The widespread use of e-readers and digital books has amplified an already old phenomenon, that of self-publishing. A whole self-publishing market is emerging, with its service offers and business models, its technical and commercial providers, its innovative start-ups and its international giants.
According to Louis Wiart, professor at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (and associate member of the LabSIC at the Université Paris 13), examined on the InaGlobal website, "Far from being a novelty in itself, the acceleration and amplification of the phenomenon over the last half-dozen years suggests prospects for reconfiguring the industry.
The principle of self-publishing is for an author to take over the functions usually assigned to the publisher, helped by operators and distribution companies that provide tools to create and distribute books, in printed or digital form.
"Quite logically, self-publishing goes hand in hand with self-promotion, that is to say, with the fact of managing the communication around one's publications and ensuring their visibility oneself, in particular on the Internet. As an entrepreneur of his book, the author becomes his own brand and must conduct a whole work of marketing of himself and building his reputation if he wants to conquer a readership. The author becomes his own brand and must conduct a whole work of reputation building if he wishes to conquer a readership"."Far from forming a block without nuances, self-published authors are characterized by a diversity of situations: from authors whose works are addressed to the limited circle of their entourage, to those who invest in a niche market or a field neglected by traditional publishing, to those who seek to conquer a readership and to be recognized, the publication perspectives differ widely."It also happens that writers with an established reputation turn away from the publishing system to gain more freedom or increase their income... Straddling the line between publishing and self-publishing, this hybrid posture means that the author chooses one or the other form of publication according to his opportunities and motivations.A mass phenomenon
Because of the parallel nature of self-publishing, whose publications largely escape the traditional circuits, its measurement is complex to establish. Despite these difficulties, Louis Wiart notes "a massification of the phenomenon, the most tangible signs of which are to be found after 2010.- "Between 2010 and 2015, the number of ISBNs granted to self-published titles increased by 375%, coming in at 727,000 titles available in print or digital format."
- This data only captures part of the reality of self-publishing insofar as obtaining an ISBN is not a mandatory step on certain platforms, 30% of e-books purchased in the United States would not have received an ISBN in 2014."
- "In all likelihood, the level of production by self-publishers should therefore be even higher.
17% of books published in France
In France, self-published publications with legal deposit represented 17% of all new publications in 2017 (i.e., around 14,000 titles) compared to 6% in 2005 and 10% in 2010.- For this estimate, theLegal Deposit Observatory takes into account both self-published authors and works published on behalf of authors or by print-on-demand service providers.
- As many authors do not take this step, the figures of the Legal Deposit do not take into account only the most visible part of self-publishing. Moreover, they only concern printed books, as the legal deposit of digital books is still in an experimental phase.
Not all self-published books achieve success and notoriety
- "While it is clear that self-publishing is an area that is increasingly important, it appears that this market is characterized by a significant asymmetry in the distribution of financial benefits, with a significant concentration of sales and revenues on a small number of successful authors.
- A survey of 1,000 self-published authors provides an interesting insight into their economic situation. While the average income of the authors surveyed was $10,000, half of them had actually earned less than $500, while the richest 10% had captured three-quarters of the income.
- "This inequality in the distribution of resources", concludes Louis Wiart,"reminds us, if it were necessary, that not all self-published books reach success and notoriety, the majority of texts remaining drowned in the immensity of the proposals".
