Self Publishing and Kindles: The Ever Changing Market

The other day I dragged my friend along to a talk on Self Publishing and E-books by historical novelist Freda Lightfoot as part of the Purbeck Literary Festival. Freda is known as a 'hybrid' author, having had novels published traditionally and then gone on to self publish other novels.

The talk was mainly based on self publishing and the many pros and cons that follow it. However, she also talked about the challenges of promotion when self publishing, e-book formatting, and editing. (Also, fan fiction had a brief passing motion which was particularly entertaining as most people in the room appeared to be rather confused as to what that entailed)



One thing that particularly struck me was a passing comment about the ever changing market and how the physical book market isn't "dead and replaced by technology"; it's simply changed.  When someone buys a book on their Kindle and enjoys it, they may go out and buy a physical copy of the book for themselves or maybe as a present for a friend. They might find other books that the author has written, or other projects the author is involved with. They may then find them on twitter or goodreads or facebook and keep up to date with what they're up to - in the same way that someone reading the physical book might.

The market isn't dead, it's just different.

This doesn't just apply to books. It's this idea that you may listen to music online and then go out to buy the CD if you like that artist, or go and see them live in concert. It's this idea that whilst you watch TV and films online (via Netflix or otherwise), if you like and enjoy it, you're more than likely going to invest in the series boxset and keep up to date with the show. (Or in my case, wallow over the fact that The West Wing is no longer on air whilst crying and clutching at my boxset in the foetal position on my bedroom floor). Ahem.

I'm not saying that everyone is going to go and buy the physical copies of books or CD's or box-sets because many won't, and it would be outdated of me to suggest that they do. However, I think the real key is gaining a dedicated audience who appreciate the content you create and engage with you. they are the people who will buy the physical copies of books and will share your content with others.

Anyway, I'm gonna go and watch The West Wing now (and cry)

Best wishes, and dftba