CONVERGING MEDIA

Case Study

Self-Publishing Gets Redefined

Between 2008 and 2010, e-book sales rose over 1,000 percent.¹ Media convergence—in the form of e-book readers and e-ink apps for tablets and laptops—is clearly changing the way people read books. But there is another dimension to the e-book revolution that is even more threatening to the traditional print publishing powers: Media convergence is also transforming the way people publish books. Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing has made self-publishing so cheap and easy that, as one Amazon executive put it, “The only really necessary people in the publishing process now are the writer and reader.” ² Amazon is also taking on more of the roles of a traditional publisher, having set up its own dedicated publishing arm.

Of course, self-publishing has been long stigmatized as a vain enterprise (hence the term “vanity press”). To be self-published has been equated with amateurism and work that is not worthy of the considerable expenses and promotional resources associated with one of the big publishing houses. In the new media landscape, however, those notions are becoming increasingly inaccurate. John Locke, the first self-published author to join the Kindle Million Club, sells his crime novels for 99 cents a copy and has mastered the strategic use of blogging, Twitter, and e-mail to build a devoted fan base.

A number of established authors have also started testing the waters of self-publishing e-books. But the publishing industry response to these flirtations can be harsh. For instance, when Kiana Davenport e-published a compilation of award-winning short stories, her publishing house, declaring she was “sleeping with the enemy,” canceled the publication of a forthcoming novel and has threatened litigation if she does not return the $20,000 advance. The established publishers have reason to guard their turf: Self-published authors need not pay 10 percent to a literary agency, and they receive a significantly larger piece of the overall pie. Whereas the authors of paper-based books claim royalties of between 5 and 15 percent, authors with Amazon receive between 35 and 70 percent of the purchase price.³

But Amazon’s entry into the publishing world is not limited to simply giving self-published authors a platform. They are also signing authors to their own publishing arm, which produces books in physical and electronic forms through a more traditional (albeit more secretive) process.⁴ Publishers may soon face the kind of competition that booksellers have seen from Amazon over the past decade—and self-publishing authors may still struggle against authors with greater promotional muscle behind them. Media convergence is creating some new avenues; it’s also generating more potential traffic.