Why Other Writers Annoy Me: The Self-Publishing Stigma and Other Ranting May 22, 2007
Posted by fredcharles in Uncategorized.trackback
One of the reasons that I started blogging was to meet other writers. Many of the writers who I’ve met through this blog have been have been really cool, and open-minded individuals.
It’s when I move into the general populus of writers, that I get into trouble. The more writers that I encounter, the more I find that they are a drain on my personal drive to be a successful writer.
My annoyance always mounts when it comes to the subject of Self-Publishing. I was talking to some writers about my novel and immediately found myself on the defensive because:
- I’ve hired a professional to proofread my novel.
- I firmly believe that Self Publishing is a viable alternative if you are willing to create a product that is as professional as a book published by the “big houses”, and you are willing to promote your novel to death.
The general consensus seems to be, if you can’t get your novel published traditionally, then it’s not good enough and should be shelved. Self-publishers are considered to be hacks. Well, guess what, I’d like to have a $1000 (no need to be conservative) for every traditionally published contrived, poorly editied novel I’ve slogged through over the years. The book shelves are lined with hack writers. Being published does not mean you’re not a hack.
I’ve also been told that you can only hope to sell about 250 copies of your novel if it’s self-published. These same people seem to be ignorant of the fact that many traditionally published novels never even sell 2000 copies. Being published is not the be all, end all it’s made out to be.
I don’t argue too much with these people because I realize something; they’re thinking is way to rigid. Sure, there is a huge stigma when it comes to self-publishing, but I think that most of the bias is perpetuated by us writers.
Why do I think this? Until I started writing seriously, I was blissfully unaware of terms such as Vanity Press, POD and Self-Publishing. With decades of book-buying under my belt, I never once knew if a book I was buying was from a traditional publisher or from a self-publisher. I would just buy a book and read it. I didn’t check the spine to see who published it. If the book looked good, or was recommended to me, I bought it.
End of story.
Only now, since I’m a writer and read books on the subject, and interact with other writers, am I aware of these different publishing avenues. And the only reason I may have thought that books from PODs or Vanity Presses are bad, is because I’ve been told so by other writers. I’ve never once had a non-writer tell me, “Don’t buy that book! It’s self-published!”
Writers moan about how publishing eludes them, but will turn around in an instant and burn their bridges by condeming viable alternatives.
It’s funny. A rock band that self-produces a CD, and sells it by hand is considered to be “grassroots” and given credit for having a DIY work ethic, while the writer who takes this path is considered to be an amateur who couldn’t make it with the big boys.
I think that if you are going to succeed at anything, you have to be flexible, and open to any alternatives. If you believe in your work, you should be willing to promote it, and do whatever it takes to get it out there. If I can’t get my book published traditionally, you are damned right I will self-publish. And if you are too good to do it yourself, then it’s less competition for those who do.
I remember reading Henry Rollin’s Get In The Van (which is self-published), which chronicles his years as singer of the hardcore band Black Flag. In one section, Henry is depressed because only one person has shown up to the gig that night. To paraphrase, the guitar player says, “Whether there is one person in the crowd or a hundred, you still give it your all every night.”
I firmly believe in this philosophy. No matter how you are publishing your book, if you put out a polished product, and get behind it, at least you can say that you tried. I don’t want to be 70 years old, lamenting about how I once wrote a book but couldn’t get it published. I’d rather 250 people read something that I wrote, than nobody.
[...] Fred over at The Truth About Writing has written his opinion on the merits of self-publishing – and he raises a good point. [...]
I’d rather 250 people read something that I wrote, than nobody.
I agree 100% with you. I am so thankful for the internet in this one respect because it has opened up a variety of avenues for writers to be read. And to me, that’s the important part, the readers. Whether it is just one, or a million. That gives me satisfaction.
I really do wish that self-publishing would get a fair shake. The bias from the “big boys” is unjustified. I also think the bias discourages new, potential writers from considering other alternatives.
My one problem with self-published books is the expense. With the writer footing the bill, some books I’d like to read, are just out of a normal purchase price range. I’d like to see self-publishing become accepted enough that publishing costs can be further lowered, thus passing on savings to the buyer.
I’ve come across the same attitudes, which is why I don’t hang around writer’s forums. This is a great article, Fred. I’m with Jayne on the price of self-published books, unless they attract me with good writing and a compelling story/nonfiction idea.
Amen, man. I couldn’t agree more with everything you’ve said here.
The only problem is, if you try to publish with the Big Boys, you never know when you’ll be picked up. J.K. Rowling quite awhile, pimping Harry Potter out to the Big Boys, when it was finally snatched up. This is why I’m hesitant about what I’m going to do with my novels.
But yeah… I just wrote up a post in my blog about my adventures in Lulu-land thus far with my poetry book. Check it, yo.
My grandmother, at the time in her late 70s, self published a novel she had been writing for more than 20 years. It was a fictional account of her experiences as a prisoner in a Japanese internal camp in Hong Kong during WW2. She tried some publishers but no one was interested, despite the handover of Hong Kong to the Chinese in the late 90’s, which was at about the same time she was looking for publication.
She managed to sell nearly 1000 copies. It sold by word of mouth, through talks she gave to community groups or through information about the book spread by newsletters relating to ex Hong Kong residents and other former internees.
I believe she about broke even on costs, but that was not the primary consideration for her. Had she done it now rather than 10 years ago, with POD technology and ordering in place, she could well have made money.
And here is scary story an ex editor from a big corporate publishing house told me a few months ago. Some of the books picked up by major publishers either never get published, despite advances being paid, or only publish the first book by the author and then drop them, apparently this has even happened in the case of series of books, though she didn’t give me any specific examples.
I agree with a great deal of what you say. Like Jayne and Deborah, I wish the costs for self-publishing would come down. Books published that way do seem to be more expensive to the customer, presumably because there isn’t a big publishing house behind them to swallow some of the costs, and I do wonder how off-putting that might be to readers. I do like the fact that more avenues seem to be open these days though. The internet in that respect has done wonders.
In the pre-Internet days (yes, I’ve been writing a long time), I would have had to agree with the anti-self-publishing folks. For one thing, it was usually a lot more expensive then that is is now (lulu.com keeps self-publishing/POD pretty cheap today). And distribution was controlled by only a few sources.
Today, with all the options the Web provides, I’m not sure it matters. Publishers, and writers, have a lot more competition, and obviously they don’t like it. Books cost more than ever, but writers’ advances are pretty much the same they were 30 years ago.
So, I say take a chance. Do it yourself. Heck, you never know. I’d say anyone’s chances of making fiction writing a professional career are just as good in self-publishing and blogging as it is in trying the “real” publishers. And you have more control.
i agree.
the idea that the ‘gatekeepers’ are possessed of the ability to discern the true merit of a book is almost worth putting in a fantasy novel. as if the big publishers/agents were a kind of priesthood. i believe what they are and need to be is the commercial mainstream and that is a very valid thing to be.
and i do like the comparison with the ‘grassroots’ CD! I see it more like being an inventor and trying to get finance but also putting the product on the market in a smaller way. and selling it door to door.
i’m still wondering where all this thinking comes from though. the stigma is so much worse with writing.
does anybody know the historical root of it?
When you print with a POD, most of these companies like LuLu, Author House – and God forbid – Publish America (I hope we all know to watch out for that one) use the same huge printer called Lightening Source. So most PODs are brokers reselling the printing. You can try to find a local printer in your area to print and be sure to get several bids to compare costs. On another topic, did you know that Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood book sold nearly 60,000 copies before Rebecca Wells’ publisher finally decided they could risk some advertisement dollars. A well written book for a well-defined market has the best chance for catching word-of-mouth buzz and any author now has the tools to do just that. I absolutely believe in the future of self-publishing and self-promoting.
What a great article. I agree with every word you said. I too never knew the difference between a trade published book and a self-published book until I became a writer and, like you, I have come across some traditionally published books that had such bad grammar and typos that I didn’t even finish reading them. I have just recently (May 2007) self-published my first novel and it wasn’t easy because although there’s alot of information out there about writing a book and getting it printed, there was virtually nothing about how to get it distributed world-wide for minimal cost. But I finally figured it out after spending weeks and weeks surfing the net, emailing and making phone calls all over the world.
But what I found out is that it can be done (I live in Australia so I thought it would be even harder for me) if you know how to do it and I’ve managed to produce a beautifully presented book at a ‘normal’ price to buyers AND it’s available on Amazon and through bricks & mortar bookshops and online shops all over the world.
And I took plenty of notes and my next book will be how to self-publish a book and have it distributed world-wide. I wish this book was available when I was starting out. Oh well, I guess someone has to write it.
Great post! From a playwrights vision i’m firmly in the self publication camp. In fact, i’ve used it to great effect with my first major play.
Times are a-changing, e-books are coming into force along with book reading Ipods etc. I think the major publishers need to be very aware of groups such as Lulu who are really opening up a new fresh market.
One thing I did forget to mention, and this is personal to a writer. Whether your book is published by the big boys, or self published, in other words, it comes out on paper and between two hard covers, there is something so delicious about holding that book and knowing it was something you created. It was what makes books a treasure.
Like all the other tools of writing, the various methods of publishing have advantages and disadvantages. Remember that self-publishing is not merely a technical decision, but is also a statement of your market position.
Anyone can self-publish anything. There is no gatekeeper. If you self-publish, you are choosing to join a completely unmoderated segment of the market. This is a statistical and marketing fact of life – whatever you stand next to, affects how people perceive you. When you stand next to crap, people may make assumptions about you, right or wrong. Most people who self-publish do not hire an editor, and some who do hire editors do not take their advice. Therefore, much of what is self-published is pure crap – something which has no natural readership.
Mainstream publishers stand as a gatekeeper function. While they might not keep out all of the crap, the odds are much better that a book selected for publication by a mainstream publisher will be not-crap for some significant part of the market. A scifi imprint means the chance of not-crap for a scifi reader is good. A literary imprint means the chance of not-crap for a literary reader is good. Market positioning.
Mainstream publishers perform that gatekeeper function not just for the publication of the book, but also for the major chains. Your self-published book is just plain not going to get into the chains, not unless you plan on paying them to stock and advertise it. Maybe not even then.
So that means, not only do you have a marketing backlash from being published alongside pure crap, but you also have a lack of access to the major chains. Amazon.com is fine, but last I heard it was a tiny proportion of actual sales in the publishing industry. B&N and Borders et. al. are where the great volume gets sold.
The flip side is that, if you have written a work that is not-crap, then you can personally push your book through various private networks, POD, independent booksellers (any that still survive), personal appearances, and so on. If you actually do manage to sell a significant number (say, over 1500 units), then that gives you an entree into the realms of the gatekeepers. If you have collected contact information so that you have a mailing list for sequels and future works, so much the better.
But if you do self-publish, make certain that you do retain control of your work. Don’t give away any rights that you can’t get back. Bottom line, do your homework and make your best strategic decision, knowing what you know about yourself and your work. Read widely on the subjects of self-marketing and publication before you wager your completed work against the results of your future hard work.
Fred, I love your comparison to grassroots bands – you’re absolutely right!
Self publishing is not the same as POD. Well, they are, but not really. I self-published my first and second books (not POD) and actually did quite well with them. If you print a 300 page trade paperback book in quantities of about 1000, they will cost you about $4 each with shipping. Three hundred will cost you about $6.50 each. Assuming you sell them direct for $12.95 each (plus shipping) Some simple math will show how many books you need to sell to break even. It’s fewer than most people think. I more than doubled my investment on both books. Better yet, my effort got me a traditional publisher in Thailand (where my books are set) and the royalties have earned me three times what I made on my own.
Bottom line here is this: If you have written a good book and you have faith in your ability to market, buy yourself a ISBN, find a reasonably priced printer (not POD–I used Morris Publishing), and go for it. Your initial goal is to break even. After that you can concentrate on making money.
Jesse (My books can be found at http://www.bangkokbooks.com)
“Even Thai Girls Cry” – Bangkok Book House
“The Farang Affair” – Bangkok Book House
“One High Season” – Bangkok Book House
“I’d rather 250 people read something that I wrote, than nobody.” That’s a good attitude!
I’m doing research on self-publishing for my publishing class exam (I’m trying to become one of those “big boys”) and it is amazing to see just how many self-publishers are out there. The already competive market is becoming even more competitive just because of the sure number of titles available. The question is wheter or not some of titles actually deserve to see the light of day.
I’m not saying don’t self-publish, by all means go ahead. If you have the funds, the time and the determination you will find someone who will be willing to buy and read your book. Just take into consideration that although it is possible for you to do it yourself, the “big boys” were trained for three to five years before they could enter the publishing world and need about five to ten years experience before they are even considered for publishing positions in a company. They know they market, they know the trends – they have to if they want to survive.
I’m at the first year of my two year honours degree after I’ve completed a three year degree. That’s five years of my life dedicated to just getting to know the process, the local market and international market inside out, to learn how to spot trends and how to deal with authors. I’ll be twenty three when I enter the work force – the same age as a new-be doctor. In my class we were only twenty to graduate in 2006. Five graduates I know for a fact will never enter the industry. That’s 15 new “publishers” to I would guess a thousand new writers in my country alone. We’re out numbered and over whelmed.
So a million manuscripts might be rejected and only two thousand books published. Would you honestly care about those million rejected if it is not your title? Would you have been able to read those million manuscripts (some of which really do deserve to be kicked out)?
There is, as always, two sides to the coin.
As for the issues surrounding PoD – the prediction is that the cost will drop dramatically with technological advancements in the printing industry. Just give it a bit of time.
Hey fabulous post! I found it because it was linked to one of my blog posts. Don’t forget, indie musicians started with the same uphill climb. And it took a lot of music makers going indie, and raising quality levels of their work, and really learning the ins and outs of how to make it work, before it became as respected as it is now. Same with filmmakers I’m sure.
The indie author revolution has just really gotten started, but more and more voices are raising together with the same logic you’ve presented.
Give it a decade, we’ll see what people say about indie authors then!
Viva la Resistance!
Zoe