With the news that Pearson and Bertelsmann are to merge their publishers in order to become more competitive what does this mean for authors?
One statement says that this will provide the opportunity to invest in the new technologies - essentially ebooks.
The question is what can large publishers offer a new author today?
Mentoring?
Editing?
Marketing?
Cover design?
Access to major retailers?
Warehouse facilities?
What does the author have to pay for all of these? OK so the publisher has to take a risk and invest in a new author but if books are sold then the publisher keeps a significant proportion of the takings.
If an author decides to self-publish either a physical book or an e-book they get to keep a much higher proportion of the income gererated from sales.
Can an author access these services if they decide to self-publish. In fact by using a reputable self-publishing service the author can choose which services to purchase including warehousing.
We shouldn't overlook the small publishers who can offer a something between traditional publishing deals and self-publishing. Maybe this will become a growth area because if large publishers continue to offer little to new authors they will find that authors will continue to look for ways to get their books on the shelves or e-readers.
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