I know a lot of writers here have self-published books before. I'm wondering under what circumstances should one self-publish their book. thanks for your thoughts on this!
When to self-publish?
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When you’ve run out of agents to query.
And when your work is properly edited, for most vanity presses (or POD) won’t do a good job at that.
And when your work is properly edited, for most vanity presses (or POD) won’t do a good job at that.
It depends on your purpose of self-publishing? Is it to share something you've written with family and friends? If that's the case, go for it. If it's to actually sell books, it's probably not a good idea.
I wrote a book about our bicycle journey around the Indian subcontinent back in 1990-91 and I doubt I could get it published at this point - it's just too old. It's a great story and I think some people would like to read it, but I think the chances of getting it commercially published are pretty close to nil. I"m thinking about self-publishing it just cuz...
Self publishing is double edge sword. If you self publish, you'll probably never see your book on the self at any local store. But, self publishing is open to everyone and the owner gets control of almost everything. No need to wait month for a publisher to deny your publication. Set your own pay for the book. Make your own cover (most likely in ms paint, unless your lucky enough to have some art friends).
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If the goal is exposure and/or sales, I'd say it's better to self publish when you have more access to your potential readers than a commercial publishing company would.
My wife self-published her genealogical research through Lulu, because by the time she was done, she was a member of all the lists and forums and societies where people interested in that family's genealogy would tend to be. So trying to find a commercial publisher would have been a waste of time for both her and the publisher, since she already knew exactly how to reach most of the potential market, which would always be tiny.
On the other hand, I'm more interested in commercial fiction, and there's no way I'd ever consider self-publishing. The marketing abilities of a commercial publisher are way better at targeting that demographic than I could ever be.
My wife self-published her genealogical research through Lulu, because by the time she was done, she was a member of all the lists and forums and societies where people interested in that family's genealogy would tend to be. So trying to find a commercial publisher would have been a waste of time for both her and the publisher, since she already knew exactly how to reach most of the potential market, which would always be tiny.
On the other hand, I'm more interested in commercial fiction, and there's no way I'd ever consider self-publishing. The marketing abilities of a commercial publisher are way better at targeting that demographic than I could ever be.
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You could wait until you get the story of a more recent ride published, then see if they're interested in publishing this one - as a sort of comparison, or companion book.
I've thought about doing that, Stormhawk. I just don't know if that will ever happen and I'm sitting on this one right now.
We are taking off in three weeks for a major trip and we expect to get a lot of visitors to our website - and those are the people who would be interested in reading the other book. So - I'm thinking that if we ever self-publish, now is the time.
But then again - if we could possibly get it published commercially, that would be better...
We are taking off in three weeks for a major trip and we expect to get a lot of visitors to our website - and those are the people who would be interested in reading the other book. So - I'm thinking that if we ever self-publish, now is the time.
But then again - if we could possibly get it published commercially, that would be better...
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I think it can be good for certain niche topics if you already have a built-in audience. I have a Disney Cruise Line website that gets a ton of traffic, and a few years back I "published" a DCL guidebook/planning worksheets on CD. It was a profitable enterprise, even with no marketing other than my site. I eventually stopped doing it because it took a lot of effort to update, and I was trying to balance that with updating the site and running a growing travel agency...something had to give.
The CD was good for that sort of topic tho' because it was nice to be able to update it instantly. I made 'em in-house and even produced my own labels. It was a fun project; wish I would have had the time to keep it going.
The CD was good for that sort of topic tho' because it was nice to be able to update it instantly. I made 'em in-house and even produced my own labels. It was a fun project; wish I would have had the time to keep it going.
That's exactly where we are - a niche topic with a built-in audience. I think I should probably go for it now rather than wait and hope it gets picked up in the future.
As a general question, does self-publishing pretty much PREVENT a publisher from picking up a book, or just only "somewhat" reduce the chances, or what? If Nancy ends up selling thousands of copies through Lulu and her 'familyonbikes' site, might a publisher (large or small) become interested in it, and/or in future books she might write?
I think if it a book of local interest and you can get shops to sell it, and sell it at swap meets and craft fairs, library and museum shops. Small run books, printed as you need more are not bad for this sort of self publishing. It is almost traditional that this sort of book is done vanity or small/ university press. The History of our little town type of book, or scenic local sites. Small books like this can actually get you established locally at least.
Examples/ Ideas:
Great Ghost Stories of Western Iowa.
The Methodists in Westren Iowa
Local art in Westren Iowa
Stops along the Wabash Trace of Western Iowa
Four Seasons in the Loess Hills of Western Iowa
Natural Dye Plants of Western Iowa
(having a Western Iowa kick here)
Examples/ Ideas:
Great Ghost Stories of Western Iowa.
The Methodists in Westren Iowa
Local art in Westren Iowa
Stops along the Wabash Trace of Western Iowa
Four Seasons in the Loess Hills of Western Iowa
Natural Dye Plants of Western Iowa
(having a Western Iowa kick here)
If you want to make a profit from self-publishing, before doing so I think it's important for you to ask yourself some tough questions and understand that when you self-publish you in effect become the publisher and take on all that a publisher normally does. For example, do you have the time required to pursue the endeavor? Do you have the business acumen? Do you know how much money you will need, and do you have it to lose? Is there a large enough, well defined audience for your book, and do you have the ability to reach it? Do you have the knowledge and ability required to publicize your book, market it, promote it, and distribute it? There's a lot more, but these are some of the essentials, at least as I see it.
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Well, there are those happy stories, like for Paoli, where you sell enough of your self-pubbed book and you get picked up. But he was writing commercial fiction.
If Nancy's market is very niche, and if she's already pretty much served them with the self-pubbed book, a publisher might not be interested in reprinting it. If there was a much wider market than she was hitting, then they might, because they can show the book sells.
Also, though, since she's doing another book, if this first one sells well, a publisher might consider printing the new book, since there is clearly a built-in audience.
Lots of variables to consider when making this decision, many of which were pointed out by other posters.
OK - here's my situation. In your opinion, is self-publishing a POD book the way to go?
I'm taking off in three weeks to ride my bike from Alaska to Argentina with my family. We plan to be on the road for about 2 1/2 years (more or less). I have the manuscript totally ready to go and could start formatting right now. My husband is really, really good with Photoshop, so he could come up with a cover for me.
As we ride, we will be keeping a blog and expect pretty good numbers. On our last journey we ended the year with somewhere around 2,000 regular readers. We're expecting significantly more on this trip. We could advertise the book on our website and I do think there are a fair number of people who would buy it - they obviously enjoy our writing or they wouldn't be coming back to our blog.
The main thing is that we can't be sending it out at all, but I'm sure there are companies that will do that for us - I just have to figure out how that would work.
So - what do you think? I think the chances of this book getting picked up by a commercial publisher are pretty close to nil. It just seems like I don't have anything to lose by doing this. But then again, maybe I do. I dunno....
I'm taking off in three weeks to ride my bike from Alaska to Argentina with my family. We plan to be on the road for about 2 1/2 years (more or less). I have the manuscript totally ready to go and could start formatting right now. My husband is really, really good with Photoshop, so he could come up with a cover for me.
As we ride, we will be keeping a blog and expect pretty good numbers. On our last journey we ended the year with somewhere around 2,000 regular readers. We're expecting significantly more on this trip. We could advertise the book on our website and I do think there are a fair number of people who would buy it - they obviously enjoy our writing or they wouldn't be coming back to our blog.
The main thing is that we can't be sending it out at all, but I'm sure there are companies that will do that for us - I just have to figure out how that would work.
So - what do you think? I think the chances of this book getting picked up by a commercial publisher are pretty close to nil. It just seems like I don't have anything to lose by doing this. But then again, maybe I do. I dunno....
Personally, I would hold off. This bike ride you're on is a great story, and you're going to want to write that up and there's bound to be overlap with the first book. So why not build up a big fan base, write this book, sell it, and then see what happens with the old book. I don't know that self-publishing the old book will hurt your chances, and I guess if you sold a gazillion copies that would be great, but my sense is that you're better off focusing on this one. Good luck. What an adventure you're on.
Thanks Susan. There really isn't any overlap - the first one is about a trip I took way back in 1990-91 with just my husband. NOw we are traveling as a family. I will definitely hold off on the one I wrote about our family adventure in 2006-07 and hope that gets published commercially. But my really old one - I just don't see that it would get picked up unless I become another Paul Theroux!!
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Nancy, as a business professional in marketing for over 20 years, I'd tell you to wait.
Why?
Because you're leaving in less than 3 weeks.
This is NOT the time to make an investment of this nature. You run so many risks -- not the least of which being that someone will order said book and you will not be there to send it out, meaning that you enrage and disappoint the very people you want to create as lifelong readers.
Can you find a company to do this all for you? Sure. In less than 3 weeks? Um, sure. Will they be ANY GOOD? Only if you already have extensive contacts in the field and have already been in serious, business-type talks with them (not, "Hey, Peg, you know, this book of mine" while at dinner)...and I'm betting you don't. Or you'd already be talking to them instead of to us.
I can understand your desire to just "Get it out there"...but if you were my client I would tell you to wait and consider your full marketing plan while you're on your trip, then come back and put it into action, not try to get a full-blown plan in place right before this trip.
Why?
Because you're leaving in less than 3 weeks.
This is NOT the time to make an investment of this nature. You run so many risks -- not the least of which being that someone will order said book and you will not be there to send it out, meaning that you enrage and disappoint the very people you want to create as lifelong readers.
Can you find a company to do this all for you? Sure. In less than 3 weeks? Um, sure. Will they be ANY GOOD? Only if you already have extensive contacts in the field and have already been in serious, business-type talks with them (not, "Hey, Peg, you know, this book of mine" while at dinner)...and I'm betting you don't. Or you'd already be talking to them instead of to us.
I can understand your desire to just "Get it out there"...but if you were my client I would tell you to wait and consider your full marketing plan while you're on your trip, then come back and put it into action, not try to get a full-blown plan in place right before this trip.
I agree with Jeanne and would only add that I think you may be short changing yourself in the not so long run. The ride you are going on certainly has the ingredients for a terrific book, or more. And I think it might very well be for a commercial (traditional) publisher. That's the one I would concentrate on - not the earlier ride. I'd let the story of the earlier ride stew until you complete what's ahead of you. Lots of reasons not to self-publish at this point, including that if the latter ride makes for a good book, your self-publishing activities and association with a book about your first ride may cause conflict with a traditional publisher.
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I advise you to shelve the project for now, and produce something new. After you have a couple books out, and an audience, you can always pull out an old project, dust it off, and re-work it for the contemporary audience.
Don't obsess about just this one book. Careers are rarely built on just one book, after all.
Don't obsess about just this one book. Careers are rarely built on just one book, after all.
I seem to be detecting a theme here.... What do you think the chances are that a book about a bike trip taken in 1990-91 would ever be published at this point?
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Honestly? I'd still say fair to middling without a new book. WITH a new one that does well? I'd say fair to very good.
This is a business that demands patience, even when we don't want to have it. From what I've gleaned from reading your posts about your trips, they're fascinating, and something that I think is unusual in how you do them, where you go, etc.
But I'm not an agent. However, I am a marketing professional. NO new product should be launched in the 3 weeks prior to going on a huge trip, especially if the launch is going from conception to launch in those 3 weeks.
Take your trip. Enjoy your trip. Get a fabulous new book out of your trip. Worry about the rest of this when you get back from this fabulous trip. It'll still be there when you get back...and so will we.
This is a business that demands patience, even when we don't want to have it. From what I've gleaned from reading your posts about your trips, they're fascinating, and something that I think is unusual in how you do them, where you go, etc.
But I'm not an agent. However, I am a marketing professional. NO new product should be launched in the 3 weeks prior to going on a huge trip, especially if the launch is going from conception to launch in those 3 weeks.
Take your trip. Enjoy your trip. Get a fabulous new book out of your trip. Worry about the rest of this when you get back from this fabulous trip. It'll still be there when you get back...and so will we.
thanks again Jeanne! I just never even considered that maybe, possibly, this old book could be commercially published. I am now shopping around a book I wrote about our last journey, and will certainly plan on writing one about our upcoming journey - but I figured that 18-year-old book didn't stand a chance. Maybe I'll hang on to it a while longer and see what happens with the one I'm shopping around right now.
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