David Gaughran has put out a brilliantly clear post about why Big Publishing is so concerned about “discoverability” in online sales.
So when large publishers say that the discoverability puzzle hasn’t been solved online, they are really expressing despair at retailers recommending books not published by them.
And when large publishers say that online retailers haven’t matched the experience of buying in physical stores, they mean that they wish there was some way to relegate all that stuff from small publishers and self-publishers to the warehouse, and have tables piled high with James Patterson and Snooki.
Thanks to social media and sites like Goodreads, readers really don’t have a problem finding new authors they might like. The only reason Big Publishing thinks there’s a problem with “discoverability” is because little guys like us are eating into their market share.
In addition to his blog, David’s site has some good advice for self-publishing authors about cover design, formatting and marketing.