Traditional Publishing This Century?

For me, very. Older adults have many problems with reading ebooks or listening to audiobooks. Some are: Presbycusis (loss of hair cells of inner ear, diminishing the ability to detect high-pitched sounds and consonants); presbyopia (near-sightedness) with a diminished sensitivity to low light makes reading harder. Eye fatigue, using computers longer with physical problems, may make older adults not want to read ebooks.

When I was earning my degrees, I came across many students in their 40s and up who could only read PDFs if they printed them. This was expensive for them, holistically.

My view: why would I want to reduce the pool of potential sales focusing on ebooks and/or audiobooks only?

Traditional publishing, while a popular phrase, is not accurate.

All publishing is traditional; honest!

What you mean is trade publishing, that is, publishing books that are sold to "the trade," to booksellers, retailers at book stores, wholesalers, and distributors.

I've been helping people self publish books, print and digital since the late 1980s. I've been published by academic/scholarly publishers, by a big 5 publisher, digitally, and self-published.

All are worth while; what makes the difference is who the readers are, and how the book will get to them.

That said, this isn't really a basic writing question, so I'm going to move it to the general publishing discussion area.

Enlightened said:

My view: why would I want to reduce the pool of potential sales focusing on ebooks and/or audiobooks only?

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You do know that it is perfectly possible to self-publish print books, yes?

Actually, "older adults" may also find reading on an e-reader easier: an e-reader is easier to hold and can weigh less than many books, and the ability to adjust print size as well as internal lighting (in the models that have it) can make reading easier. And e-ink readers remove the eyestrain issue.

OP, can you clarify your question a bit? Not quite sure what it is you're looking to learn.

I'm for any form of publishing that provides someone else to help with sales and marketing. There are skills that I can acquire, but I really, really dislike a lot of it, and I'd hate the amount I'd need to do if I self-published. (I'd probably hire someone to help, and thus end up with more losses than profits!)

As a genuine old-fart, I much prefer e-readers for all the reasons Marissa D mentioned. Printed books are hard to read for me (and my wife, and our friends that read), often because the contrast between the words and background, or the font is too thin or small. Restaurant menu's give me fits as well - who thinks that writing a list in a tiny thin font with an image in the background is a good idea?

When I buy a kindle book off Amazon, it might be from either a trade publisher, or self published. No one I know cares which it is - only the story and the quality of writing matters.

indianroads said:

As a genuine old-fart, I much prefer e-readers for all the reasons Marissa D mentioned. Printed books are hard to read for me (and my wife, and our friends that read), often because the contrast between the words and background, or the font is too thin or small. Restaurant menu's give me fits as well - who thinks that writing a list in a tiny thin font with an image in the background is a good idea?

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Oh, yes. I know what you mean. And don't get me started about prescription bottles or expiration dates on food and medication packaging. I think there's a secret conspiracy to poison everyone over 50!

I've become fond of e-books for this same reason. It's nice being able to adjust the font size and style. Also, I like being able to carry hundreds of books with me, and I like being able to buy a book online and not have to wait for it to be delivered.

It has changed how I read, though. I read on my ipad, so if I'm somewhere with internet connections, I often find myself looking things up in a book, whether it be a historical reference, or a particular kind of food or whatever. I googled velocipedes the other day, because I knew they were a precursor to the modern bike, but I couldn't remember which type. I got sidetracked into reading about the history of the development of bicycles, and the use of balance bikes to teach kids how to ride, and about counter steering, and...

I finally got back to the novel I was reading.

I do tend to be more wary of novels that aren't published by a publisher I know of, unless they are recommended by someone I trust or are by an author I know already. There are excellent self-published books out there, and there are trade-published books that aren't so well written or edited (imo), but I think the baseline level of quality is still lower for self published than for trade-published books overall.

Self publishing is very freeing for many authors, but it does mean one has to do a lot more work and spend their own money to pay quality editors and purchase a good cover design.

I worked for an Italian company (Olivetti) for over ten years and was sent to Italy numerous times. At night, there was nothing to watch (in English) on TV, and sitting alone in restaurants got old pretty quickly, so I would bring a big stack of paperbacks with me.

Now I travel for pleasure (on my motorcycle), and always take my iPad with me.

If you mean getting published by a Big Five publisher, it's not that important to me anymore. Self-publishing isn't what it used to be, back in the day (I've been submitting since the 1970's, FWIW), so I see no reason why I should get told by publishers that I don't have a big-market story. I'd much rather find the niche market I do have on my own, leaving my work out there as long as it takes. Unlike the Big 5 that gives you about a month to hit certain numbers on your teeny print run before deciding you're not getting another print run,, and maybe they're not going to take another book on your contract. Thanks, but no thanks.

Besides, if I do hit a bigger market than they've told me for decades that I'm likely to have, they'll come banging at my door to get a piece of it. They're not going to let an opportunity pass them by.

Brickcommajason said:

Keeping it open ended on purpose, since finding out what people interpret "traditional" publishing is interesting and informative all on its own.

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We have a thread on 'Traditional Publishing' and what it means, going back all the way to papyrus (and probably further). But for forum purposes we try to stick to the appropriate terminology since there are terms like 'traditional publishing' 'indie publishing' that are very commonly mis-used and misunderstood.

There's a sticky on that somewhere. Sing out if you can't find it, and I'll see if I can hunt it down.

ETA: Here's a link to the AW Dictionary, just in case it helps.

lizmonster said:

I'm for any form of publishing that provides someone else to help with sales and marketing. There are skills that I can acquire, but I really, really dislike a lot of it, and I'd hate the amount I'd need to do if I self-published. (I'd probably hire someone to help, and thus end up with more losses than profits!)

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Yeah, this +1000. Given a choice between sales and a root canal, I'd... um... Is it just one tooth?

Brickcommajason said:

How important is traditional publishing to your writing and writing career? And why?

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Trade publishing pays advances.

Jeff

Enlightened said:

For me, very. Older adults have many problems with reading ebooks or listening to audiobooks. Some are: Presbycusis (loss of hair cells of inner ear, diminishing the ability to detect high-pitched sounds and consonants); presbyopia (near-sightedness) with a diminished sensitivity to low light makes reading harder. Eye fatigue, using computers longer with physical problems, may make older adults not want to read ebooks.

When I was earning my degrees, I came across many students in their 40s and up who could only read PDFs if they printed them. This was expensive for them, holistically.

My view: why would I want to reduce the pool of potential sales focusing on ebooks and/or audiobooks only?

Click to expand...

Certainly, everyone has their own special set of circumstances, and I personally feel very lucky to live in a time where there ARE options for reading.

But also consider that older adults may have issues with eyesight and eyestrain and need those audiobooks, or for the e-reader to read to them. As we age, we're more likely to develop issues with the arms or hands that may make physically holding a book or turning its pages impossible. Another reason that audiobook or e-reader can be a godsend. Not all e-readers emit light. E-ink kindles neither flicker nor emit light and are the same as looking at a sheet of paper. They are also nice because if you have some use of vision, you can adjust the size of the text.

It's trade publishing, and for me it's vital. I want to write books, not attempt to run a sales and marketing company - plus my Big 5 publisher pays nice big advances