Tiffany Hart, CEO of
7write in conversation with Jonathan Marks
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| Tiffany Hart, CEO of 7write |
Originally from Canberra, Australia, Tiffany Hart and her
team are currently on a world tour to develop and grow their startup business. 7write.com is a fresh approach to an old problem. It’s a
publishing platform designed to empower authors, publishers and the reading
public. So what’s different about Tiffany’s thinking?
“No-one can imagine a world without books. In this increasingly
competitive world, the number and type of books published in a country is an
important index of a nation’s self-awareness. For me, it’s also an index to
both the standards of living and education.”
“But the whole journey that authors take to get their
stories in the hands of readers reminds me of the music industry that I used to
be involved in a few years back.”
“It urgently needs new paths. Especially as we’ve passed the
tipping point where more books are published electronically than on paper. Remember
that Amazon alone has 1,8 million titles for their Kindle”
The 7 write team recently arrived in the Netherlands, a
country with a strong literary tradition. Tiffany points to a study by TNS-NIPO researchers a few years back. It revealed
that around 1 million of the 17 million Dutch are actively writing something.
One in six hopes to get published. Yet only 93,000 will actually submit their
work to a professional publisher this year.
“I feel that since the e-book revolution, those figures must
be even higher now. Like everywhere else in the world, publishers in the
Netherlands only publish less than 1% of the manuscripts they receive. We’ve
been talking with various publishers across the world to find out why 99% are
rejected.”
“Sometimes it’s the quality of the writing.”
“But more often than not, it’s that the potential readership
and sales are getting harder for publishers to judge. Recent discounting by
large on-line retailers is disrupting the business. And the buying patterns of
libraries and the public are going through enormous changes. “
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| 7 write founders team: Mark Harrison, Tiffany Hart, Paul Hayes |
“We’re responding to many requests we’ve had from publishers
to help develop new revenue streams. We believe the secret lies in re-examining
that huge number of rejected manuscripts. History is littered with publisher
rejection slips from H.G. Wells to J K Rowling. There are websites full of rejection letters.
Of course it’s amusing with hindsight. But it also highlights that there’s a
lot wrong with the selection process.”
“And yet the pressure on publishers to discover first time
authors has never been greater. Look at how fairs like those in London
or Frankfurt have evolved into
festivals where book and film rights are bought and sold.”
7write
is building an online platform to help authors simplify the publishing journey.
They’re integrating a suite of useful authoring tools to make publishing a book
to the 14 different e-platforms a few clicks work.
“Each e-book platform has its own style requirements. If you
don’t get them right, you won’t get accepted; even if you’re publishing the
book yourself. Reformatting is a terrible waste of an author’s time. It’s the
least creative part. So 7write does it for you! Our platform also incorporates
useful reference tools to guide you – just at the moment you need them”
“We’re in closed beta at the moment. We’ve invited selected
authors to try and test our technology. We’re 48 hours away from launching our
open beta. And we’re working with publishers, broadcasters and enthusiastic
readers to improve the business for everyone. We’re passionate about getting
this right.
7write created their first partnership with a Dutch
publisher, Bertram + de Leeuw this week.
We’re encouraging those interested in what we’re creating to
sign-up for advanced details of our public beta. And we’re looking forward to
memorable conversations with those who love telling stories”.
7write is currently
based in Amsterdam, participating in Europe’s leading accelerator program
Startupbootcamp. Tiffany Hart can be reached at founders@7write.com
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