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- 4 out of 5 publishers now produce eBooks
- A majority of publishers produce 1/2 of their titles as eBooks
- Nearly 1/2 of publishers produce more than 75% as eBooks
Are you as surprised as I was? I was shocked, really. I guess I shouldn't be, because many of the review sites that I belong to now offer titles in digital form. Just about every book I look at on Amazon is offered in Kindle format.
And here is a statistic from the article about Amazon:
- For every 100 print book Amazon sells, they sell 114 eBooks.
I read another article at The Guardian (HERE) that talked about 4 self-published books making the NYT eBook Bestseller's list the first week in August 2012. Four of them were self-published! Wow, huh? That's rather encouraging.
eBooks are here to stay, folks!
So do these kinds of statistics make you wonder if you could ever self-publish? If you could get a crazy good cover and get your book edited by a professional, do you think you would ever take the plunge and self-publish?
Or are you going to stay the course and get published the traditional way? I know for me, I think that this is probably the safer route. Less work, for sure, in the area of marketing! While you have to journey through the mounds of rejections, once you get a contract, the publishing house has their own marketing. Yes, I know they want you to generate buzz, but face it....we don't have the marketing ability that a big publisher does.
Since I've never been published, and I don't reckon I will any time soon, I may be talking jibberish, but I do find the news on eBooks and self-publishing a bit tantalizing.
So how about you? What are your thought about self-publishing?
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This post is brought to you by
Sherrinda Ketchersid
Sherrinda is wife to "Pastor John" and mother to three giant sons and one gorgeous daughter. A born and bred Texan, she writes historical romance filled with fun, faith, and forever love.
9 comments:
GREAT post, Sherrinda. I'm most interested in traditional publishing for sure. If the right circumstances presented themselves (and I have NO idea what those right circumstances would be LOL), I might consider self-publishing.
The world is changing SO fast.
Interesting stats, Sherrinda! I didn't realize the numbers were that high. :)
I know people who have self-published. I plan to continue down the traditional route. I think each method has definite pros and cons, and I feel more comfortable with the traditional publishing route. :) I agree with you, the marketing required of authors is scary enough with traditional publishing. Self-publishing requires so much more. It sounds overwhelming at this stage in my journey. :)
That is interesting about the ebook numbers. You've gotta think epublishing is far cheaper for publishers since there isn't the materials costs and manufacturing costs involved.
I like my Kindle, but I still buy most books in print format. There's just something about a print book to me...
As far as self-publishing, I think that if someone is very adept at marketing and understands the industry and has a great platform and connections, he/she can do quite well, and probably make more money that way.
But for me, I want to work with a team (agent, editor, marketing ppl) and...I don't know, I'll be honest--there's something appealing about (1) reaching potentially more people and (2) getting the affirmation that my book is indeed publishable.
Going the self-published route definitely doesn't sound as scary now as it used to, but I still think traditional publishing is for me. Now I just have to try to get a book published before EVERYTHING goes to ebooks. I really want to have a hard copy of at least one book :)
JOANNE, the world IS changing fast! Like you, I wonder if there really is a chance that I would self-publish. I can't really see it, but there could be a time when I might consider it.
JEANNE T, so I am wondering...the people that you know who have self-published...did they do well? I don't know any, but I'm always curious. :)
Lindsey, I know what you mean about the affirmation of your book getting chosen by a traditional publishing company. It seems like it really is the stamp of approval that you really are an author!
Cindy, I have a feeling that you will definitely get you a contract way before the fall of the print copy! lol Keep on writing and submitting! It's gonna happen!
There are some self-publishing success stories out there that amaze me. However, I'm kinda old-fashioned and still prefer going with a traditional publisher. At this point in my career I lack the tech savvy and marketing genius to take a stab at self-publishing. I'm not so set in my ways that I won't entertain the possibility, though. I learned not to pooh-pooh change after having said years ago that I would never own a cell phone. (Yes, I really said that and had to eat those words.)
Keli, I love old fashioned too, girl! And really, that would be the way I would want to go!
You said you would never get a cell phone??? That is pretty funny. :)
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