I read this post by TBM To Self-Publish or Not to Self-Publish, and it got me thinking. As a mother of an aspiring writer and an aspiring writer myself, I will likely have to deal with this agonizing question in one form or another — sooner or later. Through my recent forays into creative writing I got a glimpse of what it’s like to be on the writer’s side of things. And though I am still light years away from any finished product that would require all that effort, I can still share my opinion of self-publishing as a reader. And plenty of that I’ve got. I mean opinion, of course. And it’s not in favour of self-publishing. But let me tell you about my experience with self-published, or indie, books first.
Truth be told, I am not an adventurous reader — I prefer to stick to authors whose books I’ve already read. But it would be logical to assume that if that were really the case, I would have been stuck with Cinderella or Pinocchio stories for the rest of my life. So, whether I consider myself adventurous or not, I do discover new authors every once in a while, mostly by `hanging out` with book review blogs, through my local public library, the amazons, Kobo online store, and just browsing bookstore shelves and buying books with pretty covers.
My first indie book was In Her Name: Empire by Michael Hicks. And this time it found me for a change. It was free too. It happened in my early Twitter days, when I had 0 followers or something close to a 0. As soon as I announced to the world that I am a `bookworm,` with an eReader device, my following began to grow slowly, but steadily, consisting mostly of indie authors. Michael Hicks just happened to be among my first followers, an affable fellow, who enticed me with an offer of a free fantasy book. I had no idea it was self-published, nor did I care about the fact. I just downloaded it to my Kobo and ended up liking it so much, that I bought two more of his books. Those two turned out a little less exciting and I never finished them.
After that I tried reading several more indie authors only to discover that their books were ridden with typos and bad grammar. Needless to say, I lost my interest in them pretty quickly. There was another author whose books I was seeking out because I was intrigued by the hype on Twitter. But, guess what, the elusive writer didn’t seem to care whether his books could be easily downloaded. I just couldn’t find his books in the format compatible with my device ANYWHERE. Maybe I didn’t try hard enough. But really why should I?
So, for now I stay away from indie books, and it’s not because I don’t believe there are good or even great indie authors out there. I just don’t have the time to separate the wheat from the chaff; I’d rather have publishers do that for me.
But despite my not-so-positive experiences, I believe there is bright future for self-publishing. Maybe it’s already here, if only just for a handful indie writers who either have a great self-promotion strategy or an amazing product. Not so long ago I told my son to try and self-publish his book on Smashwords, and even offered to do the editing and the cover art. (now I kind of question the wisdom of this offer :-))
If you are an indie author who dreams of being published, self- or otherwise, I wish you good luck – because you are going to need it.
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I’ve had some bad experiences with self-published books, but I’ve also had some good ones. It’s just frustrating that you never know until you start reading whether there’s even been an editor. Even if self-published books are cheaper, I’d rather pay for a traditionally published one that I know has been vetted. I’ll make the occasional exception, but on the whole I prefer traditional publishing.
Grace, yes, that’s one of the reasons I prefer traditional publishing. And I’ve disappointed with traditionally published books and famous authors, even with S. King (just some of his books). I was disappointed with my favourite authors too like G.RR Martin and R. Jordan. And the bottom line is – an author can’t please everyone, there will be those who love their work, those who hate, and those who couldn’t care less. It’s just happens so that for self published authors it’s a lot harder to please.
You’re killing me here, Natalie. I am self-published. However, I paid for editing on all three of my books, to assure the errors I made didn’t show up in the final printings. I also paid the pros to set up my e-books, so hopefully they will adapt to ALL readers. I went through a publisher for “How Orples Came To Be”,and to be honest, I’m a lot happier doing it myself. For one, having a middleman, makes the book more expensive to the reader. Not to mention, I had to sell 100 books, just to make a royalty on my first book. Going direct, royalties begin with the first sale made, unless I buy my own books (which is much cheaper for me, too) in which case, I can sell them direct and then mark them up from there. I am hoping that once people read one of my books, they will like them enough to purchase the others. It’s a bear breaking into the book market when nobody knows who you are, so I hope there are some adventurous readers out there looking for illustrated children’s books. Otherwise, I’ll got a lot of time and money invested for naught. 😦 . If you ever do decide to self-publish, beware and read the fine print. I could have printed all three of my books for the money I invested in my first book and that includes the cost having my e-books formatted correctly. Thanks for the wish for luck, though. I suspect I’ll need it. It’s a tough market. 🙂
Marcy, i don’t know much about children’s books market. It must be as tough I presume. But you are already doing much better than other indie authors, you are already ahead of the game. I think it’s important to stay focused and things will fall into place. I haven’t read your books, so I can’t comment, but I saw your illustrations, and read excerpts that you posted, you’ve got a great story, you’ve got a great blog to connect with potential readers, you use an editor. I think you can easily be among that handful of lucky ones. Check out Mike HIck’s blog, he’s got a ton of advice about digital strategy and self-promotion on twitter, fb and through a blog. He actually managed to quit his day job and become a full time writer based on sales of his books. The biggest thing in book promo is word of mouth. Once you’ve got people talking about your work, you’ll be laughing. I wish you good luck and strong focus!
I’d love it if my books do catch on, Natalie. I have my heart and soul wrapped up in them. If you know anyone with Children, that might be interested, please pass the word along. In the meantime, thank you for cluing me in on Mike Hick’s blog. I’ll seek him out when time allows. 🙂
Hey, that’s an idea! Are your books available in paperback? I suppose that would be through Amazon, correct? I can get them as birthday gifts and I’ll read one myself. 🙂
As an author who is starting to explore how to get my book published I am keeping all of my options open. Yes it would be great to have a publisher sign me but this is easier said than done. Many publishers either won’t accept my manuscript since I’m unpublished or simply won’t read it. I think my chances would be better with a smaller publisher. And if I can’t get in the door, I am willing to explore self-publishing. I think both avenues are risky. However, I would never put my book in print without having it edited. Thanks for mentioning my blog and I wish luck to you and your son.
What kind of books do you write? I read all kinds. I think your blog is a great avenue for promotion, as long as you keep a balance btw good content and promo. You have so many followers. I am sure they will all be happy to read your book once you self publish and they can also write reviews. And hopefully the reviews will all be awesome and it will create a buzz, and you’ll get where you want to be, hopefully sooner, rather than later. I think it’s wise to have a few short stories that you can offer free of charge, so people can get a taste of your work and will be eager to pay for your novels. I also recommend checking out Jeff Goin’s blog. You may find some useful tips there. Remember, vision, focus, courage will get you where you want to be! 🙂
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