PW: eNovel.com: E-Slush or Digital Gold?

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eNovel.com: E-Slush or Digital Gold?
Steven M. Zeitchik -- 8/7/00
The self-published books featured on eNovel.com are hardly likely
to become modern classics.

The self-published books featured on eNovel.com (www.enovel.com) are hardly likely to become modern classics. In Great from Afar by W.D. Crowder, for example, "Gaspar, son of the King of Arbuda, has seen a sign in the heavens. Risking his father's displeasure, he journeys from India to Bethlehem in search of the new-born world leader."

But don't let the slush-like feel of the site fool you, co-founder Alex Papajohn said. Becoming a destination for consumers is only a "secondary" part of the Richmond, Va.-based company's business model. The primary goal? To offer electronic distribution services to traditional publishers. Houses can come to eNovel with titles that are in- or out-of-print. The site will in turn seek licensing deals with content portals such as iVillage.

Of course, many publishers have begun to seek such arrangements by themselves, but Papajohn said there's still room for startups.

"It's wrong to assume that these publishers know how to do it or where to go," Papajohn said. "Poll the majority of them, and they don't know what sites like Half.com are." eNovel has yet to sign up any publishers of note, though Papajohn said negotiations with hundreds of publishers are underway. By Papajohn's admission, eNovel is still "maturing into a young Internet company." (There are six employees at present.) The site is also seeking first-round funding.

Founded by Papajohn, an attorney, and entrepreneur Jack Singer, eNovel began strictly as an e-publisher, posting the work of authors who didn't have print deals. Soon after its creation in early 2000, however, the two saw the challenge of branding a site without brand-name authors. About the time of BEA, they shifted the site's focus from the consumer market to traditional publishers.

"There are these other companies spending millions of dollars trying to make themselves another destination site. They're committing suicide trying to do that. We're going to spend some on that, but we're going to follow the eyeballs by making content available on other sites," Papajohn told PW.

But eNovel hasn't abandoned the self-publishing niche. Through its site, books published by eNovel can be downloaded as Word, Word Perfect or PDF documents; availability on such platforms as Rocket eBook and palmtop is also in the offing. Like many e-publishing sites, eNovel will offer little to no advance and a more generous 40% royalty on all sales.

To build content for eNovel.com, Papajohn is appealing to authors directly. He is also hoping, through an unusual arrangement he is seeking with publishers, to become the publisher of works by rejected authors. Publishers who sign on will provide their slush to eNovel exclusively. eNovel will do some editorial filtering, but not too much. The site's editorial credo is: "Discriminating but open-minded."

In the interest of building "long-term value," the site would also like to control e-rights for titles it makes available for download. "I don't understand models that don't own their content," Papajohn said. And if an author draws interest from a print house, Papajohn will work with both author and publisher to get print distribution--for a price. eNovel authors must agree to turn over 5%-7% of royalties from their print deals to eNovel.

Papajohn said the site has decided to focus on popular fiction and nonfiction. "Some of the e-publishing players are trying to publish in every single genre. It's extremely difficult to build a brand that way." The King of Arbuda would agree.
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