Writing enthusiasts whose ambitions extend farther than amateur journalism are also showered with opportunities. Remember when the only way to publish a substantial collection of your thoughts was to go through the huge hassle of dealing with hard to impress publishers? Not to mention the fortune you would have had to spend… Well, today that is no longer an issue. In the age of the Internet, where the possibilities are endless, any aspiring writer can become a published author hassle- and cost-free. A friend of mine let me in on this phenomenon and I have selected two of the best self-publishing platforms to present here.
1. Smashwords
Self-proclaimed as the largest and most popular self-publishing web, Smashwords may well be the easiest way to go. All you have to do is upload a Word document of your book on their website. It can then be converted to several eBook formats such as PDF or ePub, which makes it accessible on various platforms. You set the price yourself, get ISBN or marketing of your book, all this at zero cost!
2. Lulu
Another self-publishing company is Lulu, who offers about the same free services as Smashwors. Lulu also has a few things to offer in exchange for money, such as marketing, advertising or even printing. However, other than printing a few copies to stroke my ego, I wouldn’t count on hardcopies of my hypothetical book to be profitable. And here’s why.
It already sounds like a general truth when you say that eBooks are the future of print books. Let me back this statement up a bit. I won’t go into a detailed comparison between analogue and digital (you can find that here), but I will draw on some statistics and show you what publishers think of the path their industry has taken.
source: Google
Stats
- In 2012, 23% of all Americans over 16 read an eBook. Up from 15% in 2011
- Between 2011 and 2012, the percentage of Americans who owned either a tablet or e-reader rose from 18% to 33%.
- In 2011, estimated trade publisher e-book revenues comprised almost 16% of trade dollars. Up from 6.7% in 2010.
- It’s estimated that eBook sales came in at just under 970 million in 2011. That is a 117% increase from 2010.
- According to Forester, eBook sales are expected to reach 9.7 BILLION by 2016.
- At the end of August 2010, eBook sales made up 9% of all trade book sales. In August 2009, they only represented 3.3%.
source: PublishGreen
E-book Sales Growth, 2008 – 2012 (in millions)
| Year | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sales | $64.00 | $291.0 | $869.1 | $2,109.0 | $3,042.0 |
| % chg | — | 354.0% | 198.0% | 142.0% | 44.0% |
E-book Unit Growth, 2008 – 2012 (in millions)
| Year | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 |
| Units | 10.0 | 36.1 | 125.0 | 320.0 | 457.0 |
| % chg | — | 260.0% | 247.00% | 156.00% | 43.0% |
source: PublishersWeekly
Considering how eBooks sales keep growing and how “readers of traditional books dropped from 72 percent to 67 percent” (Huffington Post), I’d say that, for a self-financed amateur writer, eBooks are the safest bet. The self-publishing platforms which i mentioned earlier make it incredibly easy for you to get your book out there for free and in the format of the future. Once again, digital media enables the consumer to become a producer!
References
AP, 2012. Reading Statistics: Traditional Books On Decline, Survey Says. [online] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/27/reading-statistics-_n_2370186.html
Harness, J., n.d. The Advantages of eBooks Versus Traditional Books. [online] http://online-bookstores-review.toptenreviews.com/the-advantages-of-ebooks-versus-traditional-books.html
Kandrik, R., 2014. Books in the age of digital media. [online] http://books-go-digital.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/sell-your-book-online-its-easy-peasy.html
Milliot, J., 2013. BEA 2013: The E-book Boom Years. [online] http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/bea/article/57390-bea-2013-the-e-book-boom-years.html
Publish Green, n.d. Why eBook Publishing? https://www.publishgreen.com/ebook-publishing-statistics
Consumer Generated Content 