The phrase
"legacy publishers" refers to traditional publishing companies that have been around for a long time and have established themselves in the industry. They are often contrasted with newer, digital-focused publishers.
Full definition
This week's head - to - wall experience began by reading an article in one of our local papers about the trouble our libraries are having
with legacy publishers over e-books.
Folks are more and more vocal about how it is past time
for legacy publishers to break away from the traditional business plan, especially regarding royalties.
He's done some really good ones breaking down the figures paid
by legacy publishers v. small presses or self - publishing.
Unless you're claiming that indie book covers, by their nature, do not show effort in their cover design, while
legacy publishers do.
If legacy publishers want to keep up with the rapid pace, they'll need to be stay on top of new technologies and be as innovative as possible.
Best sellers that
legacy publishers who wouldn't look at them a day before now are falling all over themselves to sign.
The
reason legacy publishers have «gotten away» with as much as they have gotten (though hardly for much longer) is that the individual stakes are so small.
First of all, do any of us really
see legacy publishers pricing their books under $ 5.99, much less as low as $ 2.99?
The problem is that more and
more legacy publishers are refusing to revert rights, using all sorts of imaginative accounting and contract interpretations to hold onto them.
So that knocking you hear right now are the knees of
legacy publishers trying to figure out what they're going to have to do to survive.
Perhaps, considering the state of the industry and the
terms legacy publishers are demanding from authors, the creators, it is time to call for a strike.
Yet,
legacy publishers continue to shoot themselves in the foot by doing their best to keep a major outlet for e-books tied up and out of the hands of readers.
Why even within the relatively safe confines of the very blog post under discussion here do they not call out even a
single legacy publisher by name?
Even though it's so obvious it seems silly to say it, my experience
with legacy publishers isn't representative of every other author's experience.
Now's the time
for legacy publishers to embrace the change presented to the publishing industry and become innovative, investing in ebooks and finding new ways to be digitally disruptive.
Frankly, I see a lot more «good» writing and editing coming out of indie and small press books right now than I do the stuff coming
from legacy publishers.
There should be a marginal discount to reflect that over the cost of the paperback — instead
many legacy publishers are charging more.
The video highlights the fact that cloud services promise the latest technologies without a large upfront investment and can help streamline capabilities
of legacy publishers.
Most legacy publishers have failed to recognize, much less embrace, changes in technology or demand of the buying public.
Legacy publishers like Lonely Planet and Rough Guides often have PDF versions of their guidebooks, often by chapter, which can be a more cost effective way of buying your research material — and they weigh nothing.
You blog plus one from Hugh Howey and a few others has inspired me to write one of my own about
what legacy publishers should have learned from iTunes.