While we’ve covered the epublishing revolution many times, it feels ironic that Australia’s tyranny of distance nowadays seems to apply mainly to technologies that are designed to make the world smaller. Although our friends at Book.ish are helping the Australian epublishing scene up to catch up with Europe and North America, these regions - especially the latter - remain for the most part at the forefront of innovation.
One thing is clear - while scalps are being claimed, others are benefiting from the changes. Robin Sullivan, for instance, blogs about the new midlist of self-published ebook authors who may not match the stunning successes of Amanda Hocking, but who are doing quite well, thank-you very much. Sullivan writes: “Authors are going to e-books first based on earning potential and a quick time to market. If they do well, then they leverage their sales for larger advances and favorable contract terms. Of course self publishing is not for everyone, but at least for those that decide to go this route, they won’t have to be that one in a million outlier—if they can achieve the e-book midlist status, they stand a good chance of telling their boss, ‘I quit, I’m going to stay home and write for a living’.”
And it isn’t just authors that stand to benefit - publishers are also, according to one commentator, sitting on a pot of gold.
Here’s a list of seven publishing platforms that are currently being touted as market leaders in digital publishing. It includes Red Lemonade, a social networking site for writers and readers. Here’s another list of 40 tools authors need to self-publish online.
A couple of months ago, we reported that print-on-demand printer Lightning Source were setting up a suburban Melbourne facility. It’s now up and running. Here’s a blog on self-publishing through Lulu (an online print-on-demand facility) and CreateSpace (Amazon’s version of the same), by the author of the first ebook for iPhone ever.
Finally, here’s a great iPhone app for readers who love the classics: Penguin Classics 65.
By the way, remember the web? You know, that old dinosaur? It’s shrinking. Yep, shrinking.