ePublishing Week in Brief – January 6th to 10th, 2014
ePublishing Week in Brief – January 6th to 10th, 2014
2014 Author Survey: Indie Authors and Others Prefer Traditional Publishing…Slightly
Few authors share my enthusiasm for indie publishing, according to the latest data.
I recently learned this while analyzing survey results for the 2014 Digital Book World and Writer’s Digest Author Survey. Among the authors surveyed who had completed manuscripts, surprisingly few expressed a preference to indie publish their latest ones. Among traditionally published authors in the survey sample, only 7.5% expressed a preference to self-publish rather than to traditionally publish, compared to 10.1% of aspiring, 35.1% of self-published, and 29.8% of hybrid authors. While interest in self-publishing was higher among those respondents who had tried it, few authors reported that they only wanted to self-publish their next book. (See chart below.)
2014 Book Publishing Industry Predictions — Increased Competition Between Traditional Publishers and Indie Authors
What does 2014 hold in store for ebook authors, publishers and readers? Today I bring you 14 book publishing industry predictions.
Predictions stir our imagination of what’s possible. By imagining what’s possible, readers and authors can prepare for the future, or take steps to realize the future they desire.
1. Big publishers lower prices – Back in 2009, one of my first posts for Huffington Post was a call for publishers to introduce $4.00 ebooks. Self-published (indie) authors heeded the call, but publishers did not. Until recently, it was rare to see a traditionally published book priced under $4.00. Why? Traditional publishers have fought tooth and nail to maintain higher ebook prices for fear that low-priced ebooks would cannibalize print sales, harm their profitability, and establish unrealistic consumer expectations of the worth of a book. By maintaining high ebook prices, they surrendered the sub-$4.00 market for ebooks to indie authors, which indies readily exploited.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mark-coker/2014-book-publishing-indu_b_4533411.html
One quarter of Brits want to self-publish a book
2014 is set to be the year of budding writers. 28% of Brits’ New Year’s resolution is to publish their own book. Amongst the most popular genres are cookery, history and children’s’ literature.
Almost one in ten (10%) enterprising and creative Brits already have self-published a photo book, a cookery book or an illustrated children’s book in the past.
This year, inspired by culinary TV hits including the Great British Bake Off and superstar chefs like Jamie Oliver and Delia Smith, the book Brits most want to publish is a cookbook. One fifth (20%) deem their dishes tasty enough to feed the nation.
http://www.femalefirst.co.uk/books/news-400059.html#ixzz2pz9OukIr
SELF-PUBLISHING PLATFORMS LIKE TORONTO’S WATTPAD REPORT STRONG 2013
Moreover, Wattpad’s users spent more than 41 billion minutes on the platform, with users under 25 accounting for the majority of time spent on Wattpad.
“We’ve redefined what it means to be a reader by empowering a new generation to read, create and shape the stories that matter to them, all from their mobile devices,” said CEO Allen Lau. “We’ve seen major growth in 2013 thanks to the incredibly active Wattpad community. We expect an even bigger year ahead, and ultimately, a future where millions of original stories are created every day.”
http://www.betakit.com/self-publishing-platforms-like-torontos-wattpad-report-strong-2013/