Successful Self-Publishers Are More Than Writers - They Are Business Owners

Self-Publishing movement
bouncing upward and onward

That's right! The old stereotype of a reclusive, sometimes intelligent but socially shy or inept personality that shuns interaction and only lives to write and has no other life or purpose will never be a successful self-publisher --- Unless some streetwise, third party recognizes his/her talent and helps him/her in this endeavor (sort of like agents in the TP system).

So, it appears that only entrepreneurs should apply for self-publishing. This is probably more true than not --- ACTUALLY, it's probably more true than not for writers wanting to be successful in the old traditional publishing model with agents and big house publishers, etc.

Anyway, the self-publishing movement is enticing more of these entrepreneur-writer types out of the woodwork because the movement is definitely MOVING forward.

Let's look at some insider, statistical numbers that prove more what I've said above - These numbers provided by Bowker (the world's leading provider of bibliographic information management solutions designed to help publishers, booksellers, and libraries) in this piece provided by Digital Journal:

Self-Publishing Movement Continues Strong Growth in U.S., Says Bowker  

2012 ISBNs show nearly 60% more self-published works than in 2011


A new analysis of U.S. ISBN data by ProQuest affiliate Bowker reveals that the number of self-published titles in 2012 jumped to more than 391,000, up 59 percent over 2011 and 422 percent over 2007. Ebooks continue to gain on print, comprising 40 percent of the ISBNs that were self-published in 2012, up from just 11 percent in 2007. 

"The most successful self-publishers don't view themselves as writers only, but as business owners," said Beat Barblan, Bowker Director of Identifier Services. "They invest in their businesses, hiring experts to fill skill gaps and that's building a thriving new service infrastructure in publishing."

The analysis shows the growing prominence of a handful of companies that offer publishing services to individual authors.  More than 80 percent of self-published titles came to market with support from just eight companies, including Smashwords and CreateSpace.
Bowker's research on self-publishing includes surveys of authors that provide insight into where the market is going and services required by these writers. Those who intend to self-publish most often plan to bring fiction to market, followed by inspirational or spiritual works, books for children and biographies. The majority cite finding a traditional publisher as an obstacle. They also feel challenged by marketing – a hurdle that becomes bigger with increasing numbers of books in the market.

Original article continues here


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