The 'Wild West' World of Self Publishing
Self-published ebooks are continuing to shake up the publishing world.
I first ventured into the world of ebooks after getting a Kindle for my birthday last November.
Although I did buy some ebooks in the $6.99 to $8.99 range, I soon realized I could still purchase my favorite authors’ new paperback releases at Target or other discount stores for a 25 percent discount. I’m still buying from the big publishers, where I can be assured of a certain quality and high standard, but I go where I can find the best price – whether it’s digital or paper.
However, when it comes to my Kindle, I’ve quickly fallen into a pattern of giving less expensive ebooks a second (and third) look. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, I am not alone.
Reporter Jeffrey Trachtenberg reports that a recent Amazon top 50 ebook best-seller list featured 15 books priced at $5 or less. One part-time thriller writer who sells his titles for 99 cents had seven spots on the best-seller list. The self e-published author, John Locke, he says he made $126,000 from his Amazon sales in March alone.
The country’s six largest publishers set the retail prices of their ebooks. Amazon reports it sees a higher rate of growth on titles it can discount. I still look for ebook deals from the established authors and publishers. Honestly, I have never bought a 99-cent ebook but apparently there are plenty of readers out there who have.
It all goes to show it is still a crazy world of the unknown when it comes to ebooks and self-epublishing.
Or as literary agent Jane Dystel says in the article, “This is a Wild West of a world.”
