“Business Models that Guarantee Profitability in Publishing” was a lecture topic many of us at Tools of Change wanted to hear more about, and though Logos Bible Software CEO Bob Pritchett (left) really only had a single model to discuss, it was a doozy—a digital markup of an old-school classic. Basically, it’s the subscription-based model, in which Logos announces some electronic books they’re thinking of publishing, but only if customers pre-order enough copies to cover the production costs. Early committers get deeper discounts than those who sign on late, with people who wait until after production begins paying full price. But that’s not all: In some cases, Logos will allow customers to indicate how much they would be willing to pay for a title, and once enough customers suggest a price that allows Logos to recoup production costs and make a little bank, that’s the price they charge.
Now, Logos is a specialty publisher, focusing on bible studies software and e-books, so this model isn’t necessarily portable to the general books marketplace, but for similarly niche market segments, it could be rather interesting. Imagine, say, Christopher Hitchens saying he’d write a 2008 campaign trail diary, but only if enough people said they’d buy it first…