I, publisher [Hands on]

Journalist A.J. Liebling once famously noted, "Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one." But with the advent of electronic publishing- and ancillary technologies such as online stores, e-readers, and print-ondemand (POD) systems-anyone with a computer and an Internet connection can be a publisher. For better or worse, whether they're barely literate neophytes or New York Times bestselling authors, writers can publish whatever they want without having to get approval from an agent, a selection committee, or a peer review process. Online retailers like Amazon.com, Apple, and Barnes & Noble also pay a significantly higher percentage of per-copy revenue than traditional publishing houses, giving writers the potential to earn much more money. So it's no wonder that many authors (including us) are bypassing conventional publishers.