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Should I get over my aversion to self-publishing?
I know its trendy. I know its revolutionizing the business. I know that by refusing to embrace it, I am like a dinosaur roaring at a giant meteor about to blast my Cretaceous backside into the paleological record.
But damn it, I really don’t want to self-publish.
It’s not because I don’t want to self-promote. I realize that even in traditional publishing, an author has to shill himself like a street-corner hustler in order to succeed. It isn’t because I think I might make more money from a traditional publishing deal. It’s not even entirely because of the extra cache of having one’s book placed into the market by a Big Five imprint.
It’s because, frankly, the overwhelming majority of self-published novels on Amazon are still just plain bad. Go ahead, tell me that’s not true. For every brilliant new voice out there self-publishing quality work, there is an author-mill or a book-stuffing E-publisher dumping vast quantities of pure garbage into the literary ecosystem. The bar is simply so low–non-existent really–that it reinforces the old stigma that self-publishing is only for people who didn’t have the talent, patience, or work-ethic to get their book properly published.
This is probably me being a complete and utter snob, but I feel like I have spent so much time and effort trying to raise my craft to the level compatible with “standards of traditional publication” (whatever those are–tell me if you know) that to just give in and self-publish on Amazon and Kindle seems like a betrayal. I mean, I could have published the first complete draft five years ago, and never looked back if I didn’t care how good it was.
Right now, I am slowly easing into the try-to-get-an-agent phase of the trad-publishing route. I have a decent day-job, so I’m not in a desperate hurry, and in any case, am realistic about my income potential as a writer of historical fiction and adventure yarns. (IE: its not good) but if I find no success at that, I’m not sure I will ever self-publish. At least not in the commercial sense. I think I’ll just print-on-demand a few dozen copies and give them away as gifts to friends and family (and maybe sneak one onto the shelves of my local library.)
So tell me I’m being a complete stick-in-the-mud about this. Or not. Does anyone else share at least the sentiment, if not the bitterness? Or should I just get over myself?
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23 Replies
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Speaking as someone who is about to self-pub three novels (having polished them to the best I can, but realising that unless I ‘sign them off’ I could go on fiddling with them forever – and I want to get on with the next, I do sympathise with much of what you say. I doubt I’ll so much self-promotion (HATE the idea) and agree that there are a lot of poor books out there, not a few of them traditionally or indie published.
I suspect the main reason I self-pub is to have my writing in printed book form.
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I too have been preprogrammed to think that self publishing is only for the talentless but as a writer of genre fiction I think that self publishing might be the way forward. I also like the idea of having complete control of my work and any cash so I’m coming round to the idea. The other thing is if you’ve already sold copies via self publishing it gives a traditional agent a ready made market to work from.
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Some of the best books I’ve read in the last few years have been self-pub – also some of the worst if I’m honest. BUT there are a lot of traditionally published books that stink the bookshop out they are so spectacularly bad.
If a book is good it’s good, regardless of whether it’s a big 5, a little 10 or self-published. if your book is good enough – get it out there.
Have a look at RR Haywood’s blog and website (yes he publishes the most popular Zombie book series ever) and whilst that might not be to your taste it worked for him. His self-promotion in the early days wasn’t great but he tells a great yarn. I’m a Rom Com writer/would be writer so not my forte either but he is a self-publishing phenomenon – it can be done and done well.
Go for it – if you’ve polished it so it’s ready to go, let it go.
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I am also in the process of self-publishing. I think the thing that nailed it for me was reading an agent’s column in the latest Writing Magazine where he talked about how publishers invest in debuts. I am blogging about my self-publishing journey as I have a lot to learn. There are a lot of platforms for self-publishing so I need to research and find a one that works for me and my work. If anyone is interested you can read my blog here – I am hoping to update every week with my progress: https://www.deborah-barker.com/post/so-which-book
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Deborah–good luck with your self-publishing. I do hope you find an appreciative audience. I may eventually come to the same conclusion as you, but I’m not emotionally prepared for that yet. I haven’t been rejected enough times perhaps; and on the other hand, I have many people in my sphere who tell me: “you should be doing this for a living–why are you wasting your time at anything else?” or words to that effect. Of course none of them are in the publishing industry. And like you, the books I have to offer right now (a whole series) do not neatly fit into a currently popular genre within the trad-pub sphere. There are plenty of similar books on the self-published or micro-indy press side, but most of them are junk. I know because I’ve bought many of them anyway, just to help prop-up that corner of the marketplace.
By the way, I like your website. The rippling water background is great touch. Mine is not nearly as dynamic. https://vhdova.com
Maybe I need to add some video…
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I like your website! I haven’t a clue what I am doing with mine, so I am keeping it minimalist for now. I am really happy with my decision to self-publish, but it has taken a lot of soul searching to get there. Good luck as you try the traditional route. I am always in the back cheering on the writers who make it. It is a hard road.
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Kudo’s. I read your sample blog. I am also self publishing with the aid of Page Publishing. I get that I am the marketer of my product. I am experimenting with blogs. I have several in the works. My White Bird page on Facebook is a blog page. I blog on my own website and recently joined a google blog site. I liked the way you told of your journey. My own journey into writing “White Bird”. is a tale to tell that spans half a decade. Thanks for the idea. One thing I need to say by way of constructive criticism. The written words are hard to see. Try to do some color experimenting to make the words stand out better.
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Thanks for the feedback Blaine. Like I said – I haven’t really a clue what I am doing!
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I get it. I didn’t know much about marketing when I finished my novel. I had to do a lot of research. The first thing is to ask a lot of questions. Many will try to sell you a marketing plan. I listen to everything they are willing to tell for free hoping you will buy in. My budget is a shoestring so I rarely choose to spend, but I learn a bit more with each conversation. Have you thought of email list sharing? My list is still small but growing. An author’s job is simple in its goal. Find a way for readers to know you have a great product available. The scope of the market plan often seems endless. Hang in there ands a lot of questions.
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A few years back I would have been totally with you, OP. To me self-publishing smacked of vanity publishing. I am slowly being swayed towards it, simply because it is so damn hard to get a foot in the door with a traditional agent. That said, were I to do so, I would be spending a bit of money on things like edits before unleashing my work on the world. The likes of David Gaughran make a compelling case for self-publishing – BUT it also seems that one needs to write a series of books for self-publishing to work best, and I’m not sure that’s really where I want to go, though I could with one of my WIPs.
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This is a really tricky question, and very few industry professionals will tell you what they really think, but I have heard some of them grumble and bemoan the state of the industry, so I will tell you what I think the truth is. Here we go.
First, many industry professionals HATE Amazon in secret no matter what they say in public because Amazon has destroyed the literary economy (in their eyes) by diluting the market and the market currency at the same time. The dollar is now worth five cents, so to speak. Hey, the world’s new best-selling novel is $1.99 and the agent gets a stale cinnamon bun. Great!
In the old economy B.E. (before e-publishing) agents were the gatekeepers and kind of prevented the garbage dump that would cause the literary currency from being diluted, and books still sold for $17.99. Now there are two problems:
Books sell for $2.99 and there are 6 billion more of them to choose from. Bye-bye livelihood.
Behind closed doors, many agents ADVISE their clients to self-publish, also whispering, “By the way have you seen my own self-published book: How to Write the Best Book Ever in Thirty Days?”
Here is the truth of it all—and you have to cut the world in two: NON-FICTION and FICTION.
If you are a famous personality and the industry thinks 10,000 people will buy your autobiography after watching you describe your affair with a member of Parliament or Congress on a talk show, you have a deal. If you CANNOT prove you will sell 10,000 copies in the first month your chances diminish. (I.e., publishers buy platforms and audiences these days in the trad world, not books, per se.) In the face this, any honest agent will have no problem recommending that you self-publish if you do not have a huge platform. Why not? Their best friends are self-publishing and so are they. Plus, in the traditional markets, a book has “good” sales if it sells one hundred copies. That’s a hundred dollars for a year of your time at a $1 royalty per book. A book sells “well” in the trad market if it sells one thousand. What the hell happened? Three things: 1.) Netflix. 2.) Amazon Prime. 3.) Kindle. This is life as we know it in the era A.E. (after e-books.)
The good thing about self-publishing is this: if you do all the work, why not keep most of the money?
But there is still FICTION! In a related post in the thread on agents I broke this down. Here is the short version.
IF YOU CAN WRITE THE NEXT DA VINCI CODE THEY WILL BE ALL OVER YOU LIKE WHITE ON RICE. Because you may save their jobs and they won’t have to go work in a gas station.
See:
https://community.jerichowriters.com/page/view-discussion?id=22
But, if you have just another “okay book” that they think will sell two copies they will never write back to you because they are currently going back to school to get a degree in programming so they can work for Amazon.
Welcome to the future.
Self-publish away. There is no shame. In many cases it is not only the smartest option, it is the only option.
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Great post, David. It made me laugh and chuckle at times, but the truth within it is also hard to ignore.
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The problem isnt if most self published books are bad (they are) the question is, no matter how good yours is, how is anyone going to find it? The second question is, whats the dream? If its to be published traditionally, then stick to it. In other words, self publishing will always be there no reason to run to it.
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Jackson, good point, and thanks for the good words Jordan. Glad you laughed. 😃 One other thing, Jackson, quite a few successful trad authors are going indie now, citing complaints about a lack of marketing and publicity support, essentially saying if they are going to have to write blogs all day, and create a fanbase, while publicity sends out one book launch email to a few newspapers and then walks off, they don’t see a reason to give them 95% of the money. Authors have always had to do the lion’s share of marketing and now even successful authors are starting to push back, spending their own money on publicity and acting as publishers. There are clearly two sides to the coin, and the entertainment industry is at its core a world of perception and imagination.
An early business mentor of mine (quite eccentric) told me once that he was one of the greatest thinkers on the face of the earth, or something to that effect. I asked him who had said this and he replied:
“Me.”
The guy was loaded.
A little self-confidence in the publishing industry goes a long way.
😎
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I think 95 percent of the money is a bit of a stretch.
I’m not against self publishing, but it is a marketing game that has to be coupled with a great book. The numbers are out there for self publishing, and just like the traditional route, very few make an actual living.
There was an article I read about one of Amazons top earners. 150k a year. They had also been at it for five years but were also spending 60k a year on advertisement. That’s tried and true methods, not just throwing up an ad.
Can success come via self publishing? Absolutely. But the 80/20 rule roars in that area as anywhere else.
But if anyone is considering self publishing, Ill go back to my original point in a different angle. Suppose you can sing really well and play guitar. You have heard of a site called Youtube. There are some on there making a living, not millions but a living. So you upload your video and then realize there are millions like you doing the same thing. How are you going to drive traffic? Stand out?-Ads? Great, whats your budget? Blog tour? Facebook ads? All the things that show less returns year by year.
I’m not here to rain on anyones parade, but I think the emotion of publishing, trad or self, overrides the business aspect of this all. Because in the end, its a business.
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Dreams matter, definitely. Although its possible for a dream to slowly adapt itself towards reality. To your point Jackson, I worry perhaps most about how to convince people my books are any good in the event I self-publish. I am also concerned that if I do it all on my own, I will literally never be able to determine when the manuscript is ready. I can see myself editing and re-editing it for another decade or more, thinking each time, “just one more pass and I’ll publish.” With traditional publishing, the manuscripts would be forcibly ripped from my hands at some point–which is probably a good thing. It forces closure.
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Great points Vin.
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Hello. I am new here so I think I will start slow. I am a new novelist. Turns out my book is also historical fiction. I am going to make every effort to make this book known. It is really good. Every writer may say that and they should feel that way or not even bother. I am going with self publishing with a hybrid partner. I chose Page Publishing. We are in the edit stage. I am very busy learning to market my product. It is a huge undertaking. I WILL find a way to stand out from the crowd because I have bought in entirely to the scope and direction my novel is taking me. There is an abundant amount of Native American Spiritualism within my tale and that faith has rubbed off on me. Follow your dream and have a little faith. The style of publishing is up to the individual and matters little b when compared to the pride of accomplishment felt by bringing a little magic back into our lives.
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“The style of publishing is up to the individual and matters little when compared to the pride of accomplishment felt by bringing a little magic back into our lives. “
Amen to that, Blaine. That sounds awesome.
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Native American spiritualism? Bring it!
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Yeah the prologue is great! Really sets the stage! Starting off an epic with a birth this way is very smart, offering layers of metaphor from the get go. Nice.
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Congrats!
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Thanks David. Can I use that comment on my testimonial section of the website? If so do you want me to add your profession?
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Blaine,
Sure. I do many things but I guess for these purposes you can say I am the author of How to Mind-Read Your Customers.
😃
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