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There is an interesting post on Digital Book World about the term “hybrid author” and how these authors are becoming the new “boss”. It seems to describe the individuals (opportunity?) accurately without managing to sound “offensive” (vanity publisher, self-publisher, indie publisher).
If you are curious about the origin you should read this 2011 post (Indies “vs” Trads: The elephant in the room) by Bob Mayer.
This new trend was reinforced this past week with the announcement in Publishers Weekly that long-time self-publishing critic Jerry Jenkins has formed a new company called Christian Writers Guild Publishing to help authors publish their own works.
This is something Sellbox has been doing for more than two years.
Hi David – I agree the trend for the power to return to the artist is continuing whether it be the music business or book publishing – same same. The challenge of course then is distribution and being seen. App developers are facing the same issue now as iTunes becomes a black-hole as the number of apps grows beyond the ability of the marketplace to consume them. The opportunity for authors lies in finding their tribe. Who will truly resonate with my work? Where do they hang out? Exciting times!
I wonder if iTunes has some special challenges. One big problem is that you need to download, install and maintain software. Everyone is moving to cloud apps and Apple continues to insist on maintaining walls. This makes the apps less discoverable.