I realized today that I have been writing about self-publishing without sharing some of the key factors that went into my decision to self-publish in the first place. Although I like breaking new ground, I am primarily inspired by the chance to make money doing so. Pioneering for the sake of getting there first does not pay the bills. Traditional publishing offers little or nothing for the first-time author. The new model of self-publishing is a lot more author-friendly.
Writing is a creative act. Publishing is a business. To paraphrase Dan Poynter, a publisher is the one who puts up the money and takes the risk.The publisher assembles the book for the printer, gets it printed, and then markets it, hoping to make back more money than has been spent to produce the book. In short, the publisher is the investor.
When you invest in something, you want a sure thing at the lowest possible cost, with a high rate of return, and you are prepared to cut your losses as soon as it looks like your investment is not going to fly.
This is why traditional publishers screen hundreds of thousands of books every year, searching for those four or five that will sell enough copies to keep them in business. As a new author, you have almost no chance of getting their attention, unless you know one of their editors.
Are you willing to invest $2000 - $4000 in your new book? If you are not, then why should a publisher be interested?
You must do your homework and determine that there is a market for your book. Once you have done that, why go to the bother of trying to convince a publisher that you have a viable market? On the other hand, if you are selling your book like gangbusters, you will probably attract attention from a publisher who specializes in that particular market.
I got started on this post by the excellent suggestion posed by Craig Paxson on part 9 of this series. He wrote:
You might want to look at publishing through an on demand publisher like 1stBooks Library or Xlibris. They use a printer called Lightning Source (I used to work there) that can print one book at a time and ship them to any bookstore in the world (including Amazon.com!). It is a big advantage to have your books listed on Amazon and in the Ingram book system (they are the company that supplies 80% of the bookstores in the USA). Plus, you don't need to keep printing short runs and have inventory on-hand to mail.
I investigated Lightning Source and found they didn't suit my needs at this time. They were much more expensive for 500 quantity print runs than the printers I will be using.
The Ingram distribution system seems to be too much on the order of the traditional publishing tradition. They want a healthy discount, pay very slowly, will return books for credit months after the fact, and will be placing orders for the same books that they are returning. This was from publishers actually dealing with Ingram.
I can get into Amazon.com directly and more importantly, I can get my books listed on Google where they are made available for download and for purchase.
I am charting a newly opened path here and I expect to promote the books myself and with friends, then handle the fulfillment myself with the assistance of friends until we buckle under the traffic. :)
I will be directly involved in all aspects of the marketing and sales cycle and expect to ship books within one business day of receiving payment via PayPal. If Dan Poynter is right, I should make 4-6 times as much on every sale as if I were going the traditional route.
The one thing you have to realize is that it is the author who promotes and publicizes the book until it is selling well. Generally, the traditional publishing house puts it in a few ads with lots of its other titles and calls it a day.
If the book sells, it is you, the author, who accomplishes that. Why not fan the flames until the book is selling well and take the profits you deserve. At that point, if you have a runaway seller, you should have a much better bargaining position when a publisher or agent approaches you.
The book has to be interesting and it has to be publicized in order to sell at all. What happens after that is really a matter of selling it at a price that people consider a fair value, and getting it out to them promptly when they order it. This is new territory for me, but I will let you know what I find out when I get there.
This is an area where you new writers may be able to achieve a stunning breakthrough. Getting a book out in 90 days and keeping a healthy percentage of the selling price beats waiting for eighteen months and getting 50 cents on the average sale, with the royalties paid quarterly.
We'll just have to see, won't we?
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