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Originally Posted by SteveEisenberg
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This point -- about writing more books -- I don't see -- especially as concerns fiction. And I'm a little surprised your critics don't pounce on it.
If a writer makes less money per book, he or she is likely going to write more books, not fewer, in an attempt to retain similar income. Kindle Direct Publishing is the proof that when publishers don't vigorously edit, and pay their median sales authors less than a pittance, more books get written. Ultimately, the only justification for the prices you and I consider reasonable is that they lead to better books. The not-so-secret secret of good writing is rewriting based on strong feedback, and that slows down production. Of course, I think that's, more often than not, good.
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Not necessarily. I've seen a number of authors that I really liked drop out of writing and go back to their day jobs because they couldn't make a living at it. Others have gone the route of writing books for hire and churning out books, but those books tend not to be very good and I stopped reading them. It really comes down to a writer's writing style and what they feel comfortable with. I suspect that writers like Patrick Rothfuss could no more churn out books than they could fly to the moon by flapping their arms.
I discovered a writer who started out self published and then went the published route, Michael J Sullivan, and have been reading his books recently. I just finished The Crown Tower, which seems to be his first book that was written from start to finish for a publisher. In the acknowledgement section he talks about all the people from the publisher and the effort that they put into his book. It gives an interesting picture into what exactly is the difference between using a publisher and the associated talent available to polish a book and doing it on your own.
As I've mentioned in the past, I really do not see the publishers go away in my lifetime (hopefully a very long time
) They provide a lot more value than some are willing to acknowledge. There are probably some authors who have a day job and social infrastructure that allows them to write quality books without the support of a publisher, but I suspect that is the exception rather than the norm. Most will probably write a few books, stick them out there, make a few bucks and then quietly stop trying when they can't make a living at it.