Tuesday, November 7, 2017

Macmillan. Books Without Pronoun

Did you hear? Just a little over 1 year after acquiring Pronoun.com, Macmillan pulls the plug.

(tombstone graphic from Pixabay.com)
Pronoun may not have been a household name, but they were a clever new entry into the multiple ebook retailer distributor ring with Smashwords and Draft2Digital. One thing they somehow managed that no one else could was to publish to Google Play for those of us not already an Approved Partner. Their site was slick and easy to use and I was looking forward to putting the rest of my library onto Google Play.

I guess I waited too long.

While there is certainly a story here about the publishing industry making odd decisions as a whole (refusing to admit that ebooks are the wave of the future, for one), I'm left stymied as to how Pronoun managed to get new work into Google Play, and why D2D or Smashwords can't do the same?

Google Play is on every Android phone out there. All billion+? That seems like a pretty big market.

This is what I got by e-mail from Pronoun:
Two years ago Pronoun set out to create a one-of-a-kind publishing tool that truly put authors first. We believed that the power of data could be harnessed for smarter book publishing, leveling the playing field for indie authors.

We are proud of the product we built, but even more so, we’re grateful for the community of authors that made it grow. Your feedback shaped Pronoun’s development, and together we changed the way authors connect with readers.

Unfortunately, Pronoun’s story ends here.

While many challenges in indie publishing remain unsolved, Macmillan is unable to continue Pronoun’s operation in its current form. Every option was considered before making the very difficult decision to end the business.

As of today, it is no longer possible to create a new account or publish a new book. Pronoun will be winding down its distribution, with an anticipated end date of January 15, 2018. Authors will still be able to log into their accounts and manage distributed books until that time.

For the next two months, our goal is to support your publishing needs through the holiday season and enable you to transition your books to other services. For more detail on how this will affect your books and payments, please refer to our FAQ.

Thank you for the time and attention you’ve contributed to this experience. It has been a privilege to publish together, and we look forward to meeting again. #keepwriting

Sincerely,

Macmillan Publishers

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