Debates: VERSUS?
Steve: Discovery of individual print titles has been an issue for many years. And yes, publishers often served as gatekeepers as to which books were published. In the digital era, publishers will continue to provide a level of curation by deciding which books to publish thereby adding the prestige of their imprint and the clout to their marketing team to published titles. However, authors now have the choice to self publish independently or with entities like Amazon, Barnes & Noble or Lulu. Once an author has built his/her brand name, the economics of self-publishing are quite attractive. Some authors like Addison Moore, Elizabeth Naughton, Gemma Halliday and John Locke have already become bestselling authors and some have sold print rights to their ebooks to traditional publishers.
John Parsons (john@intuideas.com), former Editorial Director of The Seybold Report, is an independent writer, ghostwriter, and editor. He is the co-author of the interactive printed textbook, Introduction to Graphic Communication, on the art, science and business of print, which has been adopted by Ryerson, Arizona State, the University of Houston, and many other schools and vocational training centers. Custom editions of the book are under consideration by major printing companies and franchises for internal training purposes.