Publisher's Weekly issued a telling article last week, one entitled “How Self-Publishing Will Lose Its Stigma.” (
You can read it here.) In the article, the author touches upon some of the highlights of a webinar focused on “The Evolution of Self-Publishing.” She admits that although the industry segment is changing, there is still a lot to be learned. Book marketing is key to sales and this is an area where self-published authors often stumble.
There are three author success stories mentioned in the article. These are largely stories about having a winning marketing strategy. Social media, blogs, websites, Indie bookstores, book tours, book expos and even traditional media have become increasingly more accessible for marketing & promotion.
As a result and coupled with the large number of self-publishers out there now (
click here & scroll down to see a list), traditional publishers complain that there is a lot of “noise in the marketplace.” As with any new industry early in its evolution, the market is saturated; there are many players using multiple media to market or to promote many books. Eventually the market will clear and the most capable and commercially viable writers will emerge.
At the end of the day, profit margins matter and sales in volume mean profit. Prices set by manufacturers and distributors currently reflect the costs of services to authors who fail, as well as those who do well. At some point, these costs will cut into profit margins and draw important questions about cost and risk.
Furthermore, in the article, traditional publishers complained that “gatekeepers” did not exist in the self-publishing realm. There is no discerning eye to determine quality. This in fact is what makes self-publishing so great. There is a free market where the only “gates’’ are the vagaries and vicissitudes of the marketplace. Mastering marketing while limiting costs is key.
This is what makes the e-book so promising. Costs are slight and marketing becomes one dimensional, limited only by one´s skill at social networking.
Self-publishing, particularly, that of e-books, even has a few well-known traditionally published authors in its camp. Boasting meater royalties and enabling the author to retain all rights to his/her work, self-publishing has been a welcome alternative for authors who want to retain (and embrace) their power.
I conclude that traditional publishers are feeling threatened by an industry that grants ultimate control, power and returns to writers. And they are in profound denial about the potential of this nascent industry.
