Self-Publishing True Story

[Steerpike]

For those that are interested:

I’m a self-publishing failure - Salon.com

The effort wasn't the smashing success the author was hoping for, but at least he's working on a sequel!

 

[BWFoster78]

It was a humorous read. Thanks for the link.

 

[ThomasCardin]

His plan now is the break his book up into a trilogy. He DOES have it in ebook format now at least, but he is charging a whopping $7.99 for it...yup...full trade price for 1/3 of his book.

 

[Kevin O. McLaughlin]

Cute lines.

Unfortunately, there are only a few reasons why a self published book would get NO buyers... generally, these are "bad cover, bad blurb, or bad book". Usually takes a combination of any two from that list to really sink a story.

Best answer is the one he is using: write another book. Get better at your craft, keep trying, and eventually your work will improve to the level where people will buy. Then you begin the task of building an audience for your work...!

 

[LadyofKaos]

I feel his pain and work on my second book as well.

 

[Yellow]

I'm as far from being published as a man can be, but I think that the author made a mistake in writing with fame and fortune as one of his goals. As someone who was a (barely) decently paid professional juggler a couple of years back, I think that if you engage in any artform with money in mind, you're more likely to be dissapointed than not, and less likely to really get good at your craft than if you engage it out of..well...love for the craft. On the other hand, if you write or paint or juggle or dance because you absolutely love doing it and couldn't stop even if you were paid to do so, you'll allways have the immense gratification of doing something you really love, and you're less likely to quit or get depressed if you hit a creative rough spot.

And hey, if a publisher or producer notices you and you start making some bucks out of your art, it will be great for you! But if that particular dream doesn't come true, you'll allways have the satisfaction of retreating into you personal world and having a great time with your imagination. Not to say you shouldn't strive to be published. It just shouldn't be your top priority. Writing should be your top priority.

 

[Alexandra]

Yellow, I could add to your comments but I doubt I could improve upon them. Well said.

 

[rhd]

Self-publishing sounds so tempting. I can create an attractive enough cover however my editing leaves a lot to be desired. I'd risk a solid outside view from a professional in the industry to polish my work and go back and forth a million times before publishing. I have to finish the damned thing first of course...

 

[Jeff Xilon]

Ah that article. It led to quite an interesting series of things.

First in response to that article Chuck Wendig wrote a reply at his site and Hugh Howey wrote a reply at Salon. Then Chuck Wendig wrote a reply to Hugh Howey's reply. Then Hugh showed up in the comments at Chuck's blog. Then some stuff happened on twitter and kindle boards so Chuck wrote a reply to the response to his reply to Howey's reply to the original article.

For my money anyone interested in self-publishing should probably read all those articles (and probably many, many others out there) to try and get as full an appreciation for all the angles as possible. Trying to get as many opinions on the the topic as possible is what I'm trying to do anyway.

PLEASE NOTE: Chuck Wendig's blog uses a lot of creative profanity. I can't remember if there's much in those particular posts, but if that sort of thing bothers you don't click. If links to blogs with bad words violate they rules of Mythic Scribes then my apologies in advance to the moderators.

 

[BWFoster78]

Self-publishing sounds so tempting. I can create an attractive enough cover however my editing leaves a lot to be desired. I'd risk a solid outside view from a professional in the industry to polish my work and go back and forth a million times before publishing. I have to finish the damned thing first of course...

I would not advise anyone to self publish without paying an editor for a structural edit at the very least, and that's after going through several good beta readers.

No matter how good you think you are, your manuscript has serious flaws that you don't see.

 

[ThinkerX]

For whatever reason, upon reading the initial link, my first thought was:

'In six or eight months time, BWFoster will be post something on the board wondering why 75% of his sales are to the Ukraine (or someplace equally distant).'