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| Self-publishing technology, like this Espresso Book Machine, has made book manufacturing much more accessible to authors. |
Earlier this summer, Penguin Group, long a distinguished major publisher
of books, paid $116 million to acquire Author Solutions Inc. A leading
provider of self-publishing services, Author Solutions said that since
it was formed in 2007, "it has enabled 150,000 authors to publish,
market and distribute more than 190,000 books in print and electronic
formats." The transaction is a significant breakthrough in what has
become a vital factor in the publishing landscape of the digital age.
For the first time, an established publisher, the second largest in the
world, with about 40 imprints in the United States, is delivering its
reputation and management resources to support the vast number of people
who want to write a book that, for a variety of reasons, does not make
it to a traditional list. By adding Author Solutions, with revenues last
year said to be about $100 million, to such pedigreed Penguin names as
Viking, Penguin Classics, Putnam, and Dutton, the concept of
self-publishing has moved away from what was always known as "vanity
publishing." While these authors are still mainly paying to see their
works turned into finished print or e-books, they are no longer
consigned just to the margins of the marketplace.
In his remarks when the purchase was announced, Penguin's CEO, John
Makinson, was effusive: "Self-publishing has moved into the mainstream
of our industry over the past three years. It has provided new outlets
for professional writers, a huge increase in the range of books
available to readers and an exciting source of content for publishers
such as Penguin. ... This acquisition will allow Penguin to participate
fully in perhaps the fastest-growing area of the publishing economy and
gain skills in customer acquisition and data analytics that will be
vital to our future."
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