Thanks Jakob.
To everyone – I'm the publisher of the book, making it with the RSF Archivist. I find Amazon extremely frustrating also, but there's nothing I can do to stop it discounting.
Basically, if I want the book to be available to bike shops, independent bookshops and other reputable outlets, other than packing and sending everything myself there's no way I can stop Amazon getting hold of it. Wholesale prices (publisher --> distributor --> shops) are pretty standard, and the distributor offers it at a price that makes it possible for bricks-and-mortar bookshops to make a profit. Then Amazon discounts as it wishes – we can't control it. There's no way of setting an 'Amazon price'. Sometimes it makes a loss on our books, possibly, but it also exists on extremely tiny margins, made possible by not having physical premises and complicated arrangements to make sure it doesn't pay much tax, etc. Plus it is regularly in the news in stories about poor working conditions.
Amazon makes life difficult for physical bookshops (independents and chains alike), small publishers and authors to survive, but that's just the world we live in. What we would love is that people buy from independent bookshops, supporting their local community, or direct from Isola, but we are all free to choose – and I know from my own purchases that it's often difficult to justify paying £28 + postage when you might be able to get the same book delivered for free the next day for £20.
I'm very conscious that Amazon can make the Kickstarter backers feel the system is unfair or their contribution isn't appreciated. Last time, to try to mitigate this, we tried delaying the official 'release' date on Nielsen, the computer information system for the book trade, so that it wouldn't find its way to Amazon until a few months after the backers got their books, and we will try that again this time. We're incredibly grateful to our backers: without them the books would not be possible.
Kickstarter is a marketing tool, yes, but it is a great way of making an idea a reality. Isola is a one-person company, and it is difficult for me to find the £20K+ that it costs to design and print a book like this. With production money guaranteed by the Kickstarter, we can concentrate on the creative (and fun!) bit, and make the best book we can. Also, shipping money is included in the on-screen Kickstarter total, and for the last book (weighing 1.25KG) the launch mailout postage bill was £13K.
Yes, Isola will make some money from the Kickstarter and afterwards (as will the RSF), but not very much considering the months of hard work it will have taken, nor the ongoing work the archivist does. We're doing it because we love it, and because we think that these photos and stories need to be preserved. I hope that most people will find it's a great product at an honest price, one that will allow us to keep making more such books in the future.
I hope this doesn't sound like I'm complaining! I'm grateful that I get to do something I love, supported by a community of cyclists, readers and shops. But I wanted to clear up some misconceptions, and maybe help people see the system we are operating in.
Thanks all
M
If you just want the book and are an RSF member, you can pre-order a copy for a couple of quid cheaper than the Kickstarter early bird price on the RSF website.
I've ordered a couple of books on niche subjects via Kickstarter that might not otherwise have been published, including the first RSF book. I suspect Amazon will have been selling it as a loss leader - given their Kickstarter production model, I don't think Max Leonard/Isola Press would be giving big discounts to wholesalers.
The Kickstarter model makes sense for the RSF books: they're basically hobbyist labours of love; Isola is AIUI a one-man-band, and Mark does the RSF stuff as a volunteer. They're high-quality books, with expensive paper, print, and binding, so the up-front costs will be relatively steep. And for the first one, the market was uncertain, so Kickstarter reduced risk.
