And now for the news!
Some highlights from this month in the world of self-publishing, specifically news from or regarding self-publishing companies!
Rejection is a part of every author’s experience, isn’t it? But even the most determined author starts to question what’s good and what’s not after 47 rejections … unless that author is Ashwin Sanghi, who received that exact number of rejections before carrying on to publish huge hits The Rozabal Line, The Krishna Key and Chanakya’s Chant. If you think that’s a punch of encouragement to get you through the morning, get this: Sanghi is a believer in self-publishing. “The technological tools available today are so immense that there is no reason why you should not be able to make your book at least visible,” he says, and self-publishing now offers the kinds of opportunities you’d only find with traditional publishing houses when he first started out. “Self-publishing as a concept didn’t exist prior to 2007. In fact, in those days what existed was vanity press, where you paid to have copies of your book printed.” He then proceeds to walk readers through the benefits of self-publishing, and to encourage them to push forward. The rest of the article is well worth a read!
Susan Miles Gulbransen, of Santa Barbara’s Noozhawk, has some words this last week on the subject of bestsellers … and how they’re often made, not born. Now, most of us involved in writing and publishing harbor no illusions that publishing is a fair and equitable environment that rewards those who’ve put in the labor in order to produce masterpieces. But just in case you did … well, maybe bursting bubbles isn’t the most worthwhile thing to do with our time. And maybe it is. Gulbransen has some serious questions: “What is the difference between individual and bulk sales? Which books have the right literary quality? Does it take money to get a book listed? Or, which bookstores get counted? When I researched what it takes to make the NYT bestseller lists, it became obvious that the system is complicated, secretive and not based on straight sales calculations.” Want to know how the magic is made, and the implications for self-publishing authors? Dig into the rest of her article at the Noozhawk.
Ben Fox Rubin of CNet has some insights into Amazon’s latest attempt to tweak the ebook platform it has spent so long carefully building, and they’re not all optimistic. Says Rubin, “The online retailer on Wednesday filed five separate legal actions through the American Arbitration Association to cut down on a variety of alleged scams used to make money on Amazon’s Kindle self-publishing service.” These scams have plagued the platform since its beginning, although Rubin reiterates that they are not the majority of transactions taking place on Kindle Direct. But Amazon is getting serious about fixing things: “Amazon since 2015 has been using these kinds of legal actions to fight against scams and already sued over 1,000 entities involved in allegedly creating fake product reviews on its sites. The company last year also sued alleged counterfeiters.” It’s a step…but will it be enough? Rubin has some interesting speculations on that score, well worth reading up on.
As a self-publishing author, you may find it helpful to stay up-to-date on the trends and news related to the self-publishing industry.This will help you make informed decisions before, during and after the self-publishing process, which will lead to a greater self-publishing experience. To help you stay current on self-publishing topics, simply visit our blog every Monday to find out the hottest news. If you have other big news to share, please comment below.
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