In an announcement that would have seemed almost unthinkable even five years ago, but seems to make perfect sense today, Amazon (UK) has stated that sales of e-books on the Kindle platform are now exceeding those of the printed word. It's only been two years or so since the release of the Kindle device and yet e-book sales now surpass the sales of paperbacks and hardcover books combined, which naturally has changed the face of publishing forever.
In fact, things have changed so much and so fast in the traditional publishing industry that I am not sure anyone can safely predict what the outcome of all of this is going to be. I am not an extremist, per se, and so as is often the case, I think that some kind of compromise between the two segments will be inevitable. Neither will be truly sustainable without the other, even if traditional publishers have the resources to survive for longer.
Certainly, traditional publishers got one severe kick up the rear end, via independent writers and the public (what a concept!) now being the new gatekeepers of "good taste" and dictating what is in and what is not. The arrogance and self-serving attitudes of the classic literary agent have been thankfully sidelined, and we wish them all well in their search for new careers, their claws scratching the wood floors in the scramble off the sinking ship. In a certain fashion, the entire e-publishing movement has become the new gatekeeper: one dictated to by the public (and not ivory tower pseudo-intellectual) voice and power, by choosing to elevate a certain book above the rest. Any smart publisher today should see this advantage, not least in the zero cost to them in initial development of a new writer and promotion of their book.
On the other side, we have the apparently flourishing e-book business, full of promise, hope and potential fame and riches for all. Of course, for every success we hear of, such as E.L. James and Fifty Shades of [Insert your own preferred four- or five-letter word!], there are countless hordes who are not even breaking even for their efforts. Some of this quite naturally results from people who would never get published in any other fashion than by self-publishing, but for sure there are always going to be talented writers who go nowhere due to a simple lack of promotion and that good old-fashioned dirty word, marketing.
In many ways, I kind of like the new breakdown of responsibilities. Leave it to the self-publishing industry to be the new "agents" of public good taste, and discover new, exciting raw talent. The traditional industry no doubt is already scanning for such talent, and when they identify it, they can offer to put their experienced marketing departments and prowess to work on it. Thus ensuring exposure and increased sales volume for those already sanctioned by the public as good writers. This is already the case, and self-publishing stars such as Amanda Hocking and John Locke have been signed up by major labels, freeing them from the chores of self-promotion.
The problem with the scenario is two-fold. Firstly, it is way too easy and even cheaper for the big publishers to just sit back and do nothing, and only step in when a new author sells say, 50,000+, on their own. As I have said on our website, how brilliant is it to then step in and offer your marketing prowess to get the book into the 5 million sales category by exposing it to the world? It's good business, yes, but hardly inspirational or artistically interesting. Secondly, if all of the e-books that are selling well are picked up by bigger publishers (which seems to be an inevitability), then this could quickly herald the end for self-publishing, as it just becomes the zero-investment testing ground for traditional publishing houses. All of the talent is picked off, and the rest just disappear, more or less.
Why should a self-published author who is finally making some money, with perhaps almost zero overhead and 100% cut of the profits, automatically sign with a major in order to achieve more sales, in return for typically 10-15% of the royalties? Especially given that they have done everything themselves to date, using new marketing techniques which the old guard is either woeful in, at worst, or barely functional in, at best?! If one can manage 10-50,000 sales on one's own, using social media and inbound marketing tools, then if one got really serious at it, or even engaged an entity on a purely consultative basis to do so for one, then what is to prevent it from being raised up to the next level?
One must do the math also. Is selling five million copies of a book that one receives 10% royalties on, better than selling half a million copies of a book on which you get everything? Writers can become equally as wealthy by going it alone, staying independent, and truly carrying the self-publishing industry forward in a massive way. I would like to see one or two self-publishing stars value their freedom sufficiently to say "no thanks" to the traditional industry and beat them at their own game by staying fiercely independent. No deadlines, no contracts, no book tours, and no boss. Ever.
Having said all of that, there is still one stigma that has not yet been overcome: as much as self-publishing has been a necessary and groundbreaking storm of change in a stuffy outdated industry, we all still love to walk into a bookstore and see our own book(s) on the shelf, and love to think of them sitting in a massive bookcase in someone's home. For anyone who grew up before the digital age, we still like to see our books and our music on our shelves, and be able to make them part of our very identity and home. Somehow, having thousands of books and CDs on relatively tiny devices just doesn't have the same impact, either emotionally or physically!
So for now, there remains a clear need for the old guard and their old-fashioned ways, but by the next generation we might get to a point where digital output will be the totally normal way to buy and store books and music, and printed materials will seem so quaint by comparison. Bookstores and music stores will dwindle in number, and the brave new world will truly be a totally digital one, with the beloved printing press coming to the very end of its useful life.
Hmm, as much as I am all for progress and self-determination, I am forced to admit that I am sort of glad that we are not quite there yet and we get to be a part of the early revolution, which is where all the fun is going to be. EU is very much of today, and is undoubtedly a modernist partnership, but at the same time, we retain a definite fondness for some of the old-fashioned aspects of this wonderful life, even if that includes Gutenberg's beloved printing press and traditional publishing. We are happy being the minnows of today, just as long as we can become the sardines of tomorrow! ;) - Kevin Mc
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