Digital Book World has published a list of ten predictions for change in the publishing industry for 2012. None of them are surprising.
1. We will see more self-published best-sellers next year with an exponential rise in the number of million-selling authors.
2. Large publishing companies will go through major restructurings, creating new positions and redundancies of all shapes and sizes.
3. Amazon will come out with a larger tablet with an 8.9-inch screen and it will be priced at $299 or lower.
4. Apple will come out with a smaller iPad at a reduced price.
5. Sony will get a second life in the e-reader game when Pottermore launches in the Spring.
6. Literary agencies will engage in a campaign to communicate the value of their services to the book industry.
7. Authors will become disenchanted with the rights they sign away to publishers. Shorter and more flexible copyright terms will become more attractive to authors.
8. The standard e-book royalty from major publishing houses will rise next year and will escalate with increased sales.
9. Standards of what an app and what a book is will change and apps will eventually be sold in the iBookstore.
10. More publishing companies will form in-house transmedia groups.
What happens in the Cave doesn't always stay there... Conversations and news from Ellora's Cave Publishing, an erotic romance publisher.
It's kind of funny that EC's own writing blog is reprinting a list of 2012 ebook industry predictions that includes: "Authors will become disenchanted with the rights they sign away to publishers. Shorter and more flexible copyright terms will become more attractive to authors."
ReplyDeleteBelieve me, I'm an EC fan, but EC has literally the worst contract in the entire industry as far as length of contract goes--even worse than Harlequin. "Life of copyright" is, for all intents and purposes, forever to an author.
I would LOVE to submit to EC, but until the length of contract changes, I can't do it. I started been self-publishing, and made over $400 my first month. It would be great to work with an editor and benefit from the wide audience that EC could bring to the table. But I have no idea what kind of money I could make with EC, and I do know what I can make on my own. I might be willing to risk a couple of years worth of income and take a chance on EC, but I'm not willing to trade an entire lifetime of a book's income.
Please, EC, it's 2012, and I know I'm not the only indie author who would love to work with EC, if the contract terms were more in keeping with others in the business, like Samhain. Because most of us really like EC. And some of my author friends are ridiculously successful on their own--one could only imagine how mutually beneficial it would be for them to team up with Ellora's Cave.