Pros and Cons - Starting your own publishing biz

ColoradoMom · Jun 20, 2010

I just cannot make up my mind of how I want to proceed. On the one hand I think the traditional route of me finding a direct publisher of my non-fiction textbooks (which I already market and sell myself) is alluring. It just seems like I would have a lot more time on my hands if I could hand some stuff over to a "professional".

On the other hand - I'm already doing it - does it really make sense to start the process over again with a "real" publisher. And after doing some research my options seem so limited in the textbook publishing world.

So here's my dilemma, I can buy the block of ISBN's and publish my books myself - which is a perfectly acceptable option in my line of work.

or

I can buy the ISBN's and publish with LS on demand.

or

I can restart the process and go the traditional publishing route.

I just get stuck on how much money I will initially lose by not doing it all myself - in addition I wonder how long it would take me to find a publisher...or even an agent for that matter.

Would I not be better off creating my own publishing house and pushing ahead? In addition - would I not have more freedom by going this route?

Please, some advice here. I think the biggest draw to a traditional publisher is the prospect of having them foot the bill for some promotion - do they do this? Or would I be right back where I'm at right now - marketing them myself? I don't really mind marketing the books, I just don't have a ton of money to get it done. If I go with LS I would still be in the same situation, right?

I have a platform and a very loyal customer base if that helps in determining what might be appropriate for me.

Thanks in advance.

Axler · Jun 20, 2010

At this point, mainstream publishers put very little money or effort into promoting a new author's book...they expect you to shoulder the lion's share of that, both expense and time-wise.

Frankly, if you've already have a degree of name recognition, you're way ahead of the curve. Unless you're confident your work will accepted by an agent and then contracted by a publisher in a reasonable period of time (six months to a year) and you're willing to wait another year--or more-- before the book is in print, then I would suggest going that route.

On the other hand...if you already know how to do it yourself and you don't care to go that time, money and energy-sapping route, then I would suggest going with the sure thing.

At least you know you'll get it done.

Terie · Jun 20, 2010

Why not send out queries to commercial publishers to see what happens? If you get an offer, that would be the time to start doing your cost/benefit analyses, when you know what a publisher can offer in exchange for taking tasks off your hands. If you don't get any bites, then continuing with self-publishing is no problem.

And don't forget that your time is money. When you say that taking a smaller cut for a commercial deal will cost you...have you factored in how much time you'll have available to write more instead of doing the other stuff? I think this is a factor that a lot of people don't take into account. If your time is worth, say, $25 an hour and you're spending, say, 10 hours a week on self-publishing tasks that aren't actually writing, that's costing you, in effect, $250 a week. (Example only; you're the only one who can decide how much money your time is worth, and only you know how much time you're spending each week.)

To me, it sounds like you're pretty much in a win-win situation, since you're already self-publishing with some success. I'd say: send out some queries and see what you get back. You have a better fall-back position than many do.

ColoradoMom · Jun 20, 2010

Yeah, I think I will send some queries. I spend SO much time running my website, answering customer e-mails, and so on and so on that it zaps my energy for writing. I am a prolific writer - I pound out a new self-published unit study every single Sunday as it is part of my commitment to my website subscribers, but those are not the only things I want to write, ya know? I have so many other projects that get lost in the shuffle. I just long for someone else to take over the "business" part.

I guess that is not reasonable at this stage. Regardless of which avenue I choose I will still be the one hoofing it, won't I?

I wrote a proposal this morning and will polish it up this week and send it off to the one publisher that really sounds like a good fit and see what they say. Otherwise I'm buying that block of ISBN's and will figure it out as I go I guess.

Who knows, maybe they will bite. The worst they can do is say no thank you. :Shrug:

Pros and Cons - Starting your own publishing biz

ColoradoMom

Axler

Terie

Writer is as Writer does

ColoradoMom