6 ms·

Now, are there any "new" publishers around, which work based on 1/2/3/4? Or let's say publishing-server providers? I just don't think many authors want to do A

by stfu 14y ago

Now, are there any "new" publishers around, which work based on 1/2/3/4? Or let's say publishing-server providers? I just don't think many authors want to do A/B testing, find editors, illustrators and not to forget coordinate marketing, PR, book tour on their own. Working professionals usually have so many things on their table, that keeping some basic outreach on social media sites intact is demanding enough. This "you can do it on your own" is such an superficial argument. If I want to fly cross country, I don't want to assemble the plane myself - even if there are perfectly good options out there on different DIY aircrafts. Arguing, that there are now ready made components for DIY kit out there that some successful hobbyists have used with very much success, doesn't make it any easier.

pnathan 14y ago
I've got a book idea on the permanent back burner. One day I'd like to finish it (It's outlined but not written... lots of work left). I can guarantee you I am not particularly interested in the publishing process. I want to be an author, not a soup-to-nuts businessman about it. I want to write a very nice book and give a publishing house a cut in exchange for them handling the messy business. Maybe if the book is very popular (doubtful), I would be interested in doing it again, and maybe myself. Probabilities suggest that I'll wind up getting a small check every month, even if I did do the business part myself.
- stfu 14y ago
  I'd love to see the numbers for "average" authors. Somehow I suspect, that there are very few non-fiction books that make actual money based on the amount of work that goes into them compared with a regular hourly rate for a subject-expert. Based on $50/h, a book with 100 pages and 2h/page(research, structure, writing, etc) we are at $10.000 just to break even - without considering any external fees/time invested in editing, layout, design - or promotion. Even based on a 100% earings rate, it seems save to assume that most "profitable" books are just a tool for personal promotion/expert positioning.
  - goldfeld 14y ago
    And/or personal fulfillment? Maybe not everyone likes the consulting or employed work that would earn the hourly rate. Plus it isn't scalable. Granted, the chance of the book breaking even may be slim, but it affords one to dream and to do what one enjoys.
- fernly 14y ago
  The point Stephen Few makes (and I would second from my much more limited experience) is that the publisher takes a very large cut (not untypically 85-90% of the gross) and in return does very little. One, they do the editing, contracting that out to people you never talk to. Disagree with an edit? too bad. Two, they do layout and typesetting, but again, with little consultation or input from you. Don't like how they placed your examples or formatted your code? tough. Three, they do the small paperwork of obtaining an ISBN. Four, they contract with a printer, again without input from you; and as Few describes, if the quality of the paper, the print, or the binding displeases you, deal. Five, they list it on their website and fulfill orders as they come in from the web and from the wholesalers. That's it; they don't do significant marketing for any but an expected blockbuster. Stephen King or Bill Gates they'd market. You? Nope. If you want your book marketed YOU have to do it, on your time and dime. If you give classes or lectures, you sit at a table in the lobby afterward and flog books. Tout them at conferences. Link to the amazon listing (which you can get even when you self-publish). In any decent size town you can find competent editors on craig's list, or anywhere in the world via the web[1], to edit your text as a shared google doc (for example). People who will work with you one-on-one to lay out a book in Illustrator are to be cheaply found, if you don't have that skill yourself. Illustrators to work up a snappy cover design from your sketch. You might end up paying a few $K to bring a book to completely professional standard. You don't do it all, you act as manager and QC. Then you upload it to an online publisher [2] and you can start selling it -- on exactly the same terms methods as you'd start selling one made by a publisher, but you keep a lot more of the gross. [1] e.g. http://www.scribophile.com/ http://www.scribophile.com/ [2] e.g. blurb.com, lulu.com and many others.

by stfu 14y ago

pnathan 14y ago

I've got a book idea on the permanent back burner. One day I'd like to finish it (It's outlined but not written... lots of work left). I can guarantee you I am not particularly interested in the publishing process. I want to be an author, not a soup-to-nuts businessman about it. I want to write a very nice book and give a publishing house a cut in exchange for them handling the messy business. Maybe if the book is very popular (doubtful), I would be interested in doing it again, and maybe myself. Probabilities suggest that I'll wind up getting a small check every month, even if I did do the business part myself.

stfu 14y ago
I'd love to see the numbers for "average" authors. Somehow I suspect, that there are very few non-fiction books that make actual money based on the amount of work that goes into them compared with a regular hourly rate for a subject-expert. Based on $50/h, a book with 100 pages and 2h/page(research, structure, writing, etc) we are at $10.000 just to break even - without considering any external fees/time invested in editing, layout, design - or promotion. Even based on a 100% earings rate, it seems save to assume that most "profitable" books are just a tool for personal promotion/expert positioning.
- goldfeld 14y ago
  And/or personal fulfillment? Maybe not everyone likes the consulting or employed work that would earn the hourly rate. Plus it isn't scalable. Granted, the chance of the book breaking even may be slim, but it affords one to dream and to do what one enjoys.
fernly 14y ago
The point Stephen Few makes (and I would second from my much more limited experience) is that the publisher takes a very large cut (not untypically 85-90% of the gross) and in return does very little. One, they do the editing, contracting that out to people you never talk to. Disagree with an edit? too bad. Two, they do layout and typesetting, but again, with little consultation or input from you. Don't like how they placed your examples or formatted your code? tough. Three, they do the small paperwork of obtaining an ISBN. Four, they contract with a printer, again without input from you; and as Few describes, if the quality of the paper, the print, or the binding displeases you, deal. Five, they list it on their website and fulfill orders as they come in from the web and from the wholesalers. That's it; they don't do significant marketing for any but an expected blockbuster. Stephen King or Bill Gates they'd market. You? Nope. If you want your book marketed YOU have to do it, on your time and dime. If you give classes or lectures, you sit at a table in the lobby afterward and flog books. Tout them at conferences. Link to the amazon listing (which you can get even when you self-publish). In any decent size town you can find competent editors on craig's list, or anywhere in the world via the web[1], to edit your text as a shared google doc (for example). People who will work with you one-on-one to lay out a book in Illustrator are to be cheaply found, if you don't have that skill yourself. Illustrators to work up a snappy cover design from your sketch. You might end up paying a few $K to bring a book to completely professional standard. You don't do it all, you act as manager and QC. Then you upload it to an online publisher [2] and you can start selling it -- on exactly the same terms methods as you'd start selling one made by a publisher, but you keep a lot more of the gross. [1] e.g. http://www.scribophile.com/ http://www.scribophile.com/ [2] e.g. blurb.com, lulu.com and many others.