Are authors better off because of easy self-publishing?

Being a college student I’m often forced to take classes I don’t like and do projects that I have no interest in. Which I assume is strange because no one else who has ever attended college would experience that same feeling toward college . . . right?

Well, one particular class the final one that I needed to round out my minor in economics focused on economic conditions that affect the entertainment community. The final project in that class was an economic topic of my choice related to the entertainment industry. Naturally I gravitated toward the publishing industry because I like to learn more about both writing and the dirty side of the industry, publishing.

The big question that I sought to answer—pardon the economics speech, I’ll limit it from here on out—was “Has the advent of easy self publishing increased or decreased the utility of readers or authors?” In otherwords, who is better off?

If you have any questions about my data, follow this link to a small page with my data and original presentation. There you will also find all my sources.

Are authors better off because of easy self-publishing?

I sought to answer several questions to determine if authors are better off.

Is it easier for an author to get published?

Are authors seeing an increase in revenue?

Are authors able to recognize the non-monetary benefits associated with being an author more easily? Author status, professional credibility and simple love of the craft, were my primary focus of non-monetary benefits.

Is it easier for an author to get published?

Quite simply, yes, there is no doubt that if you want to be published you can be. With only the cost of one’s time to set up an account with the various publishing platforms. An author doesn’t even need to spend money to buy an ISBN anymore. It couldn’t get any better. For the sake of using data to support this claim there has been a 1,881% increase in the number of new authors and a 2,374% increase in the number of books. More authors are entering the market and writing more books.

Something else to consider in all this, is that in self-publishing an author essentially goes in alone. They develop a network of support leveraging the skills of editors, cover designers and other essential individuals. But in the end, we do go it alone. Which carries its own cost and pushes both the full weight of failure onto the author, but it also allows the complete benefits of success to be theirs alone.

Are authors seeing an increase in revenue?

Again, yes. Since 2002 Indie Authors saw an increase of 90% in revenue, and 223% in Single Author revenue. Big Five authors saw only a 32% increase, which still isn’t bad. Keep in mind, however, that these numbers are the average, outliers in the industry will have a drastic effect on the totals overall. I’ll talk more about that in a follow-on blog.

Are authors able to recognize the non-monetary benefits associated with being an author more easily?

Is there a value in gained author status? It carries with it, its own form of celebrity. Not the trashy kind where papparazi follow authors to diners and take pictures of their spouses in swimming pools, it is the kind that creates an assumed intelligence and discipline. When old friends say hi to me the one thing they bring up repeatedly, is that I’m an author. They think I’m famous for it and that I’m suddenly wealthy. I wish that were the case. I got passed by an Audi R8 on the highway the other day, all it would take is one NY Times bestseller and it could be mine. But I remain a struggling author none-the-less.

Are authors more quickly capable of gaining professional credibility as a result of easy self-publishing?

Yes, regardless of the quality of one’s work being published is being published and there remains an aire of credibility associated with that. I recently went through a very competitive recruiting process for severaly limited positions and my published works being on my resume helped me to stand out among my peers. My works were not even related to the field I was applying.

Love of the craft. I will address this one in a follow on blog, it is big, and important and a singular motivator toward extremely irrational behavior in this market.

If you want to see my data, the project I did for my class or just check my sources, I know it is a bit of a mess, check out this link.

#economics #author #writing #publishingindustry #booksales #sellingbooks