In 2013, I posted four essays, Crunching the Publishing Numbers. Here are the links:

Part 1, Crunching the Publishing Numbers
https://lisamasontheauthor.com/2013/02/24/crunching-the-publishing-numbers/

Part 2, Crunching the Publishing Numbers. Money and Power
https://lisamasontheauthor.com/2013/05/01/crunching-the-publishing-numbers-part-2-money-and-power/

Part 3, Crunching the Publishing Numbers. Wired and Wool
https://lisamasontheauthor.com/2013/05/05/crunching-the-publishing-numbers-part-3-wool-and-wired/

Part 4, Crunching the Publishing Numbers. Romance Scams
https://lisamasontheauthor.com/2013/08/04/crunching-the-ebook-publishing-numbers-sfwapro/

These essays compare the financials of traditional Big Publishers with the financials of self-publishing an ebook. I don’t mean to denigrate the value of an author’s exposure in the Big Media when you publish through a Big Publisher. Such exposure is very valuable and difficult to match for a self-published author.

That said, the rest of the financials of traditional Big Publishing don’t compare well with self-publishing numbers. And whether you, the author, will get any exposure of your book in the Big Media is totally up to your Publisher. You have no control. Further, if the Publisher doesn’t give you media exposure and marketing support—which is the case for ninety percent of authors—the publisher will still expect you, the author, to promote your book on your own via social networks. So you’ll be promoting the publisher’s 85% interest in your work at your own time and expense and no time and expense to them.

Due to the difficulty authors have these days retaining a recognized literary agent, all the Big Publishers (and several small independent publishers) offer imprints to which you may submit your book without an agent. They typically offer only an ebook, with some publishing a mass market paperback if your ebook numbers justify the expense. The jury is in: these are mostly scams and exploitative of authors. See above, Part 4, Crunching the Publishing Numbers, Romance Scams.

Now that we’re three months into 2014, a number of pundits—including Smashwords and Writer’s Digest Magazine—have posted their analyses of where the Publishing Business is now and likely to go in the future. I’m not a psychic, but I’m following the blogs and have my own experience. In the next few weeks, I’ll share what I’ve learned with you regarding book earnings, market share, competition, ebooks versus print books, professionalism, and hybrid publishing.

So there you have it, my friends. The Publishing Biz has become a lot like space exploration. Since Big Government can’t or won’t fund space projects, a number of dedicated independent entrepreneurs have stepped up to the challenge and are privately developing rockets, satellites, and space exploration projects like asteroid mining. All space projects need is expertise, passion, inventiveness, imagination, talent, time, and, yes, money. Like writing and publishing.

T minus five, four, three, two, one, Liftoff!

From the author of Summer Of Love, A Time Travel (a Philip K. Dick Award Finalist and San Francisco Chronicle Recommended Book) on BarnesandNoble, US Kindle, Canada Kindle, UK Kindle, Smashwords, Apple, Kobo, and Sony.
Summer of Love, A Time Travel is also on Amazon.com in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Japan, and India.

The Gilded Age, A Time Travel on BarnesandNoble, US Kindle, Canada Kindle, UK Kindle, Apple, Kobo, Sony, and Smashwords.
The Gilded Age, A Time Travel is also on Amazon.com in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Japan, and India.

The Garden of Abracadabra, Volume 1 of the Abracadabra Series, on BarnesandNoble, US Kindle, Canada Kindle, UK Kindle, Apple, Kobo, Sony, and Smashwords.
The Garden of Abracadabra, Volume 1 of the Abracadabra Series, is also on Amazon.com in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Japan, and India.

Celestial Girl, The Omnibus Edition (A Lily Modjeska Mystery) includes all four books. On Nook, US Kindle, Canada Kindle, UK Kindle, Smashwords, Apple, Kobo, and Sony;
Celestial Girl, The Omnibus Edition (A Lily Modjeska Mystery) is also on Amazon.com in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Japan, and India.

Strange Ladies: 7 Stories on Nook, US Kindle, Canada Kindle, UK Kindle, Smashwords, Apple, Kobo, and Sony.
Strange Ladies: 7 Stories is also on Amazon.com in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Japan, and India.

My Charlotte: Patty’s Story on Barnes and Noble, US Kindle, UK Kindle, Canada Kindle, Australia Kindle, Smashwords, Apple, and Kobo;
My Charlotte: Patty’s Story is also on Amazon.com worldwide in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Japan, and Mexico.

Visit me at Lisa Mason’s Official Website for books, ebooks, stories, and screenplays, reviews, interviews, and blogs, adorable pet pictures, forthcoming projects, fine art and bespoke jewelry, worldwide Amazon.com links for Brazil, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, and Spain, and more!

And on Lisa Mason’s Blog, on my Facebook Author Page, on my Facebook Profile Page, on Amazon, on Goodreads, on LinkedIn, on Twitter at @lisaSmason, at Smashwords, at Apple, at Kobo, at Sony, and at Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.

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