Really? Then this is the first time in history that authors could profit while sitting in a slush pile.
No. They might make a little money while sitting in the slush pile. They get to start calling it profit after they've earned enough to pay off the hours of work they spent writing the book.
The comparison isnt even close to apples to apples. Book bloggers may have some power and influence but they dont control the entire distribution chain of an industry.
I've got news. First, nobody controls the entire distribution chain of the industry, but there are certainly people who are very influential in it, and you'd have to be a fool to ignore that. Second: what you and we are talking about here isn't distribution. It's sales and marketing and promotion. Distribution is getting it out there where people can buy it. S&M&P is persuading them to do so.
You need to learn why people buy books. Let me give you the list. Each of these four items is about half as important as the one that preceded it, and twice as important as the one that follows it. Feel free to think of it in terms of one-half, one-quarter, one-eighth, and miscellaneous fractions amounting to another eighth.
Big first: They read and enjoyed another book by the same author. It's by far the most important reason people buy books, and you can't influence it on your own behalf.
Second reason, half as important: The book was recommended by someone they trust. This encompasses everything that reviews can do.
Third reason, down to one-eighth: They liked the cover. Honest, it's that important -- why do you think so much effort gets lavished on the things?
Fourth reason: Everything else. Advertising. Personal appearances. They mistook your book for another one that has a similar title. They were stuck in that bus terminal for 36 hours, and your book was the least objectionable choice. The previous book they'd been using to level their washing machine got wet and mildewed, so they needed another book with the same number of pages. Et cetera.
Now notice that the only significant element in there that's open to your influence is #2, "book was recommended by someone they trust." That's where Big Al's comes in. You don't think they're all that important? Think again. A site like that can swing a lot of weight with readers, if its recommendations are reliable and it reviews books its readers care about. If it can't, nobody's going to give a damn about it. Therefore, Big Al's can survive just fine without you, but it can't survive without its readers and reviewers.
That makes you low man on the totem pole. Feel free to sneer at book bloggers and other gatekeepers if you wish. It does them no harm, and it helps thin out the field.
