“The Internet is allowing unsigned authors to publish books affordably, while keeping old titles alive, writes Victor Keegan.“
From The Guardian:
Everyone thought Amazon would kill off the second hand book trade. As it happens, bookshops around the world have found a new lease of life through the admirable abebooks.com, which links them together enabling readers to find a forgotten book gathering dust in a shop half way round the earth.
Now the internet is in the throes of giving another huge boost to books through a combination of self-publishing web sites, which are sprouting up all over the place, and the explosive potential of print-on-demand (POD).
Self-publishing enables anyone to upload a book in digital form to a website, which then formats it complete with a cover. It costs anything from £4.50 (single proof of one book) to more than £500 for full personalised involvement of the publishing house at all stages, from starting up to getting a link to Amazon.
More here.