Interview Transcript

Your client Alfred Schulz is a poet who has a collection of poems that he wants to publish. The collection is his life’s work including Limericks and Satires and this is his first time introducing sonnets. He is confused as to whether he should publish it in a physical form, publish it online, or

curate an app exclusively to publish his poems. Consult him to make a suitable decision. Is the case problem clear to you?

Yes it is, Could you elaborate on the poet’s body of work and the types of poetry collections they plan to publish?

Of course, It’s advised that you note these down.

The poet has a diverse collection spanning across various genres curated over his career about 50 poems intended for publication.

What level of involvement does the poet seek in the publishing process?

The poet is amenable to various publishing alternatives and desires active engagement in the publishing process. He wants to be involved or at least be aware of the entire process considering

the collection and how it is addressed to the audience, means a lot to him.

Okay. How has the poet’s past financial performance been with their publications?

Historically, the poet’s publications have demonstrated decent financial performance, but there is an aspiration for increased financial returns with the forthcoming collection.

Has the poet collaborated with publishing companies or pursued self-publishing The poet has opted for self-publishing for their books of poems in the past.

How has the poet’s market presence been historically?

The poet’s poems have been well-received by customers in the past, establishing a noticeable presence among readers, particularly in the field of Satires.

How renowned is the poet’s work?

The poet is highly esteemed, especially for their satirical works, enjoying substantial recognition in the literary landscape.

Considering the poet’s profile, I’ll note down a set of assumptions. The initial assumptions involve an audience appreciating wit, social commentary, and a nuanced understanding of human nature. However, the poet is open to exploring new demographics and genres like narrative poetry. Can I go ahead with these?

Sure. Go ahead.

Segmenting the potential customer base, we identify loyal, regular, and occasional buyers. All segments exhibit price sensitivity. Proceeding to distribution channels, the poet has primarily utilized bookstores and Amazon, with Amazon being the predominant source of sales. Does the poet face strong competition from different authors or poets?

There are a few competitors in the same genre, but our client holds the highest renown. Competitors deploy channels like bookstores, E-Commerce, and blogs for publishing

Okay, so as we move forward, let’s categorize our exploration into revenues, costs, reach, pace of

reach, and feasibility across different avenues. I’ll go with the three avenues available to us – Blog,

App, and Book. The startup costs for a blog are minimal and if we get the right kind of reach, we can have maximum

revenue. Revenue streams for blogs will include two components which are Number of clicks per ad and Number of views. The costs will include Site costs that are setting up costs of sites and inorganic

Yes please do.

growth/online marketing costs, in case the poet wishes to market inorganically in order to increase his reach. Should I go ahead with the app and the book?

App is a very popular stream nowadays. Revenues will again include Number of clicks per ad and the

Number of views. Additionally, premium model of the app, subscriptions, purchases will lead to

revenue generation. Costs include Setting up costs, inorganic growth or marketing costs, costs to the developer, Freemium model costs.

Revenues of books include Royalties, Selling price of books sold according to the quantity. The costs

include publishing costs incurred and commission to the publisher. Which one do you think is the most feasible and which one should the poet go ahead with?

Considering these avenues, the app emerges as the most feasible due to its extensive reach, cost efficiency, and potential for categorizing diverse poems.

Agreed. The app’s freemium/premium model aligns with the varied genres and offers superior reach compared to a blog or traditional book.

The app with an average of 150,000 subscribers, a 10% conversion to the premium version would yield 15,000 monthly subscribers, resulting in an annual revenue of 15,000,000. With annual costs

amounting to 4,500,000.

The app it is, then. Thank you for your thorough analysis and guidance.

Case Facts

• The poet has a collection of 50 poems that he wants to publish.
• The poems belong to different genres.
• He’s well known for Satirical Poetry. He’s been writing for 20 years.
• The three main avenues are: Book, Blog and App.
• The target audience is not specific to particular age groups.
• The poet hopes for increased financial returns with the forthcoming collection.