Comments on: Mark Coker of Smashwords on Why Publishing Is Like Venture Capitalism http://dearauthor.com/features/industry-news/mark-coker-of-smashwords-on-why-publishing-is-like-venture-capitalism/ Romance, Historical, Contemporary, Paranormal, Young Adult, Book reviews, industry news, and commentary from a reader's point of view Mon, 28 May 2012 05:43:52 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: jmc http://dearauthor.com/features/industry-news/mark-coker-of-smashwords-on-why-publishing-is-like-venture-capitalism/#comment-198573 jmc Thu, 16 Apr 2009 13:15:17 +0000 http://dearauthor.com/wordpress/2009/04/16/mark-coker-of-smashwords-on-why-publishing-is-like-venture-capitalism/#comment-198573 <i>Like drunken lemmings waving fists of cash, they compete against one another to fund similar startups in the same category. </i> This is the key for me. Because it applies to two things that the publishing industry does that drive me crazy: 1) oversaturation of the market when they bandwagon onto a hot trend, and 2) the insane bidding that arises for what someone perceives will be anticipated books. How many vampire, shifter, demon, angel, zombie, etc. series can the market bear? How much will Niffenegger's second book actually earn for publishers, and how long will it take to earn out that $5 million price tag? How much for memoirs of someone whose five minutes of fame were really four minutes too long? Like drunken lemmings waving fists of cash, they compete against one another to fund similar startups in the same category.

This is the key for me. Because it applies to two things that the publishing industry does that drive me crazy: 1) oversaturation of the market when they bandwagon onto a hot trend, and 2) the insane bidding that arises for what someone perceives will be anticipated books. How many vampire, shifter, demon, angel, zombie, etc. series can the market bear? How much will Niffenegger’s second book actually earn for publishers, and how long will it take to earn out that $5 million price tag? How much for memoirs of someone whose five minutes of fame were really four minutes too long?

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