Ebooks: Independent publishers, self-publishers, and more fun things

[justjess]

The ebook is picking up steam, as is self-publishing. Have you heard about Amanda Hocking? She's a self-published YA author who became a millionaire selling her own books on Amazon, Smashwords, the iBookstore, etc., and she just signed a $2 million book deal with St. Martin's for her next four-book series. She wants to spend more time writing and

Comments

[violet_shade]

Interesting. I'm not sure what I think of the whole thing. I've had several people lately ask me what the point of going through a publisher is, as opposed to self-publishing, and when they are talking about publishing their own work, it's hard to say 'well, they keep the crap out'. I know someone who just published his own book via LightningSource, and I think that's a great idea

[justjess]

There are a few major differences between self-publishing and going through a major publisher. If a person has a real entrepreneurial spirit and wants to tackle everything a publisher does on his or her own, then self-pub is a viable alternative. Publishers edit, design, market, distribute, etc., and it's often difficult for self-published books to obtain the same amount of publicity (and therefore sales) as books that go through a major house, unless the author has been published before and already has a following or platform. Most book reviewers won't even touch self-pubbed books unless the author is someone like Amanda Hocking, whose books just took off. So, if your friend feels capable of marketing his book on his own, all the power to him! And yeah, you can't tell him that traditional publishing keeps the crap out