The deal has been rumored for quite some time, but it was officially announced that publisher Simon & Shuster will make 5000 titles in their catalog available for sale on Scribd.com which currently has 60,000,000 million registered users.
As an aspiring author, the opportunity at Scribd.com is a compelling one. Acclaimed published author Kemble Scott has taken a bold step in making his second novel The Sower available on Scribd.com for $2.00 dollars! Even with the price point being so low , he’s making more per sale than a traditional publisher would pay out. The thinking is that people will buy an e-book for $2.00 compared to a $9.95 paperback.
Scribd.com gives unpublished authors a great opportunity and the fact that a reputable publisher is joining forces with them is another sign of the seismic shift in the publishing industry. If I take into account how Amazon’s Kindle has reshaped how people read, we may be at the beginning of a huge change.
In my past life, I worked in the music industry and I remember retailers like Tower Records, Sam Goody and Camelot Music laughing at me on the phone when I suggested digital music would be a force to be reckoned with. Ten short years later, Apple’s iTunes is the premiere destination to purchase music while only a handful of music retailers are still in business. The age of buying records has moved primarily online.
Is the demise of the brick-and-mortar record store a fair example to use to gauge the future of the publishing industry? I don’t have a crystal ball, but I would imagine it’s a close analogy to be taken seriously by all publishers.
Having said that, there’s still something about curling up with a good book in my hand. I must be old-fashioned.
Filed under: Writing