Quote:
Originally Posted by carld
But how much actual help are traditional publishers in connecting to the market and selling books? If you've got a big name or a hot book, a lot I'm sure. But, I hear and read a lot about how many authors get little or no assistance from publishers, who leave them to make their own connections and do their own promotion. That's a theme I hear over and over again.
Ebooks are changing that, not all at once, and it's not going to be all or nothing. Traditional publishing will continue to dominate for probably years, but ebooks and self-publishing will grow out their niche eventually.
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I think the problem comes from misaligned expectations: commercial publishers do market books, but they market them to the book trade, rather than directly to readers. Their budget goes to things like sending Advance Reader Copies to bookstores, putting the book in a catalog and having a person
take that catalog to book buyers and say - "You should carry this book in your bookstore chain."
Commercial distribution involves a lot more than just getting a listing in Ingram.
Midlist and beginner authors may not get book tours and the like - but they do get a sales team working to get their book in bookstores all across North America.
It's not a lot by some standards, but it's so much more on a nationwide scale than any of the alternatives provide that it's a huge advantage to the author. It's so huge it's almost immeasurable.
Self publishing just can't compete for getting books in front of eyeballs.