http://www.teleread.org/2009/09/17/self-publishing-e-books-and-legitimacy-part-2/ News & views on e-books, libraries, publishing and related topics Sun, 14 Mar 2010 16:15:02 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 http://www.teleread.org/2009/09/17/self-publishing-e-books-and-legitimacy-part-2/comment-page-1/#comment-1145223 Allen Lau Thu, 17 Sep 2009 21:02:49 +0000 http://www.teleread.org/?p=28865#comment-1145223 I don't see tracking or spoofing as big issues. For self-publishers, the number has to be very big (that's the nature of free), and there are only a handful of sites that can generate big numbers. Once the number on one or more of these sites is "big enough", publishers will take notice. For example, on Wattpad (disclaimer: I am a co-founder) there are some self-publishers whose works were generating hundred of thousands of downloads within days, and now their books are being published by traditional publishers. Sure, a "platinum"-like standard similar to that of the music industry does not hurt but I don't think we need that type of accuracy/standard at this point. By the same token, because the numbers need to much higher than traditional measures, it is pretty hard to spoof. I don’t see tracking or spoofing as big issues. For self-publishers, the number has to be very big (that’s the nature of free), and there are only a handful of sites that can generate big numbers. Once the number on one or more of these sites is “big enough”, publishers will take notice. For example, on Wattpad (disclaimer: I am a co-founder) there are some self-publishers whose works were generating hundred of thousands of downloads within days, and now their books are being published by traditional publishers. Sure, a “platinum”-like standard similar to that of the music industry does not hurt but I don’t think we need that type of accuracy/standard at this point. By the same token, because the numbers need to much higher than traditional measures, it is pretty hard to spoof.

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