The new report from New Publisher House, State of Independence 2014, subtitled “The Self-Publishing Market: $52 Billion Game Changer,” talks about … well … self-publishing being a $52 billion game changer. Not hard to get your head round that one. And if you want to get the story in full, the opening section of the report is easily accessible just by entering your name and email here.
“While the self-publishing movement is currently totally transforming the whole publishing industry, outdated methods of measuring and analysing the book publishing market have led to a vast underestimation of the size, power and growth of self-publishing,” the report declares. “The self-publishing book market in the US currently represents over $52 billion in untapped revenue. This is twice the size of the established mainstream book publishing market’s total annual sales revenue.” Furthermore, “the number of aspiring self-published authors with completed manuscripts is more than 100 times the number of published authors.”Tantalizingly, and unfortunately, the freely downloadable sample stops just short of the all-important information that tells you exactly how that jaw-dropping figure of $52 billion was arrived at. However, it’s also worth noting that New Publisher House “is about to revolutionize publishing” with a complete publishing system. “Stay tuned for upcoming crowdfunding campaign!” its website calls. If self-publishing really did release twice the value that the entire U.S. publishing industry has been able to create to date, well, I’d be pleasantly surprised. And as soon as I get more substantial figures to back up that claim, I’ll let you know. But don’t hold your breath.
Crowdfunding? Ah, another form of censorship.
The great gold rush of 1849 made a lot of people newly rich, mostly the ones selling shovels. Some think that self-published eBooks will work the same way.
Reads like a press release … and the picture! Ugh!