Does a Wide World Call for Wide Distribution?
I can’t see why not. But what does that mean?
Once upon a time, stunningly not so long ago, there were exactly 2 ways to publish a book. You could do it via a major publishing house or vanity press for self-publishing. The former came with marketing and distribution. The latter didn’t. The latter also tended to be pricey.
Then, eBooks came into being, and a new option came with them. Genuine self-publishing with the distribution power of Amazon was a new way to get a book out into the world. I didn’t get in on this at that time, so I’m not sure if adding a paperback was also an option initially. However, CreateSpace — and then Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) — presented a free option for uploading an eBook and paperback to Amazon.
You, however, like the former vanity press option, are responsible for marketing and the like. No major publishing house putting your work into the world means you’re a one-person solo operation. In other words, you’re an authorpreneur.
Along the way, Amazon got competition. To be fair, it might have always had competition. But in the past few years, however, that has opened the way for wider distribution options that are free, relatively speaking.
