J.K. Rowling, Self publisher

firesprite

firesprite

Master Member
The news broke a few days ago that JK Rowling is offering up ebooks of Harry & Co's adventures in ebook versions and is cutting her publishing companies, more or less, out of the equation. She's using her own platform which won't be locked down to any one device and is selling them through her own retail shop which is partnered with Sony.

She's apparently sharing a portion of her profits with her British publisher (no word about whether the American pubs are getting a slice of the pie) which turns the traditional publishing model on its ear. More and more people who have found success through so-called 'traditional' publishing are taking their work and going into business for themselves. JK is just the most recent example.

Of course, this has a lot of people in the publishing industry in a tizzy because this is not what's supposed to be happening.

Read more about it here:
J.K. Rowling's Pottermore reveal: Harry Potter e-books and more

J.K. Rowling unveils details of mysterious
 
I agree there are so many options for self publishing that the publishers are going to have to find a way to adapt.
 
Easy to do when you're already stinking rich.

I mean if it totally flopped, she's out what?

Cigarette money. (relatively speaking)
 
Compared to the rest us? She'd be out the equivalent of a few cents :)

Is this what the whole pottermore thing was?
 
micdavis said:
Easy to do when you're already stinking rich.

I mean if it totally flopped, she's out what?

Cigarette money. (relatively speaking)
Click to expand...
Out of my head, devil man! These were my exact thoughts!

Firesprite, if you were doing this and it took off, that is newsworthy. "Small author breaks big!" kinda thing. This is more like her pet project.
 
Qui-Gonzalez said:
Out of my head, devil man! These were my exact thoughts!

Firesprite, if you were doing this and it took off, that is newsworthy. "Small author breaks big!" kinda thing. This is more like her pet project.
Click to expand...

LOL. It's a big deal to me because I -am- self-published and news of someone like Rowling taking that route means that fewer people are going to have any room to look down their noses at me for doing so! :D
 
My dad is a writer, poet and sometime publisher and remains active in the literary scene. To him, 'vanity publishing' has always been a HUGE sin. But I think it's on the cards that the very term will cease to exist in the not too distant future!
 
Nwerke said:
My dad is a writer, poet and sometime publisher and remains active in the literary scene. To him, 'vanity publishing' has always been a HUGE sin. But I think it's on the cards that the very term will cease to exist in the not too distant future!
Click to expand...

Well, there's a bit of a difference between 'vanity' publishing and self publishing. What people generally think of when they think of 'vanity' publishing is paying up front, getting 1000 copies of your book, or whatever, and then trying to figure out what the heck to do with them now. It's hideously over-priced for what you get and 99% of the outfits that do it are considered scams. Most of the self-publishing outlets that are popular these days have minimal, or no, upfront outlay of cash.

It's also, frankly, more honest than going through a big publishing house. A lot of authors seem to think that if they can get signed on with an agent and get a publishing deal with Tor or one of the other big names, that they'll just have to sit back and enjoy the ride while the publisher does all the work of promoting and advertising the book. Unfortunately, that's just not true. If you look at the promotional dollars a publisher outlays, it spends around 90% of those funds on 5-10% of the titles it publishes, usually those with established names attached to them. At least if you're self-published, you know the publicity stuff is going to fall squarely on your head.
 
Not to him, I'm afraid! Which is why I was making the point that I think the term will fall out of use - as the business model you're using grows, and the fan-fic phenomenon grows, and so on and so forth, it will seem more and more the norm anyway.
 
Qui-Gonzalez said:
Out of my head, devil man! These were my exact thoughts!

Firesprite, if you were doing this and it took off, that is newsworthy. "Small author breaks big!" kinda thing. This is more like her pet project.
Click to expand...

Great. Now we have to deal with thought recasting? Where´s a scanner when you need one? And no, guys, I don´t want to see your heads ´splode.

I wonder what would have happened if she had started out as a self-publisher via the internet? Releasing a portion of her book week by week, getting people hooked and then sell books? I don´t think that the success would have been as huge as it was, since the books itself are media that don´t depend on having to use a computer or any additional device, making the stories accessible for a much, much larger audience. Granted, the core audience might be comp savvy kids, but there´s a ton more people out there that don´t havce access. Books aren´t dead yet. And I don´t think that publishers have no justification for their existence.

Artists completely in control of their work? Nobody to answer to? granted, a lot of geniuses out there, but then there are people like *ahem* George Lucas, totally in control of their work, but not for the good of the work. I think it´s part of any creative process to have to check the quality with other people, just for a different perspective.

Michael
 
I'm happy she is striking out on her own , but frankly I am so tired of harry Potter in every way. Kill him already . He's what 40 now or something. She has milked it for long enough.

-james
 
ManfromNaboo said:
Great. Now we have to deal with thought recasting? Where´s a scanner when you need one? And no, guys, I don´t want to see your heads ´splode.

I wonder what would have happened if she had started out as a self-publisher via the internet? Releasing a portion of her book week by week, getting people hooked and then sell books? I don´t think that the success would have been as huge as it was, since the books itself are media that don´t depend on having to use a computer or any additional device, making the stories accessible for a much, much larger audience. Granted, the core audience might be comp savvy kids, but there´s a ton more people out there that don´t havce access. Books aren´t dead yet. And I don´t think that publishers have no justification for their existence.

Artists completely in control of their work? Nobody to answer to? granted, a lot of geniuses out there, but then there are people like *ahem* George Lucas, totally in control of their work, but not for the good of the work. I think it´s part of any creative process to have to check the quality with other people, just for a different perspective.

Michael
Click to expand...

Totally agree with you, Michael. Without an editor who's willing to crack on you and ask you what the 'f' you're thinking, you're going to churn out drek and no one's going to buy it... or if they do, they're going to feel cheated (as a lot of fans do with the prequels).

And, no, the hardcopy book ain't going anywhere any time soon, thankfully. I enjoy physical copies a lot. I just got a signed copy of Lancer's book, as a matter of fact, and was so pleased when I did, I took it with me to a writer/editor meeting with some colleagues of mine to show off!
 
I have such mixed feelings about this subject.

A good publisher can be extremely helpful to a writer, with deadlines, promotion, knowing the business - all the things that a creative person might struggle to do on their own, especially while trying to be creative!

A bad publisher takes advantage of the artist not knowing the business or being good with numbers or knowing what their stuff is worth... both good writers and bad writers can get sucked into bad deals and get discouraged.

Self-publishing sounds like a good way for artists to at least compete with the publishers so that they don't HAVE to sign a contract in order to get a book into print. Now more than ever publishers are having to make their business model and contracts look more attractive and actually helpful.
 
Firesprite, anyone who looks down at you for self publishing should be beaten with a stick! And then buried alive. hahaha

Kidding.

Really, I hope you do make it big! That way we call all say OH, I KNEW HER BEFORE SHE WAS A BILLIONAIRE!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Krats
Vigo the Carpathian Painting
Replies
8
Views
1,327
Krats
Krats
V
The Cuckoo's Calling by J.K. Rowling
Replies
6
Views
1,491
Probe Droid
Probe Droid
aetherdeus
Magnoli Smith Vest and prototype Smith Jeans review
Replies
0
Views
2,509
aetherdeus
aetherdeus
W
Trying to think of Harry Potter details
Replies
7
Views
1,722
Serenity
Serenity
TheLadyNerd
Rise of the Tomb Raider (2015)
2 3 4
Replies
72
Views
27,339
kristen jones
kristen jones
Back
Top