How Self-Publishing Increases The Role of Traditional Publishers

Is Big Publishing finally  reacting to the digital revolution? Conventional wisdom has it that traditional publishers are pitted against Amazon and that self-publishing is so successful that publishers are rapidly becoming superfluous. 

Markus Dohle, CEO of the biggest publishing house in the world, Penguin Random House, begs to differ. He has just told the Frankfurt Book Fair, the largest in the world, that:

1. cooperation with Amazon is essential: "Of course, we have to manage each other, on issues such as terms, but fundamentally, we are aligned."

2. self-publishing makes the role of publishers more important than ever: "people need orientation and guidance more than ever, and publishers can provide that."

Indeed, he sees "book discoverability" as the "the biggest challenge facing publishing", adding that a big publisher like Penguin Random House is "better placed on how to crack the code of discoverability, in a world where there are fewer bookstores".

I couldn't agree more and I have often blogged about how book discovery is the crux of the matter, especially in a world awash with self-published titles (see here, here and here). One major difference between a self-published author and a traditional publisher is that the former has no access to major literary journals and newspapers like the New York Times or major prizes like the Pulitzer Prize or Man Booker Prize, while the latter does, and how! The bigger the publishing house, the better...

What is your opinion? Is self-publishing for a writer who wants to reach his market really a working alternative to traditional publishing or is it just a mirage, fed by the personal pleasure of seeing one's book title on Amazon?
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Comments

Emma Calin said…
Great feature Claude. Many of the larger UK publishing houses are jumping on the band-wagon and sucking up Indie authors for digital-only imprints. I know half a dozen authors who have signed book deals over the last couple of months on this basis. One publisher now has 27 authors on their digital-only romance imprint. These deals are royalty-based - no up front payments - typically 25% of sales income - which I guess means a quarter of the returns one would normally get from indie KDP sales. The publisher generates a new cover, hopefully edits and formats the manuscript, slots the author and book details into their PR launch machine and presses go. Typical turn around is about 3 months from manuscript submission to publication - so they are responding quickly. The authors are still expected to do blog tours, interviews, social media etc. as much as ever, in parallel. I am watching with interest to see how much more of a push these author get using this method - it's easy to follow sales ranking on Amazon. Obviously if they get stellar sales it will have been worth giving up the other 75%. I really hope they do... and I will be clamouring with the masses of 'me toos' to get my books signed! One assumes that these big publishing houses ought to know how to conjure up discoverability from their traditional book marketing techniques. My big worry for these authors is that they have to sign over ALL the rights to the books but they are only guaranteed to get the digital version published, the print and audio books are dependent on sales of the digital version and at the discretion of the publisher. The big publisher wins as they get control of these indie books and the amount of promo they are getting. If the book gets popular fast - great - the author and the publisher make a mint and then may decide to put it out in the main print catalogue etc. If not, the digital book languishes and the only way the author can get a print copy or audiobooks out there is by buying back the rights... which is expensive and time consuming. With a never ending stream of indies trying to make it - the publisher can easily have an ever-expanding, massive digital catalogue for very little effort on their part. They can take more chances on books that maybe they would not touch for a traditional print run. I guess they are hoping to catch the next '50 Shades' phenomenon in their net. I'm a bit of a control freak though and I just don't know if I could give up my babies on these terms... but I am tempted!
Thanks for commenting here, Emma, I always enjoy your analyses!

Yes, the digital-only presses are booming all of a sudden, and like you, I'm not at all sure it works. There's something illogical about this: 80% of the market is STILL in printed books! So unless these presses also open the doors to the printed market - including giving access to literary awards - there doesn't seem to be much of a reason to go down that road.

Because, as self-published authors, we've grown pretty used to publishing our own stuff with the help of Smashwords and Kindle Direct Publishing. There's no obvious reason to give up one's share of profits unless the publisher in question is capable of a fantastic push lifting the book into the top 100 on Amazon.

The biggest hurdle facing self-published authors remain reaching out to the printed market...something Amanda Hocking understood very well when she accepted St. Martin's Press offer: she'd been a raging success digitally, but it didn't count for much (especially then) when the digital market, it's fast growth notwithstanding, is still a minor part of the market.

So, for the moment the door is closed on self-published authors if all they do is publish printed books with CreateSpace. One needs to get into the Ingram distribution system, the only one bookstores use to order their books: to carry your books, they need to be given a deep discount (from 40 to 55% - better 55%), and they don't get it from CreateSpace. Who knows whether Amazon will change its policies and help self-published authors spread into the printed book market...
CLC said…
Interesting to hear those comments from Random House. Indeed we live in interesting times. Thanks for keeping me up to date.
Thanks, Christina, for the visit! Yes, I was really surprised that such a comment would come from Penguin Random House...
Dave Bricker said…
Unfortunately, vanity publishing is NOT self-publishing. Random Penguin is owned by Pearson, the same company that owns AuthorHouse, iUniverse, XLibris, and a host of other scammers. The "guidance" the article suggests big publishers can provide leads straight into a net.

Self-publishers need guidance, but trade publishers are not positioned to profit ethically by providing that guidance. If a big publisher thinks a book will sell, they BUY IT; they don't guide the author to independent profitability.