Thursday, March 7, 2013

Thoughts On The Recent Announcement by Tablo and Apple's iBookstore

In an article that orginally came out March 4th via PR Web and the SF GATE, we heard of the latest in offerings for those authors interested in self-publishing. Tablo is going to make available for authors "to publish their books globally with a single click." As Ash Davies, the founder of Tablo points out, We've built a solution that allows any author to publish their books globally with a single click!"

I have to say, on the surface, this sounds like a great offering. We can now make this available to a lot of people who might have been limited as to where their books would end up for the readers. But, with all of this hype, the one question still remains that I think many of the self-publishing companies miss. How will these books be moved to the forefront of the readers? Does availability alone mean that sales will increase?

We have talked about this before here on the blog, and I know this has also been discussed at numerous writing conferences that I have attended. With the rise of all the self-publishing opportunities for writers, it has become even harder for many writers to rise to the surface and become recognized for their writing. With the number of authors out there, the chances of a writer being "stumbled upon" and "discovered" will become even harder.

This doesn't mean it cannot happen, but just because there are more sites for your book to be placed does not mean it will sell better.

I have to say, I get really frustrated when I see moves like this. I am someone who wants to create opportunities for writers to get their work published. I am someone who wants to see writers succeed. What frustrates me though, is that this seems to give a writers a sense that success is even closer.

As an industry, it seems that we need to find a way to focus on the marketing aspect of the books. How do we make people more aware of these new and upcoming authors? There is a lot to be said about the digital realm of publishing but in all honesty, this is one of those areas that I personally believe needs a little more attention.


2 comments:

  1. This is where it gets confusing. I read an interview with Harlan Coben ( 5 consecutive NYT bestsellers) yesterday on a site called 'The Big Thrill'.

    He says, among other things that: "Never does a clever tweet or funny Facebook status or Amazon list manipulation trick have any real, lasting effect. And that’s a good thing. The story is the thing" And further that the worst writing advice to writers is anything that doesn't end with "shut up and write."

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  2. They're charging 100 bucks for one title what anyone can do for free, $299 for up to five titles. I must be missing something.

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