6 ms·

I'm unfamiliar with this industry and articles like this, as usual, focus almost exclusively on some pathos driven storytelling than actually informing the read

I'm unfamiliar with this industry and articles like this, as usual, focus almost exclusively on some pathos driven storytelling than actually informing the reader. Why aren't more authors self publishing? Is there a demand for some sort of system such as 'Steam for Writers'? Are revenues still predominantly from brick and mortar retailers as opposed to online? How are book sales doing in general? Has there been a sharp increase in the number of people trying to sell books? Just lots of questions that would provide some much needed context.

thewhitetulip 8y ago
Self publishing is not as easy or profitable as it sounds. You need to have loads of cash & contacts in PR. Then you need to get an editor, designer and a PR firm (contracts are costly as hell) And THEN the book is published. Then you need to do marketing also... That's why people prefer publishing houses. But in India I've heard that publishing houses don't provide PR thing. Book sales are sky rocketing but publishing houses and Amazon have a total monopoly. Not every writer is a best selling author. I'm an unpublished writer, it takes around 2 years to research and write a decent book & not the crappy commercial ones. Because publishers aren't sharing profits, authors don't go to write about things that plague the society. They write what sells ergo the books aren't literature at all. Etc
- TangoTrotFox 8y ago
  This is what I was referring to with a 'Steam for Books.' Steam is a video game publication platform. Developers generally get 70% of gross revenue generated by their product. With that 30% Valve, the company behind Steam, take care of financial stuff, providing a platform, and also targeting and marketing. Users can search for titles by genre and various sub-classifications that other users can provide. In spite of an absolute explosion in the size of the industry, many people are still doing phenomenally here. Is there some reason a similar market could not work for books?
  - Eridrus 8y ago
    I think publishers provide far more in terms of services than Steam. And plenty of indie game developers are complaining that they aren't making enough money because there is too much competition on Steam.
cableshaft 8y ago
Self-publishing is a numbers game. The way to make decent money in self-publishing is to put out like 12+ books a year, churned out as fast as possible (which often means a very short and formulaic genre book with a very cookie cutter story), and building a readership by promoting and marketing constantly. It takes a certain kind of author to do that, and most people writing in their spare time just don't have the time or energy to do that. There are exceptions to that of course, but that seems to be the best way to gain any traction as a self-published writer right now, is to build a giant catalog of samey books that if one reader likes they can keep churning through your back catalog. I have three published stories that have been part of a local group's short story anthologies, that self publishes one every year, and my total royalties from three anthologies has been $10. I enjoy it, and have grown a lot as a writer through the practice, so I still do it (one more is about to be published and another is in final draft), but it doesn't make money (granted, they don't do a lot of promotion either). Meanwhile I've been working on my first novel for over 8 years now. That seems to be the key in general for this age of easily consumed media, is to find something you can churn out quickly and consistently and build up an audience over time that way. It's why Youtube personalities chatting crap off the top of their head about games or current events see so much more popularity than individuals who put together scripted content, it's just waaaay simpler to consistently put out videos when you're just talking crap instead of scripting everything ahead of time, so you can quickly build a back catalog and keep popping up in people's news feeds with new material.
- TangoTrotFox 8y ago
  Just to bump this on your replies thread list, I responded elsewhere [1] with something that I think is appropriate here as well. I'm quite curious on your take. [1] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17408703 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17408703
T-A 8y ago
I am reminded of http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2010/04/common-misconceptions-about-pu-1.html http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2010/04/common-m...
Eridrus 8y ago
I share similar annoyance with these articles, but I assume writers are generally not interested in being business people, which puts them in a weak negotiating position. It makes me think that one of the groups representing writers should start a nonprofit publisher to provide an alternative. But that would have to be well run, which is it's own risk.

thewhitetulip 8y ago

Self publishing is not as easy or profitable as it sounds. You need to have loads of cash & contacts in PR. Then you need to get an editor, designer and a PR firm (contracts are costly as hell) And THEN the book is published. Then you need to do marketing also... That's why people prefer publishing houses. But in India I've heard that publishing houses don't provide PR thing. Book sales are sky rocketing but publishing houses and Amazon have a total monopoly. Not every writer is a best selling author. I'm an unpublished writer, it takes around 2 years to research and write a decent book & not the crappy commercial ones. Because publishers aren't sharing profits, authors don't go to write about things that plague the society. They write what sells ergo the books aren't literature at all. Etc

TangoTrotFox 8y ago
This is what I was referring to with a 'Steam for Books.' Steam is a video game publication platform. Developers generally get 70% of gross revenue generated by their product. With that 30% Valve, the company behind Steam, take care of financial stuff, providing a platform, and also targeting and marketing. Users can search for titles by genre and various sub-classifications that other users can provide. In spite of an absolute explosion in the size of the industry, many people are still doing phenomenally here. Is there some reason a similar market could not work for books?
- Eridrus 8y ago
  I think publishers provide far more in terms of services than Steam. And plenty of indie game developers are complaining that they aren't making enough money because there is too much competition on Steam.

cableshaft 8y ago

Self-publishing is a numbers game. The way to make decent money in self-publishing is to put out like 12+ books a year, churned out as fast as possible (which often means a very short and formulaic genre book with a very cookie cutter story), and building a readership by promoting and marketing constantly. It takes a certain kind of author to do that, and most people writing in their spare time just don't have the time or energy to do that. There are exceptions to that of course, but that seems to be the best way to gain any traction as a self-published writer right now, is to build a giant catalog of samey books that if one reader likes they can keep churning through your back catalog. I have three published stories that have been part of a local group's short story anthologies, that self publishes one every year, and my total royalties from three anthologies has been $10. I enjoy it, and have grown a lot as a writer through the practice, so I still do it (one more is about to be published and another is in final draft), but it doesn't make money (granted, they don't do a lot of promotion either). Meanwhile I've been working on my first novel for over 8 years now. That seems to be the key in general for this age of easily consumed media, is to find something you can churn out quickly and consistently and build up an audience over time that way. It's why Youtube personalities chatting crap off the top of their head about games or current events see so much more popularity than individuals who put together scripted content, it's just waaaay simpler to consistently put out videos when you're just talking crap instead of scripting everything ahead of time, so you can quickly build a back catalog and keep popping up in people's news feeds with new material.

TangoTrotFox 8y ago
Just to bump this on your replies thread list, I responded elsewhere [1] with something that I think is appropriate here as well. I'm quite curious on your take. [1] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17408703 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17408703

T-A 8y ago

I am reminded of http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2010/04/common-misconceptions-about-pu-1.html http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2010/04/common-m...

Eridrus 8y ago

I share similar annoyance with these articles, but I assume writers are generally not interested in being business people, which puts them in a weak negotiating position. It makes me think that one of the groups representing writers should start a nonprofit publisher to provide an alternative. But that would have to be well run, which is it's own risk.