A nearly week-long period filled with BookExpo America events kicked off Sunday at the Javits Center as the uPublishU self-publishing seminar drew nearly 300 people attracted by panels and exhibitors offering the latest developments in the self-publishing field. Those who attended the “The How, What, Where, and When of Print and EBooks” session heard Bowker v-p for publishing services Kelly Gallagher proclaim 2012 to be part of the “golden age of self-publishing,” and provided statistics to back it up; according to Bowker’s newest figures of books produced, last year there were 211,269 self-published titles (based on ISBNs) released, up from 133,036 in 2010.
Among the other insights Gallagher shared on the self-publishing market: the most popular genre in terms of units is fiction (45%), but that nonfiction leads in sales (38%). The average price for a self-published fiction book is $6.94, while nonfiction titles command $19.32. And while e-books accounted for 41% of self-published units, they only accounted for 11% of sales; the reason? The average self-published e-book sold for $3.18, while trade paperbacks had an average price of $12.68 and hardcovers averaged $14.40.
According to Bowker, Amazon’s CreateSpace was the largest player in the self-publishing space last year, publishing 57,602 titles; AuthorSolutions' various imprints did 41,605 books.
Gallagher also said that Bowker is developing a self-publishing White Paper, and is creating a self-publishing bestsellers list.
