Write a book, make a million
This week, Penguin became the latest
literary icon joined the self-publishing revolution.
Which sounds like the kind of mildly
humorous non sequitur an overpaid Radio Four satirist might make up. But hold
on to your manuscripts, people, this one is true.
Arguably the world’s best-known publisher,
which last year enjoyed a turnover of $1 billion, Penguin has splashed $116
million (about £70 million) buying a company called ASI, which stands for Author
Solutions Inc.
The oddity is that ASI specialise in what
used to be called vanity publishing. If you’ve written a book and want to see
it in print, you give them a call/email/whatever and they’ll turn your purple
prose into a paperback.
With the recent rise of digital books, ASI
has mined a rich seam helping authors prepare a manuscript, designing the cover
and marketing it.
Once upon a time, self-publishing was a
joke. A last resort for the desperately-seeking-fame, the place memoirs went to
die.
The Kindle changed all that
But Amazon, its Kindle, and the e-reading revolution have changed all that. Authors like Amanda Hocking and JA Konrath have become millionaires without the help of a traditional publisher by flogging their books at 99 cents each. No editor required. No agent either. And certainly no Waterstones or Borders.
But Amazon, its Kindle, and the e-reading revolution have changed all that. Authors like Amanda Hocking and JA Konrath have become millionaires without the help of a traditional publisher by flogging their books at 99 cents each. No editor required. No agent either. And certainly no Waterstones or Borders.
Others, most notably Fifty Shades of
Grey author EL James, have won lucrative deals
after publishing their books digitally.
Suddenly publishers, famous for their long
literary lunches, are no longer the gatekeepers to the Lucrative Land of
Literature. Their margins are getting squeezed because these days anyone with a
laptop and wi-fi access can beat them at their own game.
The result is a massive online market place
made up of free, or extremely cheap titles. And it is totally random. Vampire
detectives at 99 cents, Booker Prize winners for a pound, mommy porn £1.99.
Penguin’s purchase of ASI suggests a
company fearing that its current business model is about to fall off a cliff.
It suggests a company wanting to cover all the possible bases. After all, if
people will no longer pay £20 to read a new hardback, perhaps they’ll spend
£100 to write one instead.
Like I said, it’s the sort of non sequitur
you might hear on Radio 4.
Amazon made a significant announcement last spring that more ebooks were sold on their eBook reading device, Kindle, than physical copies ordered. This may have been the tipping point for physical books. It makes sense as with a Kindle, people can carry around their whole library to read at their leisure, or download a brand new book over a wireless connection.
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