|
The video demonstrates the broad services that a publisher provides that an author who self-publishes has to assume. I think it also demonstrates why most self-published authors fail. The Random House video talks about how the books chosen for publication are the best, but the reality is that many of them are not very good at all. Yet, RH has to make some effort to sell the books in an attempt to recoup its investment. This is the difficulty that self-publishing authors face: if they make a financial investment in their book, can they recoup it? Because most believe the answer is no, they do not make the investment needed to succeed. Because RH can spread that investment over many outlets and many books, it is willing to gamble that overall it will succeed, even if it fails on a particular book. The indie author cannot afford to fail on the one book because he/she doesn't have enough product over which to spread a gamble.
Bottom line is that even if half of what RH says it does it in fact does for most of the books it publishes, it is adding significant value to a book.
|