Publishing Q's

While I have many general questions about publishing, here are a few specific ones. Enjoy where my mind wanders!

1. Where is publishing headed in the next five to 10 years?

This is the almighty question for both publishing and anything English/journalism industry related. In nearly every journalism class I've ever taken, all of my professors tell me to prepare for the industry to shift and the quick pace at which it will shift. Other professors and adults have told me that my future job hasn't even been created yet, which is a scary thought. Though I don't exactly have a grasp on what I will be doing in the next five to 10 years myself, I seek comfort in the hope that there is already an established position out there. Publishing has changed so much already, evolving to Kindles and e-books and audiobooks. Everything is becoming digital, so will publishing become obsolete?

2. What are the biggest drawbacks of self-publishing?

One of the first authors I fell in love with was Amanda Hocking, a self-published fantasy novelist who wrote the "Switched" series in 2010. I remember my mom showed me this magazine profile written about her, and I kept it close to my bedside and reread it as often as I could. As a 10-year-old, this woman sort of became my hero. For some reason as a youngster, I was already obsessed with getting published as a fiction writer, thinking it must have been as easy as having a good story to tell. Amanda Hocking showed little me that I didn't have to wait around to find an agent who could help me publish my unfinished novel. As I grew older (and as I've learned in this class), I've learned self-publishing is limiting. I guess it makes sense because I have no idea what Amanda Hocking is doing now, but I'm curious as to how severe the damage is to self-publish versus publishing with a big publishing house.

3. What does it mean when full novels are re-published online?

Many times, I've found full-fledged novels republished online in PDF format. Though a particular novel has already been published thousands of times over, how does the full manuscript end up online? And how does this affect potential republishing or the current published edition? There are several questions attached to this singular one. Do authors benefit from this PDF novel, or do they lose money/does the novel lose value because of its availability?

4. How much $$$ does it usually take to publish a novel?

All the publishing reading has said it time and time again – publishing is expensive. But just how expensive? As far as I've heard, many first-time authors work one to two jobs, but still scrape by even when a novel is selling. The whole thing seems like a paradox.

5. Will big publishing houses survive?

This one kind of springboards off of Q1. Harpers and Random House have already established  and made a decent name for themselves. Will they survive when the digital age takes over? (redirect back to Q3?)

6. What is the difference between publishing under an author's original name and pseudonym?

This is for Lemony Snicket/Daniel Handler and Robert Galbraith/J.K. Rowling, among the thousands of other pseudonyms. What does the process look like for renowned, popular authors who want to publish under a pseudonym? I assume they still work with the same agent and probably the same publishing house, but besides the name, is there any difference? 

7. Publishing and movie deals?

How much hands-on involvement are authors usually granted when it comes to movie deals? Can they determine it for themselves, whether they want to be involved or not? What about those republished novels with inserted movie graphics/visuals? How does that work?