The Uprising in Book Publishing

Warning: This presentation tackles the Egyptian Revolution, politics, religion, money, dinosaurs, ebooks, paranormal romance and the future of book publishing, so if the amalgamation of such disparate topics strikes you as blasphemous, click here for a video of cute happy bunnies . The 15,000 authors and publishers who use Smashwords to publish and distribute over 36,000 ebooks stand to benefit from the events now unfolding in publishing. If they benefit, I benefit because Smashwords is an ebook distributor. Therefore, my opinions are biased. I have enormous respect for professional publishers and the passionate people who work in the field. The business of BIG PUBLISHING may be broken, but the people in publishing are not. Publishing is not dead. These good people are hard at work this very moment rewriting the next chapter of book publishing for the benefit of all humanity.

An uprising is in the words

Catalysts of the Egyptian Revolution
Lack of economic opportunity
Economic divide between haves and have nots
Oppression of creative freedom, lack of democratic participation
Mismanagement, corruption, inefficiency
Agents of change (ordinary people, empowered by simple yet powerful ideas)
Questions that sparked the uprising
Is this regime serving my interests?
Is this regime hurting me?

Is Big Publishing next?

The Old World of Big Publishing
Authors bowed subservient before the publishing gods, seeking
blessing
acceptance
validation
afterlife (a “published author” on your epitaph)

Publishers controlled passage to the hereafter
Highway to Heaven
The book deal opened the pearly gates to
The respect
The printing press
The distribution
The royalties
The readers
The fame
The realization of all writerly dreams

Is the allure of Big Publishing a mirage?

Reality is setting in for authors
More difficult than ever for talented writers to land an agent or book deal
Advances are declining
Publishers want authors with established platforms
Most authors don’t earn out
Most print books forced out of print before they’ve had a chance to reach readers
Authors expected to shoulder most post-publication marketing on their own dime
Lost rights
Brick and mortar retail distribution disappearing
Publishers value books through myopic prism of perceived commercial potential (publisher death panels)

Drivers for the Overthrow of Big Publishing
Lack of economic opportunity for authors
Economic divide between haves and have nots ( Snooki got a book deal, did you? )
Oppression of creative freedom ( you suck and don’t deserve to publish until publishers tell you otherwise )
Lack of democratic participation ( authors watch from sidelines, readers spoon fed more Snooki )
Mismanagement, corruption, inefficiency ( you’re easily exploitable when you have no other option, publishers know writers will write for free )
Agents of change ( smart literary agents are now opening the eyes of big authors to alternate possibilities )
When myths unravel, simple questions can spark a revolution

The two questions that will spark an author uprising against Big Publishing

Q1 What can my publisher do for me that I can’t do myself?

Publishing Power Shifts to Authors
Authors become self-publishers
printing press goes virtual, free to all
distribution democratized, esp. for ebooks
direct access to readers
Rapid publishing & time to market
publish in hours or days (indie) vs. 12-18 months (trad.)
Indie ebook economics favor indies
60-70% royalties on list price (indie), vs 5 - 17% (trad.)

Q2 (the most dangerous) Will a traditional publisher make me less successful?

Can a Big Publisher Harm an Author’s Career?
Chasing hits, the lemming method
Publishers acquire today what was hot yesterday and then release it 12-18 months from tomorrow
Indie ebooks reach worldwide distribution in hours or days
Poor author economics
Traditionally published authors earn royalty of 5-17% list price
Indie ebook authors earn 60-70% royalty on list price
Big publishers over-price and under-distribute author works, limiting readership
Indie ebook authors price low, expand total available market, and still earn greater profits per unit sold (60-70% royalty)
At 60% royalty, an indie author earns $ 1.80 on a $ 2.99 ebook. To earn same amount from a traditionally pub’d ebook, the book would have to be priced at $ 10.30
Archaic geographic rights limitations and DRM restrict availability and discoverability

What happens when authors – the creators of books – lose faith in BIG PUBLISHING? God is dead. — Nietzsche

The Accidental Revolutionary – Amanda Hocking *
Rejected by the major publishers
Self-published her books as ebooks
After years of work, blockbuster success (on track to sell 1 million+ copies)
THE CLINCHER:
Her success might not have been possible with a trad. publisher
Traditional publishing practices create friction that prevents books from reaching readers
Hocking released great ebooks priced at $.99 to $2.99 (can publishers compete here with front list authors?)
Hocking controls her rights, the world is her oyster and she’s only getting started
* Smashwords distributes Amanda Hocking to Apple, Sony, Kobo, Diesel and B&N (partial)

Hocking is not alone. Thousands of indie authors have joined the revolution
50 indie authors to watch (a partial list!)
Sherwood Smith Brian S. Pratt Ann Somerville Shiloh Walker Ilona Andrews M. R. Mathias PL Nunn Selena Kitt Bella Andre Dan Poynter Cody Willard Tracy Falbe Ruth Ann Nordin Tina Folsom Lynn Flewelling Jack Gregory Alexis Harrington Shayne Parkinson Gerald M. Weinberg Randolph Lalonde Norman Savage David Derrico JA Konrath Rebecca Forster Eva Gordon Dennis Batchelder Michael Sullivan Ginger Starr Mark Berent Bill Clem Carl East Dan McGirt Felicity Heaton Derek Ciccone Zoe Winters Boris Tzaprenko Lucinda Brant Rupert Colley Michael McCollum Nicky Charles Wesley Allison Sylvia Day RJ Silver Norah Wilson L.L. Bartlett Philippa Balantine David Dalglish Pat Ryan Janice Daugharty 15,000+ more at Smashwords.com

Thanks for considering the future

Learn more about indie ebook publishing
Free Resources
Smashwords Style Guide (how to create, publish and distribute an ebook)
Smashwords Book Marketing Guide (how to market any book, 25+ ideas that cost nothing)
The Seven Secrets to Ebook Publishing Success (best practices for publishing, distributing and selling an ebook)

Connect
How to publish, distribute or partner with us - https://smashwords.com/about/how_to_publish_on_smashwords
Twitter – http://twitter.com/markcoker
Blog – http://blog.smashwords.com
Huffington Post – http://huffingtonpost.com/mark-coker
LinkedIn – http://linkedin.com/in/markcoker
Facebook – http://facebook.com/markcoker
My SW page - https://smashwords.com/profile/view/mc
Smashwords FAQ: https://www.smashwords.com/about/supportfaq
Email – Reach Mark Coker at first initial second initial at smashwords.com

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The Uprising in Book Publishing

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