The problem with big publishing is they are taking the wrong approach. They should leave the eBook market alone all together. They can't compete with the low prices, the diversity, the speed( 18 months to publication...please), and the high author royalties. They have all ready lost that battle to Amazon, Smashwords, PubIt!, and etc. But where they can compete is on the print side of things. They should just focus on editing services, marketing, and the distribution of print books. That is their strength, they should stick to it.
It could work something like this:
Instead of paying an advance for rights to a promising author or already selling author, they could offer to set up the book for distribution/POD. Do some light editing, graphic work, initial marketing, anything that needs to be done to get the book in professional shape. But this should be a quick process. Say with a two month turnaround more or less. And instead of the author paying out of pocket for these services as with a vanity press, the publisher retains a certain percentage of print sales to recoup the initial expense. But here is where it's different from services such as Createspace. Instead of the publisher taking a flat lion's share fee, they allow the royalty to slide in the author's favor the more the book sells.
Agents will probably be needed to get the numbers just right. But this is a model that's a win-win for all.
For the publisher/distributor:
Low initial investment, faster process, they can cherry pick according to the current market.
For the author:
Retains rights to titles, higher percentage of pay, more creative freedom, no cost editing, and a POD version of their book.
For the retailer:
More diversity to offer customers, and a more efficient shelf.
For the reader:
Better choice selection, overall lower prices for print books (unless the publisher/distributor gets greedy, which will be a huge mistake), and more assertive authority in what they'll find on the shelves.
Not to say that this model is perfect, there's probably some unforeseen flaw or flaw(s) to the plan. But in my opinion, this is the general direction things will have to go.
Or even crazier, what if a retailer like Barnes and Noble decide to buy a publishing house and implement this model themselves? They could dominate. They already have a network of stores world-wide and a self-publishing platform. It would be too easy to have someone email an author and say, "Hey, we notice you are selling a lot of books. Why don't you let us put it on our shelves? We can also get it into some libraries. And so on and so on." Just cut the big publisher out all together. It would probably force Amazon to do something drastic, like buy Borders just to compete.
Just throwing some random speculation out there. What do you guys think will happen?
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