#'s 5 and 6 are not that important to me, but would be worth having,
if you happen to come across the info in your searches. As such,
please feel free to not answer #'s 5 and 6. If they are answered, an
additional $5 tip (each) will be applied.
1) Number of post-secondary professors in the US
2) %/number of post-secondary professors who have authored their own
books. Past %?s in order to get growth trends. Projected growth rates,
if possible.
3) Number of textbook authors currently in the market
4) % market share of overall publishing industry the following sectors
have acquired:
a. Digital publishing
b. On-demand printing
c. Self publishing
5) Some general insight on the ?buying patterns? of authors,
specifically textbook authors and authors who are/have been
professors. I.e. when do these authors generally seek publishing
needs, if any influxes at all. E.g. say professor authors generally
seek publishing needs providers around May when the academic year is
over. Basically identify times of influxes, slums, and steady revenue
of the publishing industry.
6) List of major indirect competitors in the publishing industry
(publishing industry in this sense refers to traditional print
publishers, digital publishers, self-publishing, and on-demand
printing companies). May need to use your imagination here.
7) Average publisher/author TEXTBOOK deals that are made per year.
Also # of TEXTBOOK titles released by a couple of the major publishing
companies last year (e.g. if McGraw Hill put out 1,000). How many
books can one editor comfortably work on simultaneously?
8) General pricing strategies/terms employed by traditional publishing
companies in author/title deals. E.g. what percentage (or flat amount)
do authors retain of their titles? What % goes to actual cost of
production of the title (advertising, editing, illustrating, sales,
overhead, etc.- itemized if possible), what % is profit for
publishers, etc. |
