Comments on: E-publishing and the agent: Why U.K. novelist Richard Herley thinks smart literary agents will fare well

By: Richard Herley

Richard Herley — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 17:12:06 +0000

Thanks, David. The power has come back at last — a nasty storm hit southern England last night.

Yoda47, follow your star! The conventional publishing trade has got just too congested and bureaucratic. Lots of really talented writers give up in despair, unable even to find an agent. E-publishing at least gives the new writer a chance to find an audience, and to get that most priceless commodity, reader feedback.

By: Yoda47

Yoda47 — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 13:59:10 +0000

As a (future) author, and as an avid reader, I’m excited about e-publishing.

As a reader, I can check out stuff I’ve never heard of before (such as Richard’s work, which I’ve downloaded but not read yet) and not have to worry about paying for something I don’t like.

As an author, like the article says, I can share my work with the world even if a traditional publisher doesn’t pick it up.

By: David Rothman

David Rothman — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 12:46:42 +0000

Richard Herley’s power is down and he must do with a laptop battery. So if you write him and don’t get a reply, you’ll know what’s going on. David

By: Is book marketing a myth? « Electric Alphabet

Is book marketing a myth? « Electric Alphabet — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 07:37:42 +0000

[...] books, Kate Eltham, marketing, online communities, Publishing, Social media Richard Herley, in his first post on Teleread, is discussing why savvy literary agents will have new opportunities in the e-publishing market. [...]

By: Richard Herley

Richard Herley — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 22:16:19 +0000

Greg, I agree. The cheap, throwaway paperback will be largely or wholly superseded by the e-book. There will always be room for beautifully crafted hardbacks, provided the content makes them worth the premium price.

What I’m arguing is that the present publishing setup will change. The usual route for a new, quality title now is hardback -> paperback, and the hardback publisher stands to gain from the paperback deal.

In future the route will be e-book -> ? p-book (perhaps paperback if the market warrants it; perhaps a hardback if people are willing to pay the price; perhaps no p-book at all). The point is that the share of sub. rights enjoyed by today’s hardback publisher will no longer exist, because he hasn’t brought the book to market. All the rights will reside with the author and his/her agent.

BTW I’m sorry to say it, but Rolls Royce went down the tubes in England and was sold to Volkswagen AG

By: Greg Schofield

Greg Schofield — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 21:53:24 +0000

Richard:
“Deliberately trying to kill e-books?

“Observing some of the kludgy ventures into e-reading by the big publishing houses—particularly their pricing policies and their suicidal adoption of DRM—I sometimes wonder whether they are deliberately trying to kill the e-book. If so, they are misguided.”

Coach builders as opposed to Model T ford production lines. Rolls-Royce played it smart, many other coach-building car producers did not.

A hint; the smarter hardback publishers will be the ones that make quality un-DRMed ebooks and produce prestige paper versions – those that specialize in the highest quality writings will do best of all.

Such a model would release a lot of ebooks, the sales of which will point to the better works that warrant the trees and craftsmanship of a bound edition.

The real loser is the paper-back, not the hard bound volume.

Ebook technology is in its early days still, the above is no recipe for immediate success. But in a decade’s time only a few hard back publishers will be like Rolls-Royce, the rest will be memories if history is any guide.