Re: Our "publish then filter" future...

All I can say is that epublishers following a relatively traditional 
model are paying me around $1000 for each novella over the first two 
years (diminishing amounts thereafter).  So I stick with that model 
as few fiction ebooks distributed by less traditional methods do as 
well without the investment of large amounts of time (I have a full 
time career to think of here).  Traditional models, even with less 
traditional formats, allow me to minimise effort and maximise profit--
which fits my lifestyle.  Traditional is not the only approach but it 
is hardly obsolete yet.

As for publish then filter... as a review of self-published books I 
get pretty exhausted with having to filter so hard.  Not everyone 
shares my experience but I still walk into Borders with a sigh of 
relief knowing that although a Tor, Baen or Harlequin book may not 
often be gloriously wonderful it will meet a basic standard that I 
know from having read their books for decades.  Of course the same is 
true for some self-publishing authors but only after taking a risk 
with the first book or two.  The author becomes their own brand.  All 
I can say is that when it comes to new peer-to-peer publishing 
mechanisms serendiptity can be a damned unreliable filter and leave 
you paying $30 for a book useful only as a doorstop.  Although again 
others have different experiences, my favorite large presses have yet 
to do that to me.

In the end I just don't see it as an either/or thing.  I buy self- 
and trad published books, paper and ebooks.  Currently my physical 
bookshelf runs about 5% self-published and my ebook-shelf about 
50/50.  I don't read only one kind of book any more they wear one 
type of clothing or eat one kind of food.  Overall the self-published 
books offer me more diversity at more risk--but sometimes I don't 
feel like taking the risk or only if it is a cheaper ebook version.


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