MY THOUGHTS ON E-PUBLISING

Many people have said, are saying, that e-publishing is the wave of the future. Or that it is the future. I don't think so. I think it is part of the future, but books are not going away.

You are all saying to yourselves "But Jenni, you are an e-pubbed author - how could you say such a thing?" Well, because I am an epub and I now there is a pecking order in any business, in any organization, even in families, there are pecking orders.

Now, I'm not knocking e-publishing at all. I made a decision to go into this part of publishing and I am proud of my accomplishments. It was a business decision mixed with a little vanity. Any writer who says they don't care about the vanity part, I don't believe them. We all want to see our names printed on our own book cover. It's cool. Makes us happy.

We as writers decide where to submit our work and we also decide if we are going to sign on the dotted line. That is a choice. It is something that we control. Of course, we don't control who asks for our manuscripts, or who offers the contract, but we can say no. A lesson I learned the hard way.

So, where do I see e-publishing and Print on Demand publishing? It's growing, but right now it's still a niche and a very small part of the market. Sure, many authors are making an ok living writing for e-pubs and small presses, but lets look at what is selling in those venues - erotica. I have written an erotic story and it sold more than my first long book in e-sales, but it's still not the numbers you see with traditional publishers. It's just not. Just a fact.

People then ask, "but what about Kindle? Sony E-reader?" Still, a small market comparatively. Sure, I love my Kindle, but I still buy books. If someone I know and really look up too, I will buy their hardcover and/or paperback because I know what I get for my books on Kindle, and I also know those authors need numbers in the first few weeks, and well, I support my fellow authors. I also support my fellow e-pubbed authors, I just don't think e-publishing is going to take over the world.

Publishing is going to go under some tremendous changes. It has to. Technology is changing. The economy sucks. The way we view the world is changing. Publishing is slow, so it's no surprise that the emergence of e-books will be slow too.

I made a business decision so I could teach locally. Being published with a small press meet the requirements, so it worked for me. I have learned a lot from publishing with The Wild Rose Press. They are a very good company. Do I want to be with a NY Publisher? You bet. Working on that dream right now.

Anyone who asks for advice about if they should go into e-publishing I always ask the same thing. "Do you read e-books?" If you don't, probably not the best fit for you.

Another thing to consider is that you are pretty much on your own with promotion and that is hard work and time consuming. Time I just don't have when I'm trying to write a better book. My publisher does some "company" promo, but that's it. Sure, that is true with some NY Publishers, but they have distribution, something we don't, at least not with print. And really, as much as I love my Kindle, and I do read e-books on my computer, I still love a good book, paper and all.

So, with that said. E-publishing is here to stay. It will grow. But it's not going to take over the world. At least not yet.