4 ms·

Yes, I am. The math is obvious, though: if you distribute $X to Y people, then distributing $X to Y-1 people will result in everyone (or at least someone) makin

Yes, I am. The math is obvious, though: if you distribute $X to Y people, then distributing $X to Y-1 people will result in everyone (or at least someone) making more money. With the wide availability of publishing-as-a-service, Amazon listings and personal website sales, and so on, it makes little sense for most new or small-to-mid-time authors to go through a middleman. Then the bigger authors (1) have more to gain from going through a publisher, (2) can negotiate a better deal, and (3) have enough income as to make the issues raised in this article trite.

ghaff 7y ago
It's somewhat more complicated than that. There are other factors. 1.) Publishers do provide editing, etc. services that authors would otherwise have to pay for out of their own pockets. That may or may not be a worthwhile tradeoff. But, between forgoing and advance and paying for services, authors are probably at least a few $K out of pocket if they go their own way. To the degree that things like book tours/promotion/etc. are relevant--they often aren't--that can add to the difference. 2.) For, especially non-fiction, authors for whom books are more about boosting their profile than bringing in money directly, traditional publishers (rightly or wrongly) have considerably more cachet than independent publishing. 3.) This becomes less and less important, but independently published books probably won't be in book stores.
- mark_l_watson 7y ago
  My wife is my editor, so I am lucky. She does sometimes provide editing services to other authors for a modest fee; email me if you need an editor. re: 3): this is a big drawback of self publishing. When I wrote for conventional publishers it was always a thrill to see my books in Barnes and Nobles, etc. But, but.... the ability to make frequent improvements to eBooks and effortlessly push changes to readers trumps all the advantages of conventional publishers.
  - ghaff 7y ago
    I don't really disagree with any of that. I've done both ways and I'm not sure I'd go with a traditional publisher again unless doing so fell in my lap for some reason. Another thing I find for tech-related books--which is what I do--is that if I do things myself, I control the length whereas publishers generally have a minimum number of pages in mind which may be more than the topic really warrants. And a final point is that, as an individual, I have more flexibility in just giving copies away (especially ebooks) if I did the book mostly for promotional purposes.

ghaff 7y ago

It's somewhat more complicated than that. There are other factors. 1.) Publishers do provide editing, etc. services that authors would otherwise have to pay for out of their own pockets. That may or may not be a worthwhile tradeoff. But, between forgoing and advance and paying for services, authors are probably at least a few $K out of pocket if they go their own way. To the degree that things like book tours/promotion/etc. are relevant--they often aren't--that can add to the difference. 2.) For, especially non-fiction, authors for whom books are more about boosting their profile than bringing in money directly, traditional publishers (rightly or wrongly) have considerably more cachet than independent publishing. 3.) This becomes less and less important, but independently published books probably won't be in book stores.

mark_l_watson 7y ago
My wife is my editor, so I am lucky. She does sometimes provide editing services to other authors for a modest fee; email me if you need an editor. re: 3): this is a big drawback of self publishing. When I wrote for conventional publishers it was always a thrill to see my books in Barnes and Nobles, etc. But, but.... the ability to make frequent improvements to eBooks and effortlessly push changes to readers trumps all the advantages of conventional publishers.
- ghaff 7y ago
  I don't really disagree with any of that. I've done both ways and I'm not sure I'd go with a traditional publisher again unless doing so fell in my lap for some reason. Another thing I find for tech-related books--which is what I do--is that if I do things myself, I control the length whereas publishers generally have a minimum number of pages in mind which may be more than the topic really warrants. And a final point is that, as an individual, I have more flexibility in just giving copies away (especially ebooks) if I did the book mostly for promotional purposes.