Self-Published Books Are All Crap

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Self-Published Books Are All Crap

Self-Published Books Are All Crap

Grrrr.

This is what someone just told me on social media.

A traditionally published friend, Gabe Berman, has written a wonderful guide on how to get people to love your work. I couldn’t be more pleased for him. I read it and it’s fabulous. This is his second book. His first was traditionally published. This one is not.

Someone questioned the premise of the book, assuming he’s self-published and therefore…what? Has no right to share his opinions, successes, and failures – essentially his experiences. I put the question to both my Twitter and Facebook followers today. Some of the conversation went like this:

‘Self published certainly “counts,” but I’ll be candid. It doesn’t count as much…yet. Until someone figures out a way to replace the traditional gatekeepers, SP will still attract poor writers who will continue to reflect poorly on the many very good SP writers. Unfortunately, far too many self published writers did so because they couldn’t publish in the current model. They publish not because they should but because they can.’

‘It is filtering. There are just a whole heck of a lot more SP authors than authors published by the mainstream… and the ones with the right stuff rise to the top just as in the mainstream. And I do believe that readers will be the judge. I personally despise 50 Shades of Grey–but it was self pubbed and readers loved it and asked for more and so it became accepted. There’s dreck wherever you turn.’

This begs the question: do self-published writers NOT have the right to share our ‘how-to’s’ and what has worked (and not worked) for us?

I personally consider that a ridiculous question, given that I currently sell about 50 eBooks per day (sometimes more, sometimes less). All three of my books have hit #1 on the Kindle Paid rankings. My latest Broken Pieces has about 90 reviews, the majority overwhelmingly 5-star — from Midwest Book Review, two Amazon Top 10 Hall of Fame reviewers, and tons of reader reviews. And I’m thrilled to announce I just received a nomination for the Global eBook Awards for Nonfiction/Women’s Studies. Agents and publishers have approached me and I’m currently in discussions about paperback versions of all three of my books.

But this isn’t about me. There are many incredibly talented self-published writers out there who are far more successful than I, who sell hundreds if not thousands of books daily. And I couldn’t be more thrilled for them.

Is the same green money in our bank accounts devalued somehow because we have chosen the indie route? (And, for the record, I simply adore this discussion because we are talking about creating ART. How awesome is that?)

Let’s deconstruct.

PRODUCT

I liken self-published authors to blue collar workers because we do all the hard, icky stuff ourselves. We’re not only writers, we’re project managers. I’ve written previously about product being the most important part of any author’s platform. If your book sucks, you’ll not sell. Every indie client I work with (and I have both traditionally published and indie published clients) work with critique groups, betareaders, professional editors, proofreaders, graphic designers, formatters, etc. Writing is our job, not some hobby where we copy and paste stuff together and call it a book.

The bias has existed for years (and still does, clearly), that self-published authors couldn’t make it in the real publishing world. In some cases, that may be true. In others – like mine – I bypassed that route completely, based on the financial model: I invest in my work up front (using professional services like editing, proofreading, graphics, formatting), and make 70% on each sale — as opposed to the 10% I would make with a traditional publisher IF I were lucky.

You do the math.

DISTRIBUTION and MARKETING

Many authors feel that going the traditional route gives them a pass on doing their own marketing, which is laughable. Why do you think consistent bestsellers like Anne Rice, Margaret Atwood, and even indie star Hugh Howey are on Twitter? Because they’re bored and have nothing else to do?

No.

Sure, you will get better paperback distribution with a traditional publisher – though I encourage you to investigate CreateSpace and Lightning Source for expanded distribution options. But that doesn’t mean you don’t have to be out there: blogging, optimized website, active and interactive social media, interviews, guest posts, blog tours, advertising. ALL incredibly important and essential for success.

TARGETING

Who do you want to read your book? Other authors? No.

I mean, sure, some of my very best friends in real life are authors and I love it when they read my books and I read theirs. However, your target audience is not other authors! Too many newbies (again, no matter if you’re traditionally or indie published) make the mistake of asking others to review their work. Don’t. In social media, target readers, reviewers, book bloggers. There are thousands upon thousands out there. And there are many extraordinarily easy ways to hook up with reviewers: people who actually review books, as opposed to authors who write the books. It’s like asking a cardiologist to do your hysterectomy. Just, no.

Check out the BookBloggerList.com for one option. Another is doing a review tour with OrangeBerry Book Tours (no guarantee of a positive review so keep that in mind).

My advice, take it or leave it: avoid the bias that ‘all indies are crap’ by proving them wrong. Use professional editor/proofreader/graphics/formatting. I do for every book. Crit groups and betareaders are your best way to find out if the book cuts it or not. Don’t rush it out — take your time to write THEN dedicate yourself to sharing it and accepting the criticism to make it absolutely amazing via edits/rewrites.

So ask yourself this question: does sharing all this information mean it’s somehow bogus or devalued because I’m self-published?

Please leave your comments below.

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