There is a decent article that has some comments on how 'discoverablity' is changing the face of traditional publishing.

http://www.statesman.com/life/books/discoverability-key-in-publishing-industrys-transformation-1577857.html

It's not if or when you publish a book or stories. It's how you get them noticed that is the key. I've been dabbling in the publish on demand scene and it's not bad. However, like the article stated it's getting noticed that is the trick. So any would be authors might want to check out the article.

stating that the book is dead is a foolish statement. I have never met any one who owns an ebookreader or someone who knows some one who owns one. for one simple reason: ebookreaders svck and are essentiallly costing you +100 or more dollars to read ebooks (which you still have to buy at the same price of a physical book)

ereaders might be trendy with people and social clicks that are most often in the public eye, like tech journalists and people who travel alot because they have a need for the ONLY benefit ebookreaders provide is the ability to store multiple books.

but the truth is most people still read books, sure there are MORE authors being published via ebooks, but the amount of actually successful published authors amount to about the same standard as always. and the eauthors who sell out in the terms of the article, they're next big books are most advertised and distributed as books. because thats what most people buy to read.

borders being bankrupt does not mean much other than that book selling in the walmart business type method has never been super profitable, and borders is just one book chain. the one I shop at (barnes and noble) are actually doing quite well, and they have their own ereader.

not venting against you OP, but just trying to make a point that just because something new and more advanced is at this moment taking up alot of spotlight over physical books, does not mean that books are dead as a medium at all. they said the same thing when radio came; and again with television; and again with internet.

books are a base element of literature and can't be elimenated by new types of literature founded upon it, just like the wheel is a base element of means of transportation but has not been elimenated by the advance in air travel.

The article isn't about books being dead it's geard toward the Publish on Demand industry and about being published more than anything. Having done a POD book I can safely say I have sold both paperback and ereader books. I've never met anyone with a kindle either but apparantly I've sold more copies on the ereader format than paperback. The real beauty of the ereader format is for the smaller guy to get his/her books out there. I think the two formats can live in harmony. My books are available in both formats anyway, so I look at it as just another tool.

It's kind of similar to gaming in that their is a digital distribution as well as physical copies. No one will argue that you can't go to walmart and buy a game but you can also go to steam. Again, the digital formats are just another tool for artists in general.

*speaking for myself the .99 format is perfect in the fact that I write short stories. I can release a series of .99 shorts and take the popular ones to put in a collection for a hardback book. So, the format works for me. Mainly because the content I write is from left field anyway and going the route of non traditional publishing allows for content that is risky or of the hybrid nature. It's really democracy at its best. The junk will sink to the bottom and the good stuff will rise to the top.

the article starts off talking about a woman public speaking, saying that books are dead, and using imagry such as nuclear explosions in relation to physical publishing.

I am not trying to say self publishing with Ebooks is bad either, just saying that it isn't replacing physical manuscripts and neither is the flood of Ebook selfpublished authors stealing attention from new authors published through a major publishing firm. I am considering self publishing, idk if I will do so with Ebooks or just pay for my own printing and market my own novels.

Good luck. Be careful as marketing can get really expensive. Viral marketing is the easiest way and basically free.

Thanks for the info

I actually got one of those Kindle e-readers so I thought I should probably say something.

The main reason I got it was because it takes up very little space. It's about as wide as a pencil, so when I travel anywhere, be it school or a foreign country, I will be able to carry hundredes of books with me without any trouble. Sure it's battery powered, but the battery lasts about a week or two so that's not really an issue.

Do I prefer paperbacks or e-books? I have to say that I'm indifferent. Reading on a Kindle is very much like reading a paperback, there isn't a bright display that'll make your eyes hurt - it feels just like a book made of paper. A lot of the books I read are only available in ebook format. But paperback look better on a shelf

The Kindle was pretty expensive for me because I, for some wierd reason, was not allowed to buy one from Great Britain (I guess you brits don't want to share your literature). So I had to buy one from the US, which of course included shipping prices etc. But Kindle ebooks usually come at a discount so it'll even out in the long run.

Most books in digital format are cheaper than their paper counterparts

Some are the same price but then there are plenty more that are a few dollars cheaper

Still not enough to warrant me buying an e-reader especially when http://psp.about.com/od/zines/ht/How-To-Use-Your-Psp-As-An-E-Reader.htm

Also, it's easier to obtain digital copies of books in the public domain. Rather than haul huge books home from the university library I often checked if they were available in a digital format and they often were. This saved me from having to lug books back and forth from college. Also, there were times when the library wouldn't have the book I needed and would have to wait, sometimes up to a week, to get the book I needed when I might have needed it right then.

E-readers can be useful for those of us who don't have the space to store a moderate library of books, like my stepfather. He's read dozens and dozens of books on his nook so far, and he definitely wouldn't have room around here to put them.

Otherwise, I agree with you.

When I looked on AMazon, there were a ton of ebooks available for free. I assumed they were all from aspiring writers, they looked kinda hackish.

It's the same in every business. Games are published more, real and ebooks are published more, art is overwhelmingly everywhere. We're living the era when anyone can write and draw, because everyone have the means and somewhat enough time to do what they WANT, not what they have to. People earn enough money that they do not have to work 12/7 like they did 100 years ago. And we're more plenty as a race, thus making more of our products too. Competition grows fierce.

Sooo... *cough* *cough* on the subject, go check our new game on iTunes, Fatal League. It's great in RPG gameplay, but the problem is, we as a 5-friend-team just cannot get it "out to the streets" as the competition is really tough for iPhone games

A lot of the classics are free as ebooks too. I used to be 'against' ebooks, but since I got an iPad, I've been using iBooks, Kindle, and Kobo apps and I find the ebooks really handy (and cheap!). I like having my whole library as well as the whole bookstore available to me anywhere I go through one small device.

Hi! You have now. In addition to reading books (which cost less or even nothing at all), I also use my kindle to surf the web and listen to podcasts. I can also buy books, look for books, and try books out without ever leaving the comfort of my bed.



Its true books aren't dead, but ebook sales are steadily increasing (a quick search tells me by ~160% annually), while physical book sales are staying the same. Ebook sales have already beat hardback sales, and might soon beat paperback as well. There are still plenty of people reading traditionally, but more and more people are going digital. Ebooks aren't a fad, and they very well may become the next face of publishing.


As for self publishing on ebook: its like having a blog. Some people have successful blogs that make them money, get them noticed, etc. Most people have a blog that a few people read. The good thing is, of course, that digital publishing is a lot cheaper and easier than getting published by a 'real' publisher.

What are the costs associated with electronic self-publishing though? With traditional publishing, it's the publisher who picks up the costs, not the author.

I don't know, something about electronic self-publishing seems risky to me. It's definitely easier than querying potential agents but these days querying agents can be free through email. The cost is really only the time invested in writing personalized emails and waiting for responses.

You could be looking at anywhere from around $300 or so up to around $2000(possibly more if professionaly edited) for the distibution and the work entailed to put the manuscript into book form. The marketing can be very high, upwards of ten of thousands of dollars. You have the option to do it yourself or go through a POD affiliate. Either way, you are looking at money out of your own pocket. There are some benefits as you always maintain the complete rights to your work. Most of the POD places were started by authors who couldn't get published by traditional means and now they have evolved. The big challenge for POD work is the fact that you have to be more than just a writer. You need to be able to market and sell your book as well, so multiple hats is a must.

*There is also indie press, which is a smaller publisher.

*Self publishing is risky but people can make money on it. Go pick out a few of the books from POD on amazon and run them through Novel Rank. There are more self published books out there that make money than you might think. However, the risk is there to not make your money back or lose money. It should be noted that traditionally published books lose money as well. As a matter of fact, only a handful of authors really end up living off of their books. Bottom line is, if people buy your book then you will make money. Self publishing gives you complete control and an opportunity to make more money down the road.

*Regarding my experiment, because that's really what it was, I'll be content to make my money back. If I do that then it's a win. My next project I'm going for a cash in. Who knows what will happen. I attend a local writers group and there was a writer who ended up selling over a 100,000 books on ereader at the .99 price tag. Do whatever you feel is right for you. Make sure to do your research and explore all avenues.

Viral marketing is far from easy, and any planned viral marketing is far from free.

Facebook, twitter, and you tube is basically free. Minus your internet connection. Most blogs are free. Forums are free and most places will let you talk about your work. Most likely your local press will help you out and friends from your community might lend a hand if your not a jerk. So there are tons of ways to get the word out for no cost or minimal cost. flyers at staples are ridiculously cheap. Some libraries will be willing to help you out as well as some indie bookstores. There are ways to get the word out. You just need to be creative about it. Which shouldn't be hard if you had enough where with all to write a book in the first place.

If you can get a good word of mouth buzz going about your work that's a tremendous help as well. Plus, you can even try to get a benefactor or two to finance your projects.

That's all a helluva lot of man hours, and without coordination it is mostly wasted effort. Viral marketing is a fickle mistress, and one that needs to be treated with respect, anyone with any marketing experience can tell you horror stories of trying viral marketing. Failure to build critical mass equals a lot of failed effort. Sure the obvious costs may not be that much, but the hidden costs are very high.

Off the top of my head, because I JUST heard of it: Fred Gallagher recently released "Behind the Masque" on Amazon Kindle, at his panel on Saturday, which was full of people who visit his websites, forums, blogs, etc, only a handful of people had known about it, despite it being quite well marketed on his websites AND being very easily discoverable on many websites. We are talking about the people who ABSOLUTELY love his works, enough to wake up early on the day after the biggest convention event, and still people were unaware of it.

Treat viral marketing with any disrespect, and she will bite off your hand. She isn't easily tamed.

It can be and that's where the problem arises for a POD title. Some writers aren't outgoing enough to want to or even be good at marketing their own work. You have to be the writer, editor, publicist, agent, ceo, and just about any other hat there is. So, ya I agree that is the big challenge for a POD effort. Nothing ventured, nothing gained...

*It's alot of hardwork but something usually never comes from nothing and if you put the work in you might hit. If not, try again, and again, and again. Worst case scenario is you end up wallowing in obscurity and take a library of books to your grave. However, think of it like this. You have your whole life to sell your books. That's a long time...

I read an interesting blog post about the gatekeepers in publishing. The blog listed seven. POD skips some of the steps but in the end you can't escape the most important one, which is the READERS. Without them a writer is nothing. Whether that be POD, Ereader, traditional publishing, or notes scribbled on a bathroom wall.

The problem with this is that it isn't so cut and dry, there can be measurable worth to your works, but since you had a flop in advertising it, you missed your window. Almost all works have a window of value, which, once passed, drastically decreases the size of the interested population. This is why leaving viral marketing up to fate (which is more or less what you described) is almost never done. You have to create the fire needed to maintain the interest, which is not a simple task, and generally does cost money. Worst case scenario is not that you end up wallowing in obscurity, but that you end up in the red (due to pouring too much of yourself into the work and missing other opportunities) and you missed your chance.

What if the money isn't the main motivation? Sometimes writers just want to get their voice to the public. Of course, making money is nice but it isn't always everything. It helps though. :wink_smile:

I have a full time job so I'm not banking on my writing to pay the bills right now. That's why I've decided to use my tax return each year to put out two books. If some of them make money then I can do more but at two per year I could end up with fourty to fifty books or stories under my belt by the time I leave this world. Of course, that's nothing when compared to legends like King. However, not everyone is a legend.


Some of my motivation springs from people like Loyd Kaufman. Apparently, he used his wife's retirement nest egg to get Poutlrygeist in theaters. That is really cool. If you don't know who Kaufman is he is involved with Troma. I don't know how they are doing now but they've churned out a ton of independent cinema. Have you ever seen the catalogue of movies? Some are really bad while some are actually good.

Then you publish it in the public domain (or a liberal CC if you want to preserve it somewhat).

I guess you could do that. Doesn't seem as fun though. Speaking for myself here, I've had a blast with talking about my writing over the web and checking the sales rank of my product. It's quite the experience and delivers a great feeling of satisfaction. That's just me though. I've never been the most practical person to be honest.

In a way this can almost be a hobby.

I guess I'm just a different breed. I'm the type of person that would actually sit down and go through the entire amazon list of books just to see them. I do that with everything. Especially bad movies. I'll pass on the big mainstream blockbuster and spend an hour sifting through the low budget stuff. I'm not sure why. Maybe looking for the diamond in the rough?

putting it in the public domain or under a CC license doesn't stop you from talking about your writing, it also doesn't stop you from selling it (Fred Gallagher gives away his comic for free online, but has sold 80k+ physical copies), but public domain and CC are far better ways of being heard than some locked down license. You can also track downloads/views instead of sales.