Wednesday, May 16, 2012


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.

No comments:

Post a Comment