Question for self publishing authors

[WCSGarland]

Is Draft-2-Digital the best way to go, or would another platform like Lulu or IngramSpark be better? Draft-2-Digital just notified people that it's going to start charging an annual maintenance fee, which seems like it would be daunting for anybody who sells less than $100 per year like myself.

Would it be better to just bite the bullet and pay the annual maintenance fee? My take is that raising prices to compensate might dampen my sales... not prolific to begin with. On the other hand there is no cost for ISBN which appears might be the case with the other platforms.

Is it just an issue for me?

 

[BobbyBrandt]

D2D has always been an "also ran" to me. Until they took over Smashwords, I ignored them. I think that I only have two stories published on their site that rolled over from Smashwords. The same titles do better for me on Amazon.

For me, personally, the fees wouldn't apply so they don't concern me. They aren't exorbitant and may serve the stated purpose of keeping some of the riff-raff, AI crap off the platform. They are much less than some other sites, especially when you consider the distribution channels that they provide.

It boils down to what you write and whether you think that it would have a paying audience elsewhere. Erotic as a genre is accepted at more places than before, so explore your options.

 

[TheWritingGroup]

Lots of writers use Patreon as a self-pub platform, I hear. I have no plan to self-publish and have no opinion about what's good.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Is Draft-2-Digital the best way to go, or would another platform like Lulu or IngramSpark be better? Draft-2-Digital just notified people that it's going to start charging an annual maintenance fee, which seems like it would be daunting for anybody who sells less than $100 per year like myself.

The problem with any distributor is, you've got to get on the hamster wheel and keep churning out content.

I've got ebooks and print on demand through Lulu - which feeds Ingram Sparks - but unless you promote and keep content flowing, they're dead in the water. I don't bother - it's not worth my time to even think about it.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

The problem with any distributor is, you've got to get on the hamster wheel and keep churning out content.

Or, dedicate significant time to marketing and promotion for existing works in the channel. Something that most self-published authors are ill-prepared to do.

 

[GuiltyCowboy]

At the risk of being condescending and not actually answering your question, it seems to me there are only three real options:

- be such a good writer that your work is supported by the offline book industry - editors, publishing houses, book stores etc.

- be a hobbyist: post online, have fun, maybe make a shekel or two, but it's not a business venture.

- be a professional: formulate a writing template that is proven to sell, give a small stable of freelance writers a cut to churn out work that fits your template, provide all the packaging and marketing and revenue collection.

Be honest with yourself about which category you fit into and have at it.

I could be wrong, I don't know, but that's what it looks like to me.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

At the risk of being condescending and not actually answering your question, it seems to me there are only three real options:

- be such a good writer that your work is supported by the offline book industry - editors, publishing houses, book stores etc.

- be a hobbyist: post online, have fun, maybe make a shekel or two, but it's not a business venture.

- be a professional: formulate a writing template that is proven to sell, give independent writers a cut to churn out work that fits your template, provide all the packaging and marketing and revenue collection.

Be honest with yourself about which category you fit into and have at it.

I could be wrong, I don't know, but that's what it looks like to me.

I think that at the core, what you are saying is "Go into it with the proper expectations", and I can't disagree.

I have published through traditional agents and publishers where they have pretty much set the expectations for me. They know the markets that they will be targeting, what their investment in marketing/promotions are likely to generate in sales, and have typically been relatively accurate.

I have also self published for years, and can tell you that you get out of it only what you put into it, and I'm not speaking of merely money. There is a lot that you can do yourself, from cover design, to creating Amazon ads, to setting up your own website/marketplace. There are also a number of great resources for information on how to improve your chances for success, such as the Alliance for Independent Authors website.

The success dynamics for a writer of erotica can be quite different than for other genres. Even with the growing acceptance of erotic material on many platforms, the anonymity that many writers of the genre strive to maintain limits them significantly. You can't wear a mask to book signings, festivals, and other events to promote your work. Even online social media promotions are harder when you try to do the under an alias.