For the past couple of weeks, we’ve discussed the publishing process as well as the difficulties of self-publishing. Once I figure out my pattern, I’ll pick up where we left off and talk about alternatives to self-publishing.
Why is understanding self-publishing such a big deal? Perhaps this quote from the May 2, 2010, New York Times will help.
“Last year, according to the Bowker bibliographic company, 764,448 titles were produced by self-publishers and so-called microniche publishers. (A microniche, I imagine, is a shade bigger than a self.) This is up an astonishing 181 percent from the previous year. Compare this enormous figure with the number of so-called traditional titles — books with the imprimatur of places like Random House — published that same year: a mere 288,355 (down from 289,729 the year before). Book publishing is simply becoming self-publishing. ” Read the full article here.
Bowker is “the world’s leading provider of bibliographic information management solutions.” In simple terms, they have access to a lot of details in the publishing world and provide that information to libraries, booksellers, publishers, and consumers. Are their numbers reliable? Absolutely. Personally, I would believe Bowker’s numbers over anything the mainstream news media says. You can read the original Bowker article and see more detailed numbers here.
I’m taking a slight rabbit trail to define a term… What is a microniche? Like the article writer Virginia Heffernan says, a microniche publisher is slightly bigger than a self-publisher. Niche publishers deal with broad topics like gardens or animals. Microniche publishers deal with very specific, focused subjects, more so than a “niche” publisher. One microniche might publish books about water gardens. Another publishes spelunking books. Yet another publishes books on cat breeds. They don’t produce many titles, and what they do produce is targeted at a specific market.
Getting back on topic … Considering the growth of self-publishing and the cutbacks made by traditional publishers, it is important for every aspiring author, and even published authors, to understand the publishing process, what alternatives are available, and how each alternative works.
Will traditional publishers go obsolete? I doubt it. But we will definitely see changes made to the traditional publishing process, and those changes will slowly start to reflect technology and techniques used by self-publishers and subsidy publishers.
A good analogy is the newspaper industry. A few years ago, rumor said newspapers would be obsolete within a few years. Newspaper publishers adjusted and, in addition to paper subscriptions, they offer online subscriptions and pdf subscriptions. They want people to read the news however it best fits in their lifestyles. The same will be true of the publishing industry. It will adjust to fit the needs of authors and readers.
On Friday we’ll look at one of those adjustments, one mentioned in the NYTimes article – print on demand. This adjustment also offers a solution to some of the difficulties of self-publishing.
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