Quote:
Originally Posted by Elfwreck
I like reader-led gatekeeper communities; I think mainstream publishers are too caught up with "we should try to sell what's already selling" rather than "we should publish well-written books and find a market for them." But anyone who thinks that what's published by the Big Six is "utter crap" has never looked at what doesn't make it through the slushpile--and is now being sold on Amazon and Smashwords.
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I agree. What would convince me of the relative value of going self-published is seeing good self-published books with a healthy audience base, especially with content/material that likely wouldn't have been published at a big six publisher. I think books should be judged beyond short-term marketability status, and I'm happy to read pretty crazy books so long as they are good.
As a reader, I don't look at indie books with a different set of standards than traditionally self-published books. It's like with music. Sometimes I listen to indie musicians... not because they're indie, but because I enjoy their work and they just happen to be indie. You can't make listeners/readers become your purchasing customers just because you're successful at demonizing the other big business model. Your core product has to be good, regardless of what your royalty/distribution/whatever system is. Readers don't care. They'll read anything interesting to them if it's affordable and accessible.
Having a lower price point also doesn't mean that readers are more accepting of mistakes. Having a lower price point only means that readers are more willing to "risk" their time with a new unheard of author. If this new unheard of author doesn't deliver, then that opportunity for promotion completely failed and was a waste on the author's time, and on the reader's time. All authors need to perfect any product they want to wave at any potential reader's face, including a good cover and a good blurb.
If the blurb doesn't have proper punctuation, and the cover seems like the author didn't think it was worth paying a decent graphic designer $100 to put something nice on, then why would the reader bother with the work? I'm a 3 minute bike ride away from my local library's comfortable SF section, and I've got a hard drive full of public domain stuff I could cozy up with instead. Authors/creators/etc. need to remember that they are competing with the world of literature at the reader's fingertips.