Jamie Byng and his publishing team sure are a bright bunch. The release of Nick Cave’s new novel The Death of Bunny Munro brings with it a basket of goodies to satisfy fans, true fans and even ordinary readers. In addition to the hardcover print book, there will also be a deluxe CD audio edition featuring Cave reading, with a soundtrack created with the perennially-hip Warren Ellis, and a download version that comes with an enhanced edition so the book can be both read and listened to on iPhone. Finally, there will also be a signed, numbered, limited-edition slipcase version.
Kevin Kelly defines True Fans thus:
A True Fan is defined as someone who will purchase anything and everything you produce. They will drive 200 miles to see you sing. They will buy the super deluxe re-issued hi-res box set of your stuff even though they have the low-res version. They have a Google Alert set for your name. They bookmark the eBay page where your out-of-print editions show up. They come to your openings. They have you sign their copies. They buy the t-shirt, and the mug, and the hat. They can’t wait till you issue your next work. They are true fans.
There are some exciting business models around the idea of producing multiple versions of an artistic product to cater to audiences who have different levels of engagement with your content. The music industry has been doing this for years with limited editions, and book publishers do it too (special blood-red edged Twilight saga, anyone?)
But Canongate has done two really smart things with Bunny Munro. First, it has recognised that in Nick Cave it has a cult artist with an established fan community that will cross media boundaries to follow him. Hence, Canongate is not really just his book publisher. Canongate is a producer/promoter. Second, it has understood the power of different digital channels to bring this book to audiences.
It would never have been enough to simply prodce an e-book edition of this novel. Canongate’s digital strategy is not a marketing campaign but an integrated approach to publishing multiple versions of the book in different media. Each version is capable of making sales to a niche, but collectively they reinforce each other to create a value-packed “basket of goodies” for fans and collectors. Smart. Very smart.
Kate Eltham is a writer and creative industries professional based in Brisbane, Australia. She is Chief Executive Officer of 
kate.eltham {at} gmail.com
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
I agree, the approach for this book is a really interesting model – publishing the content in formats that are truly appropriate for the different channels, both online and offline.
The way that the book has been promoted digitally has been really good as well, with the extracts coming out each week in text and video formats, building momentum.
As with the music industry, the new models evolving in the digital space are going to be more about small ‘niche’ or targeted products with a lower cost base aimed at smaller groups, this presents interesting possibiliities for the creative artist as they can interact with the audience in a much more direct way.
Thanks for commenting Elizabeth. Yes, I agree about the power of the niche. In some ways exploiting the niche has always been a high-return model for cultural producers and publishers, but in digital channels the possibilities are just so much bigger and more diverse.
Hi Kate
I think we’ve spoken before. I just thought I’d let you know that our iPhone app for Bunny (produced in association with Canongate) is on the app store. Our site is also live, which features a short film we made about Bunny, and which demos the app itself:
http://enhanced-editions.com/
It’s being released in australia as well, through Text, and if you are interested in finding out more I’d love to do anything I can to help.
Best wishes
Peter
Thanks Peter, I’ve now got Bunny on my iPhone an loving it. Kudos to you, and the team at Canongate. Everything about the release of this book has been smart but the digital strategy has been spot on.
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