Self-publishing; a threat or an opportunity to traditional book publishers?

Recently I spoke to an old acquaintance who asked me the question you ask most people you haven’t seen in a while. ‘So Kirsten, what is it you do nowadays?’.

Well, I study book publishing.

Upon this reply I often receive a skewed look. Have I not chosen a remarkably poor subject? With the decline in book stores, the increasing popularity of self-publishing, the e-book, and Amazon, the popular belief is that books are dying out.

Nothing seems further from the truth. From 2009 to 2011 there has been an increase of 13.46% of ISBN registrations (The UK Book Publishing Industry in Statistics 2011). This suggests that every year more and more people decide to write a book. However, my audience is right that all these factors have put the publishing industry in an awkward position.

In days gone by there was only one way for an author to get published. They sent their manuscripts to publishers who separated talent from rubbish. From the talent pile a selection was made and converted into books. From this small selection readers chose their next book. However, with such an increase of writers the pile of content which needs to be divided into talent and rubbish has grown to a disproportionate size. Publishing houses no longer have time or resources to carefully sift through the pile – some have even gotten rid of this so-called ‘slush pile’ altogether.

As a result authors (who often have an unwavering belief in themselves) feel unheard. They have started looking for other ways to distribute their work, and the internet has readily provided for their needs. At small cost authors now self-publish their content onto the web, and to the surprise of the publishing industry they also found themselves a readership which even markets their work for them through word-of-mouth. As supply of small titles is growing, giving readers much more choice, the demand of the big titles is waning and book profits are going down.

Despite all this, the publishing houses remain. Only they have the marketing and distribution resources to reach the major audiences. Let’s not forget the real hype around Fifty Shades really only started when E.L. James was snapped up by Cornerstone and the big retailers starting selling her paperbacks and e-books. Instead of being daunted by this development, the publishing world should be excited. Let the reader dictate what they want to read, and closely monitor what is ‘trending’. It should be easy to spot a bestseller from a mile off.

Publishers may be set in their ways and slow to adapt, but they’re certainly not dying. They are simply changing. So a poor subject? Not so sure. An exciting one? Definitely.