I'm getting closer to having a product on the market. The first bulk order has been placed and these books will be available for sale after October 20.
Self publishing is something that is relatively easy to start but to carve out a space it is very much a business matter of acting like a publisher not a writer. So it is a matter of working out how the industry works, who are the payers in the space you want to be in, what is the means of distribution and a whole world of intrigue around pricing, royalties and margins. And all this is an industry that has been going through a process of disruption for some time, now more-so than ever with a proliferation of ebooks and e-retailers. Bricks and mortar booksellers really do need a particular niche to survive. Its all about who is adding value and who is adding cost.
In the real world the intermediaries have a place. Final larger customers, like public libraries around Australia, who have no doubt been inundated by pitches from we self publishers, have outsourced their selection to traditional distributors. The same goes for some of the more prominent e-retailers, which is a surprise. So its interesting to see things swinging back to bolster rather than water down the position of the intermediaries. It is an interesting industry.
If you visit the
Blurb bookstore you can see a preview of the book.
