Self – Publishing

[Guest]

Self – Publishing

I would like to post a serious thread for a change.

Does anyone have experience with or have you looked into self-publishing?
If you have would you let me know what you found out?
Is it a rip-off, or a legitimate way to publish a book?

Any thoughts some of you might have would be appreciated.

Jmt

 

[Sabledrake]

Vanity publishing is a big rip-off. This is what you see advertised by companies who promise to publish and promote your book. Generally, the quality of the books is poor, and the promotion is a joke. And the cost to the author is outrageous, with very little return compensation.

Several years ago, I was screwed over by a shady agent who led me to believe that a vanity publisher was actually a legit one (I was young and stupid then and knew no better).

Self-publishing, on the other hand, is when you-the-author do all the work. Page layout, cover design, getting an ISBN, having it printed, and doing all the promotion. You-the-author pay all the costs, but also get all the profits and have all the control. It's more work, but it can be much more rewarding if you're up for the challenge.

Thus far, I've self-published 3 kids' books, an RPG supplement (see sig!) and a couple of novels. My husband and I formed our own company and we are greatly enjoying the experience. It's not horribly profitable yet -- no quitting the day, or in my case, the night job -- but we're learning a lot.

And in the meantime, I'm still submitting to big publishers in search of the coveted mass-market contract with industry standard advance.

Among the biggest drawbacks with self-publishing: many reviewers won't review self-published books, and bookstores might be reluctant to carry them (there is a pervasive belief that POD -- Print On Demand -- books, which is what most self-publishers use these days, are not returnable; this is not always the case).

Sabledrake

 

[Weird Harold]

Does anyone have experience with or have you looked into self-publishing?
If you have would you let me know what you found out?
Is it a rip-off, or a legitimate way to publish a book?

My mother wrote a book that fits a rather small niche market. Self-publishing was the only way to get it on the market, because it did not meet the minimum distribution expectations of a conventional publisher.

She still sells an occasional copy through Amazon (who order five copies at a time) -- and Barnes and Noble (who order single copies only at customer request.)

Her biggest problem was getting Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Borders, and other bookstores to even list her book as a special order item. Initally, she had to go to the hobby stores that catered to the niche her book fits and leave copies of her book on a contingency basis.

Self-Publishing and Print-on-Demand have come along way since she wrote her book, and the internet has made direct sales and promotions easier than what she experienced.

Self-Publishing, IMHO, works best for a niche market book that is never going to find a wide distribution. As a solution to rejection by a publisher for the "Great American Novel," it's most likely to be a losing proposition -- publisher's usually understand the market and have reasons for rejecting a manuscript that need to be fixed before it has a chance to be a success; self-publishing it unchanged won't solve the problems that got it rejected.

 

[KarenAM]

My self-published / POD effort has just been posted at Amazon.com; you can read all about it here. Here are some thoughts based on my experience:

Self-publishing these days is more sophisticated than it used to be, because of the internet. I don't have to stock a garage full of my books, or pay an outrageous amount of money to get some measure of worldwide distribution. And since the traditional publishing world remains generally hostile to new writers, it is an option worth exploring, particularly if your story isn't "just like but a little bit different" from everything else in the genre in which you write. Since my stuff deals with erotic slave girls on an alien planet, the chances of a traditional publisher picking it up are pretty small, because traditional science fiction is still quite PC. These go to nil because my book isn't an inch thick, which is what publishers want.

However, there are some serious drawbacks. Much self-published work is pretty problematic in terms of quality, because great authors are not always great editors (witness Hemingway), and with self-publishing you have to do all that yourself, or find/pay someone to do it. So if you are going to spend the money to do it, I would suggest learning how to write marketing copy, back cover blurbs, and most of all how to edit. Learn the standards of punctuation (these are far more complex than you might think), dialogue formatting, and so on. Learn to proofread for typos that a spellchecker will miss (from/form, etc.).

If you go into self-publishing with realistic goals and a willingness to put in a lot of effort, it can be quite rewarding. And for niche books or books that aren't the current commercial craze, it's often the only way to go. There are several excellent self-publishing firms out there, but watch out for scams; remember that if it sounds too good to be true (Publish with Shady Boilerroom Publications and your book will be the next Harry Potter!), it probably is.

 

[Boota]

I have self-published my first novel with the help of 1stBooks. They have been a great company so far. My book, Mr. Undesirable, just came out at the end of January and the press bit is just gearing up, but so far, so good. I thought their fees were reasonable as compared to handling everything myself and they have an extensive promotions package available. I have enrolled in a booksellers return program, so even though my book is POD, it can be returned. This is a fairly new feature they are offering and it should help their authors get access to store shelves much easier.

If you want to check them out, their address is www.1stbooks.com.

I have very little patience and it didn't take long before the "I'll just do it my damn self" aspect of my personality kicked in. I got three rejections from publishers and three from agents, none of whom seemed to understand my work at all, so I started looking for a back way in. ( Mr. Undesirable is a brutal comedy and it was a bit much for the sensibilities of the people who looked at it, I'm sure. LOL.) My book is selling pretty well, with no press whatsoever as of yet. Strictly word of mouth. So if I can do it through 1stBooks I won't even bother trying to submit to traditional publishers. If I do well, they might come to me. If they do, they do. If not, I'll live.

Oh yeah...

www.mr-undesirable.com

Good luck jmt.

 

[snooper]

Publishing by the trade has recently become much easier with the advent of E-books. They don't sell by the millions, so you will never get rich, but I make a living at it.

 

[Guest]

Many thanks to those of you who responded.

I have looked at first books and some other companies that they have listed on their web page. I noticed quite a difference in prices between them.
Having 90,000 words edited by them at .012 cents per word ends up being expensive, ($1000).
So I'm not sure about which way to go yet but I appreciate your comments.

Jmt

 

[KarenAM]

Prices do vary. One reason I chose iUniverse was that you could get a basic sort of package (book production and distribution only), or add on features like editing if you wanted them. They also had a special deal going. The add-ons can get expensive, as you noted. On the other hand, editing my own work is harder than writing it, and so wouldn't be for everyone.

Best of luck to you on your new book, Boota! And to you with all your e-books, Snooper!

And best as well with however you decide to go, jmt!

 

[Boota]

jmt,

I edited my book myself, with the help of some literate friends. Maybe there are a few mistakes left in, but I'm fine with that. I have read several books that were professionally edited and they are loaded with mistakes. My thinking was, "If I edit myself and leave in a few mistakes, I won't be happy. But if I pay $1,500 to get this book edited and they mess up I will be livid."

My initial cost with 1stbooks was under $600. The rest came when I added the options. Even with the $699 fee to enroll in the return program and $400 in an advertising promotion, it was still under $2,000.


KarenAM, thank you. Best of luck to you, too.

 

[kellycummings]

My experience with publishing has been that you have to be persistent. There are a lot of publishers out there and you will always get rejected by most simply because of the number of submissions they get.
I've never attempted to publish erotica so I don't know how they are but mainstream publishers can be notoriously picky. Sometimes if a manuscript has too many errors they will reject and of course it also depends on what they are looking for and whether or not they think there is a market for what you are offering.
I don't have any experience with self-publishing but if it works for you, do it. It seems to be a somewhat risky venture but if it pays off then of course it was worth it.