A while ago, back around when I first got my publishing deal, I wrote about
self-publishing versus traditional publishing. I pretty much concluded that while self-publishing seemed interesting, the work involved would equal the work I'd put into a traditional publishing deal, and I would be losing out on all the added benefits a traditional publisher would give me.
While I still very much believe this, a number of points that have been made recently are causing me to modify my perception of how self-publishing can be used as
another avenue rather than
the only avenue.
By this I mean - I'm now far more interested in
self-publishing viewed as a supplementary income/exposure tool rather than
the road to writer success. Because it seems to be that a higher proportion of people than I expected are making a decent, rather than astronomical, amount of money self-publishing. And as long as you're not expecting to take over the world as a writer and become a millionaire or household name, this really is a good thing.
You've probably heard of Hugh Howey. If you haven't, just Google him. His story is a fascinating one. It's by no means the first 'self-publishing crosses over into mainsteam' success story, but it interests me the most because of the sorts of things he says in
this article in particular. Read the whole thing, it's worth it, but I'm going to pick out the points that spark most with me.
Rather than a lot of other articles I've read by self-published authors who seem to be mainly about how traditional publishing is an evil, outmoded empire that any self-respecting writer should salt frantically like the slug it is, he says things like:-
'... writers responded to a thread I started titled: “The Self Published Authors I Want to Hear From.” I wanted to know how many forum members were making $100 to $500 a month. My suspicion was that it was more than any of us realized. Every response I received started with a variation of: “I’m actually making a lot more than that.” '
'For every outlier like myself or Bella Andre or Amanda Hocking, there must be hundreds of people doing well enough with their writing to pay a few bills. The more time I spent online in various writing forums, the more this hunch hardened into a real theory.'
'What is becoming more apparent with every passing day is that you have a better chance of paying a bill or two through self-publishing than you do through any other means of publication.'
The 'bill or two' is the main thing in that last point, and I disagree with the 'any other means of publication' comment. What's happening to me, reading more and more of these kinds of articles, is that I'm thinking about that supplementary income aspect. I'm thinking about more exposure online to my work. I'm thinking of maximising my chances as a successful writer by no longer having only one viable avenue to go down.
These are the three main selling points, currently, that self-publishing has to offer over traditional models:
- You can self-publish something much, much faster than you can the traditional method.
- You can take risks because it's only you taking the risk. i.e. you can change the cover, change the price, change the description of your book.
- You own every aspect of your work.
I would consider self-publishing if you are a writer who:
- doesn't expect to be making a mint out of it, but rather treats it as supplementary income. This is really a version of the tune 'don't give up your day job' which has been sung by those with sensible brains since forever.
- is able to spend some money upfront to hire a professional proofreader and cover designer (this is really important. Honestly. You'll stand out a mile.)
- treats it as a long game. All writers should be doing this anyway, but seriously. This is a long game. This means that instead of putting a book out there and expecting to see great sales in the first month, you put a book out there and maybe you'll get great sales after a year or two, which will spike when you put another book out there. And then another. Build yourself. If you're in it to be successful on one book, well... good luck. You're going to need it.
- is already traditionally published (congratulations) but wants to increase revenue in the time spaces between payments/publishing dates by putting separate stories out there in digital format. And, more importantly, actually has the time to do that. I'm not suggesting that it's easy - I juggle my day job with the writing career and sometimes there is simply not enough time. Also, I like to have a social life. My view is - when you're not involved in work for your publisher, there will be a month or two when you don't actually need to write. If, like me, you're the kind of person who feels weird and anxious when they don't write - then consider using that time to write something, anything, that you may end up self-publishing instead.*
I'm going to end this with the following reminder of how many advantages there are to traditional publishing that self-publishing doesn't offer, which is why I'm repeatedly saying 'another avenue' rather than 'the only avenue' to explore:
- I can't stress enough how important the print market still is - guys, it's huge. It's still way bigger than e-books. If you can get a traditional print deal, you're lucky and it's wonderful and you should. Don't underestimate the power of a physical object, a tangible thing, YOUR tangible thing that will last, over a digital file.
- I can't stress enough how much 'behind the scenes' support you get from a trad publisher - the editing process, the marketing, publicity, sales, rights teams all behind your book selling the crap out of it. That this doesn't breed overwhelming success for lots of writers is not because publishers couldn't give a shit - quite the opposite. It's because there isn't a formula for success, or we'd all be rich; it's also because the market is so, so much tougher than it used to be, and it's going through a lot of upheaval. There are publishers out there responding to this wonderfully. They are the ones who will survive.
- The financial burden is on them, not you. They are the ones taking the money risk. They are paying out a lot to see your book created and out there and sold in wonderful quantities. It's in their best interests to work as hard as possible to make that happen.
- They will also be producing an e-book of your work, and probably to a higher standard than you. Yes, your print book has a finite 'in print' life, but your e-book doesn't. It exists online forever, just like a self-published e-book, in fact, and your publisher will be able to sell it through online retailers you simply cannot get to, maximising the reach of your e-book.
* Or, saving a bit of time, rewrite existing stuff - those short stories you have languishing in some computer folder, for example, that you never thought would see the light of day. To be clear, I'm not talking about self-publishing the crap you'll never try to get a trad deal with because you think it's sub-par, either - if you have any self-respect you'll never put work out there anywhere that you think isn't actually very good.
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