The self-epublishing bubble

[QuantumIguana]

People really need to take more care with the blurb. It's one of the first things you notice about a book, and a bad blurb means I stay away. If it is sloppy, and incoherent, I assume that the book is also sloppy and incoherent.

[anamardoll]

And it really colors your expectations for the book.

[VydorScope]

I know when I look... the cover plays a part in determining if I will read the blurb.. the blurb plays a part in determining if I will look at the reviews.. the reviews play a part in if I will read the book... but that only maters for unknown books.

Books that are recommended by trusted recomenders, or by an author I like pretty much are shoe-ins.

[Phogg]

Originally Posted by MichaelJScott

Good point. There was a reason the "gatekeepers" came into being in the first place. That's probably going to morph into the reviewers, who'll soon find themselves inundated with the same crap that used to land on editors' and agents' desks.

I wonder if the "new boss" will become the "old boss" (ie: can reviewers find a way to "ethically" make money by offering reviews?). Perhaps a subscription thing...?

The biggest part of the reason the gatekeepers came into bring was the minimum level of profitabilty required to support the printing presses and warehousing/distribution system. That often meant supressing superior works if a market was already glutted.

Now, that doesn't matter.

well, except to the dinosaur big six.

[davidwfleming]

Maybe if reviewers were payed in a transparent way from subscriptions of book-buyers only it wouldn't be so bad. It seems like this type of system would be highly prone to conflicts of interest between authors and reviewers.

People keep saying things to me like "And if you get enough good reviews for your ebooks, you can take this data to traditional publishers to really get published." This draws a question mark in my mind. How can these people be so sure that there will be traditional publishers or stores to buy paper books in, say, five years?

I suspect that the publishing industry is currently in the inescapable grasp of Moore's Law.

Let's imagine all the corollaries: the music industry and mp3s; horse and buggies and the model T; boat travel and air travel; theatre and television and of course brick and mortar and e-commerce. How many historical examples are needed to convince people of these trends?

[Freeshadow]

opinions dont die out, their followers do.

[pigeonweather]

It's interesting that the author of the article applies historical trends to the self-epublishing phenomenon, but doesn't consider the current parallels. This is not some tulip-mania or housing bubble. The closest comparable, it seems to me, is YouTube. Rather than being the death of television or movies, and rather than flaming out because only a handful become stars like Justin Bieber, the YouTube phenomenon persists and will continue to persist because it's easy and cheap and satisfies a need - the dream of striking it big. When something like that is made so easy and so seductive, it is not going to go away simply because of the rarity of its effectiveness - on the contrary! Like winning the super-lotto, it keeps happening, driving the dream onward. People will continue to self-publish, trying to become that Amanda Hocking or Suzanne Collins, in the same way that singers continue to try and become Justin Bieber. Whether or not this is detrimental to the conglomerate publishing industry is another matter, but I doubt we'll see self-publishing fade away any time soon

[frahse]

Originally Posted by QuantumIguana

People really need to take more care with the blurb. It's one of the first things you notice about a book, and a bad blurb means I stay away. If it is sloppy, and incoherent, I assume that the book is also sloppy and incoherent.

Your are correct. In fact that is a superior comment.

And here I will brag a little. I write superior blurbs. It probably comes from practice writing up preliminary outlines of what a technical project will accomplish and how it will do it. Those outlines/synopses/project scopes may determine if a project is accepted and if we get the job.

If only I could do my own artwork! Alas, Auto-cad isn't up to the task.

[RobynJane]

Well, it all depends on why you're writing, doesn't it? A. J. Liebling said, "Freedom of the press belongs to the man who owns one." Between computers, the internet, and ebooks, we ALL own a printing press.

If you're going to write exclusively for e-publication, there are a few things to keep in mind: many of us prefer e-books because there are so many free ones out there. Sure, I'll pay good money for a big-name commercial author, but by going for the freebies, I'm finding a lot of excellent authors I'd not have discovered otherwise.

You also have to remember that despite e-books' popularity, there are still a vast majority of readers who are like my English professor: "Sorry, I'm addicted to dead trees."

Another "gotcha" is people like me, who will never EVER buy anything with DRM enabled. If I buy a book, I want to be able to lend it or give it away (the original, not a bootleg) to whoever I want. But without DRM, anybody will be able to give your stuff away. SO much for getting rich.

E-publishing is a great way to break into the business, and get your work out there. But if you've just spent the better part of a year or two writing The Great American Novel, do you really want to give it away?

Just my opinion; YMMV.

Robyn Jane

[RobynJane]

Originally Posted by frahse

If only I could do my own artwork! Alas, Auto-cad isn't up to the task.

Ah! But perhaps Photoshop (or one of its imitators) is up to the task? Especially if you take an original photo and work from it?

Robyn Jane
(Who is fortunate enough to have
married an artist.)

[RobynJane]

Originally Posted by pigeonweather

Whether or not this is detrimental to the conglomerate publishing industry is another matter...

And so what if it is? Maybe they need to be woken up. After all, it's the publishers, not the authors, who profit the most from books. WHo knows? Maybe smaller is better. If nothing else, it gets people published who otherwise don't stand a chance. As a record-industry executive once said of Frank Zappa's music, "No commercial potential."

Robyn (Fight the Machine) Jane

[frahse]

Originally Posted by RobynJane

Ah! But perhaps Photoshop (or one of its imitators) is up to the task? Especially if you take an original photo and work from it?

Robyn Jane
(Who is fortunate enough to have
married an artist.)

I think my Artist uses Illustrator for the good pictures. I can do the rest. Maps, simple sketches, drawings, etc.

I should confess. I am married to an editor.

[pigeonweather]

Originally Posted by RobynJane

And so what if it is? Maybe they need to be woken up. After all, it's the publishers, not the authors, who profit the most from books. WHo knows? Maybe smaller is better. If nothing else, it gets people published who otherwise don't stand a chance. As a record-industry executive once said of Frank Zappa's music, "No commercial potential."

Robyn (Fight the Machine) Jane

Absolutely. The major publishers are just subsidiaries of gigantic multinational corporations. No one should cry over them.

[Freeshadow]

Originally Posted by frahse

I should confess. I am married to an editor.

Oh must be a very stabilising effect on the marriage:
You get used to being told that you're wrong, while she's right.

[frahse]

Originally Posted by Freeshadow

Oh must be a very stabilising effect on the marriage:
You get used to being told that you're wrong, while she's right.

Actually I want her to write more herself for she is insanely capable, but she doesn't. The subjects she writes about are very intense and I think that they wear her out. I can't read them all the way through myself, though we might work out some strategies or problems together. She has many other outlets.
There is never a problem with my books though. I will ask her something or have her read something and then we might have a brief discussion, and I accept her direction or not, and move on.

We do have our go-rounds sometimes, though not on writing. For example we are planning on hiking the Grand Canyon next vacation and I am getting ready, losing some weight (from this past Christmas vacation and before), getting my knees back in shape and I sometimes might try to be helpful with her preparation. For example, last night, I said "I am going to hit the treadmill for a while now," ~hint, hint.~
Reaction - [Dead VERY Frosty Silence! - like I might be pushing a bit.] On some subjects, she doesn't take prompting very well.