The Difficulties of Self-Publishing
What are the difficulties of self-publishing?
I think before examining this subject that it is best to look at traditional publishing. Of course, I am writing from my experience which may differ from what you have experienced.
When I wrote my first novel, I began looking around for two things: A publisher and an agent.
The reason I looked for an agent will become evident in a moment. But I obviously needed a publisher. I quickly discovered that you don't just print out your manuscript and send it to some well known publisher. I learned that not all publishers would want to publish my book, some are not even looking for new authors.
I also learned that some publishers won't even look at a manuscript unless it comes from a literary agent. And even then, the process of accepting, editing, and finally publishing a book could take up to two years.
Thus my search for agents. I began researching them and eventually worked up a list of agents that handled Christian fiction. But again I ran into difficulties as these agents can also be very selective. Plus, they have the right to reject your manuscript. Bummer!
Stymied I turned to self-publishing. Now that term is somewhat misleading. Self-publishing does not mean that the author publishes his/her book; it means that a self-publishing house will produce your book for a fee. This fee differs with different houses, but $400 - $600 is a safe bet.
I published my first novel Refuge: The Genesis Chronicles with Author House (formerly 1st Books). My first book! You can imagine my excitement.
But that excitement didn't last long. I soon discovered that although the whole process brought my book to market 2 -3 years faster, I still had a lot of work to do. In today's world, whether traditional or self-publishing, the author must do the leg work, the actual marketing.
So the next difficulty I had was purchasing from Author House the marketing tools (advertising in certain magazines, placing them in stores, etc.) that I needed. At the time I did not have much money available to take advantage of all the tools available. So I had to be selective.
Wanting more control over the editing and seeking less cost, I published my next book with Publish America (now America Star). This proved to be a wise move. With this decision I saved over $400 in up front costs!
Some people call America Star a self-publisher, others call it a sham, and America Star calls itself a traditional publisher. In my opinion, they are all wrong. America Star is a hybrid, part self-publisher and part traditional. I would recommend them to anyone wanting to publish. I would also warn new authors to ignore most of the negative criticism regarding America Star.
I have now published three novels (Adam's Chronicles, Perished: The World That Was, and The Rise of Shem ) with America Star with a fourth novel soon to be submitted. They did an excellent job on the covers, although I wanted more input, and on the books themselves, although I felt restricted. All in all, I was pleased with their work.
Compared to other self-publishers it was cheaper (although the other publishers argue otherwise) and compared to traditional publishers they were much faster from time of submission to actual publication.
In both cases (Author House and America Star) I had little to no control over pricing. I was able to work around this a little by buying copies of my book at wholesale and then selling them at a discounted price.
But I still was not completely satisfied. The truth is that the author in me wanted more control. And neither traditional or self-publishers were willing to give up their control. Which meant that if I wanted control of the Authoring, Publishing, and Marketing of my books I would have to turn to what is called Real Self-Publishing.
In summary, the difficulties of self-publishing are:
• upfront cost (except for America Star)
• you must refuse publisher editing if you want editing control
• you must purchase marketing tools
• you have little to no control over pricing
• you have little to no control over a series
• and more.
My next blog will explore Real Self-Publishing and what I am doing about it.
I think before examining this subject that it is best to look at traditional publishing. Of course, I am writing from my experience which may differ from what you have experienced.
When I wrote my first novel, I began looking around for two things: A publisher and an agent.
The reason I looked for an agent will become evident in a moment. But I obviously needed a publisher. I quickly discovered that you don't just print out your manuscript and send it to some well known publisher. I learned that not all publishers would want to publish my book, some are not even looking for new authors.
I also learned that some publishers won't even look at a manuscript unless it comes from a literary agent. And even then, the process of accepting, editing, and finally publishing a book could take up to two years.
Thus my search for agents. I began researching them and eventually worked up a list of agents that handled Christian fiction. But again I ran into difficulties as these agents can also be very selective. Plus, they have the right to reject your manuscript. Bummer!
Stymied I turned to self-publishing. Now that term is somewhat misleading. Self-publishing does not mean that the author publishes his/her book; it means that a self-publishing house will produce your book for a fee. This fee differs with different houses, but $400 - $600 is a safe bet.
I published my first novel Refuge: The Genesis Chronicles with Author House (formerly 1st Books). My first book! You can imagine my excitement.
But that excitement didn't last long. I soon discovered that although the whole process brought my book to market 2 -3 years faster, I still had a lot of work to do. In today's world, whether traditional or self-publishing, the author must do the leg work, the actual marketing.
So the next difficulty I had was purchasing from Author House the marketing tools (advertising in certain magazines, placing them in stores, etc.) that I needed. At the time I did not have much money available to take advantage of all the tools available. So I had to be selective.
Wanting more control over the editing and seeking less cost, I published my next book with Publish America (now America Star). This proved to be a wise move. With this decision I saved over $400 in up front costs!
Some people call America Star a self-publisher, others call it a sham, and America Star calls itself a traditional publisher. In my opinion, they are all wrong. America Star is a hybrid, part self-publisher and part traditional. I would recommend them to anyone wanting to publish. I would also warn new authors to ignore most of the negative criticism regarding America Star.
I have now published three novels (Adam's Chronicles, Perished: The World That Was, and The Rise of Shem ) with America Star with a fourth novel soon to be submitted. They did an excellent job on the covers, although I wanted more input, and on the books themselves, although I felt restricted. All in all, I was pleased with their work.
Compared to other self-publishers it was cheaper (although the other publishers argue otherwise) and compared to traditional publishers they were much faster from time of submission to actual publication.
In both cases (Author House and America Star) I had little to no control over pricing. I was able to work around this a little by buying copies of my book at wholesale and then selling them at a discounted price.
But I still was not completely satisfied. The truth is that the author in me wanted more control. And neither traditional or self-publishers were willing to give up their control. Which meant that if I wanted control of the Authoring, Publishing, and Marketing of my books I would have to turn to what is called Real Self-Publishing.
In summary, the difficulties of self-publishing are:
• upfront cost (except for America Star)
• you must refuse publisher editing if you want editing control
• you must purchase marketing tools
• you have little to no control over pricing
• you have little to no control over a series
• and more.
My next blog will explore Real Self-Publishing and what I am doing about it.
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