Comments on: New Publishing Industry Needs New Editors

By: Tom Lopy

Tom Lopy — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 18:24:50 +0000

I don’t think self publishing is the best route because of the promotion aspect. Its critical to push the book in a variety of formats like podcasts and audio books. You need to have an expert to handle that. A company like newfiction.com does that.

By: New Publishing Industry Needs New Editors | New Fiction Blog

New Publishing Industry Needs New Editors | New Fiction Blog — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 18:22:08 +0000

[...] some authors responded by asking what publishers were good for in the new world of the Internet.

By: Pajamas Media » Manufacturing on Demand: The Future Is Now

Pajamas Media » Manufacturing on Demand: The Future Is Now — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 11:17:40 +0000

[...] daily life: music distribution without the need for big physical production plants, electronic book publishing, and even what the continuing advances in computer technology will mean to computers themselves. [...]

By: Rich

Rich — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 04:20:59 +0000

If you’re interested in self publishing, you might find this book of use:

http://www.johntreed.com/HTWP.html

By: Pajamas Media » Amazon’s Kindle Draws the Reader In

Pajamas Media » Amazon’s Kindle Draws the Reader In — Mon, 19 May 2008 10:23:57 +0000

[...] future of these things is bright, though. First of all, the price is sure to drop; electronics always does. Soon, a lot of schools will be ordering texts that can be delivered as [...]

By: Pajamas Media » Blog Archive » What Will Your Next Computer Be Able to Do?

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 07:21:08 +0000

[...] us bibliophiles: you can take your whole library with you in a package the size of a big checkbook. Publishing will be much easier, too: no more heavy paper bricks. So you’ll have the space for 3,200 books, but you’ll also [...]

By: amba

amba — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 16:24:04 +0000

As an editor as well as a writer, I object to calling these creatures you're describing "editors," unless they also edit. Call them impresarios, or something. The problem is and always will be that the "filter" filters out good stuff along with the bad, and not just obscure elitist good stuff either (as witness the experiences of eventually bestselling authors from Puzo to Rowling who collected dozens of rejections). The filter is usually set by what succeeded in the past, so when something is genuinely original, or doesn't fit a MFA-program trend, it tends to fall through the cracks in the culture. Another HUGE problem we need to do something about is that PAPERBACKS (as most on-demand books are) DO NOT GET REVIEWED. My brother wrote a highly entertaining, darkly funny novel about a drug death in the Peace Corps, and published it with a "micropublisher," another interesting trend. I've sent him the link to this post, and maybe he'll come comment.

By: Cogito Ergo Doleo

Cogito Ergo Doleo — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 19:01:29 +0000

You’ve covered the production and distribution sides of the industry with some accuracy; however, you’ve failed to adequately address the promotional aspects of a given volume or, for that matter, recorded composition. What about the critic or blogger — the individual arbiter of quality who possesses some small clout — when it comes to actually selling books (despite reports to the contrary)? Where does either fit, given both your old and new bizthness models? (S’pose integrity’s on the wane, too, eh? Quel fromage and, no, I don’t mean moon-made .)

By: Charlie (Colorado)

Charlie (Colorado) — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 02:47:39 +0000

Oh, sorry, you know I thought I wrote a line more there. Anyway, Diane, I’m digging for that link to the soon-to-come desktop size machine; in the mean time, though, Curly has it right: unless you are fixing to open a print-on-demand bookstore, the online services are a good choice. I’ve got several books that were printed by such services and they’re perfectly acceptable.

By: Curly Smith

Curly Smith — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 13:40:41 +0000

Diane, Charlie can obviously type for himself but I think you’d be better off using one of the various book printing services. As an example (not a recommendation) this site http://www.diggypod.com/index.iml?mdl=subPage/view.mdl&PAGE_ID=26431 will print a 240 page 8 1/2″ x 11″ bound book for $11.94 each in small quantities or $5.25 each in large quantities. There are many such services just a Yahoo away. Here’s a site that might be of some use http://www.speakernetnews.com/post/printondemand.html

Unless you have some burning desire to print books then your time (and money) would be better spent writing. Purchase of the necessary equipment would only be cost effective if you could amortize the cost over very large quantities. As a minimum you’d need to form a printing co-op of several writers and would probably still have to take-in outside printing work. I’d compare home book publishing to home printing of photos — you can do it but it’s really not cost effective.

However, I see this as a good entrepreneurial opportunity for FedEx/Kinko’s …