European CEO: Authors of their own destiny: writers shun the ‘big five’ publishers

Digital books turned the industry upside down, but the revolution hasn’t stopped yet. There’s more change to come, and it could make traditional publishing houses tremble

Still reeling from the colossal impact that e-books have had on traditional publishing, the ‘big five’ (Penguin Random House, Macmillan, HarperCollins, Hachette, and Simon & Schuster), as well as the army of smaller firms that follow in their shadows, have taken another significant blow. The most recent offender, growing in prominence within the industry, is the new trend of self-publishing.

Being published is the long-held dream of many aspiring writers, yet relatively few are given the chance to see their masterpiece on bookshop shelves. Conventionally, publishers offered a multitude of services to those fortunate enough to be chosen. In return, authors signed away the rights to a piece of work that took multiple hours of blood, sweat and tears to create. To read the rest of this article, please visit European CEO: http://www.europeanceo.com/culture/authors-of-their-own-destiny-writers-shun-the-big-five-publishers/.