The Publishing Business
Is Broken.
Well, like 19.6 % of
the American population I started writing the great American novel. And like 1%
of the overly stubborn population I finished it and asked the publishing
business to look at it. I found out the system of publishing is broken.
The publishing business
decided to leave the heavy lifting to authors and now only promote persons who already
have celebrity status aka cherry picking. Now they are not the first industry
who held all the cards and were selfish and shortsighted. The railroad industry
a hundred years ago thought they were in the railroad business. But a guy named
Ford knew they were actually in the transportation business and took the money
right out from under them. Well publishers are really in the information
business and a guy out west built a warehouse and is taking the money right out
from under them. And big publishing is still building tracks with Snookie books
instead of embracing the new frontier and paving roads.
I said the publishing
business is broken. I say this through my experience and the experience of many
others. Thousands of books are completed and a few actually get examined by the
publishers aka the gatekeepers, and even less get offered a chance to sell it
to them for around five grand and 17.5% of sales. If the author gives up all
ownership and control. Their new friends will massage it and print it and then
the author has to go out and promote it on their own dime. Meanwhile the author’s
new friends are busy putting a publicity tour together for their best friend
Snookie. The new publisher friend will print more if the author can sell it. If
you don’t earn back the five grand they gave you, you have to give it back.
I will say it again the
publishing business is broken. When the publishing industry mastered total
control of content for the information business, they built necessity. A
hundred thousand authors were turned away by the gatekeepers and that necessity
found a way to be heard. Today you can self-publish a book for zero dollars and
put your book in front of millions of readers. Technology exists that allows
you to put you book on the web in front of readers and allow them to order one
book and then print one book and send it to the reader. But even better than
that, that reader can get an electronic version for half the money and the
author still makes 50% more money than the publisher would give him.
Book sales are in
decline. Electronic eBooks sales are growing like weeds and I am jumping on
this truck and following many others by self-publishing my book. My journey
begins.
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