Publisher’s Weekly tells us that Simon And Schuster will be entering the direct-to-consumer sales game later this year. This should be an interesting experiment, at least in part because it will let us know if consumers know their publishers. Also, it will let us know if publishing houses have a clue from e-commerce (given the average publisher website, we’re currently betting no — but we have been surprised before. Once.). In the silver lining department, we wonder if Simon and Schusters stated goal of making backlist titles more readily available will translate to more exposure for authors.
Yes, there’s an assignment. We need on S&S author to go undercover as an S&S author to determine the impact of this sea change in business practice on authors. We would pay money for this operation, but all our funds are tied up in cat food.
- S&S Says It Will Sell Direct (Note: Subscription required.)
- http://www.simonsays.com/content/index.cfm?sid=358Simon Says Shop (Note: this is where the good stuff will be happening in the future.
