I’m in the process of transferring Captive’s distribution from my publisher to me. There may be some disruptions in availability but I’m learning (a lot). And it’s all fairly simple…surprisingly so. Or at least I’m saying that now.
The Captive saga is long; suffice to say, when I decided to go with a smaller publisher I made the decision based on the fact that I kept full rights to the book thus could get creative with my marketing. And now I have distribution flexibility. The benefits and perils of being a lawyer (I was discussing this idea with a Copyright lawyer friend of mine over lunch…I even have great advisors). Not all writers have that skill set and are navigating the publishing world unprotected.
So I’m starting to question whether I should be leveraging all that I’ve learned about the book world from my Captive experiences to help other writers. Maybe I should ask for manuscript submissions and brand a (digital at first) publishing house. There is scale in a steady stream of genre related books.
As we know, book publishing is undergoing disruption and a newer, friendlier business model hasn’t yet emerged. Costs to make a product are lower but generating sales is harder (with the long tale continuing to get longer). Many, many individuals have written books yet new writers have a harder time getting heard as the publishers and agents are wary to take on the risk of a new artist with sales in flux. The burden of marketing is on the author, unless they’re already established or lucky.
In change comes opportunity.
Thoughts or suggestions? Good idea, or bad? Have a manuscript?
All feedback is welcome. I’m a huge believer in drawing on the wisdom of the crowds. Does it make sense to start a digital publisher to launch talented new writers? Any interest in reading their work…chosen carefully and in select genres?
Thanks for reading this far….even if you have no comments…..
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