One of the great things about ebooks is the potential to place the power of publishing back in the author’s hands. I have always maintained on this blog that digital technology (including the internet, ebooks and even mobile technology) is leveling the playing field for everyone involved.

Thus I was very excited when I came across this press release for a new ebooks self-publishing platform that places publishing power back into the hands of the author. The new startup is called Smashwords and allows authors to easily upload their book (in a variety of formats), chose the price, decide how much of the book can be sampled (up to 99% of the book), and authors receive an 85% royalty on all net sales. But I think the real power of Smashwords is the free marketing tools authors have access to:

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Maybe some publishers are starting to see the light! It has been announced that Random House and HarperCollins will start to use digital media to help push titles in both print and digital formats. Here’s a short excerpt from an article at Publishers Weekly:

Random House and HarperCollins both announced new e-initiatives aimed at using technology to sell more print and digital titles. The Random House Publishing Group is testing sales of a book by chapters, while HC has started a variety of online projects to let consumers sample titles on its site, and, in some cases, get an e-book for free.

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In a world with Print On Demand (POD) publishing, the internet and other digital technology, you’d think that the time between when a book is accepted for publication and the time it’s actually shipped off to the bookstores is shortening. But then you’d be wrong. The time authors have to wait to see their books in print is actually getting longer.

Why? I came across an interesting essay from the New York Times book review section that attempts to answer this very question. The answer is surprising, and also kind of expected at the same time. We’re talking about the traditional publishing route (the key word being "traditional") where things change very little.

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I’m sure most of you are tired of hearing about "New Year’s Resolutions", "Why 2008 will be different", and  even "Best of 2007" lists. Frankly, I’m tired of those things too. However, I do think (and I’m not alone) that 2008 will be a pivotal year for ebooks specifically and publishing in general.

Mike Shatzkin, founder of the Idea Logical Company, and someone who has been closely following publishing’s digital "rebirth", wrote an article for Publishers Weekly called 15 Trends to Watch in 2008.

I’m not going to re-hash each prediction he makes as I’m sure most of  you are content to read the article for yourself. But there are a few interesting ones I’d like to highlight. The first is pretty broad and sweeping, but not all that surprising:

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2008 is closing in fast. Like it or not, the years tend to fly by, and with increasing speed the older you get. But the passing years isn’t all depressing. Just think back 10 years, which isn’t all that long ago. I was still in high school and I’m amazed how much things have changed since then.

One of my favorite blogs, Print is Dead, talks about this issue of change during the last decade in the context of publishing. Blogger/author Jeff Gomez recalls how helpless he felt because he wasn’t able to promote his book back then. While the internet did exist, it was still in its infancy:

And while the Internet existed in 1997, it was hardly the ubiquitous presence it is today. Back then, the Web was more about tech-savvy geeks and early adopters. Whereas, today, almost everyone has an e-mail address and surfs the web at least a few times a week (not to mention that more people than ever have their own website or blog).

Think about! Today, because of the power and reach of the internet, an unknown author can publish a book, promote it, and in theory, can do very well…just by using the internet. Yes, it’s easier said than done, but the technology that exists now has greatly leveled the playing field in the world of publishing.

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A recent article on the Publishing 2.0 blog talks about placing ads in books. This is one business model in publishing that hasn’t really been tried yet. The post talks mostly about ads on ebooks for non-fiction titles. As far as digital content goes, ads are nothing new. How many blogs do you read without some form of advertising? My own personal view is that as long as the ads are non-intrusive (ie. pop-ups, annoying flash animation, etc), then I really don’t mind. In fact, I have discovered some interesting products and websites because of these ads.

But fiction is a different story (no pun intended). How do you find advertisers for a novel? How much will they pay? Would the advertising be content related? For example, maybe a science fiction novel would advertise technology-related products. Romance novels would advertise more erotic products. You get the picture. And if the novel is in ebook form, the ads could change based on evolving tastes.

What does this mean for the consumer? Aside from seeing small advertisements next to the narrative, you (the consumer) would probably be paying less for the ebook, if anything at all. The publisher and author are no longer 100% dependent on people buying the book for revenue. And if ads bring in enough money, they could give out the novels for free!

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Sometimes we Americans like to think we’re so innovative, especially with the much-anticipated (and criticized) release of the Amazon Kindle. Sure, it can hold a few hundred books and download them directly from Amazon’s website. That’s soooo yesterday!

Japan, once again, has figured it out. They asked: Why carry around a cell phone AND a bulky reading device when cell phones are perfectly capable of handling the job of both?

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Stories about blogs being turned into books is becoming fairly common nowadays as blogs become more and more accepted in the mainstream media. However, in what must be a first of its kind, a literary blog has turned into a publishing house!

Against market trends, Dzanc Books is a small publisher poised to succeed, hiring staff and expanding quickly. And that may be because it sprouted from a blog rather than a traditional printing press, and it is certainly web-savvy.

That’s right, a recent article from Wired written about the blog-turned-publisher says that Dzanc Books only publishes print books and  has no ebooks in the pipeline (nor does it sound like they plan to get into the ebook business).

While it seems like an incredible leap, if one steps back and really thinks about it, going from blog to publisher isn’t that far of a jump. After all, isn’t blogging just a simplified form of self-publishing?  This once again shows that the internet is opening up doors in the literary world that we would only dream about a decade ago.

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I’ve written many posts on this blog ranting about the publishing industry (only as it applies to books), saying that they’re losing money and shooting themselves in the foot by using an old business model that doesn’t work anymore. But maybe I’ve been wrong all this time. I never really thought about where those assumptions I was making came from, that is, until I read a blog post on Literary Kicks that places into question the bad reputation the publishing world has earned.

As the LitKicks article points out, many people (like myself) just assume that publishing books isn’t profitable. Well, the numbers start to tell a different story:

You better believe it. It’s funny that many non-industry people assume that book publishing is a depressed or stagnant business. In fact, as recently as several months ago I wrote here on LitKicks that book publishing is generally an unprofitable business, to which my friend and fellow blogger Mary Delli Santi asked "Where did you get that idea?" My assumption was way off, and a simple look at the financial results released by the major media conglomerates sets the record straight.

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Where do you see the publishing industry in 5, 10, or even 20 years? If that question boggles your mind, just consider all the changes that have taken place in publishing over the last decade: ebooks are gaining strength, POD is a more viable option for many, and self-publishing is losing more of the bad (vanity press) image it once had.

Don’t take my word for it, however, because there are a lot of people out there pondering the future of publishing. In fact, HarperCollins will be releasing a book in February called What’s Next: The Experts Guide that will give the expert opinions from 50 people in their respective fields. Among them will be Joni Evans, a former executive from William Morris, who will give her predictions regarding the world of publishing.

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