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| Simon & Schuster hiking into self-publishing |
"According to data from research firm Bowker, some 211,269 books were self-published in 2011, up more than 60 percent from the previous year, as reported by Shelf Awareness."
This fact (super growth), coupled with the old TP model crumbling in traditional publishing, shows why you can't blame the publishing 'big houses' for finally pursuing self-publishing.
BUT, are they charging too damn much money for their self-publishing services? Especially when technology has made it so economical for one to directly self-publish?
A hard, detailed analysis of their peripheral benefits is highly suggested :)
Husna Haq writes this for the Chapter & Verse blog of The Christian Science Monitor:
Simon & Schuster will enter the self-publishing world
The publishing giant is teaming up with Author Solutions Inc. to create Archway Publishing, a publishing house which will focus on self-published works.
If there was any doubt in the publishing industry that self-publishing is here to stay, news that a top mainstream publisher is teaming up with a self-publishing company to create a self-publishing imprint should put those doubts to rest.
Simon & Schuster announced Tuesday that it is partnering with Author Solutions Inc. to create Archway Publishing, a separate publishing house focused on self-published fiction, non-fiction, business, and children’s books.
Self-publishing is a booming sector of the publishing industry, and Tuesday’s news reaffirms the significance of self-publishing.
“Self-publishing has become a viable and popular route to publication for many authors, and increasingly a source of content for traditional publishers, including Simon & Schuster,” Simon & Schuster CEO Carolyn Reidy said in a statement, according to the Associated Press. “We’re excited that we’ll be able to help more authors find their own path to publication and at the same time create a more direct connection to those self-published authors ready to make the leap to traditional publishing.”
Simon & Schuster is marketing Archway’s self-publishing offerings as a premium service – which comes at a premium cost to authors. Archway will offer authors a range of packages from a basic $1,599 children’s package that includes “editorial assessment” and “cover copy review” to a $24,999 “Outreach” program for business books that includes an “author profile video,” and a reception at BookExpo America, the industry’s annual national convention.
It might be a tough sell. Archway will be staffed and operated by Author Solutions (not Simon & Schuster) and final products will not have the Simon & Schuster name attached to them. “With no Simon & Schuster personnel involved, and without the Simon & Schuster name attached in any way to the final product, Archway’s prices – significantly higher than the competition – could be a hard sell,” writes the New York Times.
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1 comment:
Without the SS name attached, it won't matter. This entire scenario has come down already in the music industry. Home studios (computer software) has allowed the worst writers and musicians affordable access. Hundreds of online distributors (CDBaby, Orchard, Reverbnation, etc., etc) sell ANY poorly written/recorded/produced song, with no bar of excellence anywhere in sight. Universal Records actually distributes some of these self-published nightmares, taking a % of whatever the band/act sells. Just another division in income.
Watch traditional royalties fade for books, just like records. Watch piracy rise to quickly suck the income from any fresh fruit like some boring beetle, until the quality writers just don't care any more. And watch films become the dregs and dogs, like TV, as income drops, budget wins over any sort of quality, and the arts become flat.
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