A big difference between music and publishing is that music fans know the reputations of record labels, while many readers have no idea who publishes their books. Music fans know what to expect when they hear a band’s on Merge or XL or 4AD. There’s brand recognition and trust that’s not present in publishing. That trust helps a lot of smaller bands on those labels find audiences, whereas smaller authors aren’t going to benefit in the same way. I would say the exception is McSweeney’s.

Another key is these labels knew their market and focused on it, then allowed it to grow via word-of-mouth and over the Internet. The music sold well for indie releases, and eventually some of it crossed over into the mainstream, receiving large distribution even while staying on the indie labels. They don’t shoot for the stars right out of the gate. They operate within their means and are open to new methods of promotion. Good for them. I think major publishers are too far in over their heads to be able to scale back to that. Good for your parent company to at least attempt a new way of operating with HarperStudio. I think it’s on the right track, and I’m definitely taking notes for my own endeavors, especially the 50/50 splits with little or no advances. It fits the indie model perfectly.