When Barry Eisler first started, his agent and publisher decided the titles and covers of his books. After a particularly bad cover was put on the British version of his novel -- and it sold poorly -- he took a more hands-on approach. He got the publisher to use a more appropriate cover. And now he chooses the titles.
That trend is only increasing, Eisler says, with the rise of e-books, which he sees as replacing paperbacks.
"For the first time, published authors are beginning to ask themselves whether they could do better self-publishing, a route that only recently was unthinkable both financially and in terms of status," Eisler said. "For the moment, most will answer the question no. But it's hugely significant that the question is being asked, and it will be asked by more and more authors in the coming months, and more and more of them will answer yes. So a few things I expect: paperback books will be gone soon. A year, five years... I don't know enough to confidently predict the timeframe.
Eisler believes most authors will eventually be published primarily digitally, with high-quality paperbacks available for people who want physical books.
"Paperbacks offer almost no advantage over digital," Eisler said, "and as digital readers improve in quality and come down in price, and as more and more titles become digitally available, paperbacks will have less and less to offer. The market will fragment, with hardbacks, which have bookshelf/collector/autographed copy appeal, going up in price and in physical quality."
He points to the example of his friend, author J.A. Konrath, a crime writer who was successful with a traditional publisher but now does it all himself, start to finish, and is now making six-figures a year selling his books digitally.
Konrath sells his novels on Amazon and elsewhere for $4.99, about half the price that his publisher would, but he sells more copies and keeps more of the profits.
Konrath doesn't just write, though. Eisler said anyone going this route has to do -- or contract out -- all of the publicity and marketing jobs that publishers handle for authors.
Even for an e-book, an artist needs to draw the cover. The book needs to be formatted.
Somebody has to schedule media appearances and book tours, write press releases, get a professional photographer to shoot the author photo, write a bio, create and update a web page, blog and maybe more. Most authors have Facebook pages and use Twitter and other social media.
Despite the disruptive power of the Internet and e-books, Eisler still goes on the road and does long book tours.
"I visited about 200 bookstores in the month or so before INSIDE OUT was published," Eisler said, "and typically visit about 300 overall. Though with bookstores closing, inevitably tours will get smaller."
Book tours aren't just about meeting readers and fans, he says. Even if only a handful of people show up, it's important to bolster the relationship with book stores.
"The worst that's ever happened to me," Eisler says, "and it's happened to every writer, is pulling into a new town, exhausted from weeks on the road, and having just two or three people show up for a signing. You still have to do the whole thing with the same enthusiasm you bring to bear for a crowd of a hundred, and that can be hard.
"Overall, a tour is something that would be fun and exciting in smaller doses, but that gets grueling over time. As a friend of mine once said: I like beer, but I wouldn't want to drink it from a fire hose. That's a book tour. But if you think about it, it's a pretty awesome problem to have."