Publishing Today
I
touched on this subject several months back and have been watching
it closely for a while. The world of publishing appears to be experiencing
unprecedented growth but with no clear direction.
In
past generations writers had only a few options. While the traditional
houses preferred working through literary agents, they would still
accept manuscripts from individual authors. And for those with deep
pockets and little patience there were the subsidy or “vanity”
publishers who would produce your work as long as you paid all the
bills.
Home
computers and digital technology have changed all of that. Now that
we can cut and paste and have been blessed with a delete key, almost
anybody can write a book… And many have.
Today,
agents and editors are swamped with manuscripts, mostly the work
of amateurs but surely a few masterpieces lurk in those mountains
of paper. The challenge to the publishers is further complicated
by the need to streamline their business practices, meaning smaller
staffs with fewer editors. As a result, the screening responsibilities
have been handed off to the literary agents, opening the doors to
burgeoning opportunists in that field.
Digital
technology has spawned an entirely new type of publishing house
as well. With the “Print on Demand” capabilities now
available a publisher no longer has to lay out the capitol for large
print runs and then warehouse the product and facilitate distribution.
POD only produces the book “after” it is ordered, no
storage problem, no expensive inventory, and most importantly, no
large investment.
Most
of these “Print on Demand” publishers deal directly
with the author, bypassing the agent. Editing, if offered is usually
at the author’s expense. Many of them will accept any manuscript.
Electronic
books, or e-books offer yet another option to the aspiring author.
This part of the industry has a very cloudy future. It may explode
into a huge business or it may fall flat. There are many arguments
on both sides of this street but not all of the cards have been
dealt yet. At this time, there is no clear leader producing hand
held e-book reading devices. They are currently in a price range
that scares a lot of buyers away and there are software issues that
need to be resolved. One we get a reasonably priced, user-friendly
reader out there, we might get some answers on where this segment
of the industry is headed.
This
rapid expansion in the publishing business has also attracted a
share of carpetbaggers. Some “Literary Agents” make
their money from reading fees and editorial services. These agents
sell very few manuscripts and should be avoided. The red flag is
the reading fee.
There are a few POD publishers whose income is derived primarily
from the authors buying their own books. They offer virtually no
distribution service or promotional support.
The
literary world has a few watchdog groups who police the industry.
They do their best to honestly evaluate the character of those offering
author representation or publishing services. A good place to start
looking would be an organization called “Predators and Editors.”
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