There are complex brand issues that emerge from the “author-as-brand” versus the “publisher as brand” evolution (assuming the publisher was ever really the true brand). To me the central question is: What’s the relationship between the author’s brand and the publisher’s brand? In what model might they coexist in the marketplace? Hold that thought.
At the same time, authors (and publishers) are seeing advantages in building an online presence for an author—to attract a following who will buy books, content, and other stuff. But building an online presence and the following takes full engagement from the author for content, conversation, and engagement with readers; it’s not a one-time event, like a book release. The traditional book contract, however, revolves around the event of the book’s release.
Perhaps in the future, the relationship between writers and publishers will be more like professional athletes and the clubs they are under contract with—defined by a specific time period. Let’s say an author is under contract to Tor for two years. During that time they will blog on Tor.com, speak at the SFWA annual meeting, do a promotional tour with other Tor authors, and write a book. Perhaps they get a stipend for being on the Tor roster, in addition to bonuses for achieving certain goals (weekly blog reads, book unit sales, whatever). The author is free to work on other deals outside of his or her contract (movies, video games).
This analogy also models a good co-branding strategy. LeBron James is a brand, but so is the Cleveland Cavaliers. There are things that the two brands do together under contract (play basketball games, participate in certain charity events) and things they do separately (James has endorsements, and the Cavs sell Cavs merchandise). Just like the author and Tor (well, kind of).
Does anyone know of time-based author contracts (versus book-based)? To carry the analogy one step further, publishers could also have farms clubs where young writers could develop… never mind.
