Publishers ARE Important
It is my goal that within two years to be able to sole support myself with publishing (if I so choose). That’s a reasonable amount of time to acquire the skills, produce the content, and build an audience large enough to make the numbers crunch.
I’ve been involved in digital distribution, the online music revolution, public relations, viral marketing, and self publishing for most of my adult life. I have extensive knowledge that would be useful to any kind of content publisher or producer since I have performed so many roles and functions in the media industry. It occurred to me yesterday as I was fiddling with MySQL for an ecommerce site while I waiting for a promotional video to render in Final Cut Pro HD that I am a rare renaissance man that is capable of so many forms of production technically, creatively, financially, with a fair amount of business savvy.
However I have learned all too well, the lesson that Cory Doctorow has begun to realize. No matter how broad my knowledge or expertise, I need help.
I only have two pairs of hands, a brain that can focus on one task, and sixteen hours in a day to somehow eat, exercise, work, socialize, and play. I really do require the eight hours to sleep, especially with body building, or I become obnoxiously cranky and irritable.
So even if I do self publish, I need the cooperation of other publishers who equally deserve to be paid. I need the talents and time of other people. It would be a wonderful luxury if a large or dedicated publisher decided to support my serial novel Rise and Shine, but if I do manage this project myself, I need to factor skillful and talented typesetters, graphic designers, sales teams, public relations reps, and distributors into the numbers. Even if I can do many of those roles, I can’t do them all at once, and certainly not nearly as well as someone who has passion and vigor for what they do.
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