Far from killing off the book, the digital age is proving a boon to innovative publishers and authors, many of whom are using new technology to breathe life back into old ideas. The Guardian surveys four of the most interesting ventures.
From the article...
From the yoking together of these two ideas – online pledging in the music business, and old-fashioned subscription publishing – Unbound Books was born. The site, launched last May, acts as a forum for authors to pitch books directly to readers, who, if they like the sound of a project, commit money right away, before the book has even been written. Each book has a target number of pledges it must receive to be viable (generally between 500 and 1,000). When you click on a book on the site, you are shown how many pledges it needs in total, and the percentage it has so far received. You can then pledge your support at a number of levels: from buying the ebook (generally £10), through purchasing the hardback (usually £20) or a signed copy (£50), all the way up to being invited to the launch party (typically £150) or, sometimes, going on an excursion with the author.
Pollard points out that although pledging involves handing over actual money, supporters aren't taking a risk, because if the book doesn't receive the required number of pledges, the project is scrapped and everyone gets their money back. Meanwhile, the publisher avoids exposing itself to upfront advances. As Pollard puts it: "We know before the author bothers to write the book that there's enough money to make it worthwhile." The lack of risk means that Unbound can spend more on production (its hardbacks are typically three times more expensive to produce than a conventional publisher's) and can pay authors a higher percentage of royalties.
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