Quote:
Originally Posted by DawnFalcon
More, bluntly, I am yet to be convinced that the majority of "publisher" functions couldn't be done work-for-hire. . .)
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Every function that a publisher performs for an author
can be done work-for-hire. But who will foot the bill? How many authors can afford $5,000+ for editorial work, $20,000+ for marketing, $2,000+ for cover artwork, $3,000+ for typesetting, etc., out of pocket? Publishers pay these costs.
And I can hear your scream now that the prices I gave are ridiculous -- way too high. But I know for a fact that they are not. In fact, I know that editorial costs, for example, can run much higher than $5,000. I recently finished editing a book where the editing costs exceeded $50,000.
I will grant that the costs fluctuate and generally are less for fiction than nonfiction, but it still costs many thousands of dollars to put out a book. Yes, some authors do it all themselves or do it on the cheap, and that gets reflected in their sales and their reputations; some are capable of doing it all and doing it all very well themselves; most are not.
Work-for-hire works well when you have the deep pockets to pay for the services; publishers pay for these services. Will authors gamble their own money on such services without knowing that the final product will at least recoup those expenses in the near term?