For the last couple of years I've given a lot of talks addressing the impact of digital change on the publishing industry. I always say that things are changing very quickly, so quickly that what I say on Monday will be old news on Friday. Well, I was wrong.
Here's what's happened this week. Barry Eisler, author of the enormously successful John Rain series, walked away from a $500,000 two-book deal to self-publish his next book(s). Amanda Hocking, the self-publishing phenomenon, who reportedly has sold some 900,000 books (mostly ebooks) since January, is shopping a four-book series to traditional publishers. Yesterday, a judge rejected the Google Book Settlement. And, according to The New York Times this morning, two major textbook publishers are moving toward enabling textbooks to be downloaded whole or chapter-by-chapter to tablet computers.
Each of these warrants close attention—and all are generating much discussion—but my point here is that it's only Wednesday.
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I know Amanda Hocking has described the amount of work that goes into self-publishing and solo promotions. Maybe she's ready for a little break? I can't imagine she's seeking legitimacy (as some have supposed). Her audience obviously doesn't care who her publisher is.
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of textbooks being available on computers. My daughter is in high school and sometimes carries home 5 huge textbooks a night. My only concern for that is how fair is that to families that can't afford to buy their kids a computer? I know someone will say well they can go to the library, but in many cases that is not a possibility due to family dynamics or some libraries in small towns might not have computers.
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