This post by J.A. Konrath originally appeared on his A Newbie’s Guide to Publishing blog on 8/17/14.
Over four years ago I wrote a blog post about ebooks:
Joe sez in May 2010: I’d always assumed that print publishers would begin to lose market dominance once ebooks took off in a big way, and they’d have to either restructure or die.
But now I’m predicting another death for them.
What is going to happen when authors stop sending their books to publishers?
If I know I can make $100,000 on a self-published ebook in five years of sales, and I have the numbers to back up this claim, why would any informed writer–either pro or newbie–ever settle for less?
The dominance of ebooks is coming. I have no doubt. But I always thought it was the readers who would lead the charge, based on cost and convenience.
Now I’m starting to believe that the ones with the real power are the ones who should have had the power since the beginning of publishing. The ones who create the content in the first place.
The authors.
It’s a wonderful, dynamic, empowering time to be an author. For the first time, we can command our own ships.
We’re the ones who write the books. We can reach readers without any gatekeepers at all. And we can make money doing it.
The print publishing industry’s biggest fear shouldn’t be the eventual dominance of ebooks over print.
Click here to read the full post on A Newbie’s Guide to Publishing.