Future of Book Publishing

I have an idea for a killer web application concept for the functions of authors, editors, libraries, bookstores, and book printers, that would integrate the complete process of publishing books.

There would be a central website where an author, an editor, a librarian, a bookstore, and a print-on-demand publisher would each create an account for their role in the process.

The Author uploads and manages ebooks of their work on this publishing website. They can choose an editor based on their fee to review and suggest edits for the book before it is pushed to the publishing level. When they choose, they would push their book to the level of being available for public consumption. For books to be printed, they choose what size and style they want for each book they design.

The Editor can choose to accept or refuse a request to edit a book, and they can offer to authors their services of editing books in the development process. This would be an integrated online version of the entire query process that occurs now.

The Library maintains an account where they checkmark books they want to make available for patrons to check out from their website and in the library. The person checking out the book could maybe pay a very small fee, say two cents, to check out the ebook, so one cent goes to the author and one cent goes to library.

The Bookstore maintains an account where they checkmark books they want to make available for buyers to purchase, whether ebook or print on the shelf in the store. The person buying the book pays a small fee to buy an ebook, so author and bookstore get a payment. The person buying the book pays the production cost to the printing company, shipping and stocking cost to the bookstore, plus however much the author sets as their profit from the sale, so both author and publisher get a payment.

The Print-on-Demand publisher maintains an account where they print books that are purchased through bookstores in the size and style they print in their shop. All purchased books would go through the bookstore. This is to ensure that bookstores maintain a physical presence.

I envision this integrated model as the future of book publishing, and I think most institutions in the whole literary-industrial complex will eventually evolve into this format of interaction that maximizes profitability for all involved, including authors, editors, libraries, bookstores, and readers.