Main Area and Open Discussion > Living Room

9 Signs Self-Publishing Is out of Control

<< < (3/4) > >>

Carol Haynes:
Simple - the 'self-publishing' repository websites could work on the principle that unless more than 50 or 100 copies is sold per month it gets pulled. They could give new publications 6 months to achieve that level of sales. It won't make much difference for people who genuinely want to self publish via their own website but will prune the pointless dross that no one wants to read.

Its effectively what happens on a larger scale with real publishing - once sales drop the printing stops.

The trouble, as I see it, is not that real publishers are dying in the new world because of self publishing but that the mega-corps are effectively ousting them - eventually Amazon, Apple, et al will become the new world publishers with even less help and support for authors as they establish a leech-like grip on authors.

wraith808:
Simple - the 'self-publishing' repository websites could work on the principle that unless more than 50 or 100 copies is sold per month it gets pulled. They could give new publications 6 months to achieve that level of sales. It won't make much difference for people who genuinely want to self publish via their own website but will prune the pointless dross that no one wants to read.
-Carol Haynes (May 15, 2012, 02:57 PM)
--- End quote ---

I'd like it better if this was a ping of some sort, rather than a determination by the masses that this piece of work shouldn't be available, i.e. your publication has not sold very much.  Please confirm/resubmit to keep it in the catalog.

The trouble, as I see it, is not that real publishers are dying in the new world because of self publishing but that the mega-corps are effectively ousting them - eventually Amazon, Apple, et al will become the new world publishers with even less help and support for authors as they establish a leech-like grip on authors.
-Carol Haynes (May 15, 2012, 02:57 PM)
--- End quote ---

To a certain extent this happens, but without lock-in, it will just mean that there is the normal indie vs. mainstream stratification.  Look at Smashwords.  Within 4 years this one indie outlet has published what all of the print publishers do in one year.  That's quite an accomplishment, especially considering that it is still gaining steam, and still doesn't restrict the users use of the publications they publish.

CWuestefeld:
I think you guys are on the verge of throwing out one of the greatest things about ebooks. Since ebooks take up no physical space (unlike dead trees in a b&m store), it's possible to have essentially unlimited inventory. There's no reason for a book to go out of "print" ever again.

I do most of my reading -- pleasure reading, anyway -- digitally. And the thing that has more than once forced me to seek "alternative" sources for books is that the rights holder hasn't released the book digitally. Keeping customers from buying books causes piracy.

Surely there's a way to de-emphasize unpopular books from discovery while browsing that isn't so heavy-handed that it puts things out of reach.

Deozaan:
I don't get what the big deal is about having lots of crappy e-books out there?

There are a lot of things available for me to buy when I visit the dollar store, or the mall, or the grocery store. I don't insist that these places stop stocking things I'm not interested in.

Or perhaps a better analogy: There's a lot of crappy, "self-published" software on the internet. There is also a lot of really good, yet fairly obscure/unknown "self-published" software on the internet. What do you care if it sucks? If you don't want it, don't download it.

Same thing with e-books or digital music albums or digital movies/videos, etc. Ensuring quality for every single option isn't as important when there are plenty of alternatives to choose from.

barney:
having said that I have just completed a creative writing course so you wait for my magnificent octopus soon!
-Carol Haynes (May 15, 2012, 10:53 AM)
--- End quote ---

Octopus?  I would expect a penguin  ;).

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page