Over the past few weeks, things in e-book land have been hopping to say the very least. There has been much speculation about how the publishing world is (or has) changed and what it all means for the consumer, the publisher, and yes, for the writer.One particular thing I've noticed is the great divide between print books and e-books remains on those blogs/reviewer sites that purport to have a finger on the pulse of publishing. Even when they review an e-book, it's still a book from a NY pub. Authors with smaller publishers still struggle for recognition.
The way I see it, is this--the new crop of e-book customers merely look for the same NY authors in digital form and are mostly completely unaware of the publishers--and books available from the independent digital publishers. Hence the same divide there's always been between print/digital. It's just moved to a new forum.
Until digital customers are truly aware of all the possibilities, the divide will remain. Independent digital publishers will continue to be an unrecognized portion of the digital market.
anny
You nailed it, girl! Yes, reviewers and book bloggers - unless we ask them very nicely - still look for digital released by their favorite print authors to review.
ReplyDeleteVery concise, Annie - exactly.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteI've read on some review blogs that they do review smaller publishers and occasionally I have seen small press books reviewed (the ones you call 'independent') -- but they're selected small press books. Not all small press are reviewed, it seems.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure why this is but one charitable thought I've had is that there's so damn many books out there, review sites just don't have the time.
Of course, an uncharitable thought is that those small presses are being dismissed as being inconsequential while other small presses have more 'cachet' or validity. I'm not sure.
I'm wondering how much readers are influenced by review sites & blogs, though. That's the key question, isn't it? Should we care about it at all? Or should we focus on our Amazon pages and our 'direct' connection to readers (via chats, etc.)
But you're right, too: review sites and blogs give recognition if nothing else. And it is still a struggle...