It’s not news that many book publishers are hunkering down. Fewer books are being bought and those that are seem to be written by already best-selling authors or based on a can't lose idea. It’s partly due to the economy, but a lot of the problems are because of the changing book business. Expenses are up all over. The costs of acquiring, developing, printing and distributing books are skyrocketing. And sales of books are flat or even declining. It isn’t as if people are not reading. Far from it. With the advent of the Internet and other digital media, readers’ expectations are different. Instant and cheap are important criteria for today’s booklovers, who are open to receiving their media in new ways, be it on a computer monitor or a PDA screen. Print-on-demand and self-publishing are becoming part of the publishing lexicon and publishers are taking notice.
The biggest publisher of women’s fiction and series romances, Harlequin, announced a new partnership with Author Solutions, Inc., the leader in self-publishing. Donna Hayes, publishers and CEO of Harlequin Enterprises, touted it as an “innovative and original approach to discovery new authors.” But a number of writer organizations, including the Romance Writers of America, are not happy with the news.
WRITERS MAY BENEFIT FROM A SELF-PUBLISHING SERVICE
Although it’s too early to tell if Harlequin will find any new authors in this new endeavor, a lot of writers are turning to self-publishing as a way to see their books in print. Author Solutions states self-publishing is becoming the fast growing segment of book publishing. Services like ASI offer writers the services to get their books published, from editorial and design to printing and distribution. All for a cost. In the case of Harlequin’s/ASI venture (now called Dellarte Press) those costs starts at $599.
That may be a cheap price for publication success. Many authors have used self-publishing as a stepping stone traditional publishing. Take Boy Morrison, author of The Ark, who took his first book from Kindle success to Simon and Schuster’s Touchstone imprint.
SELF-PUBLISHING MAY ALSO HARM ASPIRING WRITERS
But one writer’s success, or even two, doesn’t mean it’s a great deal for all aspiring writers. That’s certainly the position of writer organizations, like Romance Writers of America, Mystery Writers of America and the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. All three organizations spoke out against Harlequin’s self-publishing announcement as a conflict-of-internet and misleading to aspiring authors who may think it will give them access to the publisher and eventual traditional publication. Harlequin did agree to change the name of the new venture, leaving out the marquee value of the Harlequin name, but they do intend to move forward with the new venture and with another one forth with the endeavor.
Self-publishing and vanity press have always been looked upon negatively, even by writers themselves. But the book publishing business is changing. In his New York Magazine article, The End, writer Boris Kachka thinks “the book business as we now it will not be living happily ever after.” Publishers will have to change to survive. Harlequin will not be the only publisher to venture down this new path. Author Solutions already has another agreement with Christian publisher Thomas Nelson and more publisher talks in the works.
Just as publishers may change, so may writers. The good news is, writers may gain more control over the final work and take a bigger piece of the financial pie. But there’s a risk and a costs. It may take an entrepreneurial writer to succeed, one who uses self-publishing and mastery of Internet marketing skills to sell books.
More Self-Publishing and Freelance Writing articles by K.D. Kuch: Self-Publishing for the Kindle, Five Reasons for Writers to Self-Publish and How to Turn One Internet Article into Six
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