There are many authors featured there who have never had a traditional publisher. Everyone is talking now about Amanda Hocking, who has sold more than half a million ebooks in less than two years. This is not the norm, of course, but it shows that one can become a bestseller.

I don’t know if trad publishing is the brass ring or not, but I know that I was always too frightened to self-pub before because I was given to understand it would ruin my chances at a “real” publishing contract. I’m not afraid of that any more. If you can sell enough books to live on, that’s the “real” deal. I have already seen many cases where big pubs are wooing successful indie authors. The question the publishers have to answer is what is the added value that they bring to an author who is already paying their mortgage with their writing.

Note, I don’t disagree about the crud. The majority of self-pubbed writers are not serious or realistic about it, and they would have been unlikely to have been successful in trad publishing either. They aren’t anything publishers need to worry about. If anything, the gobs of bad books probably drive readers to look for a trusted brand, a publisher.

But I am talking about writers who had or could have held out for traditional publishing contracts and chose to self-publish instead. Here is the paradox: the writers who will do well in self-publishing are the same writers it will most hurt publishers to lose: writers who are talented, prolific and savvy about marketing.

I know of a couple small pubs who are hurting because of authors breaking contracts to self-publish, or demanding their rights back. I don’t know if that’s been a problem for you, but in this market climate, I’d say it’s a danger.

In a year or two, all publishers may switch to selling ebooks, and it’s possible that once again there will be no advantage to self-publishing. Or maybe publishing will be changed forever. Honestly, I don’t know.