The shape of things to come

Self-publishing is about to become mainstream, says James Forsyth

VANITY publishing was once the preserve of the rich eccentric. It tended to be the last resort for authors who could not persuade publishing houses to take on their work, either because the book was simply deemed not good enough or its target market too small.

But the requirement for a minimum print run meant self-publishing, to give it its formal name, was exorbitantly expensive; writers ran the risk of being left out of pocket and stuck with hundreds, if not thousands, of unsold books.

Technological progress, however, now means a minimum print run is no longer essential: an author could feasibly publish just one copy of their book. As a result, self-publishing – from that 1,000-page novel no one else wants to touch to, say, a one- off scrap book of family memories or a blogger’s collected musings – is blossoming.

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