The publishing world has long been controlled by powerful companies with high costs, barriers to access, restrictions on distribution, one-sided copyright ownership contracts, and lengthy delays in getting critical information and knowledge out to a broad audience. In this world it often seemed all but the most famous of authors controlled little while publishers controlled everything. In the academic community, the sad result has been an excessive price increase in the cost of textbooks. Technology is finally empowering authors.
When an editor affiliated with a traditional publishing company asked me to contribute an article to a textbook, I expected something similar. After I spent two weeks writing and rewriting the article to the editor’s requirements, my article was approved. I then received a contract offer, which gave the publisher full ownership of all intellectual property rights permanently -- for the princely sum of $100. I would also be liable for breaches as well as “alleged breaches,” and my work could be published without attribution to me. When I asked for a fair and balanced contract, the editor offered a take-it-or-leave-it option.
When I recently wanted to publish my doctoral dissertation and make it available at a reasonable cost to anyone in the world, I found all the traditional routes were skewed toward publishers. Some sites mentioned royalty payments, but nothing was clearly identified. Nowhere did I see any information about publishing timelines.
My research led me to Kindle Direct Publishing and CreateSpace -- both Amazon companies. The entire process was quite transparent and I know exactly how the royalty payments will work. Interestingly, royalty payments on the electronic platform was skewed completely in favor of the author. I had tremendous flexibility in pricing, plus the ability to change content, design covers, and the entire publishing process. In fact, I was able to publish the electronic version of my dissertation within 24 hours of my doctoral defense, and other doctoral students could immediately buy it at a low cost.
The full color paperback version took more time because the template provided by CreateSpace was very difficult to work with. Still, I was able to do a respectable job in a week. CreateSpace provided everything necessary -- including the assignment of ISBN numbers -- and my book became available worldwide 10 days after my doctoral defense. Had I chosen to produce a black and white version, I could have priced it lower but it would have reduced quality since my work contains several pages of color charts.
The best part? My only expense was $25 to market my paperback to other bookstores and libraries. I could order copies of my book by paying CreateSpace’s production costs, along with a shipping and handling fee. Within two weeks I saw other booksellers beginning to offer the item for sale. Kindle Direct Publishing lets me track sales in real time; CreateSpace has a time lag of several days. It was a very liberating and powerful experience.
This is the future of publishing. It will reduce costs for consumers and allow authors to manage their content and pricing while retaining intellectual property rights and a fair share of royalties.
Mansur, I am sure Amazon is bringing something interesting to the party. As it so many fields, it presents a significant competitive threat to existing businesses--which is the name of the game, after all.
Congratulations on your achievement and the insights you've shared. The resources are indeed liberating and the need for us to have choices is another by-product of the freedom that the internet has given us. As for Amazon--may we continue to be blessed with their innovations ever more.
@Kim - thanks for pointing out other resources. I think competitiion is healthy for any industry. People should definitely compare and choose what is best for the project they are trying to accomplish. I just learned that WorldCat, Google Books lists the book now and a couple of academic libraries including McKeldin Libraries of University of Maryland College Park has the book in their collection. I would say the Amazon companies did exactly what they said they would do and I am really pleased with the results.
@Joanne, @rwhidbee - Thanks. Yes there are optional services but the tools provided allowed me to design a nice cover and incorporate a Maryland photo that I took. Even the $25 cost was optional. Recently I spoke about this experience. I know a few other doctoral graduates and students who will probably choose this route. It is the fastest way to get the material out in a professional format, does not require any investment, you retain all the copyright to your material and can choose to republish with any other publisher whenever you want. You can also modify content any time you want. In my project, I also used a bunch of high quality free statistical packages and survey tools -- all to prove a point that researchers and learners do not need to spend a lot of money in this new world. All of these are cited in my book.
@Michael, @DavidSilverSmith, @ Kim - yes the marketing channels of a typical publishing powerhouse is great - but when I was looking at the delay in getting the information out to some people who wanted and needed it, the wait was not worth it. My project was my doctoral dissertation so the scope for changing it too much was not there. Four scholars had already gone through it and I had a public defense. Proquest will publish dissertations but from what I have seen any printed copies are priced quite high. I wanted to combat high prices and make the knowledge affordable and easily accessible to students and other scholars as well as industry people. Have received several opportunities to speak about the results at conferences -- which has promoted and book. Social media and other outlets such as my personal network has been a great help. So far I am really pleased with my experiment and it has been only 2 months. It is a no risk option -- that is what is so great about it.
@kq4ym, @Alison, and @rwhidbe - I think part of the reason people took other routes is incomplete information. Some may need editorial help and other help. But the idea of sinking a ton of money up front was not appealing to me and the Amazon route is risk free and I thought people should know about it. The $25 expense was optional if I wanted to promote the book to other bookstores and libraries. The cost bar was so low that I decided to experiment and see what happens. Well I did see my book being carried by several booksellers including Barnes and Noble.
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