I’ve recently read two blog posts that highlight some of the benefits and cautions of self-publishing.
The first is from Roz Morris: I’ve had near misses with agents and publishers – should I self-publish?
I encourage you to read the whole post, primarily because this lady really knows her way around the traditional publishing scene. But, for those who don’t like to click links, here are a few excerpts:
“I know a number of writers who have excellent, interesting novels that are not getting published. Perhaps they cross genres, or they’re too edgy to be literary and too intelligent to be genre. In all likelihood if those writers were submitting those same novels to the market 5 or 10 years ago they would have landed a publishing deal. But publishers don’t want them any more.”
“The major publishers sell to book stores, and they want to make bulk sales to chains. They want titles that will sell in quantity. Not something ‘interesting’ that will sell one or two copies per store.”
“Conventional publishers have narrower tastes than the book-buying public. Much narrower.”
“Self-publishers are now more credible than we have ever been. We must keep that credibility. We must aim for the highest possible quality. That means getting professional help with the editing, proofing and design, so that the book can hold its own against the best of conventionally published titles.”
Now, some of the perils on the road to self-publishing from Joel Friedlander in his article, Subsidy Publishing: Proceed With Caution.
“[An] author went with Balboa Press. Do you know it? This is part of the gradual co-opting of the independent publishing houses by pure naked greed in the form of an alliance with subsidy king Author Solutions. They see all the money authors are paying to publish, they see every day how desperate writers are to get a contract with a publishing house. They decide to cash in, and Author Solutions is only too happy to help.
“Author Solutions owns the AuthorHouse, iUniverse, Trafford Publishing, Xlibris and Wordclay imprints. It calls itself ‘the world leader in indie book publishing’ despite the fact there is nothing even vaguely ‘indie’ about the company or the books it produces.”
“Now there’s nothing intrinsically wrong with paying for publishing services. That’s how I make a living, along with a lot of other professionals. But there’s a bait and switch involved here. Writers are sold by manipulating the dream they have of becoming successful published authors. But the truth of subsidy publishing has nothing to do with selling books.”
“…if you look at the ‘packages’ that these companies offer, you soon realize you will be spending thousands of dollars to get into print, and that’s before all the upsells kick in. And before you start buying your own books.”
Again, I urge you to read the full article.
My company, FastPencil, only requires you purchase one copy of your book, at the publisher’s cost, to have it for sale on their site. You set the royalty.
They do have editing and consultation services for sale but they are certainly not part of the “deal” if you don’t want them.
Tread carefully in the arena of publishing, whether traditional or self-driven…
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