Amazon Brought Publishing to Its Knees — Could Authors Be Next?
July 31, 2014
Morgan Entrekin the president of independent publisher Grove/Atlantic Books is currently happy with the relationship he has with Amazon. He has witnessed the industry go through many changes as Amazon’s introduction of the Kindle ushered in a digital revolution.
However he is concerned about the future and how this may impact publishers and ultimately authors.
“Right now [Amazon] is allowing me a perfectly fair margin, but what happens when they have total control or twice as much of the market share than they have now?” he said.
We are all aware of the concerns shared by publishers and many a public skirmish has been featured. However given the size of Amazon it is easy to see that such complaints have done little to slow its growth.
Furthermore as an author it provides a wonderful alternative. Publish instantly and retain 70% of your sales. No need to seek approval of a publisher and go through a very lengthy and draining process. This has already had an impact on large publishers balance sheets.
Author Hugh Howey feels royalty opportunities are too great to pass up, and that publishers will need to transition into a different role to remain relevant.
"I think today’s successful self-publishing groups will become tomorrow’s boutique publishing agents. The advantage of worldwide distribution through e-books and on demand is already outweighing the advantage of being in a bookstore for three to six months," Howey said. "And the financial difference between royalties is so massive that more and more authors are discovering this, which allows for colleagues to discover it. I really think in 10 years, you’re going to see a lot more people self-publishing."
However during their disagreement with Hachette, Amazon has blocked some of their authors when new books have been released. This has impacted sales drastically for those authors. This had led many to be wary of the power Amazon now holds and the arguable monopoly possessed.
We would love to hear your views.
Is self-publishing digitally a welcome alternative to traditional methods?
Does the dominance of Amazon concern you as an author?
Source and reference Mashable.
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