As an
independent author/publisher I’m able to view the future of the publish
industry with a certain objectivity. I’m
not contracted to the standard AGENT/PUBLISHER/PUBLICIST paradigm.
At one time
I was part of that program as I had no choice.
It was sad and unrewarding; traveling to all the bookstores; sitting in
some corner signing my novels and then waiting six months to be paid by the
publisher. Paying the agent and
publicist out of my meager revenue and then proving to the IRS that; Yes, I did sell four-thousand books but I
lost eighteen thousand dollars because of the travel expenses involved.
Also, many
of the sales to bookstores were bogus.
The big box stores order the books but they have the right to return
them if unsold. The author gets slammed
and has to return the royalty. Well, the big box stores are going under. That is their quicksand.
That was
then – this is now. No one is taking my
e-books off the shelf. I can adjust the
prices anytime I choose, and my royalties are paid monthly. My e-books are sold
around the world and are not limited to store hours. E-books can be downloaded
to almost any reading device; Kindles, Nooks, PC’s, Mac’s, tablets, and even
some cell phones. I use my kindle but
also have several e-books downloaded on my android cell phone.
The near
future for e-books looks grand. However,
our quicksand will come somewhere in the distant future. Reading is already on a downward spiral due
to video games and other forms of electronic entertainment.
