Well, okay, I'll admit that it may be just me: Out of those "400,000 books" being produced per year, I find myself interested in and buying very, very few of them (on the order of 4-6 books per year, in a good year). So maybe I'm really the only one looking for books that aren't being printed for me.
And though I haven't been rejected (you can't really say you've been rejected when they refused to even consider looking at the book!), I do have the feeling that there are probably better authors than myself who have been similarly snubbed, and could use a better outlet for their work.
(I also take it as implied that there are those who believe that, since I have not been vetted by a reputable publishing house, my work must therefore also be c**p, QED, and therefore my opinion on the matter isn't worth much... which I suppose negates the point of the previous paragraph thoroughly...)
To answer Bob's question: If a service bureau came to me and said, "If you pay $X, you can expect a Y-Z% return on investment in terms of sales for our services," and assuming I had the $X (and believed their figures)... yes, I would consider such a service. I would especially consider it if their services included things I could not do for myself. I have, so far, never received a credible offer like that, which is why I've never used one.
It clearly seems to some that I am simply proposing this model out of some deep-seated desire to ransack the present publishing model that has done me so little personal service in the past. Not really: Considering I have, and use, the tools at hand to successfully self-publish, I'd think it would be evident that my suggestion was intended to benefit others who are not so fortunate or able to self-publish as I... especially those who are better writers than I, whose works are left undiscovered in the current system.
And I've been careful to make it clear that I am not disparaging the publishing system's core services... just that they might be redirected in a way that would help get more good books out there, and in so doing, maybe help to revitalize an industry that is struggling through hard and unsure times.
To be clear: It really doesn't matter to me what the publishing industry does, since I'm operating outside of their influence.
Well, it was just a thought. After all, if we don't discuss ideas, how will we know what is and isn't workable?
Last edited by Steven Lyle Jordan; 03-29-2010 at 03:05 PM.
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