Self-publishing is on the rise. Arsen Kashkashian, the buyer at the great independent Colorado store Boulder Book Store (which we know as Boulder Books) reported on Twitter that self-published books account for more than 1% of sales. “Many look like books from major houses,” said Arsen. “We have three, four, five authors coming in almost everyday to get their books on our shelves. We charge a fee; still they come.”
How far will this trend go? Will traditional publishers disappear? Certainly some will, but we don’t think that this marks the end of traditional publishing—but publishers had better be nimble.
One thing big publishers do well is cultivate audiences and maintain sales channels (i.e. distributing books to the marketplace, either directly to readers, or indirectly through retailers). Self-published authors can do the former through a robust speaking schedule and online presence. The latter is tougher, though a lot can be accomplished by tirelessly doing events, getting in catalogs (which can mean paying), and selling online.
Publishers are good at the nuts and bolts that require special expertise: editing and development, design, production, distribution, pricing, channel management, marketing, and sales. A self-published author would be wise to invest in some equivalent of these roles, since no one person, no matter how talented or brilliant, can do everything well.
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