Over on Twitter, this week, my pal Rachael Lucas, who has recently self-published an amazing successful first novel, drew my attention to some 'interesting comments' from the established publishing industry about self-publishing. Let's just say, the comments weren't encouraging. They reminded me of music company executives who hadn't worked out how downloads would revolutionise their industry.
I'd casually wondered about self-publishing before, but I decided to look into what you needed to do to publish your own book. It turns out remarkably simple to get your eBook content onto Amazon. Clearly, you need to write something compelling and to be able to market it. Social Media is your friend, after all.
What does this mean for amateur radio publications? Well, if you've an idea and you want to put an eBook together, it's simple! What does it mean for established publishers such as RSGB and ARRL? Time will tell, but I'd guess they will get squeezed as we see a shift towards self-publishing. That should mean that the breadth of titles available increases - up until now, ARRL/RSGB would presumably only commission titles that were reasonably mainstream. With subject matter experts able to self-publish, it would be good to feel that a wider and more esoteric range is available ( though sales may not be that high!).
For ARRL/RSGB who have traditionally made some money out of publishing, this represents an opportunity (or a threat, depending on your standpoint).
And yes, I have some ideas - I just have to find time to apply brain to keyboard.
↧
G4VXE (Tim): Self-publishing, amateur radio and what it means for RSGB, ARRL etc
↧