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• Bellinghman commented on Publishing - We're All On the Same Side
  Ah yes. Another example of how the whole argument so often forgets that books fulfil a huge range of different functions, and therefore a change that may improve things over in one area may be totally irrelevant or actively counter-productive in another. In terms of the self/contracted publishing question, that's a field where I guess the production costs and small production runs probably mean that self-publication isn't really viable yet. On the other hand, I suspect there are potential cases where projects exist that no publisher would consider, for probably lack of return. A dissertation on the techniques of some...
• Jocelyn Ireson-Paine commented on Publishing - We're All On the Same Side
  Another example of how the whole argument so often forgets that books fulfil a huge range of different functions, and therefore a change that may improve things over in one area may be totally irrelevant or actively counter-productive in another. Well yes. Ebook readers have stupidly tiny screens. A lot of my books' pages are roughly A4 in size, so for a double spread, I need at least A3. Then I want colour faithful to the original, and the original fonts too. Especially if the book was designed by a member of the Bauhaus School. It helps if the ebook...
• Jocelyn Ireson-Paine commented on Publishing - We're All On the Same Side
  I accidentally pressed Submit at that point. But I was going to go on and say that any form of publishing that requires publication to be electronic discriminates against the kind of book I was describing. Which includes books that tell a story (including Orlando and most bandes dessinées) but where appearance is crucial. So if self-publishing is mainly "e", perhaps that's not so good....
• joeinformatico commented on Publishing - We're All On the Same Side
  @tontontms: Just bear in mind that Amazon itself is a digital publisher, and a highly aggressive one taking clear aim at the traditional publishers. I'd assume their recommendation algorithms are favouring their own stable of self-published authors....
• dirk.bruere commented on Publishing - We're All On the Same Side
  I write non fiction for a very small market - technological occultism - and have two books in print, one $3 eBook and one dead tree at about $40. I make enough to cover my council tax, and I sell through a couple of London bookshops. I self publish via Lulu and both are available via the big chains eg Waterstones, B&N, Amazon etc. Given that my estimate for the total number of people on the planet that would want to read the paper one is about 1000 self publishing is not only necessary but the only financially viable route....