We've known for decades that publishing either needs to offer something more to authors or publishing will fail.
Better editors. Better reach. Better pay....
Publishing has lowered the pay, fired the editors, and their reach is dwindling.
To be clear, I'd like publishing to *not* fail.
I'd love to be picked up by a publishing house who gives me a great editor, fantastic cover art, and does the marketing for me. That's the dream.
I'm just saying authors will survive if publishers fail because authors always do.
Authors do not need a publisher to have successful writing careers. We have plenty of indie authors making money off writing to prove that.
Publishers cannot survive without authors and editors. You can't replace creatives with AI. It's not going to work long term.
@LianaBrooks I feel like big publishers have long ago gone full parasite. They acquire the rights to publish your work, but make the author absorb all the risk and promotional responsibilities. They often don't provide adequate, or even any editing services, and on top of everything else, will often sell your books through marketplaces where you end up seeing your book discounted to the point you make nothing off it.
@AskTheDevil Yeah, the balance tipped somewhere, possibly even before the advent of ebooks. I just wasn't paying attention prior to 2009 or thereabouts.
@LianaBrooks I know some people from the publishing industry in the 90's and early 2000's (because of course I would). Even the ability to sell traditional books online changed the landscape, and that landscape quickly fell under the control of a small number of rapacious bandit-kings, and those who oew them fealty.
@AskTheDevil Yeah, I've been a hybrid author for a while. I freelance for some small presses and run one with a friend. I have a lit agent. I'd like to sell to a big house because I want to work with certain editors, but that's the whole draw. There's no reason to go with a big press who won't help me be better.
@LianaBrooks The mission of the publishers, like most other businesses, is no longer about the thing produced. The mission is to extract as much money as possible, with as little outflow as possible.
@LianaBrooks Following in case I may learn something useful for my cousin, an unpublished author. I've tried unsuccessfully to get him to try digital self publishing. But he, who knows something about it is determined to find a publisher, and I know nothing of it beyond being a reader.
@walterbays Feel free to send your cousin to my website. I'm a hybrid author and freelance editor. I talk a lot about publishing, writing, and making those choices. I'm also happy to sit down on a video call to chat about all the options.
I do not doubt that in the next 10-20 years we'll see new publishing houses emerge. Authors will band together again. Editors will find places to work for steady pay. The system exists because it works.
And the publishers who try to break the system will be lost.