Killer quote from a fascinating article about the growing potential in self-publishing from an authour who turned down a $500k advance.
I believe they’ve gotten their business model mixed-up. They should be connecting readers with the written word. Instead, they’re insisting on selling paper.
The full transcript is also worth reading, but long. I liked the discussion about
- Royalty models on eBooks are even more in favour of the publisher than for printed books. This will drive authors to self publish.
- Writers going back to writing: anything else doesn’t make the greatest profits, including blogging and tweeting.
- eBook revenue models peak from $0.99 to $4.99: why are so few mainstream books in that price range?
I think writers are the essential part of the system (in which I include journalists). If I could pay them directly, I would.
And no, I wouldn’t just end up reading (and therefore paying) a few large “stars”. I don’t in the areas of music, ebooks (yes, through Amazon, for now), blogs, applications. Why should it happen uniquely to writers? Oh, it doesn’t.
Roll on disintermediation.