http://barbecuediguana.deviantart.com/journal/29699294

Someone up above wrote something along the lines of “how do we separate the crap from the good stuff.”

It astounds me how often this gets said, like a small brick wall that people just smack into and use as an excuse to go no further.

The answer is the same thing that answers the question of “how do you separate the normally published crap from the good stuff?”

+reviews – once the major review sources lift their embargo on reviewing POD books there will be no stopping the new publishing revolution. If anything, this seems to be the sole anchor that is holding the old status quo in place.

+graphics – you should never judge a book by its cover, but we always do. And while there have been good books with shitty covers this usually comes from publishers cutting corners. The cover art of the future will need to show the love that the writer has put into the book beneath it, as will the website and the book trailer, and all the other flotsam that hooks peoples attention.

+word of mouth – people talk about the books they love, and no coalition or writers union will be able to hold that back.

+being picked up by major publishers – seriously?

Yes, and this is my view of the future. The slushpile system will be abandoned and replaced by the POD sales figure round up. At the end of the day, publishers are businesses. They respond almost stupidly to sales (ex: anything ghost written for a celebrity). In the future they will watch, or have a computer program watch Amazon and Lulu for breakout novels: ones that somehow manage to sell 1,000 or more copies. Although small, it is actually a pretty astounding number for a POD book, and a loud hint that -hey- there’s something worth printing here.

Instead of writers badgering the publishers, they will come to us with a proposition to secure publishing rights. And everyone will be happy again, somewhat. If anything, this future means more work on the part of the writer or writing team, but instead of releasing a tsunami of crap (which is what you’ll get if all you ever do is go to Lulu and ask it for a fantasy novel) it may actually open up a new golden age of quality writing. Go figure.

I only ever blogged out of spite.

Perhaps you’d like to say something a little more on-point regarding self-publishing, and/or copyediting your own work?