Monday, May 23, 2011

E-Books

Looks like I am going to have to eat crow on this one. (What a terrible expression, wonder where it comes from.) I've been reading about Amanda Hocking and her huge success via indie e-book publishing leading to a massive advance on her new YA series with a traditional publisher. Clever girl! I wish her well. It would appear that indie e-book publishing is the first real break for authors - in the master/slave relationship that is the publishing industry - since agents were invented. I'm afraid I don't see where writers' unions or associations have really mattered. They simply don't have the power. At the moment, the publishing industry is in a state of fear and chaos bordering on paralysis. They seem unable or unwilling to deal with the rapid advance of e-technology. Latest statistics show that e-book sales are passing regular book sales. We live in interesting times. If the publishers don't move with them, the writers must! Watch this space.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Just discovered your Chronicals of Faerie and wonder when or if the will be available as ebooks soon? My eyes r so bad that I only buy ebooks cuz I can make the print large enough to read. To bad publishers don,t get that issue.

OR Melling said...

Should be soon. I'll announce as soon as I know.