Why I'm interested in self-publishing

[MichaelSullivan]

Interesting article.
The Most Successful Self-Published Sci-Fi and Fantasy Authors

I'm one of the authors listed in that article, and I've also traditionally published. I can say without reservation that there are many reasons for choosing either path. Some won't have a choice, in other words you won't find yourself (as I have been - twice now) considering whether I should sign a contract or self-publish. Here are some things I can say about the options.

* Traditional is slow...really slow. Even after your book is "done" it may take 12 - 24 months to hit the market (many reasons for this that I won't get into now).

* Traditional opens venues not available to self-publishing (bookstores, more foreign markets, teaching possibilities, awards, movie deals)

* Traditional provides "credibility." Many readers won't buy a self-published book no matter how many good things they've heard. There is still the idea that "If the book is good, why doesn't a real publisher put it out?"

* Traditional offers advances, which can be a big infusion quickly (but for many books this advance might be quite small)

* Traditional provides an entire team to work with you: Marketing, PR, Sales, Editing, Cover Design

* Self publishing gives you higher % of profit - the same book published traditional or self- will more than likely produce a higher income through self.

* Self publishing has complete freedom - you can choose your own release schedule and put books out as often as you can create them (traditional tends to "space out books")

* Self publishing may require you to pay money up front for certain tasks: editing cover design.

The one thing that really doesn't change between the two methods (but is often noted one of the reasons people chose traditional) is marketing. Either way you go the author will need to actively market their books. The publisher will "push" your books for only a very small window (just prior to release) and they have many authors to divide their time among.

[yachtcaptcolby]

As I mentioned in another thread, I self-published my novel and I plan to self-publish a few more. I prefer to have complete control over my work, for better or worse, and I feel like the electronic distribution model is the way to go. All the book stores in my area are closing and everyone I see on public transportation has some kind of tablet or e-reader. Why should my work *need* a publisher when I can find editors and a cover artist on my own and I'm going to have to do most of my own marketing anyway?

The fact that a large chunk of readers won't touch self-published work is certainly a problem, but it's one I think can be overcome. Maybe there's a market for some sort of certification service that does nothing but judge self-published work for proper spelling and grammar and layout, something that doesn't judge a work's content but just affirms that it's up to professional standards. Maybe it's just a matter of time before that prejudice falls on its own. I'm not sure.

[robertbevan]

i went with self publishing for what is probably another one of the "wrong" reasons. i was just too frustrated with the whole query process. reading all of the agents' advice and guidelines, and then having several versions of a query letter critiqued, there came a point when i realized... if i keep this up, i'll have spent more time on this stupid query letter than i did on the manuscript.

i honestly believe that far too much emphasis is put on query letters.


of course... on the flip side of that, i've been self published for about a month now, and i've sold eight copies of my book. so i might not be the right guy to take advice from.

[Benjamin Clayborne]

of course... on the flip side of that, i've been self published for about a month now, and i've sold eight copies of my book. so i might not be the right guy to take advice from.

Why would you expect more at this point? You just started. As a totally new, (presumably) unheard-of author, you have zero name recognition, and presumably not a lot of (if any) advertising budget. What kind of marketing are you doing? If you want people to buy your book, you've got to convince them it's worth buying. No one else is advocating on your behalf at this point. Go to fantasy forums and mention it; find people you know who like fantasy and see if they'll be willing to buy it; find people who have bought it and see if you can get them to recommend it to other people. Spend ten bucks on an AdWords campaign and see if it triggers a few sales.

And for Godzilla's sake, keep writing. You might only sell eight copies a month for a couple of years, but maybe by the time you've got three or four novels out there, something will spark and people will start to think of you as a "real" author (as in, professionally equivalent to someone with a publisher behind them).

EDIT: Another suggestion, put a link to your book on Amazon in your forum signature. If your book is only one click away, someone might see it and click on it. They're a lot less likely to click on your profile, then click on "About Me", and then see that there's a link to something on Amazon and click it. Make your work easy to find.

[TL Rese]

there are advantages and disadvantages to both. the waiting game of traditional publishing can be hellish, i agree. but i went through 10yrs of querying - yes, it's usually an uphill battle and a marathon of endurance - and now, i actually don't consider that time to have been a waste. i learned a LOT about publishing during that time - all the different houses, the imprints, the agencies, the magazines, the who's who, etc. plus, my first rejection letters made me go back to my writing and discover that, hey, the writing wasn't all that great after all and helped me to ultimately improve my craft. if i'd gone straight into self-publishing my first novel, it would have been a disaster. - it simply wasn't ready to be published and i was too inexperienced to see it. i never thought i'd say this, but "thank god for rejection letters!" anyways, bottom line is that trying the traditional route may feel awful, but could be bitter medicine that'll ultimately help you to improve.

another thing to consider is if you do go trad, would you be willing to take a significant cut in your royalties (only about 17% versus the 70% that you'll get if you self-pub) in exchange for your publisher essentially taking care of all the editing, cover art, marketing, etc. for you? or would you rather take the larger royalty payment and do all that yourself?

[robertbevan]

Why would you expect more at this point? You just started. As a totally new, (presumably) unheard-of author, you have zero name recognition, and presumably not a lot of (if any) advertising budget. What kind of marketing are you doing? If you want people to buy your book, you've got to convince them it's worth buying. No one else is advocating on your behalf at this point. Go to fantasy forums and mention it; find people you know who like fantasy and see if they'll be willing to buy it; find people who have bought it and see if you can get them to recommend it to other people. Spend ten bucks on an AdWords campaign and see if it triggers a few sales.

oh i didn't mean to sound like i was disappointed in my sales. i'm pretty stoked about those eight sales. one of those people even left me a shining review. i only mentioned it because i didn't want to give the impression that my advice was coming from an expert. i'm a guy just starting out on this road.

And for Godzilla's sake, keep writing. You might only sell eight copies a month for a couple of years, but maybe by the time you've got three or four novels out there, something will spark and people will start to think of you as a "real" author (as in, professionally equivalent to someone with a publisher behind them).

i've gotten started on book two already, but i'm currently taking a break to write a short story featuring a couple of the characters from the book... a little story that is completely tangential to the plot of the other books. a little side adventure, if you will. something to offer for free (once i figure out how that works) to give readers a taste of my characters, my style, and my sense of humor. i'm going to post the beginning of it on the showcase forum for some feedback after i establish myself around here a bit more.

EDIT: Another suggestion, put a link to your book on Amazon in your forum signature. If your book is only one click away, someone might see it and click on it. They're a lot less likely to click on your profile, then click on "About Me", and then see that there's a link to something on Amazon and click it. Make your work easy to find.

i thought i had already done that last night. i made a link for amazon, smashwords, and my facebook author page. looks like it's not showing in my post above. maybe i made the sig after i wrote that post. let's find out...

... okay good, it works.

[BWFoster78]

there are advantages and disadvantages to both. the waiting game of traditional publishing can be hellish, i agree. but i went through 10yrs of querying - yes, it's usually an uphill battle and a marathon of endurance - and now, i actually don't consider that time to have been a waste. i learned a LOT about publishing during that time - all the different houses, the imprints, the agencies, the magazines, the who's who, etc. plus, my first rejection letters made me go back to my writing and discover that, hey, the writing wasn't all that great after all and helped me to ultimately improve my craft. if i'd gone straight into self-publishing my first novel, it would have been a disaster. - it simply wasn't ready to be published and i was too inexperienced to see it. i never thought i'd say this, but "thank god for rejection letters!" anyways, bottom line is that trying the traditional route may feel awful, but could be bitter medicine that'll ultimately help you to improve.

another thing to consider is if you do go trad, would you be willing to take a significant cut in your royalties (only about 17% versus the 70% that you'll get if you self-pub) in exchange for your publisher essentially taking care of all the editing, cover art, marketing, etc. for you? or would you rather take the larger royalty payment and do all that yourself?

I'm nearing completion of my first novel (hoping to have it completely edited early next year), and the question of whether to self publish or try traditional is weighing on me heavily.

The number one thing I'd like to know is:

Am I good enough?

[T.Allen.Smith]

Am I good enough?

There's only one way you'll ever know.

[Benjamin Clayborne]

I'm nearing completion of my first novel (hoping to have it completely edited early next year), and the question of whether to self publish or try traditional is weighing on me heavily.

The number one thing I'd like to know is:

Am I good enough?

Good enough for what? "Good enough" is relative to your goals. Is your goal to get traditionally published? Or is your goal to make a lot of money self-publishing? Or what?

[JCFarnham]

I'm not published either way. Not online. Not any where. This is purely what I've gleened from the advice of others and my own marketing-degreed brain.

Here's some thing people may not have overty considered/mentioned yet. If people simply don't buy self-publish books, then for goodness sake don't make it look like a self published book. Get a top notch cover. Get yourself a small press style name to stick where your traditional publisher may go. Market it like a professional. Treat IT professionally.

Don't forget, if you're self-publishing you're only a few documents away from being considered a proper small press publisher. Bridge the gap, even if it's only for yourself and you might find you over come the stigma.

Thankfully though, as the ebook market and its technology settles in, you'll find it'll increasingly become almost invisible the way it has with music and itunes-type stores. You don't think twice about buying off itunes, just like most people I know don't think twice (usually) about buying something off the internet (ebay, or amazon, or something). I remember a time when people were wary of all of that ("what if my details get stolen? surely it's easier for that to happen?").

Eventually the two markets will become incredibly equal. Though I'm anticipating self-publishing route becoming more popular than ever thanks to increased royalties, I'm also anticipating companies who decide to bridge the distance between traditional and self- and off professional services solely to the self-publisher. It's only a matter of time before niches like that are filled by entreprenures. Hell, maybe they already have been filled and I'm not paying attention.

It's not certain though as while the above could happen, you can be sure that Publishing houses will either jump on the bandwagon or try the damned hardest to put an end to self-publishers with some kind of incentive.

Essentially everything will become homogenius then start to differentiate again. That's the way it goes. In cycles.