Is 'Self-publish' No Longer a Dirty Word? Author Solutions Inc. CEO Kevin Weiss explains why some major publishers now are embracing this model.
Extra: Why are traditional publishers like Harlequin and Thomas Nelson finding these types of partnerships beneficial?
Weiss: ... When a traditional publisher gets into this business—either by themselves directly, which is hard to do for a traditional publisher, or through a partnership with somebody like Author Solutions—they get the opportunity to, in essence, create a farm system. ... [Traditional publishers] get the opportunity to watch these writers and see how they do in the marketplace before they give them an advance. ... Because we do so much volume, costs are much lower than [traditional publishers']. It gives traditional publishing the opportunity to look at a different form of production of the physical book and start to experiment, and see how other people do things and get a much closer look at it. … It gives the publisher the opportunity to get involved in a new form of publishing without building all the infrastructure and expending all the time and energy that it takes to build something new. ...