Self publishing?

[Litbridge]

Hi All: When a story you wrote has done respectably well on Lit, have you ever considered self-publishing? Are there sites dedicated to short story self-publishing? Maybe an anthology of short stories in different genres? How about Novellas (20,000 to 25,000 words)? There are many sites dedicated to self-published novels, I know. Anyone with any experiences to share? I'm dreaming thinking I'll ever get a really good score, but I also like to be prepared!

 

[Bebeslut]

Hi All: When a story you wrote has done respectably well on Lit, have you ever considered self-publishing? Are there sites dedicated to short story self-publishing? Maybe an anthology of short stories in different genres? How about Novellas (20,000 to 25,000 words)? There are many sites dedicated to self-published novels, I know. Anyone with any experiences to share? I'm dreaming thinking I'll ever get a really good score, but I also like to be prepared!

You can find various publishers by googling "self-publishing online" and several will publish short stories, but none I think do anthologies of different authors, although I could be wrong.

I wrote a number of stories on Lit, 13 of which I collected under one title and published on Kindle. Intend to do a second story collection, as well.

 

[Litbridge]

Self-publishing

Thanks B_Slut: I will do more research and see what I can find. One I located was Xlibris but have yet to explore them fully. One thing is they don't seem to be very upfront about what it will cost you and how much of the marketing you have to do yourself. I'm stuck in the middle of nowhere and fancy techniques like book-signings, esp. when you have a more than full-time job already, are out of the question.

 

[Bebeslut]

Thanks B_Slut: I will do more research and see what I can find. One I located was Xlibris but have yet to explore them fully. One thing is they don't seem to be very upfront about what it will cost you and how much of the marketing you have to do yourself. I'm stuck in the middle of nowhere and fancy techniques like book-signings, esp. when you have a more than full-time job already, are out of the question.

There are several online publishers that publish work for free, no hassle at all. You just have to meet their guidelines (which unfortunately most of the time I don't; they have some fetish about incest stories).

And, of course, with Kindle you do nothing but write your stories and upload them to Amazon.

 

[Litbridge]

No Slave to Destiny

This was the piece I was referring to, now published on Lit. http://www.literotica.com/stories/showstory.php?id=503249 Comments always welcome. Cheers.

 

[sr71plt]

Lots of e-publishers put out compendium anthologies of short stories (by multiple authors). And many of them put out calls for contributions to their anthologies. Just go to Allromanceebooks.com, look at the blurbs, publishers, and author listings in the Anthology section. And start googling.

 

[Litbridge]

Thanks SR... yep, have discovered a world of opportunity out there in my limited research to date. Need to become familiar with their readership demographics and select one to try. Keeps the gray matter working, sorta. I think I'm finding a full-time job and I already have one! Can't give up my day job, ha ha. What to do?

 

[sweetnpetite]

Hi All: When a story you wrote has done respectably well on Lit, have you ever considered self-publishing? Are there sites dedicated to short story self-publishing? Maybe an anthology of short stories in different genres? How about Novellas (20,000 to 25,000 words)? There are many sites dedicated to self-published novels, I know. Anyone with any experiences to share? I'm dreaming thinking I'll ever get a really good score, but I also like to be prepared!

If you're going to self-publish, I think you should be aware of all of the services provided by traditional publishers and figure out how you are going to acquire them for yourself. Advertising, promotion, distribution, editing, formatting, artwork, not to mention vetting the work and giving consumers a sense of security about their purchase. "Self-publishing" often is nothing more than printing, and maybe a spot in a massive catalog that nobody ever looks at. If all your getting from a self-publisher is printing, why not do that at a print-shop and actually self-publish?

 

[Litbridge]

Thanks for the thoughts Sweetnpetite. Sound thinking. The attraction to self-publishing is that, as those who provide the service point out, every writer deserves to have their work published, even if it's not very good. After all, the market decides over and above your own bound copy. Looking at some of the quality of work submitted to Lit there are any number of really excellent writers who, through their hard work, deserve recognition. Yet, only 3% of manuscripts submitted ever get into the public domaine through the services of traditional publishers who, as I understand it, also claim and retain copyright of the author's work. A good many well-known writers over the ages started out by going the self-publishing route until their work became more broadly recognized. So, to your point, if you're going to self-publish, certainly be aware of what services you are purchasing, or not purchasing as the case may be. I know my time is too valuable to DIY (I'd rather be typing) so it comes down to how much you're willing to pay. I'm learning, too, that with online publishers whether you go the e-book route or soft/hard cover, their bottom line cost is like buying an automobile without the steering wheel, tires, wing mirrors and what not. So, as you imply, its a line item menu they offer with each service in the process being another opportunity to sell you on an 'upgrade' from the basics.

 

[sr71plt]

The most important/difficult part of the process is the marketing, not the writing or event the book set up--unless you're satisfied with bearing all of the costs and not having anyone reading it (which is fine, if that's OK with you). A realistic grasp of how it's going to be marketed should be worked out before you go to publication (although it frequently isn't). If you think readers/buyers are going to come to you just because you got it printed or e-booked (like in setting up a personal web site and/or blog for one or a few books), you are deluding yourself.

This is why you should strongly consider going with a publisher. And it's a lot easier to find an e-publisher than a print one.

On copyright, no, publishers don't usually "claim" the copyright--unless you write the book for them on a work-for-hire basis (which does happen--mostly with nonfiction). They are renting whatever use rights are specified in their contract (usually covering the mode of publishing they are contracting to do and the length of time they hold the contract). The copyright--and any publishing rights not rented away--remain with the author.