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Audiobook Distribution: Where Should You Self-Publish Your Audiobook?
During a class (Publishing Technology Project) in my Masters of Publishing at SFU, I focused my time on audiobook production. Doing this project sparked my interest in audiobook distribution and how someone who self-publishes can include their self-published books in audiobook publishing. My main questions are: Where can you self-publish your audiobooks? How self-published can they be? Should you self-publish your audiobooks? To answer the last question, it really depends. You have to answer a few questions of your own first, specifically, do you have the money and do you have the time. Creating an audiobook is extremely time-consuming, and if you are doing everything yourself, you may save on money,…
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How Disney+ Killed the Disney Vault
The Disney Vault has existed since before VHS (Video Home System), and yes, even though Disney+ killed the Disney Vault marketing strategy, the vault itself is still very much a real place. Disney ending the vault marketing strategy gave Disney+ a massive boost in the “streaming wars” as a reporter from The Verge describes it. By killing the vault program and pulling all of their content from other streaming services, Disney has given Disney+ access to their long backlist titles, even those not included in the rerelease cycles. As Chris Anderson explains in the Wired article, Long Tail “misses” make money too, and since we have moved on from marketing…
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Why Publishers Should Switch To The Cloud If They Haven’t Already
What is The Cloud? The Cloud is software that runs on the internet rather than locally on your computer, and a provider usually hosts it. Examples of this are Apple iCloud, Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, and Dropbox (Cha 2015), but The Cloud also includes social media and streaming services like Netflix. In publishing, these software systems are usually “referred to as SaaS: software as a service” (Shatzkin 2012). SaaS is possible because of virtualization (the act of creating something virtual), such as in this case, digital-only computers that acts without their own hardware (Cloudflare). Since systems on “The Cloud” run online, all you need is a login and internet, meaning…
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“Diversity” in Traditional Canadian Publishing
The Mandates Have Changed Why Haven’t We? “Diversity is a standard that has to be lived up to in practice, not an empty buzzword” (Shraya 2019). There is no arguing that diversity is needed in books, whether it is already there or not. BookNet Canada shares that in a 2021 survey, “41% of respondents said that they feel that at least one dimension of their identity is not represented by the dominant group at least some of the time” (BookNet Canada 2021). An upsetting infographic created by David Huyck and Sarah Park Dahlen and shared in the Huffpost article; Kids Books Still Have A Lack-Of-Diversity Problem, Powerful Image Shows. In this graphic, we…
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How Understanding the Difference Between a Trend and a Fad Can Save Your Small Press
Imagine you are a small Canadian publishing house that wants to move away from the ‘classics’ and dive into the world of online culture, but you have no idea where to start. You understand that ‘buy-in’ to some trends may help put your books on the map, but which trends are worth it? Social media experiences such rapid growth that those not perpetually online are overwhelmed with the various types of information they are experiencing as soon as they open TikTok or Instagram (Zhang, Zhao, and Xu 2016). But social media is here to stay, and you can continue on continuing on, or you can embrace social media for the…
