Re:The problem with self-published books
by alanfalcon on Thursday March 27, 2014 @12:29PM
(#7481430)
There's no chance that I could ever earn more money as a self-published author if I bypassed Amazon. I'd earn more per sale, but the 30% to Amazon in exchange for solving (or at least addressing) the issues of Discoverability and Reviews is so completely worth it.
The problem, as you called out, is with the self-selling, it's a very different skillset than the one that produced the book, so it makes sense to let an Amazon help out on that front.
My sales have certainly not been spectacular[1], but just by dropping my book on Amazon I have 15 reviews[2] I wouldn't otherwise have, and far more revenue overall.
[1] http://www.syncingdreams.com/2013/02/rise-and-fall-of-book-o... [2] http://www.amazon.com/Dragon-Master-Stonedragon-Flame-1-eboo...
That just makes the "collection of unread books" problem even more confusing.
In any case, none of this is due to self-publishing, but rather a particular approach to self-publishing which does not seem to be all that common.
Discoverability is definitely due to self-publishing. If you can't afford to fund your own book tour you're less likely to reach customers.
I think authors moving to self-publishing is a good thing. And when the author sells directly to the reader (and not on Amazon), he/she can build relationships directly with the reader, and can earn more money. That's a good thing.
The problems are:
1. Discoverability - finding good books that have been self-published by authors.
2. Reviews - even on goodreads.com not all books are reviewed, and there is no way to find books in the startup space. Having a community of people who can recommend good books on a topic could be valuable.
3. Interaction - personally, I find interacting with other people that are reading the same book motivating. Hearing their point of view, and their ideas for applying a book's topic can improve the reading experience.