This event late last month caught my eye because it symbolizes a few ongoing and important business trends for authors.
Ana Huang, who self-publishes and partners with Bloom Books (Sourcebooks), made signed books available for sale on Beventi last month. Beventi’s site then went down for a short period due to overwhelming site traffic and demand for her work. (All of her stock is now sold out.)
Beventi was launched in late 2023 by Australian indie author Kaydence Snow and her partner, John Smythe, to help authors more easily facilitate direct orders and pre-orders for events, although it has already expanded beyond that initial mission.
When I reached out to Smythe to ask about the unusual site outage, he wrote me, “Yes, it was quite a surprise! We’re currently working on scaling things up to make sure something like this doesn’t happen again. We’ve seen amazing growth since the start of the year, processing over $1.5 million USD in just the past two months. … We’ve handled big sales before, but [Huang] was definitely on another level! We’re also noticing Beventi being used in some exciting new ways. For example, authors are now using the platform to sell directly to indie bookstores at wholesale prices, which Beventi simplifies greatly.”
What authors can take away from this:
- Successful self-publishing authors like Ana Huang, even if they partner with traditional publishers, are continuing direct-to-consumer sales efforts.
- Readers will buy direct and at higher prices for signed, exclusive, and/or limited editions from authors they love.
- All authors should consider what they can offer and sell direct to reader no matter who they publish with—meaning they should reserve rights as needed when traditionally publishing. Such activity is a win-win for everyone.
- And, finally, it appears Beventi may be so easy to use that it could take market share away from established distribution partners like Ingram—or such business may be additive. Time will tell.
For those who want to learn more about Beventi, I profiled the company last year.
Jane Friedman has spent her entire career working in the publishing industry, with a focus on business reporting and author education. Established in 2015, her newsletter The Bottom Line provides nuanced market intelligence to thousands of authors and industry professionals; in 2023, she was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World.
Jane’s expertise regularly features in major media outlets such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, NPR, The Today Show, Wired, The Guardian, Fox News, and BBC. Her book, The Business of Being a Writer, Second Edition (The University of Chicago Press), is used as a classroom text by many writing and publishing degree programs. She reaches thousands through speaking engagements and workshops at diverse venues worldwide, including NYU’s Advanced Publishing Institute, Frankfurt Book Fair, and numerous MFA programs.
