Many of you have no doubt heard about Rebecca Black, the thirteen year old singer whose debut song “Friday” has become an object of near universal mockery on the Interwebz. With lyrics like this:
Fun, fun, think about fun
You know what it is
I got this, you got this
My friend is by my right, ay
I got this, you got this
Now you know it.
it’s not hard to see why some people are calling “Friday” one of the worst songs of all time.
Black’s parents paid $4,000 for her to make a video with ARK Music Factory, which makes “Friday” the musical equivalent of the many self-published books churned out by vanity presses like iUniverse and AuthorHouse. Since these companies get their money upfront, they don’t have to worry about pesky things like quality or marketability.
Recently, it has become something of a fad within the publishing world to forecast the imminent demise of literary agents and traditional publishers. Pundits point to people like Amanda Hocking (who has become a millionaire by selling her self-published eBooks through the Kindle store) and claim that authors will eventually self publish all their work in eBook form. It’s not hard to see why some authors find self publishing platforms like the Kindle to be an appealing alternative to traditional publishing. Not only are you free to publish your story exactly how you want it without any editorial interference, but you can also get royalties of up to 70%.
While eBooks will eventually relegate paper books to the status of collectors’ items, literary agents and traditional publishers still have a valuable role to play in ensuring some basic level of quality. They’re actually making an investment in the author, so they have a vested interest in making sure that the author’s work is good, or at least marketable. Granted, Amazon doesn’t charge you anything to publish via the Kindle, but they’re not exactly making an investment in you either, which is why they’ll still accept almost anything under the sun. A traditional publisher also provides basic publicity services to help market your book. If you’re self published, you have to do all that on your own and, contrary to what some people seem to think, social media isn’t a magic wand that you can wave and guarantee your book a vast readership.
As long as self publishing continues to be associated with the literary equivalent of Rebecca Black’s “Friday,” there will be a place for traditional publishers. The switch to eBooks may provide a second chance for authors who were bypassed by traditional publishers, but easier distribution won’t automatically level the playing field.
