The publishing industry today is divided between a handful of mega-houses in New York, with hundreds of imprints, and the thousands of independent and small regional publishers scattered around the country. Though the huge conglomerates which control publishing in the US have tried to put a strangle hold on the industry, advances in digital publishing technology have fueled an increase in small presses.
Publishing, the actual printing and binding of books, is an expensive proposition. Add to that the costs of marketing and distribution, and it is plain to see why the big houses have prospered and small independents have struggled. Once it was necessary to have the backing of a large publishing house in order to reach a wide mainstream audience as nationwide bookstores stocked their shelves with books purchased exclusively from the big publishers.
Because of their growing power through corporate consolidation, and a firm hold on the biggest markets, publishers were able to demand more, and give less, to their authors. Agents, meant to represent the interests of authors, are inevitably beholding to the big publishing houses to whom they must sell. They have become more a filter between author and publisher, sifting through the great sea of writers to pluck out those the big publishers desire. This has brought them closer to the big publishers, who pay their wages, than the writers for whom they advocate.
But the rise of internet marketing, ePublishing, and POD services have altered the field of play. Authors can now upload their work to Kindle, Nook, and a variety of eReaders, for little or no cost and reach millions of potential readers. With the convenience of POD services, small Indie publishers no longer need to stock large quantities of books. And with sales online growing, and sales at the local mall failing, those books can be promoted and distributed via the internet with no real inventory.
While Borders struggles through bankruptcy, sites like Amazon.com report record sales. One recent poll shows sales of printed books from online outlets have surpassed those bought from traditional store shelves. The countries biggest bookseller, Barnes & Noble, has not only embraced the eStore, they recently announced a major campaign to promote independent publishers and self-published Nook authors with physical in-store events.
Even with the growing opportunities today the big publishers demand more from authors and their agents while offering lower advances and smaller royalties. They are putting less money into marketing, leaving more of the promotional burden on authors, while demanding more control of the author's rights at signing. Yet if an author is to be a major force of marketing for their book, and they can receive up to 70% royalties from eBook sales, why do they need the big publisher?
Traditionally, publishers offered something the author couldn't. Their work was professionally edited, marketed, and the publisher printed, promoted, and distributed the final work. Today the work needs to be virtually print ready just to attract an agent. Authors are paying freelance editors to polish their manuscripts, spending hours online promoting their work, and having video "book trailers" produced. They could easily take the next step and self-publish.
There was once a stigma to self-publishing, created and propagated by the big publishing industry and indirectly supported by agents. Yet today there are self-published, and Indie-published books hitting the best seller lists without New York publishers or even agents involved. The Indie movement is shaking the foundation of big publishing, and empowering authors as never before. Yet it is not only authors who benefit. Readers are being given more options on how they access literature, and more diverse material to enjoy.
Underground Press Publishing is a small independent publisher riding the curve of innovation. Our first experiments in ePublishing, over ten years ago, were web journals before the age of blogs or web 2.0 apps. UPP was an early adopter of eBooks, nearly a decade ago, with MobiPocket and later Kindle. We are now embracing Nook and venturing into print with Lightning Source, an innovator in POD.
Underground Press Publishing doesn't aspire to be a big publisher, our mission is helping authors find their way in the new world of publishing. Some still reach for the brass ring of New York publishing, and some are ready to be their own publisher, but all authors today are required to take a much larger role in publishing their work than simply writing it. We are always happy to answer your questions. Drop us a note or leave a comment on our blog.
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