Wednesday, March 23, 2011

So far this week!

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.

2 comments:

  1. 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.

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  2. I 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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