Number of Self-Published Titles Jumped 40% in 2018 • Hacker News Board

Re: Number of Self-Published Titles Jumped 40% in 2018

#11

Post by kevin_thibedeau » Sat, Oct 19, 2019, 2:27 AM UTC

m463 wrote: post #3

I have found kindle books that come from a reputable publisher are MUCH higher quality than self-published books. I just don't think many self-published books have the meaningful rejection, editing and proofreading that a publisher provides. That doesn't mean that there aren't good self published books. And things might change over time, if teams form. I think publishing a book requires a team. Meaningful reviews and…

The number of typos I see in traditionally published materials indicates that they don't add much value in the proofreading realm.

Re: Number of Self-Published Titles Jumped 40% in 2018

#12

Post by mrob » Sat, Oct 19, 2019, 2:43 AM UTC

mrfusion wrote: post #7

m463 wrote: post #3

I have found kindle books that come from a reputable publisher are MUCH higher quality than self-published books. I just don't think many self-published books have the meaningful rejection, editing and proofreading that a publisher provides. That doesn't mean that there aren't good self published books. And things might change over time, if teams form. I think publishing a book requires a team. Meaningful reviews and…

One counter example is “Harry Potter and the methods of rationality”. Possibly one of the best books I’ve ever read.

Another example is "Worm", which I learned of from the author's notes for Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality:

https://parahumans.wordpress.com/

Re: Number of Self-Published Titles Jumped 40% in 2018

#13

Post by csande17 » Sat, Oct 19, 2019, 2:45 AM UTC

AtomicOrbital wrote: post #2

As an avid reader + book buyer I see little value add coming from the publisher other than marketing which should be available separate from the publisher or lack thereof ... As with other media like music the author/artist should cut out the middle man and reap the bulk of retail costs using print on demand ditto for academic publishing

Publishers can help with a lot of book-related things--typesetting, printing, cover design, and so on--that authors don't necessarily know how to do themselves. Automated print-on-demand services get you most of the way there, but professionals can still do a better job a lot of the time.

Re: Number of Self-Published Titles Jumped 40% in 2018

#14

Post by mrob » Sat, Oct 19, 2019, 2:47 AM UTC

LudwigNagasena wrote: post #10

dleslie wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hope I don't get roasted for this; but I whole-heartedly agree. There's also a sizeable publisher that I find has remarkably poor editorial control, and so I hesitate to read works published by them: Tor. Which is strange; they've always been a source of pulp science fiction and fantasy, but I enjoy such works and have enjoyed Tor works in the distant past. But recently? Notsomuch.

Isn’t pulp fiction by definition low quality?

Pulp fiction just means works published in pulp magazines or similarly disreputable publications. Some was bad, some was great. Many acclaimed authors wrote for the pulps:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulp_magazine#Authors_featured

Re: Number of Self-Published Titles Jumped 40% in 2018

#15

Post by witten » Sat, Oct 19, 2019, 3:40 AM UTC

Causality1 wrote: post #8

m463 wrote: post #3

I have found kindle books that come from a reputable publisher are MUCH higher quality than self-published books. I just don't think many self-published books have the meaningful rejection, editing and proofreading that a publisher provides. That doesn't mean that there aren't good self published books. And things might change over time, if teams form. I think publishing a book requires a team. Meaningful reviews and…

For me personally, the thing about self publishing is it gets authors noticed by actual publishers. Many of my favorite current authors started in self publishing but didn't stay there.

I can see how it seems that way (that self-publishing gets authors noticed by publishers), but it's actually pretty rare that it works out that way for any given writer. As I understand it, publishers generally don't look favorably upon a self-published author.. unless we're talking pre-published Andy Weir level numbers.

Re: Number of Self-Published Titles Jumped 40% in 2018

#16

Post by systematical » Sat, Oct 19, 2019, 3:44 AM UTC

Do publishers aid in marketing?

Re: Number of Self-Published Titles Jumped 40% in 2018

#17

Post by kjs3 » Sat, Oct 19, 2019, 3:55 AM UTC

Only 40%? Considering the bar for entry, and the vast amount of spew that comes out under the guise of "self-published", that seems wildly low.

Re: Number of Self-Published Titles Jumped 40% in 2018

#18

Post by kjs3 » Sat, Oct 19, 2019, 3:57 AM UTC

dleslie wrote: post #4

m463 wrote: post #3

I have found kindle books that come from a reputable publisher are MUCH higher quality than self-published books. I just don't think many self-published books have the meaningful rejection, editing and proofreading that a publisher provides. That doesn't mean that there aren't good self published books. And things might change over time, if teams form. I think publishing a book requires a team. Meaningful reviews and…

I hope I don't get roasted for this; but I whole-heartedly agree. There's also a sizeable publisher that I find has remarkably poor editorial control, and so I hesitate to read works published by them: Tor. Which is strange; they've always been a source of pulp science fiction and fantasy, but I enjoy such works and have enjoyed Tor works in the distant past. But recently? Notsomuch.

You aren't wrong. Even if the content if good, even great, with incredibly rare exception, you really, really need a good editor to turn that content into something useful.

Re: Number of Self-Published Titles Jumped 40% in 2018

#19

Post by kranner » Sat, Oct 19, 2019, 4:02 AM UTC

kevin_thibedeau wrote: post #11

m463 wrote: post #3

I have found kindle books that come from a reputable publisher are MUCH higher quality than self-published books. I just don't think many self-published books have the meaningful rejection, editing and proofreading that a publisher provides. That doesn't mean that there aren't good self published books. And things might change over time, if teams form. I think publishing a book requires a team. Meaningful reviews and…

The number of typos I see in traditionally published materials indicates that they don't add much value in the proofreading realm.

I've seen examples where they've deducted value especially when publishers' proofreaders are unfamiliar with obscure technical terms and mistake them for typos. This happens especially when changing a single letter would change the word from obscure to something relatively common; the meaning is of course not preserved.

Examples:

- in a novel about the Buddha, 'jhana' was changed to 'jnana'

- in an article about installing Linux, 'rawrite' (RawWrite) was changed to 'rewrite'

Re: Number of Self-Published Titles Jumped 40% in 2018

#20

Post by mdorazio » Sat, Oct 19, 2019, 4:41 AM UTC

mrfusion wrote: post #7

m463 wrote: post #3

I have found kindle books that come from a reputable publisher are MUCH higher quality than self-published books. I just don't think many self-published books have the meaningful rejection, editing and proofreading that a publisher provides. That doesn't mean that there aren't good self published books. And things might change over time, if teams form. I think publishing a book requires a team. Meaningful reviews and…

One counter example is “Harry Potter and the methods of rationality”. Possibly one of the best books I’ve ever read.

Wasn't that a serial fanfiction published over a pretty long period of time? I seem to remember reading the chapters weekly. Fanfiction like that tends to be its own category, with the better ones rising to the top of the rather large pile. Another example is Metropolitan Man.