Quote:
Originally Posted by Scott Nicholson
publishers will soon lose control of pricing--I know plenty of bestselling authors who are already moving their own backlist to ebooks--on their own. As more and more of the content price is set by the authors, they HAVE to listen to consumers, because the law of supply and demand is inescapable. Right now publisher control supply. That's why so many writers get rejected (well, a significant reason, because there are a lot of quality books that don't fit a slot or the slot is already full).
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I'm not opposed to publishers on principle -- they are an important part of the ecosystem. Publishers, and the infrastructure they bring, imposes a certain set of standards -- which is a good thing. It may be exciting to live in the wild west but ordered markets have their place.
What's missing is a healthy dose of "enlightened self-interest" among most publishers in the coming age of e-books, where the publisher will need to adapt, instead of trying to control, in order to prosper. Not every writer is a self-promo wiz ... in fact, most writers have a talent for writing, not getting on talk shows or booking events or even editing their own stuff. And, I dare say, most writer's comply with a publisher's deadline more easily than one they make up.
