This may simply be an exercise in semantics or too pedantic for its own good. But, something ticked into my brain yesterday and I can't let it go and it's this: do you want to be published or distributed?
You, your neighbor, your uncle and even, with some help, your dog, can get published. A worthy color inkjet printer and a ream of paper will do that. Lulu.com will do that. So will a handful of other self-publishing houses. Publishing is easier than ever, really. An once you've got a copy in your hand, well, that's that. You're published. Next goal, please.
However, for many, isn't the brass ring today distribution? In creating a tabletop board game back in 2002 (Counterterrorist, $19.95, I've got 857 copies left, if you play Warhammer, you'll love CT, order now!
), I found that actually creating and buying things like dice, boxes, tape measures and pewter figures, packaging them and creating the game was relatively mundane. What we couldn't do was conquer the distribution chain.
Paralleling this, the recording industry has gone through a metamorphosis that’s left it dead. Much of that metamorphosis entailed distribution of music and how music listeners changed the business model (P2P networks). So, as the technology (e-book readers and whatever else may come) ebbs forth, how will the paradigm of publish/market/distribute change? Realizing that the book publishing industry and the recorded music industry are apples and oranges, I also understand each delivers similar content: entertainment, data and experience.
On another note, you might say distribution is also accessible: you have the Internet. There are 175 million other people who do, too. So, you have both. The challenge there, however, is that along with distribution, marketing is also a key arm of the process. Sure, you can dump 2,000 words on a Web page, but who’s gonna know to look for it? Why would they look for it? Marketing embeds the why. Independent distribution via the Web is a work-intensive process, like self-publishing.
Amazon is accessible. But there are a number of gates to hurdle before your listing takes place (ask Neurofizz about that; he's got a great post about his Amazon publishing adventure somewhere; no, I couldn't find it). However, and this is an entirely different line of thinking, but isn't there some tangible legtimacy walking into a book store and pulling your book off the shelf? And that’s at the core of a lot of writers’ wants: legitimacy. And money, which is why you crave the distribution points in the first place. Big publishers, too.
Yes, the major publishers are probably the sole conduits to the Wal-Marts, B&Ns, Books-a-Millions and Targets of the world. So, the "publishing" part and the "distribution" part go hand-in-hand. Still, the business model is changing into the 21st Century. The paradigm is the entrepreneurial writer is how to access the distribution point. Therefore, the question, then, really, becomes, do you want to be published, or do you want to be distributed? It's a paradigm shift in thinking, but, it does refocus your efforts a little toward the real prize, which is many eyeballs on text.
Your thoughts?
You, your neighbor, your uncle and even, with some help, your dog, can get published. A worthy color inkjet printer and a ream of paper will do that. Lulu.com will do that. So will a handful of other self-publishing houses. Publishing is easier than ever, really. An once you've got a copy in your hand, well, that's that. You're published. Next goal, please.
However, for many, isn't the brass ring today distribution? In creating a tabletop board game back in 2002 (Counterterrorist, $19.95, I've got 857 copies left, if you play Warhammer, you'll love CT, order now!
), I found that actually creating and buying things like dice, boxes, tape measures and pewter figures, packaging them and creating the game was relatively mundane. What we couldn't do was conquer the distribution chain.Paralleling this, the recording industry has gone through a metamorphosis that’s left it dead. Much of that metamorphosis entailed distribution of music and how music listeners changed the business model (P2P networks). So, as the technology (e-book readers and whatever else may come) ebbs forth, how will the paradigm of publish/market/distribute change? Realizing that the book publishing industry and the recorded music industry are apples and oranges, I also understand each delivers similar content: entertainment, data and experience.
On another note, you might say distribution is also accessible: you have the Internet. There are 175 million other people who do, too. So, you have both. The challenge there, however, is that along with distribution, marketing is also a key arm of the process. Sure, you can dump 2,000 words on a Web page, but who’s gonna know to look for it? Why would they look for it? Marketing embeds the why. Independent distribution via the Web is a work-intensive process, like self-publishing.
Amazon is accessible. But there are a number of gates to hurdle before your listing takes place (ask Neurofizz about that; he's got a great post about his Amazon publishing adventure somewhere; no, I couldn't find it). However, and this is an entirely different line of thinking, but isn't there some tangible legtimacy walking into a book store and pulling your book off the shelf? And that’s at the core of a lot of writers’ wants: legitimacy. And money, which is why you crave the distribution points in the first place. Big publishers, too.
Yes, the major publishers are probably the sole conduits to the Wal-Marts, B&Ns, Books-a-Millions and Targets of the world. So, the "publishing" part and the "distribution" part go hand-in-hand. Still, the business model is changing into the 21st Century. The paradigm is the entrepreneurial writer is how to access the distribution point. Therefore, the question, then, really, becomes, do you want to be published, or do you want to be distributed? It's a paradigm shift in thinking, but, it does refocus your efforts a little toward the real prize, which is many eyeballs on text.
Your thoughts?
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