Apple-Obsessed Author Fella

Discussion: Why Is Self-Publishing Trying To Save The Big Five?

The subject is the question.

Discuss.

Why are indie publishers invested in Amazon vs. Hachette?

If the overall message has been that Big Publishing is an extinct model, why save it?

If indie advantage is often driven by the sluggish and poor pricing and bad contracts found in the Big Five, what’s the value in trying to urge them to better terms?

Do they care about an overall authorial ecosystem even though this runs the risk of harming their own profits? David Gaughran just suggested that many self-publishers desire to go hybrid, but first want a healthier environment to do so. Or are they just defending the realm of Amazon as knights to protect territory? Are they looking for a chance to ding publishers? Are they driven by a sense of rejection and anger? Is this just an opportunity to be heard, to confirm their presence at the table? Why don’t they see this as an opportunity to improve their overall terms with Amazon, instead? What’s the larger game, here, for author-publishers — or, is there one? Is this just the right thing to do, or is there an agenda at work?

This interests me because I can’t quite suss it out.

As always: be polite, folks. Thanks!