MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Independent ebook publishing vs traditional publishing

rhadin · 03-16-2011, 08:57 AM

I can see why Konrath is a liked writer (I admit I've never read one of his books). His blog piece is almost convincing to me. I think he has left several things out of the equation or skimmed over them as if irrelevant.

One thing I would like to know is what happens to the questioner's writing life should she go the indie route and fail? Will her agent take her back? Will a traditional publisher be willing to invest in her?

I also wonder what the real market life is of her books. Konrath talks about 7 years down the road, but presumably she will have written another couple of books following the 2 for which she has been offered a contract. Not having seen the proffered contract, I don't know what terms it provides for marketing of her books or for when distribution rights would return to her from the publisher, but I would think that if she had a decent agent, those terms would be spelled out. Once the traditional publisher created a market for her books, when she got the rights returned, she could rerelease the books and earn based on an already existing base.

And let's not forget the psychological assurance of a guaranteed income. Self-publishing is a gamble; a contract for $400,000 is not, even if it works out to $57,000 a year -- a relatively decent income in most people's mind. Being self-employed in its broadest sense is not for everyone.

I also wonder what she would owe her agent should she turn down the offer and go indie. I find it hard to believe she would be able to get away paying the agent nothing for the agent's efforts when the agent actually has a deal that only requires her signature.

I don't want to suggest that going indie is the wrong move. What I do want to suggest is that Konrath has determined that it is the only right move and I'm not sure he can see the other side of the coin. He was mighty bitter when his traditional publisher turned him down and loose, and I wonder how much of his absolutism is a result of that experience. Konrath does a good job pushing the indie way, but he skims over too many things to convince me that he is right in the case of the questioner.

03-16-2011, 08:57 AM	#3
rhadin Literacy = Understanding Posts: 4,833 Karma: 59674358 Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: The World of Books Device: Nook, Nook Tablet	I can see why Konrath is a liked writer (I admit I've never read one of his books). His blog piece is almost convincing to me. I think he has left several things out of the equation or skimmed over them as if irrelevant. One thing I would like to know is what happens to the questioner's writing life should she go the indie route and fail? Will her agent take her back? Will a traditional publisher be willing to invest in her? I also wonder what the real market life is of her books. Konrath talks about 7 years down the road, but presumably she will have written another couple of books following the 2 for which she has been offered a contract. Not having seen the proffered contract, I don't know what terms it provides for marketing of her books or for when distribution rights would return to her from the publisher, but I would think that if she had a decent agent, those terms would be spelled out. Once the traditional publisher created a market for her books, when she got the rights returned, she could rerelease the books and earn based on an already existing base. And let's not forget the psychological assurance of a guaranteed income. Self-publishing is a gamble; a contract for $400,000 is not, even if it works out to $57,000 a year -- a relatively decent income in most people's mind. Being self-employed in its broadest sense is not for everyone. I also wonder what she would owe her agent should she turn down the offer and go indie. I find it hard to believe she would be able to get away paying the agent nothing for the agent's efforts when the agent actually has a deal that only requires her signature. I don't want to suggest that going indie is the wrong move. What I do want to suggest is that Konrath has determined that it is the only right move and I'm not sure he can see the other side of the coin. He was mighty bitter when his traditional publisher turned him down and loose, and I wonder how much of his absolutism is a result of that experience. Konrath does a good job pushing the indie way, but he skims over too many things to convince me that he is right in the case of the questioner.