Here’s a provocative piece from a
conservative-to-libertarian site, “Way too many books are being published”. But open self-publishing has
become one reason. About two-thirds of the new books offered today are self-published. It’s not reported what percentage are
print-on-demand. (416,000 books were
self-published in 2013; 300,000 by
traditional; most traditional need to
sell about 10,000 at a min.)
It reminds me of a time in the mid 1960s when we thought
“too many people are going to college”. And there was a draft.
I do wonder how well self-publishing-assist book publishers
business models will hold up – the sustainability issue. Starting around 2012 I started getting calls
asking my why my old books from 1997/2000 and 2002 were no longer selling. Well, even with most trade books (with
certain exceptions like Harry Potter) that tends to be the case.
Note the BookScan (doesn’t look at ebook) from Nielsen – it
knows how well your self-published books have sold (or not).
Intellectual Takeout seems to make a curious point for a
libertarian site: people need to share
more goals in common and belong more.
That’s Charles Murray’s theme in “Coming Apart”.
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