[Erik Brynjolfsson] and his co-author Andrew McAfee took their analysis to its logical conclusion with their most recent book, “Race Against the Machine.” Although a prominent publisher offered them an advance, they decided instead to self-publish through Amazon. The deal gave them a nimbler publication schedule and more control over pricing – the ability, for instance, to offer a two-day sale when the authors are speaking at a conference. Now they’d like to join the lending library.
Why go with an intermediary when you can sell directly to the world’s biggest bundler?
Brynjolfsson cautions that authors won’t necessarily be better off if Amazon’s bundles replace more traditional book marketing. “The pie would be bigger (more revenues total),” he wrote in an email, “but they might not get as big a slice.” It’s hard to know in advance.
One thing is certain, however. Publishers are in trouble. They think their problem is that they are losing their retailers. But the real danger is that, over time, they are going to lose their authors as well. No wonder they are afraid of Amazon.