Why Indie Authors Are Good For Publishing

A number of bloggers have linked to David Vinjamuri's article (Publishing Is Broken, We're Drowning In Indie Books - And That's A Good Thing) but it's so good I'm doing it too. To be honest, I wasn't going to read David's essay at first because it's LONG, but after Dean Wesley Smith recommended it I did and, yes, it was well worth the time investment. Here's an excerpt:

To understand the future of publishing we must examine three trends that have helped to rip it apart: eBooks, social media and low-cost self-publishing. But before that, we first need to understand the two big strategic decisions that traditional publishers made which left the door open for Indie books.

The two big strategic decisions traditional publishers bobbled were hardcover book pricing (too high) and publishers turning authors into marketers. If authors can write and market their own books they only need publishers for printing and distribution. This left a gaping hole which Amazon gladly filled.

By the end of the 2000’s, the elements existed for a revolution. A few gatekeepers tended an inefficient pricing model that consumers and authors both hated. A whole set of mid-list authors were increasingly not making enough money to write fulltime. And beyond that, a generation of new writers was growing up on social media. These writers are tempermentally less able to accept the gatekeeper model of publishing.

This led to the explosion of indie authors and ebooks that we've seen over the past couple of years.

A truely excellent and far-ranging article, you can read it here: Publishing Is Broken, We're Drowning In Indie Books - And That's A Good Thing.

Other articles you might like:
- Seth Godin on Creativity, Childhood and Heroes
- Amanda Hocking's Unusual Writing Schedule