Monday, May 21, 2012

The Growth of Independence

Jump into the way-back machine, okay, maybe not so way-back.

Books in electronic format have been around for a bit, but really, the Kindle really brought the written word into the modern age.  Resistance was there, and I was one of them.  I like the feel, the smell, the look of a printed book in my hand.  Not to mention the aesthetics of a physical representation of my purchase.  Regardless of my resistance, e-readers are everywhere, and more and more people are embracing this technology on a daily basis.  The traditional publishing houses still resist.

When Amazon brought us the Kindle, they warned that those $5 books wouldn't last; the publisher's were already resisting then.  Today, when you shop for a new e-book on Amazon, you will see one line; "the price was set by the publisher".  Is this their way of saying "we tried to tell them it was too much"?

Without getting into the whole argument about why, or whether the price is justified, let me just say that in most cases the paperback is cheaper than the electronic version.

But, this is a good thing.  Because of the arrogance of the Big 6, readers have found some quality independent authors.  If you scan some of Kindle's top selling lists, you will see they are skewed more toward the indie's.  Writers are finding out that they can do just as well, and in some cases better, on their own as if they had signed a big contract .

How long will this go on?  Seems to me that is up to the big publishing houses.  As long as they try to sell their books at the prices they are trying to sell them at now, readers will gravitate towards the independents.

Personally, I think the big houses should charge more.

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