Kanye West is basically self-publishing — but there’s still a lesson to be learned

We had a different newsletter scheduled for today, but when a cultural moment like Kanye not placing his new album, Donda 2, on any popular streaming platform happens, it’s a perfect opportunity for us to fulfil our mission of connecting publishing to pop culture.

In case you haven’t heard, on February 18th, Kanye took to Instagram to say that his new album, scheduled for release on February 22, will not be made available on Spotify or Apple or any streaming platform. Instead, Kanye created what he calls a Stem Player, which looks like a small speaker and has his album downloaded. The cost of this Stem Player is $200.

The internet went crazy as it usually does when Kanye does something they deem significant, but let’s ignore the frenzy. Writers Are Superstars is about educating and elevating writers and this is an opportunity to do just that.

Kanye Isn’t Doing Anything New

It’s easy to look at what Kanye is doing as groundbreaking, but for us writers, this is basic territory. Essentially, Kanye is self-publishing. He’s saying that he wants to control every part of his music and not have to go through a label or common platform to do so.

It’s not much different than an author who chooses not to query agents and publishers and instead, takes full control of publishing their book. And when I say full control, I mean full control, meaning they’re finding their own printers and handling the distribution themselves. That’s the most accurate comparison.

But self-publishing isn’t anything new. I’ve self-published two books myself before securing a book deal. Many of you reading this know someone who has self-published or have done it, yourselves. This is normal for us, but that doesn’t mean there’s not a lesson to be learned by what Kanye is doing.

Here’s what you can learn from Kanye’s album release

There’s something Kanye is doing that I don’t want you to miss. Notice that I mentioned that he’s selling his album for $200 (technically, the Stem Player costs $200, but since that’s the only way to hear the album, you’re coughing up that amount regardless of wording).

What Kanye is essentially doing is drawing a line in the sand. He’s saying that his album is worth $200. He knows that number will scare a lot of casual fans off, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is that Kanye is putting a value on his work, on his art, and that $200 is the number he came up with.

Kanye is a platinum-selling artist, which means you can bet his albums will sell at least a million copies (his earlier albums sold much more than that). This is an assumption, but I don’t think Kanye expects a million people to buy this album (8,000 fans have already purchased the Donda 2 since Kanye’s post). But here’s the best part: he doesn’t need a million people to buy it.

This is the lesson, writers.

Let’s say 100,000 people purchase Donda 2. That figure represents 10% of the million people who typically buy his albums (we’re summarizing here). If that 100,000 figure holds up, Kanye would make $20 million from the sale of a single album.

Now I’m obviously not expecting you to make $20 million selling a single book or any other writing project. What I am saying is to think about value; your value. Really think about it. What is the value of your writing?

I listened to a Trapital podcast recently with Gina Bianchini, the head of a platform called Mighty Networks, which, among other things, facilitates subscription services for its creators. According to Bianchini, the average subscription price on Mighty Networks is $40/month.

Jane Friedman, a writer who helps other writers understand the publishing industry, publishes a paid weekly newsletter called The Hot Sheet. In one of her posts, Jane says she makes $75,000/year from the newsletter alone. I subscribe to The Hot Sheet and it’s totally worth the value.

Substack has become super popular now. Journalists and other writers are creating content and charging monthly subscriptions for readers to engage with their work. Just like you’re reading this now for free, these writers are saying the content they're creating has a different value. A value that they have set and if you want to be part of what they’re talking about, you need to pay.

Something else that caught my attention. I don’t remember where I heard this but it really stuck with me. Someone was analyzing why a journal, an empty journal book, costs more than many softcover novels. It’s a comparison I’ve never considered, and when I thought about it, the only difference is perceived value.

I’m not saying that your next book should be $100. I’m saying that there are different approaches to publishing, promoting, and selling your writing/book that doesn’t need to necessarily align with convention. As writers, we shouldn’t be afraid to explore territory that is less chartered, just to see what happens. As creative as we are in our craft, we need to be just as creative in the delivery of our creations.

I’m hoping we can all learn from this and APPLY it to our current path. Publishing connects to pop culture far more than we think, and Writers Are Superstars will continue to bring that to the forefront.