What’s The Point of Publishers in a Digital Age: Response to the Response
This conversation exploded on twitter today after I RTed an article by Bob Mayer,
What’s The Point of Publishers in a Digital Age: Response. I’m posting my part of the twitter conversation here. Or you can go did through my twitter feed to see the other author posts, etc, who responded. I RTed quite a bit, but not nearly all.
Anyway, here’s my response as provoked by Mayer’s blog post. Basically, reposted so everyone can see my points in one place. It’s a little twitter-ated but I’ll try to edit out the excessive twitter shorthand.
I see validity to my NY published titles and to my Indie. Both have positives and what I choose is always a biz decision. But, to be honest, Indie pays my bills soooo much better. The Raven Books, which I started with Mandy M. Roth, is the BEST $ business decision ever. That said, NY pub networking/distribution/etc has advantages not directly translated by monthly check. It really does come down to best business decision. I’ll date if I need my ego stroked, lol. My career is a business (albeit fun one).
Both Mandy & I are BIG into marketing & promo. If a publisher can’t see that and take advantage of our hard work and dedication to our careers, they don’t need to make more money off of our hard work (books). Simple. One of the biggest pluses, as an author, is that publishing as an Indie you can track sales in real time, know your pay, and test effectiveness of marketing.
The point is, I’ll go where it makes sense to me– NY, Small Press, Indie–and what’s best for my readers and the book. I currently have “contracts” & “open offers” for all three — Indie, NY, Small Press– on the table and I’m considering each one.
One of my biggest deciding factors in going Indie was when my 50+ book backlist came out of contract. The publishers who wanted it all also said it was going to take about 15-20 years to get back out on their release schedules. I did not want my readers to wait that long, or have books 1-4 of a series tied up for 10 yrs while I’m working on more (dragon lords). I think my readers would agree that not having to wait 10 years to get Dragon Lords 5-8 is a good thing. Yay, The Raven Books!
Yes. There were about 50 books that I pulled as they came out of contract. At normal rate of 2-4 books a year. (plus new ones) that ended up being a “normal” publishing house schedule of 15-20 years out. Most wanted new books, and then to release the old ones as an “aside” so my publishing schedule for the next two decades would be blend of both… but a long wait for readers. Indie has been PERFECT for me and my situation. Even hired editors, etc,and have more control.
Sometimes an author outgrows a publisher, too, or has changing needs as career grows that pub can’t accommodate.
