There’s an article in today’s New York Times that should be required reading for all writers: Self-Publishers Flourish as Writers Pay the Tab.
Here’s a brief excerpt:
As traditional publishers look to prune their booklists and rely increasingly on blockbuster best sellers, self-publishing companies are ramping up their title counts and making money on books that sell as few as five copies, in part because the author, rather than the publisher, pays for things like cover design and printing costs.
Because self-publishing seems to be on the upswing, I wanted to offer writers a few questions to ask themselves if they’re considering this path. I’ve overseen multiple self-published book competitions and have read, reviewed and judged literally thousands of self-published books. I’m being really honest when I say that many of those books shouldn’t have been published to begin with.
I’m all for having a creative, independent, entrepreneurial spirit. Yes, that may mean going it on your own if the traditional publishing route doesn’t work out. But know what you’re getting into.
Here are five crucial questions to ask yourself before striking out on your own:
• Are you a good self-marketer? Do you have a solid elevator pitch? Books are a hard sell and no one is going to do it for you if you self-publish.
• Have you really developed your writing into a polished manuscript? Don’t rely on your friends and relatives to tell you the truth about your manuscript. Join a writer’s group to get some tough love before you even think about self-publishing it.
• Have you tried going the traditional route first by querying agents and small presses?At the very least, you’ll get a sense of whether or not the work is publishable, and maybe you’ll even get lucky and an agent or two will tell you why it’s not working.
• Do you have a blog? If not, why not? To sell a book, you have to develop a readership and you can start doing that right now absolutely free with a blog. In fact, why not start posting short excerpts on your blog just to see what kind of feedback you get?
• Very important: Do you know what you’re signing? Do your research, ask for recommendations and be careful about what rights you’re signing away!
Please post your experiences and opinions on self-publishing here in the comments.
-Maria Schneider
flickr photo by glitter feet
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I am really glad that you addressed this. I caught the article this morning (from your Tweet, I believe) and I’m still far too skeptical of self-publishing and POD.
It burns me up, a huge proponent of independent music, that POD and self-publishing can’t bring that same indie spirit to writing. But, I think it largely goes to show that the mediums are consumed differently. And that difference helps to keep the traditional publishing system a float.
That and I read way to much Writer Beware.
I’m very leery of self publishing. I can remember the old AM radio adds back in the 70s. They always played late at night: “To the author in search of a publisher…” I won’t mention the press. I even sent away for their information packet. I recognized a con when I saw one. Late night advertising is probably a red flag all on its own.
Some of the self publishing companies seem to be fairly legit, but it still should be the absolute last resort for any author. The advice I’ve always gotten is submit to the highest paying market you can find. If it gets rejected, try the next highest. Repeat until sold – working all the way down to small press.
If it still has not sold, self publishing probably won’t help. ;)
I am doing an online novella. Once it has run its course, then I may self publish that since its saleability will be fairly exhausted. And from what I hear self publishing works well for niche markets (local history, family history, that sort of thing) where you know the audience will be limited.
Suffice to say, I’m still leery of self publishing.
~jon
“I’m being really honest when I say that many of those books shouldn’t have been published to begin with”
I find this part of your article a little hard to take. People who are wary of self-publishing are missing the point entirely. It is a wonderful thing that writers everywhere can now publish their work and promote it to a wider audience. It opens publishing up in such tremendously exciting ways, and yet commentators still see this as a negative, rather than a positive thing. In any form of media or entertainment – music, for example, or blogging – there is going to be a tremendous amount of dross; probably the majority of content will be mediocre, at best, but so what? Should people stop making music, or blogging, or publishing books because certain other people don’t think they are very good?
The real issue today is in creating filters and recommendation systems that allow consumers to find the type of book, or album or whatever they are interested in and to avoid the content which they aren’t interested in. A niche publisher can do this for a certain kind of reader, but so equally can viral marketing across platforms like Twitter or book recommendation sites for self-published authors.
Your point about understanding what you are getting into when you self-publish is a good one. Too many novice authors assume there is a market out there when there isn’t, and end up very disillusioned as a result. But pointing them in the direction of sites like lulu can allow them to dip their toes in the water with POD without taking too many risks, and is a lot better than warning them to consider not publishing at all.
Hi Kirsten,
I understand your point of view and agree that it’s a good thing for writers to have options. I would argue, however, that editors provide a valuable service in filtering through the slush piles to produce well crafted books.
I think that books should aspire to a higher standard than blogs. When we buy a book after all, not only are we paying $10-$25 for it, we’re dedicating at least 10 hours of our life to that author. That’s a big commitment and it should be taken seriously by writers. That’s why I recommend starting out with a blog to build an audience and develop your writing first.
Maria,
Great post!
I can only speak to my niche (DIY). As someone who has traveled both paths, I found that you are on your own when it comes to promoting your work whether you have a publisher or not. So blogging, e-mail newsletters, personal appearances and wading into discussion forums are a must these days. Publishers can’t do that stuff for you anyway.
Chris
Predicting what will be the next big thing is hit and miss. Irrelevant the content of this YouTube channel. Look at the number of views to that channel! I imagine the content and format wasn’t thought out beforehand. Sometimes, just jump in and see what happens. Who can predict?
Predicting what will be the next big thing is hit and miss. Irrelevant the content of this YouTube channel. Look at the number of views to that channel. I imagine the content and format wasn’t thought out beforehand in expectation of drawing hundreds of thousands of young people. Probably just a lark set the gears in motion. Sometimes, just jump in and write something just to see what happens. Who can predict?
RE., Christopher Schwarz’s comments. I’ve heard similar a lot lately. Maria, are regular publishers shirking their responsibilities in the promotion department with all but block buster authors?
If so, then I think they are shooting themselves in the foot. Combine that with shrinking budgets for editing (I see a lot of gunk in name brand books of late), main stream publishers may be killing themselves. It’s supposed to be a symbiotic relationship.
If authors begin to feel they are getting short changed more and more may be willing to try the self publishing alternative. If enough do that, at some point critical mass will be achieved, and book publishes may find themselves in the same lifeboats as newspaper and magazine publishers.
If we’ve learned anything in recent months, it is that no one is too big to fail.
~jon
I agree completely that this article should be required reading. Before I started learning the business side of writing, someone recommended Publish America. They knew someone else that had gone that route. I borrowed the book, and all I can say is atrocious.
You are correct, this book needed serious help. I then went to the PA website and began reading. When I saw that, just to get started, it would cost me at least twenty-five hundred dollars I balked.
Everything I am learning keeps reaffirming my belief that self-publishing is for those that aren’t serious about their writing.
One more issue a writer has to consider is one’s long-range writing career goal(s). If it is to be a many-times published author, and/or to have a writing career combined with academic teaching, then the self-publishing route can be a real detriment on one’s CV. At least for now, this is a reality.
I can think of many other scenarios where self-publishing is not only a good option, but perhaps the only option and the smarter one — such as a memoir writer wishing only to commit family history between covers for future generations; a public speaker who can sell their own books at events; writers of narrow-appeal books in niche specialty areas not reliant on reviews or the usual book retailer sales; a writer who not only is capable of their own marketing, but relishes the ability to control it.
But for the vast majority of serious would-be authors, it’s still a murky and problem-riddled path.
I’m all for the self-empowerment aspects of POD — hell, I came out of the poetry slam scene, the analog version of POD! — but any writer serious about being published needs to do the right thing by their work and have it edited by a professional. Anything less is amateurish at best, egotistical at worst, and I wholeheartedly agree with Maria’s point “that many of those books shouldn’t have been published to begin with.”
Managing the business and marketing aspects of one’s career is a tough job for any writer, and no matter which route you go, you’re going to need to do a lot of that work yourself; writing the book is arguably the easiest part of the publishing process. But self-editing is an almost impossible task for any writer — no matter the form, genre or skill level — and even worse is equating the opinions of friends and family to professional editing.
I agree that marketing is the biggest challenge – not only for a self-published book but also for a blog. My own blog, http://www.betrueblog.wordpress.com, like many others I visit, often has posts that do not have a single comment. I also agree that there are a lot of scams out there, and that it is foolish for anyone to shell out several hundred (or thousand!) dollars to get their book published.
On the other hand, there is some satisfaction in the process of writing itself, and my first book will be a POD through Amazon because I only have to pay for my proof copy, I retain the copyright, and they will handle collecting payment from and shipping books to anyone who does choose to purchase it.
I’m in agreement with Kirsten. Self publishing gives books a new dimension, and should be welcomed. I’m sure the majority won’t be expertly crafted stories, but I think the more discerning reader will be able to find something they are interested in. There is much more creative potential in self-publishing, as authors aren’t limited by what will sell.
Personally, I only want to self-publish, as I have tried writing novels full time and found it to be an incredibly grueling experience. There is zero way I would want to do such a difficult job as well as running around doing book signings and media appearances and the rest; as well as pressure from agents, newspapers, fans and publishers.
I’m not saying I would ever be published by the traditional route, but, to me, no money on earth would make it worth it. I’m happy living and writing now and when I am ready, ‘I’ will publish my novel :-) I don’t hope or expect to make much money from writing. If I do have a dream, it is simply to hopefully have established myself enough for a small second income when I retire.
Interesting post and well-thought-out comments here. I have to say that I do think self-publishing can be a way that people avoid working through issues with their book, but it can also give freedom. I guess I don’t reallly have a firm opinion on it one way or the other. Depends on the person and on the book.
I do know an author that self-published through Amazon’s CreateSpace (and no, I am not a marketer for it, or endorsing it….just saying she did) and had a good experience. It was inexpensive compared to other self-publishing options.
Still…the marketing is hard, hard, hard. And doing it on your own requires just a ton of time. Also…if I’m not mistaken…many reviewers will not accept self-published books, which can make it very difficult to get endorsements or publicity.
There’s a lot to know, isn’t there! : )
Points:
1. The most terrible self-published books won’t be well-marketed and find readers so they don’t matter.
2. Editors are great but they’re increasingly marketing-based, choosing books on how they can sell, not on making the “best book possible.”
3. Small presses have less money and can’t publish everything they want to.
4. Self-publishing makes good sense as a fall-back plan. The purpose is to reach readers and if you can reach even a limited group of new readers that can be enormously positive.
I am self-published–I did not pay even $500 for doing this with Infinity Publishing. It was the easiest thing I found I could do.
I tried the “traditional” way, with agents. I’m under the impression that my writing either is so different that they can’t take me, or they’re a bunch of money-grabbers waiting for the next Rowling.
Anyway, after 30 years of trying this other way, I was convinced that if I wanted people to enjoy what I’ve written, self publishing was my only other option. I don’t have years to wait for someone to “discover” me. I’m now a local celebrety–I will be going to my second and third booksigning. People who have read my book ask me “when is the next one coming out ?” That to me is the ultimate complement, that and one woman who read it said “you write better than those who are payed to write”.
For those who are somehow gifted with the know how of finding their way into an agent’s house, I say all power to you. Somehow I’ve not come up with the formula and I’m tired of trying. No one can tell me “you can’t do this or that” with my book.
I’m about to put my second book out there. I’ll get royalty checks every month if I make over $20, and anything I sell out of hand is MINE!
Lorelei Bell happily writing in ILL
During a chance meeting in a coffee house, I met a woman who had just been down-sized from a very famous and large publishing house. She said the company had put an indefinite hold on any new manuscripts — at all.
I mentioned lulu to her, and she’d never heard of it. This tells me alot about how out of touch traditionals can be.
She was very skeptical about lulu, until I pulled it up on my laptop, and she read about it.
Keep one foot on the ground, but believe in magic too.
Elfwoman
As a new writer these are definitely important bases to cover, for me keeping control over the creativity of my writing is paramount. I know there are others that have been in this business longer than I have, but for me it’s about getting my thoughts and my words out how I experience them. I would urge that with all writers your voice shouldn’t be muffled for the sake of sales… I love your site and will be spending hours here I can tell already!! Peace & Love…
Mike
I don’t like the smugness of those who say a certain book should never have been published, simply because it does not reach up to the standards they impose. I would refer them to Lorelei’s post. This is a big world and the internet makes it bigger by the minute. There is room in it for much more than just those books that the professional publishing houses, whose game is making money, deem to be good. Even the most ‘badly’ written book can have something to say to someone, and to pontificate that it should not be published is quite inexcusably arrogant.
Self publishing, as Bradley Robb pointed out, may not currently have the same independent spirit of indie music, but it will. It is already snowballing. I recently published a book myself, without using any organisation at all, with no financial outlay other than charges from the local printer for making the books. Everything else I did alone on my computer. I have a track record of twelve professionally published books, and one of the major factors in doing this one myself (different genre) was the memories of how long and dispiriting is the traditional route. I have total control over everything – text, layout, cover, marketing, rights, and make a hugely bigger percentage on each sale than I would from a publisher. And from finished manuscript to book in hand was about four days instead of a year!
Marketing is probably the biggest challenge, but it is increasingly clear to me that the scope on the internet for a self-publisher is simply mind-bogglingly enormous, with blogs etc. It is a wonderful opportunity. If you want to write and publish a book then do so, and sod the naysayers. Do it now; you won’t be able to do it when you’re dead. And if only your mother buys one, so what? She’ll be proud of you.
Thanks Sleepy John,
You’ve confirmed something I have been wondering about — that self-publishing is growing – and you have twelve professionally published books, so you must know something about the market.
One thing I wonder about, tho, do you think your prior successes had anything to do with the successful self-publication of your memoir? Also, how did you market?
I’m in the process of writing a Creative Nonfiction Memoir by writing what I call ’story-bytes’ that I plan to compile.
Any ideas on whether to self-publish or not?
Elf
Hi Elfwoman,
Excuse my tardiness, but here goes. My new book is a grownup fairy tale, not a memoir, and yes I think my general experience of the publishing process and putting books together undoubtedly helped. However, there is nothing in the process of writing a book, formatting it for publication and sending it to a printer that you cannot learn about fairly easily on the internet, assuming you are a capable writer to begin with – no-one will write it for you.. And there are increasing numbers of internet companies that will do all this planning and formatting for you at reasonable cost.
I have recently set up my own blog to help me publicise and sell my book, and there are already a few posts on there that you might find helpful. Click on my name to go there. Writing and reading and posting on other blogs is I think a good way to try and get your name and book known. It is so easy for someone to just click on a link if you make it sound interesting, then you can give them more information and a means to buy when they get to your website (which is separate from my blog, although linked). I am emailing lots of book review blogs to try and get it reviewed, as I am sure a few good reviews will begin sending folk to my site for a look. Then hopefully news will go round the huge audience that is connected to the web. The potential is just mind-boggling.
It is clear from my researches and experience that anything remotely unusual (as my book is, and yours sounds like) is going to involve a massive, thankless, endless round of disinterested mainstream publishers. I would not even consider it. There is a fascinating article in a Canadian newspaper that I link to from my blog called “Oh heck, I’ll just publish it myself”, which describes the healthy attitude of a number of people who wasted years of their lives flogging round conventional publishers before saying just that. One has 50,000 self-published sales and still selling!
Do bear in mind, however, that a major complaint all across the internet about self-published books is that they are all too often not well enough edited to qualify as a professional product. There is a link on my blog to a lady who reviews self-published books and her observations are worth reading. You must edit, edit and edit again, and when you think it is perfect you get a friend to go through and edit, edit and edit again. I have always considered a book finished only when I can read right through it three times without finding anything I want to change or correct. It is amazing when you look back just how much your book will have improved through this ruthless process. If you stumble even slightly over a sentence you must stop and say “why?” and keep saying it till you know. Then correct it. Good enough is not good enough, as someone once said.
Rather a long comment – hope nobody minds. Your book sounds interesting – bytes and compile sound somewhat computerish. Care to elaborate briefly?
I self published a book (a collection of stories) recently (and am satisfied with the publishers http://cinnamonteal.dogearsetc.com/). I agree with you that marketing it is the toughest part. The advantages were that I could make changes after the first book was printed, (initially, I did not have a detailed summary and bio, which I added later) and I could choose my own cover design (I chose from 5 or 6 and am completely satisfied). The expenses weren’t attractive though, but I consider them an investment!
I came over from twitter, and have found a lot of good info at this site. Thanks!
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