Authors selling direct to their readers
In a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, author Seth Godin discusses how he plans to ditch his traditional publisher, Portfolio, and sell his future works directly to his fans.If authors start selling e-books directly to their fans (to download and even print) via their online blogs, bypassing publishers, imagine the impact that would that have on library aquisition policies. Would collection development librarians need to follow 1,000s of blogs to find authors' latest books? Sounds like there will be a need for a new online business - a "middleman" to troll the blogs for new books and market to libraries. Its also another nail in the coffin of printed books and bookshops - no one is going to want to print out hundreds of pages on the home printer to read a novel.
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2 comments :
I think this could be a very real possibility for some authors. If it is to work successfully, however, they will have to start running it like a business (e.g. have a marketing strategy etc.). It could get to the point where they start to employ other staff to do this for them. Publishers may also begin to offer their services in this arena. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.
I think whichever way you look at it a new service niche will evolve, because we do need a way to identify and select the items which form our collection. And people who buy books for themselves will need an online space like Amazon to learn about these titles. Seth Godin, the author profiled in the article said his blog attracts an estimated 438,000 followers. So you can certainly understand direct to the public publishing working for him.
But where is the ‘joy of the hunt’ in this scenario? What about browsing, stumbling across something new by an old favourite, or discovering someone you’ve never heard of before and suddenly can’t wait to read? Or the cover that intrigues you? Just being surrounded and inspired by the creativity expressed by the row upon row of books in front of you. Is there a way to simulate that in a virtual sense? Interesting times……..
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