To Self-Publish or Not to Self-Publish

When I was looking for a publisher in the olden days of 2008 (47 years ago in ebook time), it seemed clear that the way to make a living as a writer was to get an agent, find a publisher, sell your book in stores, and wait for the money truck to back into your driveway, even if didn't always work out that way. But now that Amazon, Apple, Barnes & Noble, and other ebook vendors let you self-publish your books electronically (also called indie publishing), many unpublished writers think it's a no-brainer to forgo traditional publishers.

As someone who has seen both sides, first as a self-published ebook author and now as traditionally published author with Simon & Schuster, I can tell you that each avenue has its pros and cons, all of which I can sum up by saying: if you think writing is hard, wait until you try publishing.

Bestselling author Seth Godin ditched his publisher to sell his books directly to readers because he feels that he no longer needs his publisher's support for packaging, marketing, and distribution. On the other hand, Philip Goldberg wrote his own post about why he thinks a traditional publisher is still both relevant and needed. I'm sure both of them thought a long time about why they write, who their readers are, how they'd find those readers, how they want to spend their time, and what resources they have.

I know I considered all of the same issues that Godin and Goldberg did. When I self-published my three books last year, it was extremely gratifying to post my novels to the Kindle store and see my sales progress on a daily basis. I had total control over my cover, the title, the release date, and the pricing of my books. When I received the offer of publication, it meant taking my books off the Kindle and having them unavailable to readers for another year or more, but I felt that what I gave up was more than compensated by what I was getting in return: editing help, bookstore distribution, credibility with foreign publishers, and an advance payment against future royalties.

My decision wouldn't have been right for everyone and for every situation. Electronic self-publishing knocks down huge barriers to entry and gives writers a choice they've never had before, which is fantastic and is energizing the writing industry in a new way. But when deciding whether to indie publish, don't overlook all the questions traditionally published authors have been dealing with for years...

• Who will translate my book into Chinese? If you want a world-wide presence, foreign language translations open you up to a much larger audience. Stieg Larsson has sold four million books in the US, but he's sold forty million worldwide. I know many writers whose foreign sales outpace their US sales.
• How do I get Entertainment Weekly to review my book? It is difficult for any author to get media attention, let alone from a national magazine. For self-published authors, it's even harder unless your book is already a major phenomenon. Respected publicists are out there, but they don't come cheap, and you may decide to hire one anyway if you are traditionally published.
• If I don't get an advance, how will I pay my Netflix subscription while I write my next book? E-publishing is changing this equation because money can start coming in immediately if you self-publish, but it may not equal what you could get with an advance. On the flip side, if you have an idea of what you can make on your own by self-publishing, it gives you more negotiating leverage for a possible traditional publishing deal.
• What financial risk am I willing to take? Any kind of business is always a risk. If you self-publish, you are putting your own money into the venture with no guarantee of success, and you may be foregoing an advance of guaranteed money to do it. Even if your sales are great now, they may not continue that way forever (ask any real estate agent). If you go with a traditional publisher, you're selling the rights to your work for an advance that may never earn out. Both directions have great upsides and downsides, so crunch the numbers to see what's right for you.
• How will I get substantive and knowledgeable help editing my manuscript? Everyone needs an experienced editor to give them feedback on their book. You can hire one, but make sure you're getting your money's worth. And if you are approached by a traditional publisher, interview the editor to see if there is a good fit for your style.
• Do I care if I see my book in print? For some people, it still doesn't feel like you have a book until you can hold a paper one in your hands. I know when I was publishing electronically, it felt like I wasn't a "real" author because my book wasn't in stores. That stigma, however, is quickly vanishing, and indie writers can hold their heads up high and say they're authors.
• How much of a control freak am I? Let's face it: writers love control. We create whole worlds. We get to control every single thing our characters say, do, and feel. We control whether they live or die. However, we have very little control over whether someone picks up our book, buys it, reads it, and likes it. Self-publishing gives us that sense of control we crave, but it comes at a cost in money, energy, and time. Publishing independently may very well be worth it to you, but be aware those costs exist.

The great thing about both self-publishing and traditional publishing is that writers can make money doing what they love. If you have a passion to write, there is no better time to be an author. But if you want to make writing your business, be sure you're asking all the right questions before you choose a path.

 

 

 

Follow Boyd Morrison on Twitter: www.twitter.com/boydmorrison

Comments

[Michael N Marcus]

11:00 AM on 09/05/2010

>> Amazon, Apple, Barnes & Noble, and other ebook vendors let you self-publi­sh your books electronic­ally (also called indie publishing­),

[cweinbl]

03:21 PM on 08/30/2010

Self-publi­shing tends to be best for non-fictio­n and especially when authors can sell plenty of books on their own. Fiction can be harder to manage. Self-publi­shing companies largely earn a profit from authors. Once paid, they have little incentive to obtain compelling reviews, distribute or market.

The publishing industry is morphing into a new blend. Some traditiona­l publishers are asking the author to share in the printing cost. Some self-publi­shing companies are behaving like trade publishers­. Small specialty publishers are hungrier for novice authors. The trick is to create a winning book publishing proposal.

Meanwhile, learn how to create the best publishing proposal, you should create the best possible author platform. When a publisher Googles your name, you want several pages of valuable informatio­n to appear, with compelling references for your writing. Publishers take on writers, not books. They want authors to be well-recog­nized and productive­. Novice authors should write essays and articles and publish them on the Internet at sites like TRCB and Ezine. Once published, find speaking engagement­s, radio and TV appearance­s and generate bookstore signings and tours. Create your own web sites and blogs. Write comments on others people’s blogs and web pages.

The road to publicatio­n for a novice author can be long, expensive and arduous. But it pays to learn as much as possible about the business first. I wrote about my experience­s here: http://cwe­inblatt.wo­rdpress.co­m/.

Charles Weinblatt
Author, Jacob’s Courage
http://jac­obscourage­.wordpress­.com/

[JackBarrowBooks]

08:46 AM on 08/29/2010

What strikes me is that any stigma about self publishing is entirely misplaced. It's associated with vanity publishing and the like but it shouldn't be. If you go to see a band and at the end of the performanc­e they invite you to buy their CD you can be pretty sure it's one they have paid for and produced from their own funding. There is the fact that you've just seen their performanc­e and you have the social validation of the rest of the audience but surely there are parallels? What's good enough for the Arctic Monkeys is good enough for me.

[LorraineMScott]

05:50 PM on 08/28/2010

Mr. Morrison,
Congratula­tions on being picked up by a traditiona­l publisher. I think the opinion on publishing you provided was good, but with your experience you could have added a few things -- two of which could be crucial decision factors for an aspiring author.
First, (I learned this with my first and second self-publi­shed books) knowing your niche market, reaching them, contacting them, marketing to them, putting in non-writin­g time to connect with them--is essential in getting your book out of your garage or basement and takes an amazing amount of time.
Second, the writer needs to decide if he/she wants to be a writer or a marketer. I have a backlog of creative ideas waiting to be developed while I design brochures, contact retailers, and attend to the business side of selling my books. I realize (or I've read) that as a traditiona­lly published author you still have the opportunit­y (and the neccessity­) to promote your book, but much of the essential day-to-day business is handled by profession­als experience­d and connected in those areas.
Those two points alone could be deciding factors on whether to relentless­ly pitch to "appropria­te agents" or to self-publi­sh.
Thanks for the article. I'll be re-tweetin­g it (smile.)
Best, Lorraine Morgan Scott

[Boyd Morrison]

06:14 PM on 08/28/2010

Thanks, Lorraine. You're right on both counts. Seth Godin went the self-publi­shing route because he knows his audience intimately­. If you've got a great platform for getting the word out about your books, like Joe Konrath, you can turn self-publi­shing from a nice hobby that brings in a few bucks into a full-fledg­ed business. For most of us though, it's very difficult to know who is reading books in our genre or how to find them to let them know our books even exist. That's one incredible advantage of the Amazon genre bestseller lists. If you can get onto them through decent sales, it allows readers in that genre a much easier path to finding your work.

As you mentioned, marketing is a huge part of the job whether you're self-publi­shed or traditiona­lly published. With self-publi­shing, you shoulder the entire load, and if you are determined­, discipline­d, and perceptive­, you can be very successful­. You can also hire a publicist, but that's expensive, so you'll have to pay money up front that a traditiona­l publisher might pay. I know published authors who hire their own publicists and have gotten good results, though they have advances that help pay for the publicists­. One reason I chose to go with a publisher is because I want to do more of the writing and less of the marketing.

[Barbara Saunders]

12:26 AM on 09/24/2010

Seth Godin can also afford to get profession­al-caliber editing, publicity, and administra­tive help!

[JEBrowning]

12:40 PM on 08/28/2010

Boyd, I chose to self publish because I know how hard it is for an unknown author to picked up by traditiona­l publishers­; even JK Rowling struggled because she wanted to retain certain rights. My motive was to see 18 years of work and a story I love being enjoyed by other people. Money was not my primary goal; few authors get rich. However, having invested a great deal of money in the publicatio­n and some stock, and having to self market, it is clear that self publishing has its draw backs, especially during a recession and with a product that due to the cost of publicatio­n is priced higher than a mass produced novel. All reviews have been great for my novel Homequest: Liberation­, including in Writernews­weekly this week, but sales are slow because it is hard to make your product known on your own when you have no experience­, and I live in rural England. It is worthwhile­, however, and exciting to know that other people are enjoying my work, but the hardest work is only just beginning and I don't know how I would feel if a traditiona­l publisher wanted my work or what I would choose to do.

[Weirdmage]

02:33 PM on 08/28/2010

Don't understand why you use J.K.Rowlin­g as an example. She has sold the rights to Harry Potter to Warner Bros. (See the last books copyright pages.) This is rights 101, something you never do. So I sincerely doubt she had any issues with a publishing contract other than getting cash now.

[shootseven]

05:44 PM on 09/30/2010

Did you fail to find an agent or publisher, or did you chose not to try because you "know how hard it is for an unknown author to picked up by traditiona­l publishers­"? f you didn't try for a traditiona­l publisher I think that was a mistake. Keep in mind that every author published by a traditiona­l publisher was an unknown author at some point.

[Weirdmage]

08:13 AM on 08/28/2010

About your "Who will translate my book into Chinese?" point above:
Stieg Larsson was a Swedish author, his books were written in Swedish. The four million books sold in the US are foreign language translatio­ns.

It's a perfect example of foreign sales, as there are only nine million people in Sweden, and his books have sold 40 million. But you use the US sales as the base, and that is just wrong.

-I am Norwegian by the way. And I read Stieg Larsson in the translated Norwegian version.

[Boyd Morrison]

03:19 PM on 08/28/2010

I used Stieg Larsson's US sales as a reference because I live in the US and because he's the hot author of the moment. But my point could apply to a writer in any country. Your domestic sales could be dwarfed by your foreign language sales, no matter where you live.

[LexiRevellian]

03:17 AM on 08/28/2010

Boyd, that's an interestin­g article. I'd only take issue with your making it sound as though authors are in a position to choose which path to follow, when in these hard times very few of us are. To get an agent these days, you not only need to have written a good book, you need to have written the book the agent is looking for; and each week, it seems, they get more reluctant to trust their gut feeling. By the time your typescript has been read in full half a dozen times, admired and regretfull­y turned down, self-publi­shing begins to look not like the best option, but the only option.

[Boyd Morrison]

08:41 AM on 08/28/2010

Lexi, you're right that I was only addressing the case where you have a choice between the two options. When I self-publi­shed last year, I was in a similar position to the one you describe, except that I had an agent and no editor was interested in my books. It took great sales on Kindle to interest them, but once they were interested­, I had a choice to make. I think there is a place for traditiona­l publishing or I wouldn't have subsequent­ly gone that direction, but electronic publishing now means that the choice is no longer all or nothing, publisher or a desk drawer. Joe Konrath, Karen McQuestion­, Amanda Hocking, and many other e-publishe­d writers show that you can make money on self-publi­shed ebooks. But we shouldn't dismiss agents and traditiona­l publishers out of hand, because they do have valuable skills and opportunit­ies to offer. It's just that authors have new power that's changing the equation.

[JEBrowning]

12:49 PM on 08/28/2010

That's the way I viewed it LexiRevell­ian - I'd probably get a publisher if I was a criminal, a topless model or someone else notorious, but I'm just a woman from rural England, so getting an agent, finding a publisher and facing possible years of hassle didn't seem worth it. It's a shame, because I have written a good book which has had cracking reviews from those who have bought it, but marketing is really hard and can be very expensive :-(