Article: Self-Publishing, Author Services Open Floodgates for Writers
March 1, 2010 – 11:26 pmby Carla King
Mid-level authors already know that the era of large advances, generous royalties, book tours and media spots are over. They have to spend their own time and money to create a website and publicize their books. Publishers just don’t have the resources to offer them full support. Why? The Internet, online bookstores, e-books, and an economy in decline are cited as some root causes of the steady slump in the traditional publishing industry. In 2005 sales were down by 9 percent (and have continued to fall). Yet in 2006 print-on-demand exploded.
The 2007 Bowker report quotes Kelly Gallagher, general manager of business intelligence for New Providence, N.J.-based Bowker, saying, “The most startling development last year is the reporting of ‘On Demand’ titles…which mostly consists of reprints of public domain titles and other short-run books.”
