How do you think the current financial situation in the US will affect Self-Publishing?
The situation our country finds itself in and how it affects self-publishers reminds me of the story of the Three Little Pigs. The “get it done quick and easy” authors who use vanity presses or subsidy presses, like Author House or IUniverse, may now find themselves in straw or wood houses with the wolf at the door. If you took the time to set yourself up as a true self-publisher, and build a house of brick, you’ll be fine
The way I see it, most of the current financial mess does not personally affect me much other then I’ll probably have to work a few more years before I retire, but then… I like working. I live in a house with a mortgage I can afford. I don’t have much credit card debt. When my son goes off to college next year, he will do so without any huge student loans. IE: I am living within my means. This was not always the case.
I owned my first house during the Jimmy Carter years and had to take out a second mortgage to help out my small publishing company. Money was tight so the second mortgage I was able to obtain was a 2 points origination fee and a rate of 3 points over prime. The loan also needed to be rolled over every 90 days and another 2 Points paid. And if that wasn’t bad enough, back then prime was just under 20%. Sound familiar? Nobody forced me to take this loan. I took it because I thought at the time it was the right thing to do. At the end of the day, things didn’t work out; I lost my house and ended up back in a rental. I also lost the business. Did I say I had two small children? I made the decision and it didn’t turn out so I started over. To this day, I am not crazy about Jimmy Carter but life goes on.
The creation of RJ Communications was the result of more recent difficult financial times. I was working for an Ohio printer, running their New York sales office. The printer was bought by another printer, my office was closed and I was out of a job. So much for “big business” security. That was in 1994. Armed with four-five credit cards, a lot of energy and a good idea, I started RJ Communications. Fourteen years later, RJ Communications is one of the most successful publishing service companies in the country.
The current financial situation has the true entrepreneur looking inward for ways to solve problems and grow, while the rest of the world sits around and waits for the “government” to save them. As this all pertains to self-publishing, the same people who think they can buy a $600,000 house with $10,000 income and then want the government to bail them out when they can’t make the payments are the ones most likely to fall for the vanity press trap. I have written about this on many occasions. If it’s too good to be true, it usually is. Never has this been truer than it is trying to navigate today’s self-publishing minefield.
First off, you can’t be a self-publisher without being the publisher. That’s simple English. An author who pays a publisher to publish their book is not a self-publisher because they are not the publisher. These people may call themselves a “Published Author”, I guess, but that’s not much different than buying a $599 Masters or PHD from www.cheap-degrees.com and calling yourself “professor”.
I start off every seminar I give with the line “Writing is a love, publishing is a business”. If you plan to self-publish, you are going into the publishing business. Like any other business, to be successful, you need to learn about the business. I use the example that you wouldn’t open an auto repair business without learning about automobiles. I can take that one step further. You wouldn’t think of opening that same repair shop and paying 50% of the income to the guy who installed the sign on the front door, would you? This is exactly what you are doing when you pay a place like Author House or IUniverse to publish your book. Sure, they installed the sign on the front door but are they worth half the profit?
With true self-publishing, the author is opening a business, just like that auto repair shop. If the repair shop needs to hire a mechanic to help him provide his service, they hire a mechanic. The mechanic works for a fee-for service basis. The owner works for profit. A publisher hires editors, designers and printers on the same fee-for-service basis. Back to that sign on the door, yes, the auto repair shop needs a sign but there are plenty of sign companies out there who would be more than willing to provide a sign for a fee. But, do you give the sign manufacturer a percentage of the business? Of course you don’t. The same principles apply to every other component of your business.
If the vanity publishing venture capitalists ever wandered over into the auto repair business, how do you think it would work? How many people would be lining up to open auto repair shops where they pay the bills for all the services, do all the work and then split the profits with the sign maker? Now think of that vanity auto repair shop “owner” waking up one morning and realizing that his business venture was headed nowhere and he wanted to take his investment and move on to a situation that made more business sense. How do you think he would feel when he attempted to move, and the sign maker told him he couldn’t because the sign maker not only owned the sign (that you paid for) but they also own all the equipment in the shop (that you also paid for). Did I mention he owned the customer list, too? The only way you could move your auto repair shop to another location where you didn’t have to split the profits, was to start all over again.
As absurd as the above example may seem, this is exactly what is happening on a daily basis out there in the publishing world. Hundreds of people are falling for the vanity press trap, every week. They are paying for 100% of the services (at an inflated price, I might add), letting the vanity press/POD Publisher hang the sign on the door and then split all the profits. When the author tries to change the arrangement and move into true self-publishing, he discovers that he doesn’t own the ISBN or the printing files, or anything else, for that matter. His only choice is to start all over. Great deal, Huh?
Let me go out on a limb here a little bit and say that there is NO vanity/subsidy/POD press that is worth using for anything if your goal is to make money in publishing. On their best day, these Vanity/Subsidy/POD presses are expensive, mostly mediocre, publishing services. Think about this for a second. Several years ago I did PodCast interviews with the Presidents of IUniverse, Author House and the VP of Finance from Xlibris. A few short years later, all three of these senior executives have left the business completely. What does this suggest to you? It doesn’t take much imagination to picture the wolf coming over the hill and these execs running from their straw houses. If you haven’t listened to this series in a while, you can listen or download and listen to them at www.wbjbradio.com/series/pod.php.
The favorite line of the vanity press gang is that “the primary goal of most authors is not making money from publishing their book” because they know the odds of any author making money from the Vanity/POD business model is similar to them hitting the lottery. The problem with this is I have yet to meet a single author who does not envision making money from the sale of their book. Deep down inside, even the family memoirs people believe there is potentially a commercial market for their book. Starting a business and earning income from that business is truly the American Dream. It is a dream that is being realized time and time again by authors who take the time to truly publish their works. Sure it takes some time to learn about the business and sure you need to invest some money in your business but, in the end…. It’s YOUR business.
The wolves are running wild all over the economic landscape. There is still time to build your self-publishing house of brick. Unfortunately, if you are in a house of straw or wood, you can’t just throw a few bricks up and think you are going to survive. Bite the bullet and do it correctly. If it means going back to the beginning, do it now while there is still time and there are still plenty of bricks. Hope to hear from you soon.
Ron
PS: If you haven’t listened to a recent interview I did with Book World News, you can listen or download and listen by clicking here
Last 5 posts by Ron Pramschufer
- It’s 102 degrees out... it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas - August 19th, 2010
- ATTN: Vets…Don’t leave it to the historians. Have a story to pass on? - July 20th, 2010
- How did Book Expo America work out this year? - June 30th, 2010
- How did that Publishing Basics Seminar, in New York, work out for you? - June 30th, 2010
- Do you have any plans for Book Expo America this year? - March 19th, 2010
October 3rd, 2008 at 10:04 am
I loved this column! I have been building my publishing company for 5 years and I get sooo discouraged sometimes because I have no true mentor to aid me with the process. Yes, I have had some mild success but I want to take this company above and beyond. Do you offer consulting services? I look forward to hearing from you!
Devin Robinson
October 3rd, 2008 at 10:23 am
Ron~
As always your posts are interesting and insightful. I was fortunate enough to have seen the same pitfalls you describe, but I would like to add one more point: by being your own publisher you have the stock on hand necessary for “spur-of-the-moment” give-aways or promotional efforts. I know people who had gone the POD or vanity route who have none of their stock available for these things.
October 3rd, 2008 at 10:30 am
Ron, you’re right on the money with the vanity/POD racket. We’ve discussed this before. I’d love to quote a major portion of this article in a series of articles I’m writing about quality co-publishing versus “fast food” self-publishing. In the article, I would mention and include a hyperlink to your website and this article.
All the best,
Carol Adler
President/CEO
Dandelion Books, LLC
Dandelion Enterprises, Inc.
October 3rd, 2008 at 10:31 am
Thanks for this post Ron, it is encouraging to know that we did something right! After having a large publisher tell us to “tone down the flag waving” in our children’s book for military kids, (a week before my son left for Iraq) we opened our own company. Things are going great and lots of kids are getting our book on deployment. Sometimes though, you wonder if you will really make it. Sure glad we did not go to the vanity press, we would not have learned even a tiny portion of what we learned this past year. I appreciate your newsletter.
October 3rd, 2008 at 10:33 am
Hi Ron,
Heaven knows that I have made many mistakes and have had to backtrack, but the biggest one was my very first adventure in “getting published” – after many rejection letters and long waits for response, I erroneously thought that paying a company to publish my first little novel was the only way to go. BIG MISTAKE, but I only made that one once.
I started from the bottom, took some publishing courses, bought and learned layout programs, hired a lawyer and established a publishing company made of bricks – Piggy Press (no relation to your story) – to publish bilingual children’s books. Piggy Press is still very small, and I still make mistakes, but not nearly so grand, and we are growing one brick at a time.
October 3rd, 2008 at 10:34 am
Been publishing my own for years. http://www.donnabarr.com and http://www.donnabarr.blogspot.com I use Lulu, CCNow, ProjectWonderful as the base, and then link from there.
10 years ago I bought 200 ISBN numbers for $200.00
Best deal I ever made. Oh, and I was one of the snarling publishers that made Amazon back off on their idiot accounting mess before they fixed it.
Lulu already has this dicked — and Amazon just builds another warehouse. Dipweeds.
October 3rd, 2008 at 10:38 am
Thanks Ron! Yes, I know to avoid vanity and subsidy presses. Yet I do know someone who says she’s had good luck with POD, through lulu.com, I think. She was a bit taken aback when I told her that Amazon now wants you to go with Booksurge if they’ll list your POD book. She said she’d look into that.
Anyway, if I do my next book POD it’s going to be under my own label, Desert Wordsmith Productions, and my own ISBN, since I did buy several when I did my first book. Since I may not have the funds to print multiple copies of my next book, can’t I self-publish my book and have it printed POD, at least until I can see how the market responds to it?
Joni Kay Rose
Desert Wordsmith Productions
October 3rd, 2008 at 10:41 am
Ron:
Thank you for your article regarding building a publishing business. Your story is inspiring and helpful to all who want to publish a book.
After seven years in the publishing business, my company, BurgYoung Publishing is still here and struggling along. My partner and myself own all the rights to our books and are secure in that fact. We can re-publish, discontinue publication or even start with a new book without permission. It is a good feeling.
I encourage others to take the time to learn the process and do-it-right as well. The money may not come but if it does, you will at least be in line to collect your reward.
Sincerely,
H. Court Young, author, speaker and publisher
Promoting awareness through the written word
http://www.hcourtyoung.com
October 3rd, 2008 at 11:34 am
Thank you for the comments. I assume the POD companies include Lulu.
October 3rd, 2008 at 11:49 am
I have self published my book through your company and now I need to learn how to get into the bookstores and promote my book and increase sales. My book name is “His Miraculous Way” by Karen Deadwyler. I used all of your services from editing to printing. However I need a little more help to distribute and get book signings, increase my sales, as well as the notoriety of my book and myself as an author. I am in the process of completing two more books but before I do anything else I need more knowledge and wisdom on publishing, distributions and sales…
Grace and Peace
Karen Deadwyler
October 3rd, 2008 at 12:01 pm
Hi Ron.
I have been all over SelfPublishing.com and have read the book Publishng Basics. I have read many other websites and I can say I learned the msot from you. I would have never known to buy my own ISBN numbers. I did just that for my new book. I had signed up with Lulu.com and they had offered a free service (where they “sell” you an ISBN) and a package for 99.95 if you have your own ISBN. I don’t understand what the fee is and nobody has explained it. In addition to the 20% they take from your sales, they also want this fee. More than a few people have praised Lulu.com and recommended them. I’m curious about your perception of the company.
Thanks for all you do.
October 3rd, 2008 at 12:23 pm
Hey Ron,
Fabulous article. I was cheering all the way through it. Should be required reading for ANYone considering the POD route. I just wrote an article for the Seybold report on POD and it spawned some lively discussion (check out the entire mess at:
http://www.seyboldreport.com/tracking-pod-debate
I wish I had this to refer to when I was making my case. As it is, I’m adding a comment to that discussion linking to this article.
All that gushy stuff said, I’m actually going to put myself in the awkward position of temporarily defending the POD crowd. As was discussed in my Seybold article and the follow-up debate, if an author KNOWS that they don’t aspire to commercial success with their book, and DO simply want to be able to call themselves an “author” and make their book available for friends and family, POD makes much more sense than “conventional self-publishing” as you and I practice.
I absolutely agree that the overwhelming bulk of most aspiring authors want to make money with their books. Course they do, everyone wants to make money. As in, what they’d wish for if they were blowing out the candles on a birthday cake, but there’s a big difference between those who want it and those who have any CLUE what it’s going to take to pull it off.
Let’s call a spade a spade: conventional self-publishing is a LOT of work, an amount of work, in fact, that dwarfs POD publishing. It’s not a game for dabblers and weekend warriors. If you’re willing to put in the time and effort, AND you have a marketable book to begin with, you can do really well (as I have with my Well-Fed titles: a full-time living for six-plus years).
But most won’t do well, and in those cases, if an author is indeed clueless about what’s involved, POD will no doubt be a less expensive way to skin the cat. Rather that than someone jumping into self-publishing the way we do it, dropping 10-15K to bring 5,000 books to market and ending up with 4786 books piled up in a garage 3 years later.
Although I like to think that sites like yours and books like mine (“The Well-Fed Self-Publisher: How to Turn One Book into a Full-Time Living”) are wonderful resources to turn the clueless into the clued-in and actually bring the whole realm of self-publishing (in a TRUE sense) into the realm of feasibility.
Anyway, thanks again for a great contribution to the self-publishing discussion. You make us all stand a little taller.
PB
October 3rd, 2008 at 1:01 pm
Ron,
This is a terrific article. I wrote my first self-published book in 1999. At the time, I didn’t know anything about self-publishing. I still self-publish, though I now also have a contract with a traditional publisher on my next book. However, I want to say that, for my first foray, I needed the guiding hand of someone who knew what to do. Now, it’s easy to do on my own and costs next to nothing.
I did lots of research and looked for author feedback to find a POD company that wouldn’t cheat you and went above and beyond. I did get my own set of ten ISBN numbers and am glad I made that investment (I still have a couple to use). Yes, I didn’t get the full royalty (but a heck of a lot more than in traditional publishing), but she was very fair, and I couldn’t have ever done the first book on my own. I found the experience exceptional. I won’t say the name as I don’t want to seem like I’m advertising for anyone (wish I could though – I can’t say enough about her). I never used certain companies because it was also apparent to me that they were cheating authors. But paying a small amount to learn (this POD publisher’s price was so reasonable) was worth it to me.
However, once I understood the process, I found an incredible POD printer who only charges for the printing (again, I won’t say who) – $40 to submit manuscript and $40 to submit cover with a 25 book minimum. They even do fulfillment at no extra charge. They provide instructions on submission. The quality of the book is perfect and I can do any size at all. The customer service is impeccable.
I searched for inexpensive and good cover artists, though that didn’t always turn out well, so sometimes I had to settle. Lastly, I sometimes found that a downloadable PDF worked just as well and, of course, costs nothing. That is what I did with my first book (non-fiction), when I saw that there was no difference in how many sales I made either way.
So, I had to be willing to learn a lot, but one can definitely do it. There is a lot of free information out there for people who want to learn.
Also, I agree that I learned that the books are a springboard to credibility and build up credentials to expand what I do to earn a living, not the endgame financially. And even after all these years, I’m still learning the business side – and learning how to have the courage to sell myself, which I think is the hardest part of all.
October 3rd, 2008 at 5:29 pm
Hello Ron,
Your current article makes a world of sense. Please tell me what it is you do. An associate and I have recently produced a beautiful (my opinion) fully illustrated four color childrens book concerning grief and we are exploring the market. We had considered POD publishing with one of the companies mentioned in your article, but now understand there must be a better way.
Do you have any advice on this matter? We have been professionally edited and have English and Spanish versions of our book ready to go.
Hoping to begin a dialogue with you and getting this project going, I look forward to your reply.
Thank you,
Paul Feldman
October 4th, 2008 at 2:01 am
Susan B. I’m curious to know the printer you used (at such a great rate). I f you don’t feel imposed upon, please chat with me @ taylorhousepub@hotmail.com.
Your comment peeked my interest. Thanks
As for the article and other postings, I’m encouraged to continue my long-term goals of becoming a successful publishing company. It IS hard work, and time consuming. Yet with articles like this one, and other resources now available, the task has become more feasible, and the goal more obtainable. Thanks for the insight.
I started Taylor House Publications in 1998. Though I’ve used a subsidy publisher for one book, I’ve used Taylor House for many desk-top publishing projects and have assisted sever new authors with getting started. Now I’m moving towards doning self-publishing the “right way” so that I can be a publisher rather than a published author. Thanks for the inspiration.
October 4th, 2008 at 3:29 pm
Ron,
I subscribe and read the interesting items in your column.
I am a semi-retired Venture Capitalist, having provided capital for advertising agencies, a publishing company and many others over 15+ years. I’ve just completed a novel (“Sleeper Cell,” a fictional novel of adventure, conspiracy, foreign intrigue, deal making, financial strategies and the issure du jour…terrorism.”) After due diligence and testing the publishing market with freebees, vanitys, pods, overseas houses and ageny rejections (3), I decided to pick a POD. I was given a menu as part of the process. I’m determined to prove a point that I can “bootstrap” my novel by picking and choosing what I want to do, purchase and place the novel where I see fit. I’ve garned the necessary background in marketing, advertising , financing, networking as a venture capitalist. There are some personal items I want to prove in bootstrapping the novel…that It can be done expensively, if you know how?
October 4th, 2008 at 3:42 pm
Hi Ron! I’m thinking of starting a self-publishing business. I have written a book which might do well in Christian markets and I’ve had a few offers from companies like Xulon, Tate and one called VMI publishers. I think they are basically subsidy publishers because they require the author to buy some of the books. Am I right? Should I stay away from these publishers? Thanks for your advice.
October 5th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
Hi Susan. Would you be open to sharing with me as well? I tried to reach out privately but couldn’t. huesconsulting(at)gmail(dot)com
October 6th, 2008 at 9:00 am
Susan Bilheimer, would you be so kind to contact me at myra_d_price@yahoo.com – I am interested in knowing the name and telephone number of the POD printer company that you used.
Your help is greatly appreciated.
Best Regards,
Myra D. Price
October 7th, 2008 at 9:43 am
Claudius “peto” Francis
Thank you, Ron. I learned a great deal from your article. It is true that many people are not aware of these issues. I became aware when I read an article by Jonathan Clifford on the Perils of Vanity publishing. Like the others, I need to learn about self publishing. I believe I will receive your Book (Publishing Basics) soon, and will take it from there.
Susan B.
October 7th, 2008 at 9:47 am
Stewart H. please email me and I will share some information with you about XULON Press
October 7th, 2008 at 10:38 am
Ron,
Thank you so much for your insightful piece. It has solved my internal battle between the two routes and my ISBN’s are on the way.
Keep the great tips coming
James D. Tippett
October 7th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
I started Salvo Press in 1998, publishing with traditional press runs. I still do some press runs, but for most of my books we use POD through a POD Printer. As publishers perhaps we should try not to lump a printing technology into a category with “vanity” presses. By doing so, we have given POD a bad name in the industry. POD is a great equalizer for the small press. It allows us to stay alive in a tough industry, where distributors take far too much of your profits and then go out of business without paying you. The printing technology of POD has gotten such a bad name with the iUniverses of the world that most book stores will not host a book signing if the book is “printed” on demand. How can we come together and turn this around?
October 7th, 2008 at 7:32 pm
Ron: Great article as usual. I’ve touted your company to many, but unfortunately many also settle for the quick subsidy, thinking they’re getting out easy.
October 7th, 2008 at 8:04 pm
Ron – Let me tell you about 2 ladies back in 1990 who decided to self-publish a cookbook titled “The Four Ingredient Cookbook”. After 18 years, they still self-publish a series of four ingredient cookbooks. Early on, they declined a large NY publishing company’s offer to publish their books. They received a registered trademark from the U.S. patent and trademark office for “Four Ingredient Cookbook”. They sued a company for trademark infringement that resulted in a succesful judgment in their favor. They watched as other large publishing companies tried to copy their success. They are the self-publishers of, at one time, the number 1 selling cookbook of one of the largest internet book sellers. They are the self-publishers of the best selling book sold by a large recognizable direct marketing book fair company. The total sales of all books in their series is over 3 million copies. So, successful self-publishing can be rewarding and done.
October 8th, 2008 at 6:12 am
Great article Ron! I subscribed to your posts back in May and have enjoyed each one I’ve read. I seem to agree with the opinions of some here (as I run a POD company) that there ARE times when it does make sense. Obviously I don’t use the same business model or restrictive agreements that the houses you mentioned use, my contract limits ME, not the author to what services I will provide on their behalf and not how long I will make money from their book. I have to believe that there exists in our industry a niche market for the honest auto mechanic AS WELL AS the honest self publisher who can provide a viable service at a reasonable and up-front price to his client. When just starting out, who has the resources to go down to say, Sears, and purchase the toolbox needed to do the work to get a book published? Honest and viable POD/Self Publishing houses are out there, and are worth finding.
Keep up the great work!
Tim
October 8th, 2008 at 1:16 pm
Thanks for the great article, Ron, and a big thanks for your consistent, genuine interest in authors and self-publishing.
After reading this article, the question on my mind is this: How is the current economy going to affect book buying since people seem to be holding on to their dollars with clenched fists? When is a good time to release books given the current economic situation?
After all my hard work, and moving forward steadily and confidently for the last three years, I’m left wondering if I should hold off on the spring release of Secret Speakers.
October 30th, 2008 at 7:27 pm
Ron,
I liked your article, but am a little confused.
With all of the negatives you mention about POD companies,
how is RJ Communications any different?
This is my first day doing research into this for a book that I will
hopefully be publishing soon.
Rich McDilda
Rich,
RJ is a publishing service, not a POD publisher. We offer one POD componant that it meant to simply get you listed in the Ingram database. Any income from this portion is treated as “Pennies from Heaven” not a primary marketing plan.
Ron
January 16th, 2009 at 10:43 am
Ron,
Being one of the black sheep myself, I understand that anything I say will be suspect but regardless I’d like to ask a couple questions about your position encouraging everyone to form their own publishing company to publish a single book.
First, you’re right that few books make a profit—no matter how they’re published. More than nine of ten books published, and probably closer to 95% lose money. That includes those published by big houses, those vanity published and those self-published—cheerleading of organizations courting their membership and selling them services notwithstanding.
To use your auto analogy, my question is this: Is it always a good idea for every writer to open an auto repair shop when his car needs an engine repair? Or might it just pay him to hire it done by a pro? Sure, once the tools are purchased, training is completed, building and equipment up and running, etc. etc. it’s cheaper to change your own oil, hoses, belts, plugs, brakes, etc. But what did you do last time you needed a tune up? Open a shop or hire a pro? Be honest now.
Of course, where your analogy breaks down is that for generations would be writers have been drunk deep of the publishing rags to riches mythology wherein the unknown writer is not only published for free but made a millionaire and a household name merely for spinning his yarn. The auto repair business has never been saddled with the story of a man coming in with a car needing work and an idea that will not only get it repaired for free but make him millions to boot. It is the bitterness of writers disappointed that for them, the myth proved false who excoriate the many honest custom for hire publishers like ourselves for daring to want to be paid for their time and expertise rather than hoping against the odds to make a profit from books rejected by conventional publishers.
I earn an honest buck by offering help to those who don’t want to learn the whole business or hire it out bit by bit from contractors. I would suggest that, for the right person, (one who perhaps, dare I say it?, doesn’t need to make a profit) hiring a competent, honest publisher to help makes sense.
Like anything else, caveat emptor should apply, but what makes more sense for most writers? Reinventing the publishing wheel or hiring help?
Sincerely,
One of the black sheep of the publishing family
June 14th, 2010 at 1:30 am
Hello Ron, this is my first time reading your column. I appreciate much of what you say, but wish to know why you put down an author who publishes collaboratively and ridicule that author for wanting to be known as a ‘published author’, yet elevate the status of a self-published author? Neither author had to query the publisher to be published. The collaboratively published (vanity publisher, as you put it) author just had to let the publisher read his ms to be published – and I happen to know at least one such publisher who does not accept every ms. The author must be a talented writer for her to accept the work. Why deflate everyone reading your column who has paid a vanity publisher and not the one who paid no one but published his own book? Why is one a credible writer but not the other? Have you even read any books published collaboratively? There are some terrific authors out there who have gone that route for many reasons. Thank you.
July 1st, 2010 at 1:44 pm
Nothing wrong with using a Vanity Publisher as long as you know that is what you are doing. The problem is not the $500 or whatever, charged to “see your name in print” , but the thousands of dollars of extras that most of these authors end up buying from slick sales people employed by these vanity presses.
Ron