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Originally Posted by DMcCunney
It's why we have an industry: agents to represent their work to publishers interested in try to sell what they do, editors to work with them to make the finished product as good as possible, artists to create covers with compelling images to get people to look at (and possibly buy) the book, people to prepare the final manuscript for publication in print or electronic format, printers to print and bind the printed version and bookstores to sell it, as well as web vendors to provide the electronic versions.
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Let me remind you that we are talking the very same industry, the system if you wish, that is struggling with the transition to the digital content delivery. Those friends of yours that you are concerned about? Something is not right, or you would not be concerned, I think.
The essential services that are involved in ePub production are very light, and the lion's share of the end product goes to the authors and those who deal with the story itself. First author, editors, proof-readers. Add to that formatting, cover art.
Come hell or high water these costs will be recognized by the market and the price of the end good MUST cover for them, or there will be no ebooks. The printing part of the business might easily go the Lulu route, print on demand.
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All of those "helpful people" you denigrate are helpful - if they weren't there, the book would never reach you.
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I did not denigrate the work of professionals needed for the process. I have a very low opinion of usefulness and need for the bulky infrastructure of a full blown corporation where small indie shops are cranking out the goods of the comparable technical quality (NOT comparable quality of the story and authors). Those various suited marketing types (who obviously have no clue how to deal with ebooks), "movers and shakers", agents, human resources personnel, building security costs, janitorial services and myriad of other small costs that tend to accumulate for a bulky, big corporation... I don't think that market is ready to pay for.
BTW, I am not writing these posts out of some abstract idealism. This is a straight application of similar predictions for my very own profession, where we might easily end up in "contractor economy". We might easily lose the permanency of our jobs and be employed on per product, or project, basis. It is more cost-effective model, and long-term planning has long time ago been thrown out, to make space for any possible optimization and quick profit in return.