Patter on paperless publishing

The famously self-published Amanda Hocking has signed a multi-million-dollar deal with St. Martin’s Press for a young adult paranormal romance series, due to appear in print in fall 2012. Hocking responded to public curiosity about the move on her personal blog. She wants to be a writer, she says, not a publisher.

Bestselling authors Barry Eisler and Joe Konrath discussed making the opposite decision on their blogs last week. They have each decided to self-publish their next works. Eisler explains his decision:

If you ask the wrong question, the right answer to that question isn’t going to help you. So the question isn’t, “Will paper disappear?” Of course it won’t, but that’s not what matters. What matters is that paper is being marginalized.

Konrath agrees:

Paper won’t disappear, but that’s not the point. The point is, paper will become a niche while digital will become the norm.

Tony Aldridge, a writer and former marketing professional, discusses what authors should consider in pricing their e-books. He suggests that a lower price maybe far offset by volume of sales, and that authors should bundle more than one book at a higher but discounted price point.

I never thought I’d use a business term of art like “price point” in my literary blog (tautology, anyone?), but there you have it. More thoughts on self-publishing are forthcoming.