Self-publishing is an area that’s occupied my thoughts a lot over the past couple of weeks. It seems only a tiny percentage get picked up by the big publishers, and that self-publishing, small press publishing and Indie publishing are all becoming more popular and the stigma that I have mentioned before is dying.
One of the things that’s held me back from fully accepting self-publishing as a method is that it feels like cheating. I haven’t been accepted as published, anyone can put anything together and can claim ‘they’re published’ but it doesn’t mean the same as some publisher accepting your book is decent and are willing to sell it.
It doesn’t feel validating. I can’t go to my friends and say I’m published. So what? Anyone can upload a book to the net and sell it on lulu.com. It’s not the real deal.
Do people understand where I’m coming from?
I posted some of these thoughts on Twitter and got some great responses.
PublishingGuru said: “Self-pub is not cheating, it is the democratization of publishing. Power to the author!”
And on being validated, thecreativepenn said, “Re self-pub, your writing ability is validated by your sales and readers feedback – but editors also used 
“
I liked the second reply the most. The part about editing I’d learnt from Alan Baxter and was a bit of an ‘aha’ moment for me, but Joanna’s response (a.k.a. thecreativepenn) really struck me as true. It set off a nice fantasy of me self-publishing a book and selling lots of copies. Surely this would be just as validating, if not more, than being publishing in the traditional sense.
Of course though, only a minority of self-published authors hit the fantasy of making it big and showing up those publishing fat cats by selling heaps of books on their own.
I agree when Tom Cho said that success shouldn’t be measured so narrowly. But I guess my goal is to be read, to have a decent amount of people read my work and for people to take me and my writing seriously. This isn’t just a hobby. I’d like to be paid for it too.
How to go about all of that is still a question even though I’ve gotten some answers.
Hi Benjamin, Thanks for mentioning my tweet – I am such a self-pub fan! Mainly because of the speed to publish, the control and the revenue models that are possible. It is the “real deal” if you take it seriously i.e. I paid for a pro editor and made an effort to make it professional in general. I take my blog seriously as platform building and I sell my books on Amazon in print, in Kindle format, on Smashwords and in PDF so people can access them in many ways. I also publish in India POD – very cool! Adventures in publishing indeed!
I’d love to be a Gary Vaynerchuk with 10 book deal with Harper Collins – but until then, I am very happy writing, getting my work out there and engaging with readers who like my stuff and find it helpful. That is far more successful than waiting 2 years for rejections and negativity. I like positive action! I may yet submit to a publisher, but I will concentrate on building my platform so the sales speak for themselves either way!
Let us know how your adventures in publishing go!
Joanna
.-= Joanna Penn´s last blog ..Where Is Joanna Penn? What Questions Do You Have About Literary Oxford and London? =-.
I like this point, “That is far more successful than waiting 2 years for rejections and negativity.” I think self-publishing used to ruin your chances of getting picked up by a traditional publisher, but now this stigma is lifting.
I’ll certainly keep everyone up to date on how I choose to go. I certainly have a concept in my head right now.
I think if you’re good (which you are), you should publish – you shouldn’t wait to be ‘accepted’.
Benjamin – Thanks for the mention. I am a self-publishing activist. Give me a soap box and I will get as radical about the truth of self-publishing as you do about horror and Marxism. I am passionate about authors know the truth about the concept. The industry is full of vulture vanity publishers preying on a beautiful democratic movement. A true self-publishing service company will empower a self-publishing author with the support they need to properly edit, design, print, distribute, and promote their book allowing them to make 100% of the profit from the sales of their book. As the magnificent Joanna Penn mentions: build your platform and the traditional publisher will come to you. However, you may decide you don’t need them anymore.
.-= Todd Rutherford´s last blog ..Secrets Of The Amazon Best-Seller List =-.
Todd, thanks for your comments. Certainly there are lots of scams helping to the flood the market and give self-publishing a bad name, but I think the stigma is lifting
I’m glad that there are more advocates for self-publishing out there now.
Check out No Media Kings – very cool DIY publishing site. Great manifesto, lots of tips and info. http://nomediakings.org/
.-= lisa´s last blog ..Dog blog =-.
I’d add one corollary to your point that only a small minority of self-published authors make it big: only a small minority of traditionally published authors make it big. A commonly cited statistic is that 90% of new books published in any given year sell fewer than 100 copies, and 95% sell fewer than 500 copies. 80% of books sold in a given year were written by fewer than 10 or 15 people, whose names we’ve all heard. Considering those odds, self-publishing is still a long shot – but, relatively speaking, it seems less long than saying, “A self-published author is never going to sell as many books as Nora Roberts or Stephen King.” While true, that doesn’t really tell you anything of substance.
Regarding “How to go about all of that” – I can help you put a plan together.
.-= Todd Rutherford´s last blog ..Confessions of a Former Vanity Publisher =-.
David, I wholeheartedly agree with that point that just because your traditionally published, doesn’t mean you’re going to sell heaps of books either.
Todd, I got your email a while ago and replied. Did you get it?
Great articles, Ben. I agree with the others that self-publishing no longer holds the same stigma as it did 10 years ago. The trick is to produce a professional quality book and learn how to market it well.
What I enjoy the most about self-publishing is that I have total control of the design and publishing process. The one aspect that I don’t like is the pricing, which tends to be higher than traditional trade paperbacks.
.-= Deborah Woehr´s last blog ..Writing Progress: Shades of Evil =-.
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