Is there a good reason why someone should NOT self-publish their book?
Is there a good reason why someone should NOT self-publish their book? I have been a self-publishing advocate for many years. Until recently, I would have told you that you should always self-publish as long as you go into it with your eyes open. I’m not sure whether it’s my age, the economy, the political climate or what, but I definitely approach this subject differently today.
Writing is a love and publishing is a business. This is the way I start every seminar I’ve presented over the past 15 years. This fact has not changed. It’s one thing to love writing. It’s yet another to be able to take that writing, no matter how good it is, and turn it into a commercially viable book.
The vanity press industry, headed by companies like Author House, Publish America and the likes, have done a huge disservice to authors, specifically, and the publishing industry, in general. The “If you can get it into the computer, we can make you a published author” mentality has so diluted the whole process and flooded the entire marketplace with so much junk, it is becoming harder and harder for a true self-publisher to be taken seriously or to be successful.
When I was a kid, the best team in the league, got a trophy. If a teenager’s room was filled with trophies, chances were that they were a very good athlete. Today, we don’t want to hurt any child’s fragile feelings so everyone gets a trophy. My son has three soccer trophies in his room and he was a hideous player who played on a last place team. What good did those trophies do him? Will they be kept or handed down to his kids? I doubt it. He happens to be smart enough to know that he was a hideous player on a last place team, so my guess is that these trophies will be tossed into the trash, if they aren’t already there. My guess is that this great socialist experiment in athletics will ultimately go down in flames the same way that every other socialist experiment has gone. Athletes are not all equal and neither are writers.
I am seeing more and more authors who have been inoculated with the vanity press needle to the point that they equate the printing of a few multi-page documents of junk, with having been a successfully published author. The overwhelming majority of the people that I run into who have any experience with one of these vanity presses not only know nothing about how publishing works, but need to be completely “deprogrammed” and made to start all over or it just doesn’t work. A bad player on the last place team is a bad player on the last place team. That player can get better, with practice and knowledge of the game and go on to be a good player on a good team but it doesn’t just happen… it takes a lot of hard work.
The “you’re in charge” aspect of self publishing is a double edged sword that has been beaten into the ground and usually presented incorrectly. Once again, I’m not talking about a vanity press where you are stroked to feel that everything you do is right as long as you keep buying more useless services from them. I am talking about being really in charge. As a self-publisher you are the publisher and as the publisher you are in charge of everything. The buck stops here… (with you) so to speak. You do not have to physically do everything but you are personally responsible for every component of your book. Just like “ignorance of the law” is no excuse when standing in front of a judge, ignorance of the publishing process is no excuse when you produce a substandard product and it fails. If you can not commit to learning the process… don’t publish. If you can’t take the pressure of every decision made during the publishing process sitting squarely on your shoulders… don’t publish. If you have a habit of blaming the rest of the world for anything bad that happens to you… certainly do not publish. As the publisher you and you alone are responsible for the editing, whether you hire an outside editor or not. There are going to be mistakes, no matter who does the editing. If you can’t handle this concept, don’t publish. You are responsible for the layout and design of the book, whether you hire an outside designer or not. A proof is just that… a proof. If your designer introduced an error into the book and you OK the proof, it’s yours. Same thing goes with the printer. If you are sent a proof with page 20 in front of page 19 and you OK it… and it prints…. It’s yours. On the more subtle side, if your cover color doesn’t quite match the color proof but the sky is blue and the grass is green…. chances are it’s commercially acceptable and you’ve bought it. If you can’t live with that, don’t publish.
Publishing is not easy. Self-Publishing is publishing. The only difference is that you “self” are the publisher. Paying a vanity press to print your book is not publishing or self-publishing. Keep this in mind. Walking your word document to the local copy shop and printing a few copies is closer to self-publishing than paying a vanity publisher to publish your book.
Of course, for the time being, we have Freedom of Press so you are free to produce whatever you want. If you don’t want to learn the business and just want to “be in charge” , and have some money you don’t mind wasting, you might be best sticking with the vanity presses. In doing to, though, look at them like copy shops. Unlike the vanity presses, the corner copy shop does not take ownership of anything of yours unless you don’t pay your bill. Do yourself a favor and make sure that the same thing can be said of whatever vanity press you’re using.
Hopefully I’ve lost all the readers who are not truly serious about self-publishing by this point. Their books can join the shelves at home along with all those participation trophies.
If you are serious about publishing…there is no time like the present to do it. Down economies present unlimited opportunities for the entrepreneur. There is always room for another good book. If you are just getting started, there are two things you should do right away. The first is to download a free copy of Publishing Basics – Navigating the Self-Publishing Minefield at www.selfpublishing.com/free-ebooks/. This book is a no-nonsense question/answer book designed to get you headed in the right direction. The second thing you need to do is take the What Type of Self-Publisher are You test at www.selfpublishing.com/type/quiz/. The test only takes a few minutes to take. The results are instant and will help guide you as you are reading your Publishing Basic book and further researching the business of publishing. Self Publishing is not for everyone but if it’s for you… there is only one place to start… www.selfpublishing.com.
I look forward to seeing your completed book.
Last 5 posts by Ron Pramschufer
- 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
- Self-Publishing and the New Millennium plus 10 - January 14th, 2010
August 11th, 2009 at 9:19 am
How do you guys feel about xlibris publsihers, I been working with them sometime, seems reliable. Is there something I should be concerned about. Please let me know.
Author
August 11th, 2009 at 9:32 am
Ron,
Well stated! I’m going to send this to my entire database for the Self-Pubishing Symposium. This is a key message that we try to get across. Be true to the business, which means you must learn the business, and develop your craft. Putting out crap gives serious, skilled self-published authors and a bad name.
I’m also going to post the link to this article on my twitter, to help move this important message along!
Renee
August 11th, 2009 at 9:42 am
Amen, brother Ron! Amen! I have recently published (and I do mean PUBLISHED) my fourth novel and I truly love the entire process. To be able to know I can sit down and write a manuscript, knowing full-well getting it out to the market is completely within my own will and ability is an incredible experience. It is a lot of work, but again, a labor of love.
Great article. Thank you!
August 11th, 2009 at 10:14 am
Ron,
Ron,
I have enjoyed your articles on self-publishing. I did take the plunge last year and self-published. I have editing and design experience so I did everything myself – and it actually turned out very well and recently even got picked up by the main distributor in my field. And since I did everything myself except actually print the book – I probably will break even financially. You are right on this point – it is a tremendous amount of work, especially the editing and proofreading. I don’t see how it could be otherwise if you want a quality book that you would be proud of. The real rub though is the marketing. I have a marketing degree and 20 years of experience so I know what to do – but the time, energy and cost are formidable and not everyone is cut out for continual self-promotion. Also, its a pretty saturated market out there for almost every form of writing. Much easier just to do a blog! But for a real book lover, there is only one way to go. And it is a great learning experience.
August 11th, 2009 at 12:01 pm
Right on the money as usual, Ron! The Tough Love approach to publishing….;) As a self-publisher of four books now (roughly 60K copies in print and full-time living for 7-plus years), I know what it takes. And I just have to bite my tongue every time I get an email from a writer saying, “I just had my book published by AuthorHouse!” Who wants to be the one to rain on their parade?
I mean, sure, if an author has modest goals, no real illusions that they’re going to be rich, but just want to be able to call themselves an “author” and have a book available for friends and family, POD is fine.
But, too often, they really think that what they’re doing is on the par with having it picked up by a reputable publisher or TRULY doing it yourself. And no, what they’re doing is NOT self-publishing, despite the smoke-blowing to the contrary.
I DO disagree somewhat with one thing you said. I DON’T think that all these POD-illetantes are necessarily making it harder for true self-publishers to get respect. Sure, you can get painted with the same “amateur” broad brush as them, but as I always point out, why does the world have to know you’ve self-published?
If anyone (whose opinion matters) asks, I can say, “Oh, I’m with a small publishing house in Atlanta called Fanove Publishing.” Absolutely true. AND, no one ever asks. Sure you have to play little games here and there, but it’s not all that hard.
And if you indeed do it right, create a superior product, and promote it aggressively (all of which I managed to do, and then wrote a book about it: http://www.wellfedsp.com), when you do go on to move a pile of books, and THEN people find out you’re self-published, they look at you with a whole new level of respect.
And given that my books have been niche books, I’ve never courted the mainstream media (and hence, never cared what they thought), and the people who DID care about my book didn’t give a rat’s heiney that it was self-published. In fact, given that my audience is mostly writers, they thought that was mighty cool, and provided yet another opportunity for publicity for my book on THAT subject.
Anyway, I’ll share this far and wide. Great stuff. It’s the cold bucket of water that the UN-serious need to have dumped on their heads.
PB
August 11th, 2009 at 12:09 pm
As the former CEO of two publishing house I cannot agree with you more. “Vanity” presses and “self-publishing” have muddied the water so badly and have confused the marketplace and the channels of distribution which is almost non-existent for vanity produced books.
I tell clients-if all you want is to wave your book around in front of your friends and family and see-”I wrote” a book”…..Then I am not interested in assisting you — I tell them a Vanity press house is just the place for you and they await your check. Go print 24 copies and give them to your family for Christmas presents. They can run around all year telling others you wrote a book that has no sales- no distribution- and to not hold their breath to see you on Oprah!
I also have a check list of “mind-set” questions to aspiring authors that help them to be successful instead of “ego” publishing.
Remove the “self” from “self-publishing”
Remember- successful book publishing95% perspiration and 5% INSPIRATION
August 11th, 2009 at 3:44 pm
For anyone who is saying “where the heck is that quiz?” the correct link is:
http://www.selfpublishing.com/type/quiz/
August 11th, 2009 at 8:55 pm
The most prestigious national publishers had muddied the waters considerably prior to the proliferation of vanity publishers. The only diffrerence is that they also published great authors and that helped them dilute the mud. They did not typically care whether what they published was mud or not; only if it had a market.
I know for I was there.
August 12th, 2009 at 9:11 am
“My guess is that this great socialist experiment in athletics will ultimately go down in flames the same way that every other socialist experiment has gone. Athletes are not all equal and neither are writers.”
Your son might not be too happy to know you threw him under the bus for the sake of this blog (just joking) but very entertaining and truthful article
Hi,
The “Under the bus” happened years ago, as far as my son’s soccer career. Facing up to realty back then allowed him to drop the sport he was no good in and to develop into an All-Conference lacrosse player who will be playing next year at NCAA varsity level in college.
Glad you liked the article
Ron
August 12th, 2009 at 5:23 pm
Have not read your full article, but was struck by your paragraph of self-publishing(printing) a book to gie to family and friends — I have done that for years, and in a way, it is not a bad way to go — they show it off, and sometimes someone will want one just because they saw one owned by a family or friend.
I think the problem is that too many writers these days think of writing as a way to get rich quick — You are right about the fact that you have to love to write — sales or no sales — and you can for newsletters, some newspapers and even local publications if what you want to see is your writing in print and maybe hear some comments. Few get rich (whether self-published or professionaly published) as we know. The self-publishing field is becoming glutted with so-so to bad books. But with the attitudes I have seen demonstrated by agents and editors (at conferences), I think that often they leave an author — even a very good one — little alternative. Their attitude is that they are the top authorities of the literary world on what the public SHOULD be reading — There are problems on both sides of the public picture that need to be solved — and that could best by done by agents and publishers, not the writers!
Patricia Morse-McNeely
August 13th, 2009 at 12:33 am
Given the plethora of self-publishing houses advertising for manuscripts from writers with the ability to stump up the cash (from $1,500 up to $10,000) to have their books formatted, edited, cover designed et al or just plain printed in book form, how is it your criticism of these companies is limited to one company, Author House?
A few years ago you announced you were writing an expose about Trafford Publishing. To my knowledge it never appeared. Why not? As you guys are virtually in the same business as other self-publishing houses Ron is not your criticism, however constructive somewhat hypocritical ?
Ron’s Note – Calling the modern vanity presses, self-publishing houses, is right out of George Orwell’s 1984. You can’t be a self-publisher unless you “self” are the publisher…. It’s as simple as that. You can have a service, like my http://www.selfpublishing.com, that works with publishers of all kinds as a publishing services provider but I am not a publisher. I AM NOT LIKE ANY OF THE OTHER PLACES THAT I TALK ABOUT. There is no hypocrisy. Unfortunately, you still appear unclear on what a self publisher is and what it isn’t.
It’s pretty simple, If you do not own the ISBN, you are not the publisher… therefore you cannot be a self-publisher. You can claim you are a published author, but not a self publisher and certainly not a publisher.
As far as Author Solutions, I use them now to mean all Vanity Presses; much like one refers to Kleenex to describe facial tissues. They seem to be hell bent on buying up all the other vanity presses, including Trafford. As far as I’m concerned, that’s great; it just makes an easier target.
August 13th, 2009 at 4:57 pm
Ron,
I absolutely love this article. This is an issue that I have been struggling with since I started my publishing venture in 2007. Self-Publishers have been given the “vanity press” label and it really bothers me. I put a lot of time and energy into setting up my publishing company so I could see what it is like to be a publisher. It is to the point now where I just call myself an Independent Publisher because I have the capability to publish others if that is what I want to do. I am just searching for a way to distinguish myself from vanity press authors because I want to be taken seriously in this industry.
I keep telling one of my friends that if he wants to get into a bookstore, he cannot continue using these vanity press options.
Thanks for keeping it real,
K.
September 16th, 2009 at 9:13 pm
Wow! I don’t even know where to begin except to say THANK YOU! Thank you so much for this website. In my ignorance, I had contacted the publishing companies you mentioned, as well as a couple more. I am so happy an acquaintance led me to this site. I don’t actually have my website up and running yet however, it can be accessed to let people know it’s “coming soon”. I took the quiz and my results said I was a {serious hobby} writer. I can’t remember the exact words but it was something like that. I had a small problem completing the quiz because my book is actually a collection of short stories and poems designed to encourage and uplift people. I don’t think this is the section where questions are asked, but I would like to know what you think about that type of book. I was thinking about those people who like the idea of completing a series of short stories as opposed to one long novel. (By the way, I’m starting on my novel now. lol. Again though, thank you! I truly believe I was led to you by God.
Regina