The Next World of Self-Publishing
October 1, 2009
The Great Recession has had a radical impact on publishing. I started taking notes for this blog almost a year ago, and as I subscribe to a wide variety of blogs and websites that follow the book trade, I’ve so far accumulated over 100,000 words of notes. But the digital revolution in publishing has moved so fast that my notes for the first six or eight months are almost worthless.
Certain themes have persisted (Kindle Vs. Sony, new e-book platforms, e-book pricing, e-royalties, Google’s plan to digitize every out of print book, digital rights management, and more), and I’ll be visiting them in later blogs. But here’s one that was just focused with this news from Sony, reported by Wired magazine:
“Sony announced a partnership with Smashwords and Author Solutions Tuesday which will allow any author to upload a book to their eBook Store, giving self-published writers unprecedented access to the ubiquitous point-of-sale marketplace that is the e-reader.
“Sony’s eReader division — which runs second in the market to Amazon Kindle — will only vet content for hate speech, plagiarism, improper formatting or public-domain books offered by another other than the legitimate author. Other than that, they deny nothing….
To publish your own book (or other people’s books if you’re a publisher) through Smashwords, one uploads the manuscript in a specified Microsoft Word format, sets a price, and selects affiliates: Stanza on iPhone, Aldiko on Androi, Barnes & Nobles’ website, and now the Sony eBook Store. After that, there are no editors, publishers, copyeditors or other gatekeepers to worry about — or, for that matter, to improve your work — just readers.
“Amazon offers a similar service that lets authors to self-publish to the Kindle platform, called Digital Text Platform, so authors can now sell their wares on both major e-book platforms without going through a publisher. However, only Sony and its new partners permit authors from anywhere to submit books; Amazon’s program only accepts submissions from within the United States. Other differences: Smashwords says it pays “much higher royalties” than Amazon, distributes to multiple outlets, and does not apply DRM to the eBooks the way Amazon does.
“In addition, Sony does not yet match Amazon’s wireless “Whispernet” functionality for downloading books wirelessly, but its next-generation device, the Sony Reader Daily Edition expected in stores in December, will add wireless 3G connectivity from AT&T….
“Insofar as the big picture goes, this deal disintermediates the publishing world another degree. But as one gatekeeper (publishers) is surpassed, another appears: an overabundance of choice on the part of the reader. When there’s more hay in the stack, the needles have to be all the shinier if anyone’s going to find them.”
For the full story, see http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2009/09/sony-opens-up-ebook-platform-to-self-publishers/
But the real eye-opener is Smashwords.com itself.Take a look.
This is a game-changer.
