How Big Is Self-Publishing?

Last week FutureBook asked, how big is the self-publishing market? The simple answer is that only Amazon knows. The more complex answer is that it is big enough - and growing.

Porter Anderson and I used various approaches. We asked some of the stakeholders for their estimates, and then ran an open survey to see if the indie hive-mind would coalesce around some numbers. Separately, as part of a wider piece on how traditional publishing was weathering the digital storm, consultant Mike Shatzkin offered his own number.