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Originally Posted by K-Thom
Consider a joint website run by thriller/suspense writers with the likes of Tom Clancy, Robin Cook, Mary Higgins Clark and others. As a reader you'd have a certain trust in the quality of that site, right?
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Sure. But the reality is that these individuals have had the financial wherewithal and clout to start their own vanity houses for decades, similar to the Beatles' launching Apple Music or Led Zeppelin with Swan Song Records.
And yet, this never caught on with authors. Why? I presume it's because prominent authors don't feel like they're getting screwed, and actually value the contributions of their publishers. They probably also can't be bothered doing all the grunt work.
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Originally Posted by K-Thom
Now consider this site offers newcomers a chance to publish their first novel. Revised, of course. Nothing right out of the keyboard.
Such a site would play the role of a gatekeeper, and you definitely wouldn't need a publisher for it.
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Actually, the site will basically turn into a combination publishing house and retailer. So you're just re-creating the same basic system but with different players.
The people running the site would also be inundated with a flood of submissions, and just wading through that massive slush pile costs money. Traditional publishers don't want to see unsolicited manuscripts anymore; these days, no agent = snowball's chance in the Sahara of getting published via traditional means.
Also, the economics of this particular model are almost utterly unworkable. Most first books don't sell well at all; most authors need to be nurtured, and it can take several books for a genuine author to find an audience, let alone the strengths and weaknesses of their style. If it's going to work, you're either going to have to take the crumbs from a lot of little plates (Scribd et al, who may not even be making a profit, I have no idea really) or lock the author into a contract.
Or to put it another way: Between dedicating resources to writing and marketing a book by a proven best-selling author, or a no-name writer with no track record and little chance of success, which one is the smarter economic bet?
IMO, these type of self-publishing outlets are really only going to work for people with very low sales expectations, or at best people who can exploit a fairly targeted niche.