As Dr. Florian Geuppert of Books on Demand in Hamburg tells us from his own company’s seven-nation survey: “We have about 25,000 authors…these authors are in Germany, yes, but also in Austria, Switzerland, France, Denmark, Sweden, and Finland. So we asked them what is their motivation? We also wanted to compare the different countries and see where self-publishing really is. Because the movement (toward self-publishing) is broad in Europe, but not at the level of what we see in the US. It will probably get there.” Read More
Oil, Water, Publishers, Self-Publishers
While many legacy publishers may not like to think about how large the self-publishing movement is (Smashwords alone, has announced that writers have self-published more than 250,000 books on its platform), it appears that making money off self-publishing authors is just fine by the traditional houses. And that is, at the least, an unattractive reality. Read More
Do All Conference Roads Lead to Writers Now?
By Porter Anderson | @Porter_Anderson Ether for Authors: Do All Conference Roads Lead to Writers Now? [dropcap style=”flat” size=”5″]T[/dropcap]he centricity of the entrepreneurial writer in publishing circles still comes and goes as a focus these days. We’re in the early days, yes. But Jon Fine’s line about starting with the author as customer and working backward… Read More
Contrarians Among Us
A good contrarian look at something may help you articulate your own beliefs. It can provide a foil to your own views, contrast that helps you get more securely in touch with your own opinions. Read More
What Happens When Everybody's a Critic?
Even on the consumer-review level of a site like Goodreads, the presumably smart aspect of a community inclusive both of the writers and their consumers, the readers, is new and evolving. Read More
Rafa, Writing, and "The Inflexible Routines"
When you hear talk about the “joyous chaos” in which creative types are supposed to revel, you’re hearing from people who aren’t creative. The discipline reflected in a few “inflexible routines” can anchor dedication and devotion. I’ve seen a lot of chaos. Little of it has been joyous. Read More
What's Wrong With Franzen? | Porter Anderson
By Porter Anderson | @Porter_Anderson Writing on the Ether: What’s Wrong With Franzen? Jonathan Franzen “warns ebooks are corroding values” (The Guardian, Alison Flood) and says “ebooks are damaging society” (The Telegraph, Anita Singh). And now you can follow this link to pre-order his new October 1 release, The Kraus Project: Essays by Karl Kraus—as an ebook. The… Read More
What's Important in the Man Booker Prize Debate?
In a news conference today in London, officials of the esteemed Man Booker Prize have announced that the program, as rumored, will begin accepting entries from beyond its traditional range of the UK, the Republic of Ireland, and the Commonwealth. American authors and others working in English will be eligible for entry by their publishers. Read More
But Wait. Do We Even Like Bundling?
“Bundling,” the provision of one format with another, isn’t a new concept to us in our digi-rotic stress, of course. But, as it has done in the past, Amazon has caught many in the industry! the industry! with a move that seems somehow to confront us earlier than expected. Read More
Can You Sell eBooks on the Half Shell?
I’ll be glad when more details come out about compensation for content owners. I’m also interested to see what a one-price buffet plan does, if anything, to our culture of reading. Until we know more, we just don’t know what’s inside the new ebook subscription service called Oyster. Read More