is sitting back and reaping all of the new customers who come its way out of fear but stay for the higher profit margins.

Enter CreateSpace Pro

Here’s another interesting tidbit: At the same time that Amazon made its announcement about BookSurge, it quietly added a new option to its CreateSpace program—CreateSpace Pro. Production is identical to BookSurge. Distribution options are identical. The only difference is that, in the BookSurge model, each customer is assigned a publisher’s rep. With CreateSpace, the interface comes through the Internet. With the CreateSpace models, payment also comes through a “revenue sharing” model that, at least for my titles (based on print cost, cover price, and offered discount) would result in higher margins for Amazon sales.

With CreateSpace Pro, there is a $50 set-up fee per book that is currently not being waived by Amazon, but the book printing costs for direct book orders are substantially lower than through the standard CreateSpace and BookSurge models.

In the end, after looking at all of the options, I came away with the feeling that, far from Amazon offering a sour deal to authors and publishers, it may be offering a better mousetrap for some authors and publishers. Yes, it would take a little time to move titles over, but the trade-off isn’t a relationship with a big, bad bully, but a potentially more profitable selling partner.