Why don't more authors self-publish?

[xg4bx]

Yes there's been a few indie success stories but why does someone like Stephen King still have a publisher? I think he'd still have the same level of success if he sold his ebooks by himself. I know it all depends on which rights the authors retain but why keep renewing contracts when they can cut out the middle man and reap most of the profits, especially in the ebook world? I highly doubt someone would pass up a new King novel just because he put it out himself.

If you want a real evolution in ebooks authors need to retain their digital publishing rights like Rowling did with Pottermore. When you reach that level of success you can start telling people where to stick it.

[JD Gumby]

Because publishers provide a lot of services that would be a major headache for the author - editing, distribution, getting copyrights straightened out if they use anything from outside sources (King, to use your example, can't just put all the song lyrics he uses into his book, he has to get permission from each and every rightsholder), promotion, and so on.

[JeremyR]

Because most authors would rather write than anything else.

Also, I think the Harry Potter lady is a unique case. Her big earning days are probably behind her, now that the series is done. So she needs to milk the most of her e-books, since that's all she's got left (though she should be a gazillionaire after all those books and movies, maybe she spent it all already)

[TFeldt]

Originally Posted by JeremyR

Because most authors would rather write than anything else.

This. Definitely.

I was going to add another sentence underlining how marketing and exposure is crucial to especially newly inked authors, but then I realized; do publishers even offer that to any but their top writers anymore? Sort of questioning the point of using a publisher for that specific reason since being voted up on a digital network will certainly yield a lot more exposure than being commanded to do book signings in three obscure little stores (real world example).

[VydorScope]

Originally Posted by JeremyR

Also, I think the Harry Potter lady is a unique case. Her big earning days are probably behind her, now that the series is done. So she needs to milk the most of her e-books, since that's all she's got left (though she should be a gazillionaire after all those books and movies, maybe she spent it all already)

You dont think she could write another series? She has the name now, so her books would get recognized pretty fast, as long as the content is reasonable she will sell extremely well.

Originally Posted by JeremyR

Because most authors would rather write than anything else.

I third this. I would love to hand everything over to a publisher and just write.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by JD Gumby

Because publishers provide a lot of services that would be a major headache for the author - editing, distribution, getting copyrights straightened out if they use anything from outside sources (King, to use your example, can't just put all the song lyrics he uses into his book, he has to get permission from each and every rightsholder), promotion, and so on.

Originally Posted by JeremyR

Because most authors would rather write than anything else.
...

And this is the niche that publishers need to move into or else new businesses will spring up (already are) that provide just these services to authors in the ebook realm. I expect that many books in the future will never see print (some even now) yet still be "bestsellers."

[Daithi]

I think most authors don't self publish for three reasons.

1. Publishers have the ability to get physical books into bookstores.
2. (related to point one) The publishers sell the books to the bookstores, however if the bookstore can't sell the book the publisher will buy it back. Nevertheless, the initial selling of the book is done by the publishers to the bookstores.
3. A lot of authors like the advances that publishers provide.

I really don't think authors are going to a publisher for the publisher's editing services, cover art, etc. It' all about the publisher's ability to move books and make the author money.

[hidari]

JK Rowlings could write a book on earthworm toe jam and it would get a Booker prize and sell millions. She's got every lemming with game in hand and she is ten points ahead of every author in the league tables based on Smurf flak.

Originally Posted by VydorScope

You dont think she could write another series? She has the name now, so her books would get recognized pretty fast, as long as the content is reasonable she will sell extremely well.



I third this. I would love to hand everything over to a publisher and just write.

[OneandonlyDoc]

There's actually a strong movement, within some genres, of folks moving toward self-publication--both new authors and established authors.

Just some examples of established authors taking the self-pub e-pub plunge (some well-known, others not as much):
JA Konrath (and various nom-de-plumes)
Barry Eisler
Michael Stackpole
Dean Wesley Smith (and various nom-de-plumes)
Kristine Kathryn Rusch (and various nom-de-plumes)


They're not alone, but those are the ones I can come up with right off the top of my head.

Myself, I fall into the category of "new author self-publishing" because while I love writing and have since I was a teenager...I'm not keen on what the publishing "establishment" has been doing lately vis-a-vis royalties, e-publishing, ect.

Will I have to do more work marketing, ect? Of course. But that's what awesome friends are for--to help with that kind of thing (social networking is the new marketing, y'know?)--and building a backlist of books is also good marketing, too.

I'd rather get my work into the hands of some folks who would appreciate it now rather than wait three years as I watch the "traditional" publishing industry spiral down under its own weight.

[mr ploppy]

Most of the really big sales are still paperbacks in airports, train stations, supermarkets, etc. You'd never get into any of those with a self published book, no matter who you are. Ebooks might be still growing, but it will be years before they overtake places like that, if ever.

[anamardoll]

Originally Posted by OneandonlyDoc

Will I have to do more work marketing, ect? Of course. But that's what awesome friends are for--to help with that kind of thing (social networking is the new marketing, y'know?)--and building a backlist of books is also good marketing, too.

I'd rather get my work into the hands of some folks who would appreciate it now rather than wait three years as I watch the "traditional" publishing industry spiral down under its own weight.

I'm in the same boat. I'm hoping to self-publish either late this year or early next, and I don't really care about being picked up by a publisher. I mean, even if they pitched up on my doorstep with a contract ready to sign, I'm just not really interested -- it's my "dream" to be an indie author, just like some people dream about being traditionally published.

I wrote an appeal on my blog a few months back urging people to self-publish IF the alternative was waiting around for 2, 3, 4 years while trying to be traditionally published, and I was shocked that the one trad. published reader on my blog seemed VERY upset by the post.

So there are still a lot of people who feel that traditional publishing carries a level of validation than indie publishing, in their opinion, does not.

There was also talk of the "want to be in bookstores" desire, but I'm not really that interested in that. I haven't bought anything new in a bookstore in years, so it's not really a dream for me to walk in and see my book for the 3 months or however long they stock it.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Traditional publishers still control the big PR points of the publishing game: Bookstore presence; major and minor media advertisement; cross-promotion; street visibility (grocery stores, airports, tourist traps); awards; best-seller lists; TV and event appearances; etc. It may be their single greatest advantage over small publishers and independent authors.

As long as a lot of consumers pick up their books based on exposure to these promotional points (and they do), writers know they can potentially sell more books through those who have access to those points. Until publishers' control over those points lessens, expect more authors to want to go through traditional publishers to sell their books.

[afa]

Originally Posted by VydorScope

You dont think she could write another series? She has the name now, so her books would get recognized pretty fast, as long as the content is reasonable she will sell extremely well.

She could, but the pressure would be tremendous.

Harry Potter became one of the defining series of the last twenty years. Anything and everything she would write from now on will invariably be compared to HP. It's not easy to strike gold twice; I highly doubt any other series she writes will achieve anywhere close to the level of success that HP did.

If Rowling wrote a series that sold, let's say, 5 million books... that would be a success by any other standard. By the standard set by HP, however, it would be considered a failure.

That's a pretty tough situation to overcome.

[anamardoll]

Yeah, feeling sorry for Rowling is sort of like feeling sorry for God, but I do anyway. No matter WHAT she writes from here on out, it will be a huge failure as far as many are concerned just because it won't be HARRY POTTER.

[Lazybones]

Also, established authors can command higher royalty rates than unpublished ones when negotiating with a publisher. Though I think as e-books take off and become a larger part of the market, more and more authors will look at the difference between <10% and 70% royalties and will make the choice the OP suggests.