As a follow-up to my previous post on the state of digital publishing (insert post link here), I’d like to share a few thoughts from Michael Stackpole. Remember, this is all through the lens of my understanding. So if I’ve mistakenly attributed something, don’t blame him. @=)
With the advent of digital technology and the Great Public Network (the internet), the publishing industry is in a state of flux. Currently, few publishers are taking full advantage of digital rights (Baen being the closest I can think of). Michael believes that now is the time for writers to take the situation into their own hands. Strike while the iron is hot. Because the industry isn’t reacting in a timely manner, now is the moment when writers can influence the future of publishing.
Consumers buy e-book readers for one reason and one reason only. To read books electronically without having to lug around huge masses of paper. E-book readers serve no other purpose. No one will be surfing the internet or making phone calls. So if the publishers aren’t supply content for these readers, why shouldn’t the author be? If the author supplies the content, then the author can make much more money off their work than if they go through a middleman.
iPhones also offer apps for reading books. While iPhones are multi-tasking devices, the idea that users can download stuff directly to their phones for a small price is obviously wildly popular. Again, if an author packages stories or novels for iPhones, they could charge $2.00 or so for a story and still make more money off the story than if a traditional publisher did the packaging for them.
And then there’s the "sell it yourself" methodology. Package your work as a .pdf and sell it directly from your website. Of course, it’s always good to have a professional IT person develop your website, shopping cart and do the .pdf stuff for you if you don’t know anything about this. That way you can be sure your stuff is properly secure.
Michael does all three of these things. I don’t remember the exact percentages or numbers he quoted me, but he sees this whole thing as fairly profitable. Understand, of course, that profitable is a relative thing. He hasn’t gotten rich off the process, but he’s definitely making more money on these ventures than if he’d gone through traditional publishing routes. And, according to his research, all three options are mutually exclusive. The people buying .pdfs off his website are not the same people who buy iPhone downloads or Kindle e-books and vice-versa.
There is a lot of stigma still associated with self-publishing. Usually people who self-publish are looked down upon because obviously they couldn’t find a "real" publisher to buy their work. Yet in an age where digital publishing is available, not being appropriately used by the "real" publishers and where authors need to take the next step in the publishing revolution to ensure they get to keep their piece of the ever-shrinking royalties pie, is this stigma realistic?
Only time will tell if authors need to take the reigns into their own hands for all their publishing needs. Since digital rights don’t currently seem to be used properly, though, it may be that self-publishing for the E-Verse is the only option authors have to keep themselves – and the un-used rights to their works – from being unfairly exploited by the big houses.
