WSJ thawing a bit on self pubbing, sort of

The conservative WSJ is among many traditional publications that treat the self publishing industry and those in it like lepers.  I suspect it is because of their very cozy relationship with the big 6 publishers and not because their brains are small and they have a hard time understanding change or reading a situation.  Because that would be sad.

However, they have an article that does mention self publishing, if only tangentially.  The pricing that the article talks about is very much in the self publishing domain.  That might change, tho, if more of the big 6 wise up and start using the 99c price point more often for their promotions.

So all of those readers that swear off 99c books bc of the glutton of poorly edited self pubbed works might be tempted to wade into those waters again.  That's good for everyone, I think.

Will the big 6 ever price their novels at 2.99-4.99 like most self pubbers do?  Probably. But not for another couple of years.  Until then, only one here and there will tiptoe in that direction.  (Please excuse the many exceptions to this rule-- very little in life is absolutely absolute.)

Price will end up being a huge marketing communication to the potential reader.  8.99 and up will signal that this book was published by a traditional publisher.  For some readers, that will be a comfort and they will gladly pay that added premium.  For others, they might feel gouged.

The industry is still in flux in many people's views.  Probably very much so to the reader.  I think things are kind of set for now.  Print won't die, just get smaller.  Kobo will probably take over BN with ereaders in the next few years (Sorry bn- you just kind of suck business-wise). Scared writers will continue to flock to big6 for validation.  Scared readers will continue to pay $12-35 for big6 books bc buying habits die hard.
Amazon's KDP select will continue to lure authors with their offer of 5 free promotional days (the lending is a tepid lure as so few people are part of Amazon Prime right now).  But it won't take over their world and gobble all other ebook retailers bc of the diversity in hardware.  Everyone will say that's what is happening, but it won't be for long.  Fair market competition will keep things tilting this way and then that way.

Okay, that's all I got for now.  Toodles.
Kate