It’s August 2008, and as a new author who recently had an existing contract to have my first novel published, Three of a Kind, I entered the backend portion of being an author in today’s market. I signed with a small, independent publisher with the full knowledge that the marketing efforts would be 99% my responsibility, both in sweat and dollars. Presented with the arduous chore of self-promotion, I began to build a marketing plan, examine what is involved in distribution, and came to a shocking discovery; the future of the traditional publishing model is about to undergo a fundamental change. After countless hours of research into the publishing and marketing side of the industry, a careful look at my publisher, and only six weeks away from my publishing date, I cancelled my contract. I concluded that if I was solely responsible for the marketing, and by appearance, much of the distribution, there were far better ways to approach my debut. Additionally, what I realized about the future of publishing led me to formulate a different approach. My research fueled an in-depth study available for FREE from my website by clicking here, The Future of Publishing, or going to the articles section of my publications. You must have Adobe PDF Reader Version 8 or above installed on your computer to view the study.

The status quo in the traditional publishing model, while wobbly, still remains strong. That is all about to change, and in fact has already begun. As you will see, in the near future, that traditional model is going to turn upside down and inside out. A struggle is emerging that is going to give the individual author more power, and more responsibility, than ever before, although I must point out, talent is still required.

The drastic changes in the recording industry provide an excellent template to chart the future of traditional publishing. Without a doubt, I’m not the first one to notice the similarities between the recording and publishing industries. Search the internet and others are talking about this paradigm shift. There are as many opinions as there are posts about the future of publishing, some well thought out and some not. One thing they all agree on is that the traditional model is changing, and changing fast.

I've also setup a discussion board in my Forums for any comments, feedback, or whatever on the article and the future of publishing in general. You can access the Forum through the Fourms menu or click here, Discussing The Future of Publishing.

The study examines how the traditional business models of the recording industry and publishing industry are extremely similar, and why it’s important to understand what happened in the recording industry to predict what will happen to the publishing industry.

• The study examines what has happened to the traditional models and why, much of this is due to technological advances.
• The study examines what to expect to occur in the publishing industry and how technology will play the biggest role.
• The study details timelines and events that will cause the changes to the publishing industry.
• The study details why the bound or printed book (and magazine) will become antiquated and obsolete, along with an argument on why book lovers will have to accept these changes.
• The study examines how the next generation of authors can benefit from these changes.