The news from a detailed report on sales at Amazon shows that indie authors are taking market share from traditional published authors in a BIG way.
Read that report HERE
Best Selling indie author Russell Blake offers his insight on this article - check that out here.
I have a slightly different take from the news that indies are taking share from trad publishers.
First - this isn't a surprise to me. Just like the music industry, The Big 5 publishers are stuck in the past with an out-dated system of producing, distributing, and selling books. The entire industry got slapped on the head by Amazon and Kindle/e-books and it hasn't recovered or really done anything to show it knows how to deal with the new reality.
Second - this demonstrates what I've been saying for a long time. If you are a writer trying to make a decision on whether to indie/trad publish, you better realize one HUGE fact- going the traditional method is akin to buying a lottery ticket. An increasing few authors dominate the traditional sales channels and said companies put the marketing dollars behind a very, VERY few authors represented. For the vast majority of traditionally published titles, an author will receive next to zero marketing help from the publisher. Add to that a bad contract, being locked into expensive e-book pricing, and other factors - it leads one to this conclusion
GO INDIE YOUNG WRITER.
Control your own destiny. Don't be locked in with companies that are tied to the past and that fight the future. These companies fought for the right to increase e-book prices (and won) - and hence are taking a sledgehammer to their own sales. Almost on purpose it seems. As if tanking e-book sales will stop the future.
Read it here- the trad publishers are dying a slow death. Their refusal to adapt or die will lead to being bankrupt.
It's a simple math equation. Most writers won't sell enough to ever earn money at a trad publisher. And their model doesn't care about you or your book. However, if you indie publish - even a modest amount of sales can be a meaningful source of income to a writer.
My example is this - I've yet to sell 1k copies of the Ella paperback. To a traditional publisher - they would label this a failure. Not only that - I would have made next to NOTHING in a trad contract on such sales.
However, as an indie publisher - I can tell you that I've reaped a very real and meaningful amount of money from these 'meager' sales. Considering that most authors will achieve modest sales numbers and how terribly trad publishers are handling the future (e-books) - it makes it a slam dunk for young writers to choose indie.
From Las Vegas,
Stephen John Moran
Read that report HERE
Best Selling indie author Russell Blake offers his insight on this article - check that out here.
I have a slightly different take from the news that indies are taking share from trad publishers.
First - this isn't a surprise to me. Just like the music industry, The Big 5 publishers are stuck in the past with an out-dated system of producing, distributing, and selling books. The entire industry got slapped on the head by Amazon and Kindle/e-books and it hasn't recovered or really done anything to show it knows how to deal with the new reality.
Second - this demonstrates what I've been saying for a long time. If you are a writer trying to make a decision on whether to indie/trad publish, you better realize one HUGE fact- going the traditional method is akin to buying a lottery ticket. An increasing few authors dominate the traditional sales channels and said companies put the marketing dollars behind a very, VERY few authors represented. For the vast majority of traditionally published titles, an author will receive next to zero marketing help from the publisher. Add to that a bad contract, being locked into expensive e-book pricing, and other factors - it leads one to this conclusion
GO INDIE YOUNG WRITER.
Control your own destiny. Don't be locked in with companies that are tied to the past and that fight the future. These companies fought for the right to increase e-book prices (and won) - and hence are taking a sledgehammer to their own sales. Almost on purpose it seems. As if tanking e-book sales will stop the future.
Read it here- the trad publishers are dying a slow death. Their refusal to adapt or die will lead to being bankrupt.
It's a simple math equation. Most writers won't sell enough to ever earn money at a trad publisher. And their model doesn't care about you or your book. However, if you indie publish - even a modest amount of sales can be a meaningful source of income to a writer.
My example is this - I've yet to sell 1k copies of the Ella paperback. To a traditional publisher - they would label this a failure. Not only that - I would have made next to NOTHING in a trad contract on such sales.
However, as an indie publisher - I can tell you that I've reaped a very real and meaningful amount of money from these 'meager' sales. Considering that most authors will achieve modest sales numbers and how terribly trad publishers are handling the future (e-books) - it makes it a slam dunk for young writers to choose indie.
From Las Vegas,
Stephen John Moran
