4 ms·

OP here: I definitely don't prefer paper. ;) I actually sold all of my physical books before my last move. I think authors moving to self-publishing is a good

OP here: I definitely don't prefer paper. ;) I actually sold all of my physical books before my last move. I think authors moving to self-publishing is a good thing. And when the author sells directly to the reader (and not on Amazon), he/she can build relationships directly with the reader, and can earn more money. That's a good thing. The problems are: 1. Discoverability - finding good books that have been self-published by authors. 2. Reviews - even on goodreads.com not all books are reviewed, and there is no way to find books in the startup space. Having a community of people who can recommend good books on a topic could be valuable. 3. Interaction - personally, I find interacting with other people that are reading the same book motivating. Hearing their point of view, and their ideas for applying a book's topic can improve the reading experience.

mikeash 13y ago
That just makes the "collection of unread books" problem even more confusing. In any case, none of this is due to self-publishing, but rather a particular approach to self-publishing which does not seem to be all that common.
- Touche 13y ago
  Discoverability is definitely due to self-publishing. If you can't afford to fund your own book tour you're less likely to reach customers.
  - mikeash 13y ago
    Do tech books even have book tours? I could see it for mass-market fiction books or such, but publishers do roughly diddly squat for getting tech books in the public eye.
alanfalcon 13y ago
There's no chance that I could ever earn more money as a self-published author if I bypassed Amazon. I'd earn more per sale, but the 30% to Amazon in exchange for solving (or at least addressing) the issues of Discoverability and Reviews is so completely worth it. The problem, as you called out, is with the self-selling, it's a very different skillset than the one that produced the book, so it makes sense to let an Amazon help out on that front. My sales have certainly not been spectacular[1], but just by dropping my book on Amazon I have 15 reviews[2] I wouldn't otherwise have, and far more revenue overall. [1] http://www.syncingdreams.com/2013/02/rise-and-fall-of-book-one.html http://www.syncingdreams.com/2013/02/rise-and-fall-of-book-o... [2] http://www.amazon.com/Dragon-Master-Stonedragon-Flame-1-ebook/product-reviews/B008C2GSJU/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1 http://www.amazon.com/Dragon-Master-Stonedragon-Flame-1-eboo...

mikeash 13y ago

That just makes the "collection of unread books" problem even more confusing. In any case, none of this is due to self-publishing, but rather a particular approach to self-publishing which does not seem to be all that common.

Touche 13y ago
Discoverability is definitely due to self-publishing. If you can't afford to fund your own book tour you're less likely to reach customers.
- mikeash 13y ago
  Do tech books even have book tours? I could see it for mass-market fiction books or such, but publishers do roughly diddly squat for getting tech books in the public eye.

alanfalcon 13y ago

There's no chance that I could ever earn more money as a self-published author if I bypassed Amazon. I'd earn more per sale, but the 30% to Amazon in exchange for solving (or at least addressing) the issues of Discoverability and Reviews is so completely worth it. The problem, as you called out, is with the self-selling, it's a very different skillset than the one that produced the book, so it makes sense to let an Amazon help out on that front. My sales have certainly not been spectacular[1], but just by dropping my book on Amazon I have 15 reviews[2] I wouldn't otherwise have, and far more revenue overall. [1] http://www.syncingdreams.com/2013/02/rise-and-fall-of-book-one.html http://www.syncingdreams.com/2013/02/rise-and-fall-of-book-o... [2] http://www.amazon.com/Dragon-Master-Stonedragon-Flame-1-ebook/product-reviews/B008C2GSJU/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1 http://www.amazon.com/Dragon-Master-Stonedragon-Flame-1-eboo...