To Self-Publish or Not to Self-Publish

To Self-Publish or Not to Self-Publish:

I seem to be on a kick today quoting myself and others, so bear with me. Eric Karjaluoto's thoughts about self-publishing echo many of mine, but his article seems much more fascinating. I'll quote his remarks in similar fashion to Khoi's.

On focus:

Many have told me that they have a book in them. And yes, you probably have one in you too, but, no, you probably won't ever write one. This isn't because you don't have a good story to tell, or a great writing style. Yours may be one of the best. The entire issue comes down to whether you have the diligence to peck away at a typewriter while episodes of Mad Men and Weeds beckon from the television in the adjacent room.

On estimating your time and your returns:

Figure out what you want from your book, in terms of returns (be they awareness, financial gain, or what have you) and then lower your expectations. Following that, I encourage you to work out how long you expect it will take you to get all of your thoughts down. My suggestion is that you multiply this figure by 10, and double it to afford sufficient time for editing.

On the real costs of self-publishing:

While a traditional publisher will take on editing, printing, and marketing costs, as well as the many hours involved in administering all of these things, the self-publisher bears the brunt of such expenses alone. This may sound inconsequential, but just consider the cost of shipping out review copies. We've worked out that the cost per review copy of Speak Human (factoring in time for making contact, following up, writing notes, as well as postage and the wholesale cost of the book) is somewhere around $40/unit.