Andrew Seiple's Blog: Transmissions From the Teslaverse - Posts Tagged "publishing"

After much work, many late nights, and an A++ performance by my cover artist, the second book of Dire's saga is done and available in the Amazon store!

Next up: Formatting the print copy, and getting that rolling. Createspace, here I come!

It's a very eye-opening experience, when you're entering a new field, starting up a new occupation and you come to realize that nobody, no single person has a complete understanding of the big picture.

Publishing is in a state of turmoil right now. It was before I arrived on the scene, and quite likely it was before Amazon really got rolling. The ebook revolution changed things, the rise of self-publishing changed things, Kindle Unlimited changed things, the consolidation of the big five changed things...

It's a little scary to realize that the only certainty is that things aren't going to stop changing anytime soon.

The big five publishing houses are doing their best to try and steer the industry back to the model that they used for years, the one that favors them. Raising the prices on their ebooks to try and keep the print industry afloat. Not that print's going anywhere mind you, it's printing in ways that favor THEM that they want to keep going. They've had some success by riding fads like the adult coloring books, but sooner or later they're going to have to shift paradigms. Not all of them will make it.

Amazon, and to a lesser degree, Apple, have embraced the ebook and found ways to monetize their slush piles by enabling self-publishers to a degree that's not been seen before. But at the core of it, they're businesses and they do what's best for themselves first. Not every change they make is going to be good for the industry, or the authors who have rallied to their banner (Myself included, by necessity.)

Newspapers continue to fall, though they won't go completely out. They will shrink, or put more and more on their online presences.

Magazines will probably end up the same way, at the very least prices will go up and they'll become more like collectors' items rather than things to read and toss after you're done.

Libraries, by dint of the tyranny of state budget and a keen sense of history have found salvation in embracing new media methods and the internet, and campaigning for local community support. Thankfully they've found a toehold in this new world. I'd hate to see them go.

Bookstores... well, I don't know. Borders fell, and everyone's been predicting the fall of Barnes and Noble for years, but they're still here. A couple of decades ago B&N and Borders drove the smaller bookstores out of business or absorbed them. Now the cycle's coming around again. Curiously enough, many of the small bookstore owners I talk with rail against Amazon as much as they do Barnes and Noble. How soon they forget...

Now.

Realize that some of what I said is wrong. Because I don't have the big picture either. I'm just getting to see more of it as I transition over to a professional.

The only thing I know is that the second I see the whole picture, it's going to change again, and everything I know will be wrong.

Well, except for one thing: Good books will always have readers, and readers will eventually find their way to a good book.

That's what I'm banking on. The rest can sort itself out. Be well, friends! And may you enjoy a good book tonight...