Future of DIY Self ePublishing, photo by bert-al, Flickr
The Changing Face of Book Sales…
Book retailers are transforming as many customers go online to purchase. This move has put a lot of pressure on traditional chain stores to create revenue and profits. Similarly, digital books continue to gain market share, and are now “estimated at 8% to10% of revenue fro some major publishing”, as reported by Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg of the Wallstreet Journal.
Borders isn’t the first large retail bookstore struggling with the changing times. In August, Barnes & Noble put itself up for sale, with Borders investor William Ackman offering to “finance a bid for Borders to buy Barnes & Noble for $960 million.”
Borders Holds off on Publisher Payments
Now, as the year comes to a close, Borders announced it was delaying payments to many of its publishers. The long-time concerns about Borders’ financial health is being realized. With a new year dawning, an undisclosed number of Borders publishers will not be paid, and whether they will, in turn, hold off shipments to the retailer is uncertain.
Taking e-Publishing Control
So what does this mean for the epublishing industry?
Many self-published authors, such as Joe Konrath, predict 2011 a boom year for e-publishing. In November, Konrath sold 266 self-published print books for combined royalties of $1000, but he sold 300 ebooks per day for combined royalties of $26,000, according to Konrath’s blog.
“I’ve also noted before how ebooks are like a pyramid scheme. Once they’re live, they keep earning money, and more people review them and tell others about them, growing their fanbase. As an author, I add fuel to this fire by writing even more titles, biggering my potential for discovery and for new readers.”
Konrath also reports his new title Shaken, published by Amazon Encore, “puts my self-pubbed sales for November to shame.” It will be interesting to revisit Konrath’s publishing efforts December 31, 2011.
Bright Future for DIY ePublishing
2011 is the year to get published.
As the sales of Kindles continue to increase, so will the sale of ebooks. And I predict as the Kindle moves mainstream, expect the price of the Kindle device to drop below $99. One thing is certain. 2011 is the year to get your ebook published.
