Self-publication
itself is easy. It's selling self-published books that
can be practically impossible!
Self-publication
has been around forever and has been a reliable alternative for
professionals who have written non-fiction books. However, I can't
think of a single instance wherein a self-published novel benefited
its author at all. If you're writing fiction, save your money.
Use it instead to attend conferences and workshops to learn how
to be published the old-fashioned way.
Print-on-demand
publishing has made more and writers actually consider self-publication,
but beware of their typical sales pitch and promises:
(1) YOUR
SELF-PUBLISHED NOVEL WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR SALE ON AMAZON.COM
While it's
true that your novel may be listed on Amazon.com, imagine all
of the books that are also listed there. How likely is it that
a stranger will conduct a search on Amazon.com, find your book
and actually buy it? You
can calculate the odds yourself. For my money, I wouldn't count
on selling a single copy there.
(2)
YOUR
SELF-PUBLISHED NOVEL WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR SALE AT THE P.O.D.
PUBLISHER'S ONLINE BOOK STORE
Sure, they'll give you an impressive listing in their
online book store, but again, who's going to go online and search
P.O.D. publishers for a book? Wouldn't 99.99% of book buyers go
to Amazon.com instead? Again, I wouldn't
count on selling a single copy at a P.O.D. publisher's online
book store.
(3)
YOUR
SELF-PUBLISHED NOVEL WILL GET A LISTING WITH INGRAM BOOK COMPANY,
AMERICA'S LARGEST BOOK DISTRIBUTOR, AND WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR
ORDER BY VIRTUALLY ANY BOOK STORE IN THE NATION
Sounds impressive, huh? But wait! Imagine all of the
other titles also listed with Ingram. And in order for
a book store, or anyone else for that matter, to order your novel
through Ingram, they have to know it exists, right? How will they
know? Sorry to keep saying the same thing over and over, but
I wouldn't count on selling a single copy through an Ingram listing.
(4)
SELF-PUBLICATION NO LONGER CARRIES THE NEGATIVE IMAGE
OF THE PAST.
I'm sorry, but industry professionals have not
changed their minds. Self-publication is no indication at all
that you're talented a writer. It only means that you were willing
to spend your own money to be published, same as always.
(5)
OPTIONAL MARKETING PACKAGES WILL HELP SELL YOUR BOOK
P.O.D publishers are hi-tech printers. They're not publicists
nor promoters. Sure, they can write and distribute press releases,
but you can do that on your own at a much lower cost.
The
bottom line is this: if you're asked to contribute money toward
the publication of your book, if you're required to purchase a
minimum number of copies or guarantee the eventual sale of a specific
number of books, you're essentially being self-published. Legitimate
publishers absorb all production costs and pay you.
In some instances self-publishing non-fiction books can make sense.
Self-publishing fiction, however, is a waste of time and money.
I'll
be happy to address other issues here as well if you'll drop me
an e-mail.
And
finally, yes, it's true that John Grisham originally self-published
A Time to Kill but did it have any impact at all on his
eventual success? No way! Not until he was published by a traditional
publisher and get a talented literary agent did his career take
off.