This site allows users to self-publish their own work – be it photowork, digital media, or print. Making the actual publication is free – the site makes it’s money off of people buying these “free” products. In other words, you can upload your book to be published, set it all up with cover art etc., but if you actually want a physical copy you have to pay for it. The book then becomes available on the site for anyone else to purchase (this part seems to be modeled somewhat after amazon.com). The range of prices is about the same as actual publications, though some books are available as PDF files for lesser cost. The business model seems to be to hook people in with the thought of having their own publication, let them see exactly what it looks like, and then make everyone pay to physically get it, like an actual publishing company (they get 20% of the profits from the author’s sales). They also provide service packs that provide additional services for creating a better publication (these start at $350).
This site has a niche in that it allows for mass availability of self-publications. The creator doesn’t have to worry about distribution or finding places to copy the work; the site does all that for them. All they do is create their work, “publish” it, set their price, and wait for buyers to find it. It is unique because it is set up like an online publication seller – items are grouped by category and field and are able to be searched for, so that an obscure book that someone may find helpful can be easily located and purchased.
This site is really neat in that it allows people to publish things they have a lot of knowledge about without having to go through all the usual channels, which are time-consuming. This is especially nice for aspiring authors (or artists, etc.) who now have a medium to open their work to the public while making a profit. I think the problems come in when dealing with things that are meant to solve a problem or provide information that others may use to make decisions. There is no way to know how accurate any of this is and what the creator’s background is. Unlike an academic source, there is no peer-review for accuracy, which presents problems when looking at anything that is trying to provide answers. While I’m sure many of the publications have great insights, I’m sure a lot of them also are incomplete and perhaps done by people who are not as specialized as one might hope. On the upside, the site does allow for user ratings, so a new manual or something that is completely off-base has the potential to be called-out in a public forum.
