Dave - I for one love this thinking, but I wonder if a lot of really great books would never get to the audiences they are for.

I'm thinking about the professor at an Iowa College writing a book like Plainsong or Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott.

On the other hand, I wonder how many great reads are squashed each year by the BigCo publishing machine.

The flaw that I see in this plan is that there is no longer an editor in the equation. And sure, most authors think they don't need an editor, but most authors oh so desperately do.

Good catch, Lewis. Of course, I agree that many authors need an editor. Let me clarify that the publishing economy has become disintermediated - editors, packagers, designers are all available as independents that can help an author finish their project. So, part of the process is surely that authors will need help, but it's now easily accessible to them.

Dave - interesting read, a question and a thought...

1. If someone is a good enough writer, project manager and marketer to independently get good traction, I wonder if that same person would then forgo offers from publishers, knowing they could do it on their own and end up with a far bigger piece of the pie.

This is precisely what Peter Bowerman, self-published author of the Well-Fed Writer series of books did. He's sold more than 50,000 copies, landed placement in every major reseller and refused the offers of mainstream publishers, because he found he could do what they do and keep nearly 500% more on the back-end.

So, what would be the motivation for the people who are savvy enough to get enough of a taste of success to lead them to believe they've got a winner on their own, beyond the prestige of a major publisher?

2. Funnily enough, I actually have a book coming out early next year from a major NY publisher and, as a blogger and marketer, I am also very fortunate to have some great relationships in place.

So, I am watching your campaign closely with fingers and toes crossed, hoping you do gangbuster sales. Then, I'll be better armed to sell my publisher on at least some of your ideas.

Great insights, Dave!

As an author, I am encouraged by the change/disrupption afoot.

I wonder if Harper Collins' attempt at change will be a ripple effect for their brethren.

Change is good.

Hi Dave,

I just downloaded your book and I read some pages, really nice!!
I agree with your last comment, desintermediation is key in publishing today also as music new business model like Radiohead's last disc (In Rainbows)
Here there is a reference:
http://www.alleyinsider.com/2007/09/radioheads-newo.html

Indeed, with this new scenario I would like to write a book.

Best regards,
Ricardo Seguel P.

Dave, I think this is a great point about the publishing business. We are seeing this in the music industry. It would be great to see more and more publishers reach their audience this way. Not only do they reap the rewards for their work, but the audience has more direct interaction with the author through the site. Plus, the entire process is much more personal.

I also downloaded the book last night.

Best to you!

Great article Dave, but the topic is a little dated.

I self-published my first book in 1992. I sold it exclusively through my own live engagements. By the time I was on my fifth book, my sister started her own publishing company that caters to vanity authors, http://www.booklocker.com. By allowing her to take over the publishing side I was able to extend my reach at a nominal cost. I got ISBN numbers for three of my books, went to print-on-demand for hard copies and now sell them through all of the national booksellers (Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Borders, etc.).

While my topic is very niche (training activities that focus on improving communication and collaboration skills), some of her other authors were noticed in the late 90's and were signed to decent contracts with very large publishers. This has continued to this day so I know that some of the larger publishers are scouring the vanity (self-publishing) market and finding their next great hit that way. I don't know of any finds in the vein of Douglas Adams, Danielle Steel, Paulo Coelho, or Stephen King. However, Coelho and King have both gone in the reverse order and have freely given away self-published copies of books online. There is a definite merging of the models already underway.

I appreciate you raising awareness at this level because most of this type of conversation occurs in the obscure self-publishing press. The more folks that even know about this option, the more likely I am to get to read a great novel that is aching to get on paper.

Great stuff,

Darin Phillips
author of:
Play, Play, Play: Games you never played before I just made them up
Facilitating Corporate Solutions
Facilitating Skills-Based Training Groups

Interesting concept that is already, at least in a small way, in practice.

In the fiction writing world, writers vet their manuscripts at workshops and critique groups. Through these channels they discover who the audience is for their books and where it could be sold. These same venues attract agents and editors who then can gauge with what house a book is most marketable and if the agent or editor sees a "good fit" then s/he would approach the writer.

This said, many breakout novels actually begin at small houses or rather university presses because the larger mainstream publishers wouldn't consider them. One example is Life of Pi. In non-fiction, what is being suggested is quite common. Chicken Soup for the Soul began as a self-published endeavor and once it was clear there was a huge market for it, then a mainstream publisher picked it up.

Sounds like a plan--as long as publishers will be willing to up the royalties in return for the reduced risks. Do you think they'll do that? Neither do I.

A gritty discussion and one which I wholeheartedly agree with. You may also like to visit http://www.bookhabit.com if you are a reader or a writer. Our website aims to do what this article is talking about and connect writers with readers, gain feedback and help the author to sell their book and/or demonstrate that a market exists for a publisher.
Kind regards
Clare Tanner
Managing Director
www.bookhabit.com

Hi Dave,

I approached the same problem a few months from a different angle in this blog post.

While a small number of authors such as yourself are capable and able to self-distribute their ebook, many are not. This may be because of a lack of technical skills, a lack of confidence in their ability to do so, or a lack of time (many authors still have a full time day job).

I'm sure that web sites would emerge to help authors upload their ebooks, but uploading a free ebook to a site is one thing, getting it seen amongst the many others - especially if everyone starts doing this - is much harder.

So, in the model I proposed, book publishers would still reposition themselves, but as technical enablers, bestowers of reputation and relevancy, and providers of specialist services (such as expert editorial services).

A good publishing strategy, I think, and one which I am part way through myself. If you're interested to know why I concluded it was the way to go, it's in a blog posting here.

Paul - there are already those type of enabler outfits out there already. E.g. BookSurge publishing (owned by Amazon) has been around for a while now. You can be selective about which of their services you require. For example I intend to make use of there editing services, but handle the design myself. They also handle the tricky bits like ISBN numbers. If an author tried this alone, he could only get a batch of minimum 10 ISBN numbers.

Hi, I am thinking of writing a book but dont know the process, eg how to get it published, what are the options, and how I can make money by selling my book. Is there any website that you are aware of which provides such info?

Also how do you research which topic is popular and what consumers are buying? I mean what books will sell rather than just live on the shelf or in libraries....

Cheers,
Kaity

I will share with you a reaction to the following idea : " Authors self-package their book entirely on their own. Authors distribute digital copies of their books for free to attract readers and to identify a market. They use self-distribution tools to sell as many books as they can."
Webmarketing is a true expertise and I believe that creative authors are not search engines experts. Many of them probably don't know how to build appropriate web tools to be top ranked in Google...Should we risk to lose these people ?
I still think that author should focus on writing good books.