Tags
book, book publishing, Editing, innovation, marketing, new media, podcasts, publishing, self-publishing, The Shack, Twitter, YouTube
The New York Times just posted a piece about how self-publishers are doing well in the current economy, while traditional book publishers are struggling. I work for a couple of book publishers that are considered a hybrid of independent publishing and self-publishing, and this article lines up with my recent experience: one of my clients seems to have as many projects for me as I have time to complete, though the pay is lower than with bigger publishers.
What do you think about this trend? Obviously many self-published or co-published books have little to no audience, either because of poor quality or just because they appeal to such a niche audience, but we keep hearing stories of people who had to self-publish, only to be discovered after self-publishing by a traditional house and ending up on best-seller lists. Case in point: The Shack, a self-published book that sold over 4 million copies based largely on innovative word-of-mouth marketing.
Has book publishing become so saturated with content and so log-jammed by its traditional methods that even the agents and publishers can’t find the good content anymore? That certainly puts a new perspective on self-publishing, which used to be regarded as loser-ville for writers. This trend seems to parallel the move toward self-published videos on YouTube, self-published podcasts, and using Twitter to market a project or service, or even the difficulties that large companies in other industries (ahem, automotive) have with innovation when they pass critical mass and become too large to stay nimble. Where do you think this is going? If you publish a book in the future, what services would you like to have provided to you, and which would you be willing or able to do yourself?
Laura:
I think this was an incredible post and one surely worth reading. The literary marketplace is changing, and rapidly. Years ago when I started my adventure I struggled (like everyone else) because no one would give an opportunity to someone whose last name was King or Grisham. But now those tides have changed directions because the lowly writers like myself have had to come up with innovative and creative (hey, that’s weird, we are supposed to be creative aren’t we???) ways to publicize and promote our books and ourselves. It has taken me three years to come from a book idea, to a full time publishing business, with (now) my own Internet Radio Show–The Soul of Humanity–and speaking engagements to support for others via my blog. Success is a process, not a destination and I believe when we indie book publishers take a daily approach towards accomplishing our dreams, and at the same time learn to use the tools available to us (such as the power of the Internet) then we too can stake our own claim on customers who would otherwise be stuck only trusting the corporate giants for good material. There are GREAT self-published books and there are TERRIBLE ones…but at the same time…the same falls true for the corporate giants that hustle to invest too many dollars on a terrible novelist, all for the sake of balancing a budget and breaking even.
I think this market place is perfect the way it is. By forcing authors like myself to work from a grass-roots perspective, it has allowed us to get back to a philosophy the large trade publishers have forgotten: identifying with the consumer and making the book business personal once again.
GREAT POST!!
~Bobby Ozuna
Drawing Stories…With Words
Hi Bobby,
Thanks for the comment. You’re right that the big publishers put out a wide range of quality, too, though often the worst of those books are rescued by ghostwriters because the publisher is cashing in on the name of the author and has the budget to fix their writing if they don’t come across well on paper. I’m glad that you’ve kept going despite the challenges. I think that’s often the hardest part. I just read about a woman who was rejected 200 times by publishers before finding the right one; it was encouraging to me that she didn’t trash the whole idea because of the apparent futility.
I just tripped on this site and comments. I am glad to have made the find. Great comments. You both, Laura and Bobby leave the reader with a strong sense of fellowship, something that is lacking in many of today’s encounters. Fred B. Thompson
exprzit,
I’m hoping to build this blog into a place where people can discuss these things as a community, so thanks for the encouragement.