“Weird and Wonderful”? Me, on the Future of Publishing
The above tweet led to a fun interview over the at the Book View Cafe blog, “Weird and Wonderful: Digital Book World and Guy LeCharles Gonzalez,” with author Sue Lange asking me some interesting questions that really made me think hard to solidify some of my ideas about the “Future of Publishing” and what it means for authors and publishers.
There’s a lot of fluff and blather right now that makes it sound like eBooks are a magic bullet and simply uploading your book to Amazon makes you an independent author.
Most of that fluff and blather is coming from new intermediaries who take a smaller cut than traditional publishers, while putting your eBook on a virtual shelf where no one who doesn’t already know it exists will ever find it. And, of course, some of them will also upsell you on services to help you market your eBook and increase sales, for which they’ll get their cut.
In a lot of ways, it’s basically Vanity Publishing, in a shiny 2.0 coat.
I also explain a few things about Digital Book World, make the argument “that marketing is, first and foremost, a publisher’s responsibility,” and talk a bit about my own writing and how it has evolved over the years.
Check it out, leave a comment, and also check out Book View Cafe itself, one of the more intriguing authors’ cooperatives to spring up recently, co-founded by acclaimed sci-fi author, Ursula K. Le Guin.
Their steampunk e-anthology, The Shadow Conspiracy, was my first Kindle read, and my first go-round with “traditional” steampunk after falling for the genre via Cherie Priest’s excellent Boneshaker. I’ve just started reading another e-anthology of theirs, Rocket Boy and the Geek Girls, this time on the Kindle for iPad, and as much as I’m a fan of their business model, I’m even more excited about the opportunities low-cost eBooks present for reviving anthologies as a way to introduce readers to new authors and genres.
The future is bright, at least for those willing to experiment and look beyond the status quo!
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I followed DWB regularly until this summer so it is good to be back.
GLeCG–Had not read loudpoet in the past, but always enjoyed your thoughtful and down to earth ideas. You don’t have to think conventionally to be down to earth and sensible!