The book sold a few hundred copies, thanks to a few reviews on websites and a post on Slashdot. The challenges then are the same today: self-publishers tend to be poor marketers or to not have the time/resources to market effectively; lack of quality reviews and an abundance of pay-to-play review sites that will take your money and do very little for sales; self-published titles are (often justifiably) seen as less worthy than texts backed by an established publisher; and there's an overall shortage of available attention, thanks to the abundance of media options today.
>Tools like Draft, Scrivener, and Penflip have improved the writing, editing and collaboration process.
Technology may make editing easier but it does not improve it. A decent writer won't need a grammar checking algorithm.
>Publishing software like iBooks Author, Leanpub, Softcover, Pressbooks, and Liberio allow authors to easily design, format, and publish their books themselves.
These tools are helpful but there's a reason professional designers exist.
>And e-commerce platforms like Gumroad, Memberful, and Digital Goods Store have solved the payment and distribution problem.
But these problems pale in comparison to getting marketing and attention.
What's more, these issues are the same for other self-published media: apps, music, and videos.
I'd love to have my book or my app (http://blocfall.com/) discussed by a reviews group, but a review in the New York Times or front-page placement in the iTunes App Store would be a lot more helpful.
The book sold a few hundred copies, thanks to a few reviews on websites and a post on Slashdot. The challenges then are the same today: self-publishers tend to be poor marketers or to not have the time/resources to market effectively; lack of quality reviews and an abundance of pay-to-play review sites that will take your money and do very little for sales; self-published titles are (often justifiably) seen as less worthy than texts backed by an established publisher; and there's an overall shortage of available attention, thanks to the abundance of media options today.
>Tools like Draft, Scrivener, and Penflip have improved the writing, editing and collaboration process.
Technology may make editing easier but it does not improve it. A decent writer won't need a grammar checking algorithm.
>Publishing software like iBooks Author, Leanpub, Softcover, Pressbooks, and Liberio allow authors to easily design, format, and publish their books themselves.
These tools are helpful but there's a reason professional designers exist.
>And e-commerce platforms like Gumroad, Memberful, and Digital Goods Store have solved the payment and distribution problem.
But these problems pale in comparison to getting marketing and attention.
What's more, these issues are the same for other self-published media: apps, music, and videos.
I'd love to have my book or my app (http://blocfall.com/) discussed by a reviews group, but a review in the New York Times or front-page placement in the iTunes App Store would be a lot more helpful.