Quote:
Originally Posted by bob315
If enough readers got together and offered writers a better deal than their current publisher, this could become a reality. If there were *enough* such readers, the price could be well below $9.99 and still leave a very tidy sum for the writer.
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I think there will be a wave of authors going direct. There are already a few doing it and a few more asking about it (Anne Rice posted to the amazon Kindle forum basically asking several questions about Kindle and back list. Her backlist is currently in contention with Random house and it's recent land grab.) Charlotte Elkins is working with a company to get her backlist on ebook form. Any author that clearly owns the ebook rights would be crazy if they didn't take advantage of going direct. And if their backlist sells...guess what? Some of them are going to take their next new book direct.
For an author with even a small following, taking one book and taking a chance with direct ebook sales (kindle and other)...it's only a matter of time before it catches on more than it has.
All that said--I am not belittling editors or the ability of a publishing house to market books. I do believe that process is going to either streamline quickly or die.