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Self-Publishing: Opportunities and Threats in a New Age of Mass Culture

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Publishing Research Quarterly Aims and scope

Abstract

Developments in vanity presses, electronic publishing and social media have led to outstanding growth in the publishing industry. Eighty percent of people believe they have a book in them and the opportunities provided by new technologies are responding to their needs. This raises important questions: What effect will these developments have on the industry? In this environment, is quality control feasible? How will potential readers find their treasure? Will book publishing remain a cost-effective activity? We will examine the publishing industry looking for the answers to these questions and may just find that things are not as bleak as we initially thought.

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Notes

  1. The History of the Celestine Series, http://www.celestinevision.com/.

  2. The Celestine Prophecy, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/.

  3. Yakowicz, Susie, Find Self-Publishing Success with a Niche Market, 5th August 2010, http://suite101.com/.

  4. For more information: Books News and Publishing Industry Statistics, http://selfpublishingresources.com/.

  5. For more information, please visit: http://www.ecwpress.com/books/stories-about-storytellers or http://douglasgibsonbooks.com/.

  6. Self-Publishing and POD, Turning the Page, Euradio, 6th May 2012, http://www.euradio.eu/.

  7. Baddeley, Anna, Ebooks: why it pays to self-publish, The Observer, 4th March 2012, www.guardian.co.uk.

  8. For more information, please visit: http://www.welovewords.com/.

  9. Interview with Elizabeth Eve, Program Officer, Canada Council for the Arts, Ottawa, May 2011, https://pedagogie.ec-nantes.fr/book-industry/.

  10. Haugland, Ann, “Opening the Gates: Print On-Demand Publishing as Cultural Production”, Publishing Research Quarterly, Volume 22, Issue 3, pp. 3–16.

  11. For more information, please visit: http://www.combinedbook.com/.

  12. For more information, please visit http://www.booksabroad.com/.

  13. Interview with Maxeen Paabo, Nicolas Hoare, Toronto, 11th October 2011, https://pedagogie.ec-nantes.fr/book-industry/.

  14. Self-Published Authors of South Africa, http://spasa.org.za/.

  15. Budget constraints mean that editing costs are being increasingly shared between and the author and publisher.

  16. The following website discusses the editing dilemma faced by many self-published authors with clear guidance on the best course of action to take http://www.selfpublishing.com/editorial/.

  17. Pulping refers to the destruction or recycling of paper by crushing it with water. This practice is commonplace in the publishing industry as publishers ‘recycle’ unsold returns. It is one of the unfortunate consequences of the consignment policy of major industry players.

  18. Print-On-Demand publishers receive a commission of around eighty percent on books that are printed and distributed through their sales channels.

  19. The Big Six publishers are HarperCollins, Hachette Book Group, Macmillan, Penguin Group, Random House and Simon and Schuster.

  20. Staff editor, Just Press Print: The Boom in Printing on Demand, The Economist, 25th February 2010. This refers to new generation book printing machines like the Espresso Book Machine, marketed by Ingram that allows stores that use the equipment to print a copy of an average two hundred page paperback in <4 min.

  21. For more information, see Kevin Kelly’s keynote speech at the O’Reilly’s Tools of Change for Publishing Conference 2011, Better than Free: How Value Is Generated in a Free Copy World, on www.youtube.com.

  22. For example, free users would have access to a news article whereas members would have access to this article and additional commentary and analysis provided by specialists. In another example, free users would have access to one photo within the article about a given event whereas members would be given access to all of the photo coverage of the event.

  23. Johnson, Dean, Apps and eBooks: Readers Have Great Expectations But How Do You Deliver, Publishing Perspectives, 28th October 2010, http://publishingperspectives.com/.

  24. Self Publishing and POD, Turning the Page, Euradio, 6th May 2012, http://www.euradio.eu/.

  25. Moore, David, “About Half of Americans Reading a Book”, Gallup News Service, 3rd June 2005.

  26. Power readers are defined as book consumers who purchase four or more books per month.

  27. Kang, Cecilia, Survey Finds e-Readers are Spurring Consumers of Books in All Formats, The Washington Post, 5th April 2012, http://www.washingtonpost.com/. This article is based on the findings of a survey the Pew Research Center. This survey indicates that around nine out of ten eBook consumers continue to purchase paper books.

References

Selected Works

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  2. Carolan S, Evain C. Shifting authority: (Ex)changing roles in the evolving publishing environment. International Journal of the Book 10.4, Common Ground Publishing, 2013;53–64.

  3. Carreiro E. Electronic books: how digital devices and supplementary new technologies are changing the face of the publishing industry. Publ Res Q. 2010; 26(4):219–35.

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  5. Evain Christine. 101 Questions sur l’industrie du livre. Paris: Editions Publibook Université—Editions Ecole Centrale de Nantes; 2011. p. 37–49.

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  6. Gibson Douglas. Stories about Storytellers. Toronto: ECW Press; 2011.

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  7. Haugland A. Opening the gates: print on-demand publishing as cultural production. Publ Res Q. 2006;22(3): 3–16.

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Press Articles

  1. Baddeley A. Ebooks: why it pays to self-publish. The Observer, 4th March 2012. http://www.guardian.co.uk.

  2. Buchan L. Why writers need publishers… or do they?”, Publishing Perspectives, 2nd May 2012. http://publishingperspectives.com/.

  3. Buser L. John Grisham marks 20th anniversary of ‘A Time to Kill’, USA Today, 21st June 2009. http://www.usatoday.com.

  4. Bramson S. Pottermore wows and disappoints. The College Reporter. Internet, 11th October 2011. http://www.college-reporter.com/.

  5. Johnson D. Apps and eBooks: readers have great expectations but how do you deliver. Publishing Perspectives. 28th October 2010. http://publishingperspectives.com/.

  6. Staff editor, Just Press Print: The Boom in Printing on Demand, The Economist, 25th February 2010. http://www.economist.com.

  7. Yakowicz S. Find self-publishing success with a Niche Market, 5th August 2010, suite101.com.

Radio Interviews

  1. Self-Publishing and POD, Turning the Page, Euradio, 6th May 2012. www.euradio.eu.

  2. Interview with Elizabeth Eve, Canada Council for the Arts, Ottawa, May 2011. https://pedagogie.ec-nantes.fr/book-industry/.

  3. Interview with Maxeen Paabo, Nicolas Hoare, Toronto, 11th October 2011. https://pedagogie.ec-nantes.fr/book-industry/.

Web-based Resources

  1. Better than Free: How Value Is Generated in a Free Copy World, Kevin Kelly, O’Reilly’s Tools of Change for Publishing Conference 2011. www.youtube.com.

  2. Books news and publishing industry statistics. http://selfpublishingresources.com/.

  3. Douglas Gibson Books, an imprint of McLelland and Stewart. http://douglasgibsonbooks.com/ or http://www.mcclelland.com/douglas_gibson/index.html.

  4. Nicolas Hoare Bookstore’s travel programme, Books Abroad. http://www.booksabroad.com/.

  5. We Love Words. http://www.welovewords.com/.

  6. Self-Published Authors of South Africa. http://spasa.org.za/.

  7. Self-Publishing’s Book Editor and Editorial Service. http://www.selfpublishing.com/editorial/.

  8. The Celestine Prophecy, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org.

  9. The Combined Book Exhibit. http://www.combinedbook.com/.

  10. The History of the Celestine Series. http://www.celestinevision.com/.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Communication, Languages and Corporate Cultures/GeM Laboratory (Bureau T221), Ecole Centrale de Nantes, 1 rue de la Nöe, BP 92101, 44321, Nantes Cedex 3, France

    Simon Carolan

  2. Department of Communication, Languages and Corporate Cultures/CRINI Laboratory, Ecole Centrale de Nantes, 1 rue de la Nöe, BP 92101, 44321, Nantes Cedex 3, France

    Christine Evain

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  1. Simon Carolan
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  2. Christine Evain
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Correspondence to Simon Carolan.

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Carolan, S., Evain, C. Self-Publishing: Opportunities and Threats in a New Age of Mass Culture. Pub Res Q 29, 285–300 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12109-013-9326-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12109-013-9326-3

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