Is Publishing Dead?

No. It’s sure changing, though. Two years ago, self-publishing was for non-fiction niche writers or desperate fiction writers who only cared about getting their in print and nothing else.

The times, they change.

I’m in a rather unique position, as I’m doing both with no plans to change my current method right now. It’s working for me. I’m selling to e-publishers (publishers who focus on ebooks over print), small press (focus equally on both formats), and self-publishing (doing it myself).

I’ve been following and watching, and making note of my own experiences. This is what I’ve been seeing:

Self-publishing

  1. The rush to the bottom. A couple of self-published authors sold a lot of books by pricing their books at 99 cents. Now, if you hang out in the self-publishing forums online, all people talk about is how 99 cents is the new novel price.
  2. Hyper-focus on Amazon. The book world is a lot bigger than Amazon. Some folks seem obsessed with their Amazon sales rankings, Amazon customer reviews, etc.
  3. Unique books are finding a market. This is especially true for some crossover books that blend genres (i.e. mystery and SF). Some of these books would have been difficult to sell in the mass numbers big publishers are used to, but are selling steady as independent titles.

Small Press

  1. They exist and are offering some awesome books. I don’t think this has ever not been true, but many have begun embracing ebooks along with print, and I’m finding so many new books to read.
  2. There are so many new imprints coming out that it’s really difficult to know what kind of work they are putting out. The established ones seem to have a firm identity.

Large, Giant, and NY Publishers

  1. They are playing around with ebooks, though not all are offering decent royalties to their authors (sorry, 3% is not decent. Neither is 25%).
  2. Prices are all over the place. I’ve seen ebooks as high as $22 Canadian!
  3. My favourite authors are being dropped mid-series. This is pissing me off to no end. This is right up there with cancelling a series on a cliffhanger.

My largest hesitation remains with unpublished writers putting their work up on Amazon and thinking they’ll sell millions and get a book deal. Sure, it’s happened to a few people. But, mostly, what’s up there is crap. Oh, I know, everyone is going to say that what’s coming out of NY publishers is crap, too. However, that stuff is readable in the English language. People just don’t like the content. There’s a big difference.

I’m also concerned that writers won’t continue to grow. They’ve made a couple hundred dollars selling their novel at 99 cents and think they don’t need to learn more. They hire editors that have no real experience or, worse, who confuse being rejected by several publishing houses as experience. They think editing means line editing and checking for typos and missing words. They don’t understand how to maintain conflict, develop characterization through dialogue, and maintain a gripping story. Some learn. A lot don’t.

At the same time, I hate to see good books turned down because an agent hasn’t had her morning latte yet or is too busy tweeting to actually read what’s on her desk. I hate to see good book linger with publishers as they hem and haw over the marketability of a title. I hate how solid books are being dropped simply because they are “only” solid sellers, making 5-10K sales per book.

I hate to see small presses being squeezed because Amazon expects outrageous cuts.I hate that these small publishers have to keep up with the offset printer format, even though they’d sell more doing Print-On-Demand (but, of course, bookstores won’t stock their books then). I hate how authors think it’s agent and NY or nothing. I hate how agents think that.

I love books. Books cheer me up far more than a TV show ever will. I learn more, visit more places, and think of the world differently because of books. I think we authors need to stop bickering about the death of publishing, the crap of self-publishing, the end of bookstores, the greatness/evil of Amazon, and what editing really means. Instead, let’s start talking value. Let’s buy books that offer great reading value. I don’t mean price; I mean story. Let’s support small presses that *do* treat their authors fairly. Let’s support independent authors who have made publishing their business and who put out products that can and do compete with big business.

Let’s raise the bar for both quality and ethics and start putting our money there.


Posted on Jul 14, 2011 in Author Clinic | 10 comments
  • http://www.kristadball.com/?fcsite=10245645860570301036&fcprofile=11590370017051452684 ChrystallaThoma

    Krista, this is a great post. I think it accurately shows all sides, advantages and disadvantages of different kinds of publishing. I do agree with you that there is a lot of crap out there, a great lot of it in the self published world where anything can be published without censorship, and I do think that remembering that one must always try to grow as an author is paramount. I also plan to keep my feet in both worlds – self publishing and small publishers – and hope it goes well.
    The main thing is to be happy with oneself – satisfied that we do and write at our best and get the best deal out of it. :-)

  • http://www.matthewbeier.com Matthew Beier

    Great call on raising the bar, Krista. I just recently made the rather difficult decision to use my novel “The Breeders” as a self-publishing e-book experiment. A year ago, I never would have done it. I had two full manuscript requests within my first ten agent queries, and both agents ultimately rejected it but gave me great feedback. In the process of revising the book, I continually read how the business is changing, I couldn’t shake the gut feeling that it would be REALLY INTERESTING to see what would happen if I self published (the right way, of course).

    I’ve had feedback on my book, and I’ve revised it so many times that it went from being utter crap to being something I personally would buy if I saw it in a store. If I would buy it, would others? That’s what I’m going to find out.

    Yes, there’s the pipe dream of success, but it all gets down to whether a book is any good and/or scratches an itch being felt by consumers.

    It’s scary to be putting myself in the same crowd as all the people who release books without any rewriting, true editing, or professionalism in general, but if that standard is ever going to change, I might as well be brave enough to try and help it…assuming I’m not horrible.

  • http://www.okalrel.org Lynda Williams

    Enjoyed reading this. I love books, too. And feel very fortunate to have a publisher who is sticking with my series to the end. Just got cover of Part 7 and am working on first draft of final book in the Okal Rel series, book 10. Very tired of people who book-bash as if being able to focus on reading is some sort of shameful failure to adapt rather than a great gift. Craziness abounds right now, as you say. But in some form or another writing and reading will always be there.

  • http://mariedees.com Marie Dees

    “My favourite authors are being dropped mid-series. This is pissing me off to no end. This is right up there with cancelling a series on a cliffhanger.”

    This is something that has been pushing some of the mid-list authors from the big press to the small press or even self-publishing. I’ve been surprised to suddenly stumble across and author I remembered from a big publish on a small press list and find I can pick up the series again.

  • http://www.laurapauling.com Laura Pauling

    So well said. I love that as writers we have choice. I just wish the emphasis was on value not where or how it was published. I love finding a great book whether from NY or self published!

  • http://www.blogger.com/profile/03042368061073048819 Sherri

    Excellent post Krista!

    As a reader I don’t care who published the story as long as it’s a well edited, intriguing story, and reasonably priced. And I’m glad authors have so many options to get that story to me.

  • http://www.uleth.ca/edu/runte/ Runte

    Nice concise summary, couldn’t have said it better myself.
    The key problem that I see is that publishing houses/editors used to provide a refereeing function — they wouldn’t publish your book unless it was good enough to be published. Most authors I’ve interviewed (hundreds over the years) have told me that it is their fifth book that sold or made it big. WIth easy, low cost self-publishing, there is nothing to stop people (and uncritical friends and family to encourage) publishing their first four ‘practice’ novels. And…as Krista points out, there is now no pressure then to improve, so we see more and more ‘vanity self-published’ authors’ polluting ebook lists making it very difficult for discriminating readers to find decent titles, and for serious authors to connect with potential readers. It is a hard sell to convince writers that if they are going to self-publish, they need to hire experienced development editors (NOT just line editors) to tell them when NOT to publish their current manuscript…I’ve heard now from several veteran self0published authors who’ve told me they wished they hadn’t rushed to print with their first novel because looking back they see its many flaws and wished they had refined it further — and fear that it’s flaws and its bad reviews are hurting their current career. But try telling that to an author who has just spent a year on a manuscript, have been told my their mom and best friend how great it is, and see they could send it out tomorrow at almost no cost to themselves….. *Sigh* When I tell then that “good enough” really isn’t and they need to either do extensive revisions or put this in a drawer and move on to the next novel, they just ask for their money back and stomp off…. Or move on to a cheaper line editor who, like vanity publishers of old, won’t tell them their book sucks.
    But I’m an optimist and I’ve done the research on what happened when mass literacy first came in — the quality of published work immediately fell to lowest common denominator — but sorted itself out over time and in the long run mass literacy produced more and better work than when it was elite only. I’m guessing the same thing will happen with mass publishing…but it will take awhile to sort out.

  • Russ Crossley

    Excellent post. I’m doing what you’re doing and just as disgusted with NY. The truth is these days in NY they are in chaos. I plan to stay clear of them for 2 years until things settle down.

    The best thing to do right now is write the next book.

  • Krista

    “The best thing to do right now is write the next book.”

    YES! I’m seeing people freaking out because they’ve only sold three books in the last week and frantically trying to arrange review exchanges, tag exchanges, and the like. Why not keep writing something new? Why not keep learning? Why not establish your name locally? Why not *be an author* who, you know, writes books.

  • http://www.lauralandon.com Laura Landon

    Excellent post, Krista. Everything is changing! What a fascinating time to be a writer!