Self-Publishing Is More Than Vanity Publishing

Bernie Goldbach in South Tipp General | Photo from Observer  

I BOUGHT THREE SUNDAY PAPERS because I thought we'd be waiting a while. Waiting stretched through the night while I read e-books.

Several of the e-books I have on my Kindle are self-published works. Unless you know the distinction between self-published and vanity publishing, you could tar both with the same brush. To hunker down by yourself and meet the Apple or Amazon standard for a title means you're doing a lot of work. However, in most of Irish mainstream media, having an electronic title won't get you on chat shows. And the detractors are quick off the mark with snide comments about authors who did not follow the normal slog of using an agent, publishing house and publicist. But things are changing in e-publishing and I'd expect public perceptions to change as well.

Hunting for New EL James

I also read with interest how mainstream publishers are seeking out authors who follow the route to self-publishing. That's probably good news for Tommy Collison and Ger O'Mahony, two Irishmen I've watched put their electronic texts online for sale. They're part of a trendline that may result in some traditional Irish bookstores offering kiosks where you can download work (but that's another blog post).

Several key statistics jumped out in today's Sunday Observer.

-- Fifty Shades of Grey is the world's fastest-selling book.

-- Pearson bought Author Solutions, a company that has grown 12% over the past three years.

-- Nobody actually knows what is going to sell.

-- BookStats found ebook revenue for US publishers doubled to $2bn in 2011.

-- Chistopher Paolini wrote Eragon at the age of 15.

You can hear the entire article by clicking on the clip above or by heading over to Audioboo.

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Venessa Thorpe -- "Publishers hunt onlne for the new EL James" in the Sunday Observer, July 22, 2012.

Bernie Goldbach teaches third level e-production using Scrivener, InDesign and Calibre at the Limerick Institute of Technology.