authorside

Authorside is a term used in publishing discourse to describe the perspective, interests, and activities associated with authors within the broader publishing ecosystem. It denotes the set of concerns centered on writers, including rights ownership, royalties, manuscript control, branding, and direct engagement with readers. This contrasts with what is sometimes described as the publisher side, which focuses on editors, production, distribution, and business development.

Origin and usage: The compound form combining author and side is descriptive rather than a formal designation. It appears in industry commentary, discussions about power dynamics in publishing, and conversations around self-publishing and author-centric services. In practice, authorside can refer to platforms, processes, and tools that empower authors to manage their work and careers more independently.

In practice: Author-side platforms and services emphasize author autonomy, transparent reporting, and control over pricing, rights, and royalties. They may include manuscript submission portals, self-publishing marketplaces, marketing dashboards, and rights-management solutions. Tools and services under the authorside umbrella often aim to strengthen author-branding, audience building, and direct-to-reader engagement, while ensuring authors retain ownership of content and metadata.

See also: publishing industry, self-publishing, author branding, royalties, rights management, author-platform development.