J.K. Rowling - Self Publisher?

I could barely believe what I was reading, but it's true:  J.K. Rowling will be self-publishing the Harry Potter series of books as ebooks through her own website, Pottermore.com.  Things are expected to kick off this October, 2011.

So, what does this mean?  Well, it's another big name (probably the biggest) to let the world know that she's got the business savvy and desire to put out her own books in the manner that she sees fit.  She was super-smart to retain the ebook rights (among other rights that she retained) when the books were first printed.  Now I wonder what other goodies she might elect to include in the ebooks since she has complete control over them.

The possibilities are endless for her, and it makes me wonder if more authors won't start to build their own ebook libraries on their own websites?  I mean, why not?  You can create your own ebooks now, and they can be read on virtually an ereader (Kindle should be catching up to this now, at least soon), and you can sell them yourself.  The only reason to utilize other places to sell them is for reaching other readers that you don't currently have.

From a marketing perspective, this is also golden for her.  She will soon have legions of new people to market directly to for future stories, etc.  Customer data is king in marketing, and she'll be sitting on a pile of money with that data.

My mind is reeling at the implications of what she is doing, and the opportunities that are coming along because of her very public choices.  Pay close attention, because things will be moving along at an even more rapid pace.  Strap in for the ride!