A Self-Publisher’s How-To: Introducing the Models
The good news about self publishing is you get to do everything
yourself. The bad news about self publishing is you get to do
everything yourself.
- Lori Lesko
Being a writer, you probably value your independence above
everything else. After all, it may well be possible that the publishers
are wrong about your potential readers’ expectations. It’s always been
that way. More than a hundred years ago, none other than Marcel
Proust faced the rejection of three publishing houses. They would
accept his work with open hands, had it been shorter and more
engaging. What did he do? Instead of giving up, he decided to pay for
the printing himself, and became an unofficial patron of all selfpublishers out there. If not for his stubbornness, the history of
literature would have been different.
However, if you decide to take a similar route, you have to be
prepared for certain challenges along the way. It’s common knowledge
that freedom comes with more responsibility – so you will have to think
over every little choice. But keep in mind that the reward may be all
the greater for the effort.
Don’t get lost! Three major strategies
Print on Demand
Start with looking into different models of self-publishing. If your
primary goal is printing your book and at the same time you don’t
expect a huge audience, the best option for you may be Print on
Demand publishing. Here’s what Guy Kawasaki, one of the authors
of APE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur, has to say about this one:
Don’t forget that many people still prefer a printed book, and ebooks
account for approximately 10 percent of the US publishing
business. (Ed. note: Remember though that the digital market is on the
rise. Now ebooks make for between 20 and 30% of the profits.)
However, you don’t want to end up with a garage full of unsold books,
so find a printer that will print on demand like Lightning
Source or CreateSpace.
What’s in it for the company? They take around 40% of every book
sold. By the way, there’s a small catch: it’s only profitable if you sell up
to six books a month. As well as this, you need to consciously choose
a printer with additional author services (like Lulu) or one which
doesn’t offer such options (like CreateSpace).
Upfront-Fee Model
There’s also a so-called upfront-fee model. An author has to pay a
company like Matador between 1100 and 4000 dollars to prepare and
publish their book. Sometimes other services – such as marketing –
are included. If you want to lower the initial price, you should settle for
releasing an e-book. As you probably already noticed, an upfront-fee
model is a great choice for those who need a bit more assistance.
Remember though there’s no guarantee you’ll be able to make back
your investment. But if your only goal is to get your work out there, you
should definitely consider this one.
Subscriptions
Finally there are subscriptions. They’re generally associated with the
music or movies industry, but they can also go well with publishing. An
author pays a monthly fee for putting his titles on the platform which
works like a virtual bookshop – and keeps book royalties all to himself.
For this one to work, you have to be pretty self-sufficient, but it can
also be very rewarding financially if you’re selling more than a few
books a month. If you’re interested, check out CompletelyNovel.com.
Few years back, it was a really big deal on the start-up and publishing
market. Beth Griffin of SmallBizPod wrote in her review that thanks to
this site suddenly, the sky for would be writers seems the limit.
Additionally, Henry Baum of Self Publishing Review pointed out that
it’s a good combination of self-publishers and social networks (click to
read the whole review).
An intermediary option for the undecided ones
Still not convinced if self-publishing is right for you? Perhaps you
should check out hybrid publishing, which is a mixture of traditional
and self-publishing models, which is becoming more and more popular
and growing rapidly on the market.
Why is this option worth considering? What advantages does it
have over more extreme options?
First of all, it’s important to stress that since the hybrid publishing
world is very dynamic and always in search for new solutions, it’s
difficult to grasp it in few short paragraphs. Still, just like with selfpublishing, it’s possible to distinguish some crucial characteristics.
One of them is the lack of big advances for the authors (a few hundred
is all you can count on). Instead you’ll get royalties which are
considerably higher than with traditional publishers (although not as
high as with self-publishing) and won’t be asked to pay any of the
upfront costs. Keep in mind that pretty much everyone working on your
book will be in the same situation – most hybrid publishers work with
virtual employees who only get paid if people buy the book. And
there’s another flipside! These companies are known for their
incredible marketing skills. Here’s what Liz Pelletier
from Entangled told Forbes:
We bring in branding and social media experts to train our authors.
Bestselling authors are great storytellers. 80% of books are still sold
by word of mouth. We did market research on “The Marriage Bargain”
and more than 85% of respondents said that they bought the book
because someone recommended it personally.
- David Vinjamuri, How Hybrid Publishers Innovate to Succeed
If we got you hooked, companies like Booktrope should be your next
stop.
Stay open-minded
We also have one final piece of advice for all of those seeking the
perfect way to publish their work – don’t only look at the model that
suits you. Thoroughly check out companies that represent each of
them and get in touch with the people who are behind them.
Sometimes the details can prove to be decisive. Also, you didn’t
choose freedom for nothing – thankfully, you’re in the place to think for
yourself and experiment.