Quote:
Originally Posted by crossi
What hasn't been around is a change to the majority of books being published with the authors retaining the rights, or at least the ebook rights. That WOULD be a large change from the current situation. It would no longer be called vanity publishing (a derogatory term) but simply publishing with a standard contract.
|
Correct.
More to the point: vanity publishing is when the author is exploited by the printer and never makes a profit. What we are discussing is *indie* p-book publishing, which is a business approach used by savvy hands-on authors who wish to retain their copyrights and still have access to the pbook markets.
In the indie publishing scenario that is now evolving the print services are available from reputable sources at reasonable rates and the result is a sound business practice. Some work through PRINT-ON-DEMAND services, like Amazon's, others by engaging with printers for very small print runs. The upfront costs are non-trivial (4-5 figures) with profit margins in the 20-25% range typically, but as I said, authors with successful ebook catalogs making significant money (visibility!) can do their own print runs profitably. Many are. Times *are* changing even in the print book world.
It is *not* vanity publishing, just the obvious next step of the evolution of indie publishing from ebook-only to ebook-first, p-book second. Think of it as "micro-press" publishing.