Market My Novel

Simon & Schuster is the first publisher to ink a major deal with the popular file sharing site Scribd.

According to Publishers Weekly, S&S will have its own store on Scribed, where it will sell eBooks from authors like Dan Brown and Stephen King.

I think this is a terrific marriage of publishing and new technology – even if it is several years after it should have happened. In fact, I rolled my eyes when I read this quote in Andrew Albanese's story at PublishersWeekly.com:

Such visibility, suggested S&S spokesperson Adam Rothberg, could benefit publishers and authors.

Well, DUH! Publishers have long ignored the growing need for eBook and podio book exposure. One of the major concerns/excuses for ignoring this growing market (and amazing marketing technique) was copyright theft. It was one of my concerns about sites like Scribd, too. However, at Scribd all works can be encoded to stop theft. That is different from many other sites, which don't offer protections to copyright holders. 

Of course, The New York Times reported in May that Random House experienced copyright theft while experimenting with the site, proving that no matter how many controls you have in place, people WILL find ways around them. (Any publisher who joins the Scribd store gets their works in a database for added protection.)

Overall, this is terrific news for authors everywhere – especially those who decide to self publish. Having a company like S&S join Scribd gives it more legitimacy than the image of an "electronic vanity publisher," as it was described by The New York Times. However, it does not mean that copyright concerns immediately vanish. Vanity searches are a necessary evil to protect your work from knowing and unknowing thieves.