Over saturation?

[Nik]

They have all those statistics regarding different professions. There are so many lawyers per capita in this place, so many in that, for example. Basing on the data, they derive that there is an acute demand for doctors in there and over saturation with footballers elsewhere -:)
With (is it over 8 mil or something?) millions of titles being present on Amazon alone and a legion of authors, if we look at writing as a profession, do you think we near over saturation?
Once if a writer lived in some building the chances were to see a plaque attached to commemorate this extraordinary event. But now a residential building may host more than a couple of writers per family.
Not saying, of course, that anyone should stop writing and/or follow his/her passion, but how do you estimate the 'industry'?

[Bernard]

It's a jungle out there with all kinds of animals. Writing is becoming a bit like tweating, everyone has something to say!

[Michael]

The ability to self-publish in an hour's time has caused a great transition for the entire publishing world. Myself, I think things are going to level out over the next several years; people will drop out. It will never return to what it was. And who wants that except for the big publishing firms?

[Sarah]

The "industry" is bursting at the seams with a constant stream of new material. I have adopted the head-in-the-sand approach: just write and ignore the madness.

[Rita]

Good for you Sarah. What else can you do? It is becoming harder and harder to promote your books amongst everyone else's!

[Marie Silk]

Unless people stop reading, I think the market is wide open for new authors and new stories.

[Nik]

I guess our personal perspective influences the general estimate -:)
Very little of what is being launched daily on Amazon, Smash, Lulu and other platforms is gonna be read in any meaningful amounts, however it's possible, and Marie here proves it, to get into those 'very little'

[Nik]

Thanks, Denise, hope you'll come often! We'll be missing you

[Quantum]

Nik wrote: "Thanks, Denise, hope you'll come often! We'll be missing you"

I second that. Be sure to drop in when major world event occur or you'll miss out on exciting and in-depth discussions. I value your perspective, Denise!

[Quantum]

Before self-publishing got into full swing beginning with the introduction of KDP back in 2009, Wasn't it an artificial market wherein thousands of qualified works sat in slush piles at the big publishers?

[Nik]

Alex G wrote: "Before self-publishing got into full swing beginning with the introduction of KDP back in 2009, Wasn't it an artificial market wherein thousands of qualified works sat in slush piles at the big pub..."

I'm sure they sat and then the first ones on KDP basked in glory and attention, but now 7 years after - a little less so -:)

[Quantum]

Nik wrote: "Alex G wrote: "Before self-publishing got into full swing beginning with the introduction of KDP back in 2009, Wasn't it an artificial market wherein thousands of qualified works sat in slush piles..."

That is a valid point.

Another recent thought that I had since KrazyKiwi noted that in Sweden kobo is queen and Amazon kindle isn't. From a non-rigorous analysis, Sweden or other similar countries would be less competitive than US or UK Amazon kindle. Therefore, with a solid product it would be more efficient to climb the ladder there than US/UK markets. After achieving success in the smaller and less competitive market--smaller doesn't necessarily equate to less competitive but it could have a lower market penetration cost--one could move into the more competitive one.

[Nik]

Alex G wrote: "in Sweden kobo is queen ..."

BTW, heard the same about Canada. Is Kobo really big there? Maybe members from Canada can clarify..

[Quantum]

Nik wrote: "Alex G wrote: "in Sweden kobo is queen ..."

BTW, heard the same about Canada. Is Kobo really big there? Maybe members from Canada can clarify.."

Indiego.ca right?

[Marie Silk]

Kobo is based in Canada. When I first got into self-publishing, it was my understanding that it was the best platform to offer books to Canandian readers. Right now Canada is my second biggest market on Kindle but it doesn't compare to .com.

[Marie Silk]

By the way, I've heard that Kobo has some good promotional tools if you publish with them. Just be sure not to go through Smash or D2D for the Kobo platform if you want to use the promo tools.

[Nik]

Is there a literary flood or an acute shortage of original books or somewhere in between or all of the above?

[Ian]

There is a flood of books, but I think the level of originality is far lower, but then again how do you know? How do you find the original stuff?

[J.J.]

With originality, people don't seem to want something new. They want to read the same thing over and over again. That's why you see the same 50 Shades knock-offs, the same Hunger Games knock-offs, etc. We often bring up the political books, but when you boil them down, how original are they from each other? Regardless of which politics or party, you can boil them down to either an attempt to capitalize off the issue-of-the-week, or a prelude to a Presidential run.

That said, I think there are still some under-served niches to capitalize on. I also think that with some of the discussions we've had over different styles, there are ways to stand out by offering a product that isn't print-only.

[Ian]

I have no doubt there is room to be original, but the question then is, how to draw attention to yourself? If the blurb starts "In the spirit of fifty shades . . ." the people that bought fifty shades, or at least many of them, might well go for this, so you have a starting sales pitch. If you are truly original, so will be your blurb, and most of us can't make that a compelling sales pitch.