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EWR has many lists. We
try to be as complete as possible when it comes to collecting information
for our listings and passing on those listings to writers. We have
consciously avoided creating a self publishing/ print on demand list for the
last 2 years. We did this simply because the risks of self publishing are so
great and the pitfalls so numerous, we just didn't want to put our hats into
this controversial ring. We are writer/author advocates, and one of our
highest goals is "Do No Harm." After much consideration we have decide to
supply a list of print on demand companies, but with this warning: It is
true many self publishing companies are simple scams. They take your money,
or charge vast amounts of money for your own book, and you get little in
return. Some are legitimate companies that give you what you pay for and
what they say they charge for. They PRINT your book. Vanity publishers have
been around for many years. It used to be easy to tell where the problem
was. They would charge you lots of money up front, and you would get a print
run of books. Print on Demand technology has blurred these lines. Now what
seems to be a great free company might be the most expensive of any of your
options.
MAKE SURE YOU DO YOUR RESEARCH before you publish with any
company. Make sure you know all the costs. Talk to others who have gone with
the company, see what it is about first. If you must go the self publishing
route, look at as much information as possible before you make that
decision.
This article is not about which company to go with, it is
about if you should publish your book yourself. Better stated can you be
successful publishing your own book? Here is where the trick comes in. The
SECRET most people (authors included) in the industry will not tell you is
simply stated: it is not publishing a book that is hard. It is the support
of the publishing company, the advertising, the placement that makes a
successful book.
The amount of books being published these days is
staggering. If you look at estimates there was between 300,000 to 500,000
books published in the US in 2007. It depends on if you count self published
books to get the high end number. Most of these books will not sell. Most
will not be successful. Just look at the Oprah book club to get an idea of
how a book becomes extremely popular. The book is displayed in a prominent
place. Oprah's books are always top sellers. They get displayed to a very
large audience. No brainer right? Think of the book you walked by this week
at your local publisher. You know the one sitting on the table at the front
of the book store. The publisher made a deal with that book store to put
that book in that space. In fact, if you see any book displayed in anyway at
a bookstore, the publisher has negotiated that display in some way. Yes,
even to turn a book facing front on a shelf takes some doing by a publisher.
The self publishing industry points to successful books that were
self published like Kevin Trudeau's Natural Cures They Don't Want You to
Know About. This is a case of a self published book that did very well. It
also makes the case for promotion very clearly. Trudeau is an infomercial
guru. He has been in infomercials for years, and he used that medium to
promote the book.
The promotion and placement is key. Many
university “folk” publish books with very small print runs. For instance
poetry books many times have very small print runs from established small
presses. These books do not sell a great amount, but it serves the author in
prestige. You don't get prestige from self publishing a book. At your local
book store there are many books that do not sell. That will not sell and
will sit on the shelf for a long time. These are books published by large
book companies. The companies promote the book, but the book still does
poorly in sales. Think about this. You have written a book. You have put
hard work into it. Now you will put 10 times the work into promoting it, and
it still may not sell.
How many books do you have to sell before you
are noticed by a major book publisher? No one knows. Some self published
books sell well as a self published book is concerned. They do not make
money for the author. They simply out sell other self published books. Those
authors are still not picked up by large publishing houses.
The
next big problem with self publishing is editing. There is a process the
industry uses to make a book sucessful. It goes something like this: You get
a book deal. You sign a contract that protects you and the publisher. You
may or may not get an advance. You then go through edits. These edits are
not simple spell check or finding grammatical errors in the book. This
happens, but it is not all that happens. These edits are discussions about
the best way to make the book successful. Will the character be better off
doing this or this? Will the end be better if this? Do you feel the theme of
the book is served well? These are some of the questions asked. Sometimes
much of the book is changed from the original writing some times not, but
the point is you have serveral people looking at the text and making it
better. Doing it yourself is very difficult. Even publishing companies have
a set "route" a manuscript must take before it ever sees the light of day.
No successful writer has ever done everything themselves. Even T.S. Eliot
had Ezra Pound edit the "Wasteland." Writing is a lone act, but editing is
best served by a group of talented and devoted editors.
If you self
publish you have no chance of getting promoted except by your own efforts.
With the market so saturated it is almost impossible to get people to read
your work. What I'm saying is, if you go with a self publishing company do
not expect success. You have a very very slim chance of selling many copies
of your books. It will cost you some money no matter what the company says.
Not all print on demand companies are scams. Many are good
companies. I mean a good company here using this definition: they do what
they say they are going to do. They do not miss lead you into thinking you
will be an overnight success. Many authors who HAVE published with
traditional companies have kept their day jobs. There isn't a magic button.
Those who have had success with self publishing companies usually have
circumstances surrounding that success that self publishing companies do not
like to advertise. Sure anything is possible, but are you better off to
rewrite the book? Are you better off to start your next manuscript and when
that one is published release the first? Research. Make sure the company
does what it says even if it isn't a self publishing company.
