Self Publishing Made Cheap

[Mike Moats]

When I was a kid in the sixties, we bought records that played our favorite bands, new technology then had us listening to those bands on eight track tapes and cassettes. In the twenty-first century our music comes on a CD, but even that is now losing ground to music being downloaded from the internet on to Ipods and MP3s.

The internet allows us now to download e-books that can be read on our computers or printed out. The popular Kindle, Ipad and the copy cats are changing the way people buy and read books. It’s just in its infancy but I have no doubt that the e-book will someday in the future replace the paper book. Newspapers are going online and you see magazines setting up their online sites. You will pay to read the news online someday and your favorite photo magazines will follow. It’s cost effective.

This makes sense to me as I self published my own book ”Tiny Landscapes” and bought 2,000 copies for $12,000.00, and in the last year I’ve created four e-books that cost me nothing to produce the product. The Tiny Landscapes book cost to package and ship which is passed on to the customer, and the e-books are sent to the customer via internet costing me and the customer nothing for delivery, and they can get it instantly.

Like record stores that have gone under we’ll eventually see the end of the local Barnes and Noble and Borders. Amazon is on the leading edge of the transformation to e-books and it’s getting bigger each day. This won’t happen over night but it will happen. School text books that cost a fortune at the college level will go to the e-book and someday when every kid has a laptop, public schools will have text books downloaded to the kids computers.

As businesses are always looking for ways to cut cost, e-books would be a huge savings for publishers printing books. Now if everyone can produce an e-book without any cost, will this hurt the publishers, as you don’t need the publishers money to produce your book. Authors can self publish their own e-books and submit them to the online sites.

I sell my “Tiny Landscapes” book through Amazon who has to warehouse all these books and the cost of all the people to run the warehouses, which is a huge cost to the company. Just think how much they will save when all books are e-books. They just need hardrives to store all the e-books, which will save tons of money on warehouses, labor, and shipping.

E-books in how-to nature photography are becoming more popular, photogs like well known bird photographer Arthur Morris has some e-books. William Neil, writer for "Outdoor Photgrapher" just released some e-books. Another birder Alan Murphy has a new e-book, David DuChemin has e-books on composition. More and more pro's I talk to are getting their e-books together. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out in time.

I think it's great because many of these great photographers that can teach us things will have a way to produce information without mortgaging their homes.

[Fabs Forns]

Mike, thanks for taking the time to explain the process, very much appreciated.

[Desmond Chan]

But if there's a choice between e-book and hard-copy, many still prefer hard-copy. And I still see more people reading a "real" book than those who read from an electronic device.

[Mike Moats]

Hey Desmond, no doubt on your comment, but it's just starting to roll, and as the Kindle, Ipads, copycats lower in price, everyone will have one. It just makes sence from a financial standpoint that it evolves this way. I wouldn't guess that this transformation will happen in the next few years , but ten years, I think yes.

For the photographer looking for how-to information from their favorite pro, who wouldn't risk the financial cost of producing a traditional book can now set up an e-book that can put some money in the photographers pocket and also bring valuble how-to info to those looking to learn more.

I think it's a win for eveybody, expect the publishers, who will have everybody producing their own books and submitting them to online sites, which I believe is were everyone will get there books in the future, and don't say no way, because it's happening in the music business, as CDs keep losing ground to downloads online. I haven't bought a CD in a few years as all my music is downloaded now.

[mikeojohnson]

I think it will happen faster than ten years. At least for critical mass. Adoption is a curve not a straight line.
Mike

[Mike Moats]

Hey Mike, I was thinking ten years where everyboby will be using e-books and book store will be closing and traditional books coming to an end. The e-books are already here as amazon is really pushing them, but it will take years before most people will be willing to give up paper books. The industry will frorce it on you eventually as the cost savings to them will be huge. Thanks for comment Mike.

[Julie Brown]

Mike, this is a timely topic. As a consumer, I agree with what you are saying. I have purchased e-books and will continue to do so. I still love paper books, but lately I have been buying digital books for my Kindle. I also read newspapers and magazines online as well as print. I used to get the New York Times delivered to my house, but did not have time to read it because of all the other media I consume for my job and in my spare time. It is still enjoyable to sit in a coffee shop and read the newspaper, or hang out at a bookstore. I know I will miss that when its gone.:(

BTW, the high school where I teach (urban, lower socio-economic school population) is about to go digital. The school system has purchased netbooks and an internet account for every student. They will have Wifi 24-7 and the netbooks will be used both in school and at home. All textbooks will be accessible in digital format, and I have already started to put my lesson content and assignments online. Teaching this way will be mandatory for all teachers, and we have begun the professional development for this transition.

I have no problem with it, because I love technology!:D

[Mike Moats]

Hey Julie, that is interesting about your schools system. My wife is a middle school teacher here in SE Michigan and her district is just starting to look into e-books for text, so you're ahead of us. I think the people that will have the biggest problem with going all e-books would be the older generations as the younger people won't have as much problem making the transistion to all e-books.

[William Malacarne]

My wife has a Kindle and there are two things I don't like about it. No color and its graphics are not good. It needs to have a back light. I am sure this will improve though.

Bill

[Mike Moats]

Your right Bill not good for graphic yet, but as more picture type books go digital thay will have to improve that.

I see one problem with doing a coffee table style e-book of photographs. Most photographers have websites with their images already online, so who would want to buy an e-book of images to view on their kindle or computer when you can just go to that photographers website and view all his or her images for free.

What do you think about that?

[Chris Hansen]

Mike,

My niece and nephew are in their 2nd year of college. It's interesting to see that they still have to buy books. It's interesting because they hardly ever actually use them. The majority of their reading assignments for classes are online. My daughter still uses a mathbook in class at her middle school. At home she has the option of using her book or going online as the whole text is there in addition to lesson, chapter and practice tests. In my last years of teaching all of our grading was online. It's a big help for parents to see their child's grades and keep tabs on what is going on.
The whole online book trend has gotten so much easier too. You can create short runs of books at incredible quality from a single book to as many as you can afford. I now use BLURB (there are many others) to make books of family vacations and events. The books created are quality hardbound with dust covers etc. is truly amazing.
Also,there is a trend especially among younger people that they rarely buy newspapers or magazines. All of their reading is done online.

What a timely topic Mike. I think you are right on the money with this one.

God bless,

chris

[Harshad Barve]

Excellent thread Mike and thanks a ton for this

This will be trend in coming yeras. I have my own collection of 500+ paper books and I still love those. But paper books are very costly specially on nature and wildlife ( atleast in this part of world ) . Beautiful coffee table book on tigers or Indian willife will not cost you less than 100 $. Cant think of buying one for myself but can afford a 20$ e-book and will definatey buy that.

Saving paper will be need of time and I think we will go online newspapers and e-books in less than 10 yerars. In 2005 there were 3 newspapers deliverd at home. Now only Lokamat ( Local News paper ) for my Mom only. Me & my wife read Times of India online.

It is still enjoyable to sit in a coffee shop and read the newspaper, or hang out at a bookstore. I know I will miss that when its gone.:(

I will too , Seating in coffee shop and reading on laptop will be one horrible thing to do :(

[Desmond Chan]

The industry will frorce it on you eventually

That might be one way if not the only way to do it. One of the magazines that I somehow subscribed to did just that: they suddenly stopped printing the paper edition and started sending you the e-version only, like it or not. I personally still find reading from paper more comfortable (to my eyes) than reading from a screen.

[Ed Cordes]

I agree that e-books are the wave of the future - to a point. As mentioned the graphics has to improve. However, I am one of the "old guys" and just seem to like to curl up in front of the fire place with a glass of good wine, jazz playing in the background and a "real" book. I guess you could train me to use a Kindle under these circumstances - but it's not the same.

The younger people may not appreciate the romance in this concept. Maybe that's the problem with the world today - not enough real romance!

[Julie Brown]

Ed, I agree with you. We have a fondness for books, and for good reason. There is no substitute for the way a real book stimulates our senses and our emotions. For people who love books, that cannot be replaced, IMHO.

You are correct in your statement that younger people may not appreciate the romance of the concept of books. The love of books and ideas has to be introduced first at home, and fostered in the elementary and middle schools. Many of my students (not all) do not appreciate books or the aesthetics of books. The average reading level of students in my high school is about 5th or 6th grade. In my 25 years of teaching I have witnessed much abuse and disrespect of books. From my experience, going digital in the schools is a necessary reality to facilitate the consumption of resources. Because they do know how to "consume" media!

The type of reading material that I have on my Kindle is what I consider to be "consumable". I keep my Kindle in my laptop bag, and take it with me when I travel. It is what it is-for now.

Mike, you have stimulated a really interesting conversation!:cool:

[Harshad Barve]

BTW ,
curl up in front of the fire place with a glass of good wine, jazz playing in the background and e-book on laptop can be equally romantic ;):)

[Don Lacy]

Thru the years I have had to continually get rid of my books due to space constraints it would be great to have them all on one device thats the size of a notebook.

[Desmond Chan]

Thru the years I have had to continually get rid of my books due to space constraints it would be great to have them all on one device thats the size of a notebook.

Well, you can scan them :)

And when you lose that one device, you lose all the books :D:D

I've read years ago in The Economist magazine an article about books and documents from many, many, many years ago that are now being stored in a museum. It says that if those materials were in some electronic version, we may not be able to read them today. The reason being that the software and format that were used back then may not be available today and the files would be un-readable. Then again, it was about ten years ago that I read that article.

[Ed Cordes]

Well, you can scan them :)

And when you lose that one device, you lose all the books :D:D

I've read years ago in The Economist magazine an article about books and documents from many, many, many years ago that are now being stored in a museum. It says that if those materials were in some electronic version, we may not be able to read them today. The reason being that the software and format that were used back then may not be available today and the files would be un-readable. Then again, it was about ten years ago that I read that article.

The permanence of digital media and the means of accessing older formats in the future is an issue. How many of you have 5 1/4 or even 3 1/2 inch floppy drive reading capability? How about Beta Max video recording?

If we are not careful reading current digital media in the future will be like trying to read Hieroglyphics and we will need a digital equivalent to the Rosetta Stone

[Mike Moats]

Somedays we'll be able to say, "I remember way back when they made books out of paper":D

[Don Lacy]

[QUOTE]And when you lose that one device, you lose all the books [/QUOTET ]
Two words Back Up:)

[Mike Moats]

One problem I see with e-books, is many people place some value on getting a authors signiture on their book, how are they going to have an e-book signed:confused:

[Harshad Barve]

One problem I see with e-books, is many people place some value on getting a authors signiture on their book, how are they going to have an e-book signed:confused:

You can post them CD duly autographed

[Axel Hildebrandt]

It's going to be interesting if the iPad will accelerate the adoption of e-books even more.

[Chris Ober]

The iPad is the wrong technology to be reading long term on. The backlight in laptops and tablets constricts the pupils and increases eyestrain. It draws more power which of course means you have to charge it more often.

The electronic ink technology used by the Kindle, Nook, ezreader, Sony readers, etc uses no power once the page is displayed and to keep it displayed. Minimal power is used to turn pages. This means you can easily go a week or two without having to charge up if you keep the extra features like WiFi and 3g turned off. Viewing a reader using the e-ink is just like reading a page in a book...no eye strain. They have some ways to go in the technology such as color, speed, and functionality but so far is on the right track.

Self publishing also means more money for the author since the publisher's cut is eliminated and like the record industry's labels, that's where the majority of the money goes. The publishers and record labels make the most money, not the authors and artists who are the ones that deserve it. More and more bands are realizing it and choosing to bypass the labels and choosing other methods of distribution. NiN and Prince are a couple of examples. There are lots lots of independent and local artists out there releasing content in digital format only who wouldn't have been able to share it otherwise. Record labels and publishers need to change their business models to stay in business as the industry transitions to more digital content. Barnes and Noble is working on it by releasing their own e-book reader, the Nook, allowing more non-DRM content to be read (unlike the Kindle), and expanding the volumes available electronically.

[Mike Moats]

Thanks Chris, agree the playing field is being leveled a bit with the internet and e-books. It will be interesting to see how it plays out with the author / publisher releationship.

[Ed Cordes]

One of the good things I liked about my friend's Kindle was the ability to change font size. I do a fair amount of "Low Vision" in my practice. This is where I examine legally blind patients, or patients who are not blind but have sub normal vision. I prescribe various devices to assist them in leading normal lives. The electronic devices allow any reading material displayed on them to have "Large Print". I was also impressed with the screen's ability to be read at various angles.

Not the same as a good old fashioned book by the fire place, but for those patients who need it it is a boon to them.

[Vida van der Walt]

A very interesting thread Mike and I agree that it is probably the way most people will go in the future esp the kids that have grown up in the digital age.
I'm with Ed on this one. I have a great love of books and will be sad if they are mostly in digital format. Reading is so much more than just taking in information. The touch and feel of a book, the sound of the pages turning and even the smell of a brand new book is all part of the experience. Apart from that, I still feel like I have some sort of brain freeze when I try to take in a lot of information that is not printed on paper.:) (For example, I had to print the tutorial on the DPP CD to get to grips with the program.):)

[Chris Ober]

Compare film to digital, vacuum tubes to transistors, CRT to LCD, etc.... People had the same reservations about not being able to make the transition to a digital slr because of how warm and fuzzy plopping down those newly developed slides on a light table made them feel. Once the technology progresses and more and more people adopt/adapt, the feeling goes away and you realize all the benefits compared to analog stuff.

Yes, you'll still have some insisting on staying with the older mediums and that's great. I think the ease of availability, distribution, and potential out-weigh the warm-fuzzy factor :) It'll be easier to obtain banned books, share ideas, organize, learn. Out-of-print books will become a thing of the past. No more losing books, leaving them behind because of space and weight, losing and having to buy another. New editions can be released and errors can be corrected quicker. You'll be able to add notes anywhere and modify them without marring up a physical copy and you'll be able to share those notes with others just like we can enhance, manipulate and share images and files now. Technology=progress=good.

[William Malacarne]

Chris

You must not be very old. Can you remember, vinyl to 8 track to cassettes to CD to iPod and lets not for get VCR/Betamax etc......:)

Bill

[Chris Ober]

Yes, I know those too but I felt only a few recent examples was all that was needed. VHS/Betamax wouldn't count since it was a competing format war like blueray - hd dvd and basically on the same type of medium.

Film --> digital and CRT --> LCD also has a more direct relation to the photographer and the equipment used.

[Vida van der Walt]

Chris, I know what you are saying and like I said, I agree that it is the way of the future. I can see that there are a lot of pro's to digital format books and I have nothing against progress but still think there are certain types of books that will always be best in print.
Returning to the starting point of the thread, if I had to choose between buying a coffee table book of Mike's beautiful photos or getting an e-book, I will always buy the book, even if I have to pay more. Personally, I would rather not read my books from a bright screen with the electronic hum of a computer in the background.
I'm not sure how big the screens on the Kindle and Ipad are but can't imagine using it to read the kids a bedtime story for instance. But that is just me.:)

[Mike Moats]

I would say everyone would agree that a paper book of pictures would always win out over an e-book, but I think it will eventually come down to plain simple economics, as it's just so much cheaper producing these e-books then the cost of a real book, warehousing, shipping, labor cost, packaging, shipping, etc.