Blog Post #5: Conclusion

While I dove into this research project already knowledgeable upon the subject of publishing, Indie vs. traditional, and each route's benefits, I learned quite a bit more than expected. Even after my studies for law work, I did not know that the term "royalties" when used in publishing had a different meaning than how it has been used recently. The interesting part about the word itself and its use is how some publishers can manipulate the term and the reader of any contract into assuming that it means something it does not. It also means, legally, that a publisher who doesn't understand the term's true meaning (as in, "a royalty is the total amount paid to the author" [Royalties: The Seduction of Self-Publishing]) could get into legal trouble.

Another thing I learned is how to differentiate between a credible source, and one that only appears credible on the surface. While this may not directly pertain to the research topic I've chosen, I feel it's an important lesson. The lesson is important because it teaches me, and others who may be searching for more understanding on the Indie vs. traditional publishing topic, to push the boundaries and do more research about their options. Which publishers are credible and which are a money-sink can be discovered in very much the same way as determining credible sources for a research paper.

There is still much to learn on this topic, and I feel that in order to write a successful paper, I must narrow my search and my topic down further. I think I'd like to focus on royalties, now that I've discovered such a massive misunderstanding about the term and its meaning. I'd like to see what other articles are available for me to use to prove that, legally, a contract that pens a given royalty means that royalty is only meant to go to the author. How is this term misused? How is it used correctly? When does misuse benefit the author, and when does it benefit the publisher? These are only a few of the questions in mind on this topic.

And how does marketing play a role in royalties? This may seem a distant question, but I feel the two are related. After all, the articles I discovered on marketing techniques makes me wonder, if a larger company doesn't spend money on consumer research, then why does that publisher get a larger chunk of the income (see: Understanding How the Traditional Publishing Model Works). A great deal of publishing is how every little thing is tied together. So where does the money earned go, exactly? Why? I look forward to finding out.