Newsy Notes: Publishing Prediction #9: More Small Print and E-Book Publishers Will Start Up in 2011
Janalyn Voigt author of novel books
Confused by rapid-fire changes in the publishing landscape? Here's a link to an article covering one of ten publishing predictions I'll cover on consecutive weeks on this blog. I give an analysis of the post and my own take on the prediction.
This week's link:
First, 2011 will be the year of the publishing start-up. I think we're going to see an explosion of new companies. Technology changes (in the way books are written, edited, acquired, produced, marketed and sold) have slowly re-shaped the large publishing houses. But those houses have tried to keep the same basic model in place for how they run their businesses. Now we're going to see a bunch of small, print and e-book publishers arise who are faster, more nimble, and conduct business in an entirely new way. ~ Chip MacGregor; Novel Journey: Publishing Prophecies and Predictions for 2011
Points of Interest to Writers:
Small print and e-book publishers have the advantage of speed and agility over larger publishing houses.
However, larger publishing houses will continue to reshape into smaller teams with a focus on fewer titles.
The average 25% royalty will be reconsidered due to the impact of e-books
English language e-rights in foreign countries call for management.
Retail stores are searching for ways to benefit from the sale of e-books
Will the various e-readers remain as separate devices?
Borders provided healthy competition for B&N. We can hope it will survive bankruptcy.
The Google Books Settlement will finally resolve but linger in court.
More local bookstores will adopt the Espresso Book Machine and Print-on-Demand (POD) technology will continue to grow.
Platform will be more important than ever to writers. Book marketing will continue to shift from a business-to-business model (publisher to book buyer) to a business-to-consumer model (author to reader). Engagement in a variety of social media is essential for writers.
Self-publishing will remain an ongoing trend. Despite the break-out authors, it won't pay off for most writers.
My Take:
As the author of DawnSinger, an epic fantasy novel which will release this fall with a small publisher, I'm well aware of the advantages Chip mentions. I also understand some of their limitations. They are often run on a shoestring by an overworked staff with little-to-no funding for marketing. In this respect, larger publishers have something of an advantage.
Since POD technology is more costly per unit, this puts books produced by a small press using this technology at a disadvantage in the marketplace. Having said that, the popularity of e-books and the advent of the Espresso Book Machine will level the field for price competition from small presses. By virtue of sheer numbers, small presses will impact larger publishers by taking a slice of the already-shrinking publishing pie.
© 2010 Janalyn Voigt
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