Madrid, Dec 4 (EFE).- In recent years, self-publishing has transformed the literary ecosystem and allowed many writers to bypass traditional publishers and connect directly with their audience, earn income, and build a community of readers around them.
This is the case for authors such as Imane Tamli, a writer who, since the beginning of the year, has been sharing her work on the pan-European social network Panodyssey, “a safe and genuine place where you can write far from all the noise and the pressure you can see on other networks,” and where users publish “out of their genuine love of the craft.”
Tamli has found a community in this platform that “helps each other” by exchanging ideas, and where there are even authors who create writing challenges “just for the fun of it,” establishing “a literary salon that is warm and welcoming and full of people who have this genuine love for words.”
“People take the time to read what you write. They take their time. They let the words sink in, they feel every emotion, every nuance, they interact with your writing, and in a very genuine and authentic way,” said the author of the story ‘The Doll in the Attic.’
Subscriptions made to measure
Tamli explained that readers can subscribe to specific creative rooms and follow projects that interest them with the assurance that there are no fake profiles—since Panodyssey issues certificates of authenticity to its users—while the moderation team “immediately” removes violent or offensive texts.
For Panodyssey CEO Alexandre Leforestier, self-publishing allows writers to write “with complete freedom” without having to take the publisher’s opinion into account and to develop new skills such as connecting with their readers on social media or at fairs: “It’s like in music, an artist has to get out there and build connections.”
According to Leforestier, in the past, self-publishing “was not really well regarded” because publishers “made authors dream” of signing a publishing contract with one of them; however, creators now have digital tools to “publish a book, design a cover, print it, and sell it.”
The biggest challenge for a self-published writer is, in his opinion, “understanding and accepting that they will have to invest a lot of time in their audience, in a scenario where the work of creating and writing should only represent a part of their time,” he continued.
Monetizing content
As such, Panodyssey, which has collaborated with EFE in the dissemination of this content, has a monetization system similar to that of authors who publish on the Patreon platform: donations or subscriptions to new content with a small commission, and without the need to pay for web hosting or an IT specialist for online maintenance, which means “savings in time, money, and a lot of hassle.”
“Self-published authors will gain market share compared to traditional publishers, I’m certain of it,” he said, “because publishers tend to reject innovation while reading habits are becoming increasingly digital and multi-format.” EFE