Has Self-Publishing Become A Killer App?

AP reporter Candice Choi revisits the perennial “self-publishing is on the verge of respectability” story, with some hard numbers from Lulu.com (“236,000 paperbacks since it opened in 2002,” and an increasing number of new publications each month), an emphasis on the on-demand model, and the usual declaration that the Internet changes everything. Well, almost everything: “The value and cachet of being with a larger house is still something authors value,” according to Association of American Publishers VP Tina Jordan. Now, sure, I could get an easy laugh with some readers by citing Choi’s statement that “professional editors also polish copy in the traditional publishing world,” but instead, I’m just going to point out the fairly straightforward fact that professional editing resources are just as readily available to self-published authors as they are to the major houses.

The other advantages Choi cedes to “real” publishers are a lot more tangible: “Big companies… can promote authors on a national scale and get titles in major bookstores.” Of course, where the first is concerned, you’ll find any number of dissatisfied authors who will tell you “can” doesn’t necessarily mean “will;” the distribution issue, meanwhile, is absolutely valid from the macro-perspective, but if an author is willing to work his or her corner tenaciously, and adopt a long tail perspective, online sales might just make up for not being shelved in Barnes & Noble from one coast to the other, in quality of achievement if not quantity of sales. (After all, as I tell most people who ask, if you want to get rich and famous, you don’t necessarily want to start by writing books.) In other words, yes, technology has made it possible for just about anybody to become a published author—but that’s only the first step in becoming a successful author, and only the people who have the courage and tenacity to see the project through, with or without a big company’s help, will reap the full rewards.

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