An Interview with the Father of Self-Publishing
Friday, February 20, 2009
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Dan Poynter is without question the guru/godfather/father of self-publishing. Long before self-publishing became a cinch on the Internet, Dan was the leading practitioner and exponent of self-publishing. We’ve met a couple of times over the years, and I thought him very bright, charming and completely committed to the endeavor.
Smashwords has a great interview with Dan. He holds many opinions that differ from mine, which, rather than make me doubt him, make me question my own conclusions.
On e-books:
“We still hear people say they like the look and feel of a paper book. They will get over it. I do not know of one of these detractors who has actually read an eBook. They may have glanced at a page but they have not tested the concept. I have been publishing eReports and eBooks since 1996. Because I fly more than 6,000 miles/week, I read a lot of eBooks (mostly historical fiction). So we can argue about what the customer wants but the deciding factor will be economics. pBooks cost too much. Their list prices are higher and their actual costs are much higher when you consider printing, trucking, inventorying, processing the order, picking, packing, licking, sticking, wrapping and shipping. eBooks require little or none of these and Smashwords takes care of the delivery, billing, paying and customer service.”
Check out the whole interview at the link above. If you’re interesting in self-publishing, buy Dan’s books!
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