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Is self-publishing on the decline?
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I think that's already what's happened. There's a lot out there, but from talking to other indie authors I have come to realize that just because it's out there doesn't mean its selling. I read somewhere that the average self published book only sells about seventy five copies in its lifetime. Meanwhile I think the buying public is becoming more and more selective about what they buy. Avid readers are using sites like GoodReads to help them sort through the slush and find the good books.
Self-publishing companies sell their services. They're certainly not staying in business by selling books. I don't know if the number of people wanting to publish a book will diminish anytime soon, but what the heck. I think there are two main criterion to make a self-published book successful. Number one, is it worth reading, and two, is the author putting in the time to get it noticed and read.
Even if I never make back what I have spent, it has been worth it to publish my books. I have met and talked to so many fascinating people that I wouldn't have met. I won't ever regret it.I also found out that my book is published in Kindle format, which I didn't realize!
Joyce Shaughnessy, blessedarethemerciful.net
Rachel wrote: "I think that's already what's happened. There's a lot out there, but from talking to other indie authors I have come to realize that just because it's out there doesn't mean its selling. I read som..."My dream is to publish my stuff in a book someday... even if it wont sell big... just... holding an actual, physical, printed result of years of writing in my hands... something etched in the timestream... you get where I'm going, right?
I do get what you are going for. I think self-publishing will hit a plateau if it hasn't already, but that plateau will be much, much bigger than traditional publishing could ever hope to be. There will be those looking for commercial success, those aimed as small niche markets and those simply wanting to be able to hold their book in their hands and say "I wrote this". What we will hopefully lose is the writers with little talent hoping they can get rich quick by churning out poorly written and poorly edited novels.
Rachel wrote: "I do get what you are going for. I think self-publishing will hit a plateau if it hasn't already, but that plateau will be much, much bigger than traditional publishing could ever hope to be. There..."Exactly what I was thinking. The self-publishing market will go through the weeding out process.
Rob wrote: "And that's a fair point. An audience can be small to feel like you reached an audience.However, if you want to feed a family of 4 on just your writing income, then the size of the required audie..."
Sure. And I feel like that's a calculation most writers need to make at some point. Is this a hobby that will let me go out for the occasional dinner, or is this something, that if I throw everything at it, that can support me and my family.
Most of us can probably stay in the black and have the occasional nice dinner on our work. That's the level of market just about anyone can find, and maintain with a bit of effort.
Using writing as a sole source of income is a whole different story, and in that case it helps to have a very broad market, or exquisitely honed marketing skills to get to every single member of a smaller one.
I still think you can do it with a small niche market (probably not only 1000 people, but you get my drift...) but it's a different skill set, mainly the ability to make sure they all know your book exists.
Alas, that's not really in my skill set.
I've always wondered???? It's seems to be easier for people to publish a book using self-publishing like for example Amazon. I wonder do you make any money publishing a book your-self? Or is it better to go and find an agent to help you publish a book? Well, if it's better to sign a contract to publish a book I probably go for that. I just think that self-publishing won't get an author anywhere.But then again, I know nothing about publishing a book, because I never published anything. I thought to worry about all that stuff later.
I guess everyone is right. I write because I love to write. I enjoy it so much. If I never publish a book, I don't care. The best part of writing to me, Is coming back days later, to see everything I wrote and say "wow I wrote that" Yes, Amazing!
For me now, this writing work I do is my passion..As for the money part, that would be a gift to me... That is not my priority actually... I want to affect people... Either love me or hate me and so far... I have both reactions with my works... Some are disgusted by some of my works but they still love to read more of me.. Some of my works were banned in several websites because of the sheer immorality of my writing because of very taboo topics I talked about and loved writing about..
Just for a preview I do write about a lot of necrophilia, incest, cannibalism, and other seemingly evil stuff. My goal is to be unique especially here in the Philippines. no one has done a book as extreme as mine.. as far as i know...
So basically, self-publishing is my only option. i don;t think a major publisher would want to carry my books in their list.. Some indie publishing houses may do but I do not think i'll ever be mainstream because of my chosen genre and favorite topic to write about.
Well, if it's better to sign a contract to publish a book I probably go for that. I just think that self-publishing won't get an author anywhere.It all depends on your goals.
Getting an agent is not always easy. In fact you can send out 100 querry letters over a year and get 80 rejections and 20 no responses. That happens. Likewise you might get an agent and then with a later book decide you really would rather be your own publisher/ agent and go that route.
Self-publishing is easy. Write a book. Upload it to a website. Print it.
Self-promotion is the challenge. It's getting into the book stores. It's getting reviews from people who are positioned to get readers to know your book is out there. It's the advertising budget. It's the work to get you booked at conventions or at book signings. Agents and publishers are positioned to really help there.
And there's the editor/ revision factor. Being part of a publishing house means you get access to an editor who is paid to go through your manuscript and check every last comma and every single Your/You're/Yore. This kind of service is usually cost prohibitive for an independent writer, at least at the quality you would expect from a major firm.
At the end of the day it's eyes on product that sells it and thus make money. It's possible for someone to self publish and get those eyes on the page. It's just substantionally harder, especially if you come in with very little of an established network.
Self publishing can only excellerate in my opinion. The options are becoming more and more available, the trouble is so many self published authors don't have their works professionally edited and so it puts that stigma on the rest that the works will be sub-par.If you have some web savvy then you should have no problem getting your book out there. I've self published my trilogy and am on every social network known to man. My books sell themselves now but I never stop promoting them.
You all make some fantastic points. Sigh, I have so much to learn. I tend to agree with Rob on the challenges of marketing and editing, though I'm glad to hear of the success of Micheal, and those like Amanda Hocking who blew it out of the park. She's the exception though, for sure. I believe great writing trumps poor mechanics, so even if you don't have professional editing, you may survive. I just want my readers to love my stories, but how cool to actually make money, too!
On the marketing note - has anyone ever listed their book on Netgalley before it was published? Is the fee worth the potential result?
With the rise of eBooks, thanks to Kindle and the Nook and other tablets, self-publishing is actually becoming more accepted by book readers and the preferred option for many new authors.Readers are more willing at times to buy a book from a lesser none self-published author that's $1.99 at times than from an established author whose ebook is around $12.99.
Most importantly, there are certain established authors who are now trying self-publishing via ebooks because of their discontent with the traditional publishing world.
Well, a "decline" can only be good for us if there's a smaller number of books being self-published --- i.e., sales drop enough that only the most dedicated authors hang in there. Under that scenario, the most dedicated could all gain readership while the charlatans wither away. As nice as that sounds, I see no evidence that that's what's happening.
I have no evidence to support my claims - just what I believe will happen.