For some proponents of self-publishing, the answer to 'to go digital or not to go digital' would be a resounding "YES! Go digital!" I'm sure they wonder, what's the point of self-publishing if not to publish an e-book? After all, it's a well-accepted idea that traditional publishers can better penetrate paperback markets than self-publishers can. There are many barriers to getting paperbacks into mainstream bookstores and potential cash flow issues when dealing with distributors. Traditional publishers have teams of artists, editors, marketers, advertisers and others at their disposal who can expertly and uniquely package a paperback and get it on bookshelves and, ultimately, to readers more efficiently than a self-publisher ever could hope to (presumably).
I am inspired by many of the stories I hear. For every story of a self-publisher who transitions to the traditional publishing world, I read of five more traditionally published authors who have made the opposite leap, in favor of a low-cost, low-price self-published e-book. The self-published seek new markets with paperbacks and the traditionally published seek the same with e-books. And, every author, regardless of how they were initially published, extols the merits of e-publishing. Many authors note in his or her blog that e-book sales soar set at a low price point. And, the numbers speak volumes: Amazon currently has available some 810,000 e-book titles.
My question is, why do sales soar? Perhaps I should not bother to ask but should rather take advantage of the trend and ride the wave. But, given the recent purge of Amazon titles that were not selling well, which brought the number of titles down to its currently level, sales do not always soar.
What roll does marketing play? I suppose Twitter and Facebook are critical platforms through which an author can reach readers. Most of my readers have been off-line, which is why I chose to go for print with the release of my second book. But, if what e-book publishers are saying is true, clearly it would be worth considering the effort to significantly expand online platforms and reach a different audience. The question is, where do I begin?
So many issues to consider. To publish an e-book or not to publish an e-book? More on this later...
