What are the Reasons Why You *Can* Self-Publish?

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ios

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Flipping through The Magic of Thinking Big by David J. Schwartz, Ph.D., for the first time, I found a cute chapter entitled "Vaccinate Yourself Against Excusitis, the Failure Disease." And I came across this:

"Had I been drilled a little more in why a small business can succeed, I'd be better off in every way today."
I decided to rephrase it as:

Focus on why something can succeed, not why something can't.
I'm a born-again optimist, struggling constantly against pessimism, but this really hit home. Because when I thought to myself "I know why I can't succeed as a self-published writer, but what about the reasons why I can?", I drew a blank. When I tried again, I started on a tentative list, but still after reading what little I have of this chapter, it seems like one the greatest obstacles standing in my way is myself.

So, I thought it might work as a nice shot of optimism to create a thread and see what others think--what are the reasons why you can self-publish? Maybe it will inspire you, too.

Jodi
 

Irysangel

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Everyone can self-publish. Well, unless you have a non-compete that forbids it, but even then you might be able to self-publish under a pseudonym (check your contracts, kids!).

I think the question you are asking (and maybe I'm wrong) is "Why you can succeed as a self-published author" rather than just "why you can self publish" ?

Or am I reading that wrong?
 

BySharonNelson

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I would have to say the biggest reason why you can succeed is because you believe in your story more than anyone else. You have created this work and more than anyone you want to see it succeed which will drive you to make it better. Everything about self publishing can be learned but the drive, desire and dedication it takes to make a book successful cannot. You may get lucky and find an agent or publisher who really believes in your book but you may not. If you are publishing yourself then you know your book is getting your best effort. My 2 cents. :)
 

annetpfeffer

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Jodi,
What a great idea! So here goes. I can succeed in self-publishing because:
1. I actually like doing all the marketing stuff.
2. I have a lot of ideas for marketing.
3. I'm willing to put in the time and work.
4. I've written a book, called Loving Emily, that lots of different people like to read.
5. Word of mouth will help spread the news about Loving Emily.
6. I already have a little bit of a platform for Loving Emily, a little group of people waiting for it to come out so they can buy it.
7. I'm very highly motivated to make it work.
8. I don't give up.
9. I truly believe in Loving Emily.
10. I'll be happy with the results. I don't mind selling books a few at a time and growing an audience slowly.
11. I'm having fun with this.
12. This is what I want to do.
 

pengwinz

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Well, I'd have to say the most basic answer to why you know you can succeed is because others have. There's a precedent. But while is important for a particular individual to know this when entering into the self-pubbing arena, there's a reason why so many discussions focus on the can't: ignorance of the hurdles and the necessary steps will guarantee failure, whereas awareness of the opposite is no assurance of success. I know this sounds pessimistic in tone, but for someone who's been seriously researching SP for the past six months (and resisting) while also partnering with a recently self-published writer on my blog, I've seen and heard pretty much everything on both sides of the argument. A dose of optimism and a dose of reality are, I believe, the most potent mix for the aspiring self-pubber.

BTW, my writing partner, Saul Tanpepper, just posted a pair of posts at The Writer's RoadTrip (link below) on mapping out the indie journey (pt 1 dealing with the decision, pt 2 with understanding the route).
 

ios

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Everyone can self-publish. Well, unless you have a non-compete that forbids it, but even then you might be able to self-publish under a pseudonym (check your contracts, kids!).

I think the question you are asking (and maybe I'm wrong) is "Why you can succeed as a self-published author" rather than just "why you can self publish" ?

Or am I reading that wrong?

Nah, not reading it wrong, you're just reading it from someone who is a little weird. :) Anyway, in response to your question, it is a little of both. The quote in the OP came from an example in the book of a man who talked himself out of starting his own business because he focused too much on the reasons why it wouldn't work. Some days, when I'm really negative, I can almost do the exact same. Fortunately, the day passes and I get over it :)

Jodi
 

ios

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Great list, annetpfeffer. One of my reasons is that I will enjoy doing the marketing because I enjoy reading marketing and business books and coming up with ideas. Hopefully that will stay true once I start marketing ;-) Another is that I used to work with HTML/XHTML and enjoyed it, so I know I'll enjoy messing with formatting and conversions.

That's also very interesting in your platform for Loving Emily. How did that come about?

Jodi
 

ios

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A dose of optimism and a dose of reality are, I believe, the most potent mix for the aspiring self-pubber.

Good point, and that is what I am shooting for. The right attitude that says "whatever I don't know I can learn or find out", not "I don't know how to do these and that sounds awful hard and I can't learn to do that, so I might as well give up before I start." That last attitude is what plagues me from time to time, but I usually catch myself falling into that trap.

BTW, my writing partner, Saul Tanpepper, just posted a pair of posts at The Writer's RoadTrip (link below) on mapping out the indie journey (pt 1 dealing with the decision, pt 2 with understanding the route).

Thanks, I'll check it out. Love reading about what other self-pubbers/indies learn.

Jodi
 

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Well, lots to gnaw on in this question.

First, how do you define success? A self-published author's sales figures are unlikely to approach those of a commercially-published author, but so what? Maybe selling 200 copes is success to you, or a thousand.

Second, can you target the perfect readership at little to no cost? If your book is about, say, model rockets, are you the editor of a model rocket newsletter, a regular on model rocketry forums, a familiar face at conventions? This is one of the reasons non-fiction which is self-published can work better than fiction, because the subject matter defines a reachable market.

Third, do you have the time to market the work? Or will you blow off giving it everything you've got, marketing-wise, because that takes away time you could be writing?

Fourth, do you know how to market the work? I don't, but it's a learnable skill. If, for instance, I chose to self-publish my erotica, I have some ideas, but there are no doubt thousands of potential buyers my ideas would never reach.

Just stray thoughts. I have two family members who've self-published non-fiction with a fair amount of success, largely because they had a built-in way to target their readership.

Maryn, kind of thinking aloud
 

annetpfeffer

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Great list, annetpfeffer.

That's also very interesting in your platform for Loving Emily. How did that come about?

Jodi

Thanks, Jodi. A year and a half ago, I posted Loving Emily on Inkpop.com, a teen literature website. There it grew a little band of followers who have remained loyal -- now a year later, I still get messages from those kids asking when is LE coming out, am I writing a sequel, and so forth.

I have about 400 comments from Inkpop readers about my book. Some of the comments are on my website. It's the most gratifying thing in the world to have readers -- actual fans -- who like your book and tell you so. It has kept me going through all the rejections you encounter as a writer.

Nonetheless, I've still worked on LE a lot to improve it over the last year. Inkpop taught me that editors and readers look for different things in books. Editors want great writing, proper story structure, and the like -- as they should. Readers just want something that makes them feel, something they can relate to.

So I've listened to the comments from both groups and tried really hard to get both parts of it right.

Anyway, that's the story.
 

Irysangel

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Well, I self publish for a variety of reasons - to stay relevant to my audience most of all. My books are scheduled a year apart in NY and that's a long time for my audience to try and remember that I exist, so I started self-publishing to 'remind' them that I'm here and producing work.

That being said, I really like the money, I like the creativity, and I like that it's opened another career-path for me. All my eggs are not in one basket. I'll still continue to publish with NYC because 100% self-published is not my goal, but I like that there are options available, and I'm continuing to explore them.
 

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This is an excellent idea for a thread--thank you for starting it, ios.

The successful self-published writers that I know all have one thing in common: they understand the publishing business from all sides, including trade publishing, and so know what the problems are that they're likely to encounter, and how to get round them.

For example, they know they're not going to be able to compete with the big publishers on bookshop distribution, so they worked out business plans which didn't require it. Any bookshop presence they get is a bonus.

I think that knowing about and understanding the obstacles you're going to face is essential, because then you can take steps to work round those obstacles. Otherwise you're going to be stopped by them, and you might not even realise they're there until they catch you. By all means be positive and enthusiastic--those two attributes are essential no matter how you intend to get published--but don't blind yourself to those obstacles. Learn about them, understand them, and work out how to get round them.
 

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I would add two additional factors that contribute to self-publishing success:

1. You have a substantial backlist (at least three titles available, from the beginning, which is Bob Mayer's recommendation, or possibly as many as 5 to 7, which are the numbers that seem to crop up as the break-out points for self-published authors)

2. You're a fast writer (more than one book a year, probably closer to three or four books a year, all in the same or similar genres, so the reader base for one is the same as for the others, so the readership doesn't have to be built up separately for each book).

To some extent, the second one could be replaced by the first one, for a while. If you had a dozen completed, publishable manuscripts, and released three initially, and then the remainder every month or two, it would buy you some time to write the next manuscript(s). Ultimately, though, it helps to be a fast writer.

Another one might be:

3. You write in a niche fiction market, too small for major publishers, but with readers who are highly motivated to find books in that market and who will buy every possible book in that genre. (This used to be true of paranormal romance, where the fan base was composed of avid readers, but the fan base was relatively small and not growing. That's obviously changed, and could change back again. It appears to be true of science fiction romance now, where, again, those who are interested in the genre are desperate for more stories, but there aren't enough of them to support an author with a major publisher.)
 

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So, I thought it might work as a nice shot of optimism to create a thread and see what others think--what are the reasons why you can self-publish?

I already have a webcomic with 1,500 readers. I know how to advertise on ad networks efficiently. I have graphic art skills that I can apply to making cover art, advertisements, and even an animated book trailer. If anyone could self-publish 'successfully', I should be able to.

But I do not wish to do so, not yet, because 'success' in the self-publishing business is still defined as counting profits, and I don't need the money. I want readership numbers. I believe there are still more readers available in traditional publishing than in electronic-only publishing.
 

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Bob Mayer had a good blog post about what it took to be a successful self-pubber. He covered a few points like are you the driver and are you the marketer? A book's success is really all down to the author, regardless of publishing stream. Self-pubbing means you have to be the boss and be in charge of everything, if that isn't for you then you don't have anyone else to blame. Basically you could do it if you have the right mindset.

You don't have to have skills in all the areas of publishing, but it doesn't hurt. You do have to be interested in all of those areas though. The editors may not be up to standard, you have to check. The cover art will be your decision and probably/could rely on your ideas.

So if you love your book then you can do it. If you love your book you will love to have a hand in every step.
 
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Old Hack

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Remus, that's great and you've done well: but this thread is about good reasons to self-publish, not reasons not to. Let's try not to derail it on the first page, shall we?

(And it's trade publishing, not "traditional".)
 

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Bob Mayer had a good blog post about what it took to be a successful self-pubber. He covered a few points like are you the driver and are you the marketer? A book's success is really all down to the author, regardless of publishing stream.

My bold and italics.

That's right on one level, in that if the author writes a bad book it's never going to do well.

But in trade publishing the author gets so much help to make the book a success: it's misleading to say that a trade-published author is fully responsible for the success of his or her book.

Self-pubbing means you have to be the boss and be in charge of everything, if that isn't for you then you don't have anyone else to blame. Basically you could do it if you have the right mindset.

Your bold this time.

I think this is very dangerous advice.

It's important to be positive and enthusiastic, and I absolutely agree that those to attributes are essential if you're going to self-publish. But they won't make up for a lack of knowledge or skill, or a good understanding of how the publishing process works.

You don't have to have skills in all the areas of publishing, but it doesn't hurt. You do have to be interested in all of those areas though. The editors may not be up to standard, you have to check. The cover art will be your decision and probably/could rely on your ideas.

So if you love your book then you can do it. If you love your book you will love to have a hand in every step.

You don't have to have all the skills required to do everything for yourself: but you do need to be able to distinguish good editors from bad, you do need to understand the difference between editing, copy editing, and proof reading, you do need to understand the supply chain and how your book slots into it, and so on. Otherwise you'll be launching yourself and your book into the void.

I've seen so many self-published books that are seriously bad. I'm not just talking about the writing--although a lot of it was bad--but about the editing, typesetting, design, jacket design, everything.

Then on top of that, the writers have published their book(s) with expensive vanity publishers, or paid a huge amount of money to a promotion scheme which isn't ever going to pay off.

If you're going to self publish, empower yourself by learning all there is to know about not just self publishing but also about trade publishing. Don't rely on the cheerleading self publishing blogs: they're often full of misinformation about trade publishing, and are going to stop you from being able to be fully professional about your work. For a writer, publishing shouldn't be about self vs trade: it should be about finding the best possible route for your work, and that means knowing a lot about all kinds of publishing.
 

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Remus, that's great and you've done well: but this thread is about good reasons to self-publish, not reasons not to. Let's try not to derail it on the first page, shall we?

I'm sorry. Wasn't trying to derail things; I have good reasons for and against, and talking about one side leads naturally to the other.

I should add to my 'pro self-publishing' list that I write damn well, I rarely need copyediting (in fact, Sheila Williams told me that I should be an editor), and I have the technical know-how to deal with various ebook formats and conversions. That's all basic plumbing as far as self-publishing is concerned, but a self-published author can't afford to be lacking in any of those areas.
 

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I'm shaking my head here.

Can you please read my posts in the full context rather than the one sentence.

Thanks.

Right back at ya, honeybun.
 

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I'm sorry. Wasn't trying to derail things; I have good reasons for and against, and talking about one side leads naturally to the other.

No problem, Remus: thanks for clarifying your thoughts.

I rarely need copyediting

What about structural editing and proof reading, though? ;)

and I have the technical know-how to deal with various ebook formats and conversions. That's all basic plumbing as far as self-publishing is concerned, but a self-published author can't afford to be lacking in any of those areas.

True. And so many of them are. Let's try not to let any of AW's members make those mistakes, yes?
 

RemusShepherd

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What about structural editing and proof reading, though? ;)

I don't have enough beta readers to know if I have structural problems. My alpha reader (girlfriend) thinks not.

By proof reading, do you mean checking for typos? I put that in copy editing, since I do them at the same time. Being able to copy edit your own work is a useful skill to have, but maybe not so essential. Editors can be hired.
 

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There are many layers of editing and the various terms for those layers shouldn't be used interchangeably. Briefly:

Editing--also known as line-editing, or structural editing--deals with the big stuff: plot, structure, characterisation, flow, and so on. This involves several passes between editor and author, with editor highlighting problems and the author correcting them (or not, depending on how they feel about them).

Copy editing corrects typos, spelling, grammar, and continuation, and is usually done by someone other than the editor. Once the copy editor has finished with the ms, the author goes through the suggested changes and approves them (or doesn't).

Once those changes are all agreed, the ms is turned into a book. A layout is designed and the text is flowed into the pages, typeset, and front- and end-matter added.

Once the work is in book form, a set of proofs are made (these used to be printed flats, but are now more likely to be PDFs). These proofs are, guess what, proof read. Errors should by now be minimal which is just as well, as it's much more expensive to correct anything once the book has been typeset and so on.

And with all due respect to your girlfriend, I'd only use her as an editor if she has a lot of appropriate work experience. It's a far more difficult skill than most people realise and if editing isn't done properly, it could really devalue your book.

/end lecture
 

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because 'success' in the self-publishing business is still defined as counting profits,

I do think the vast amount of "noise" being made online and elsewhere is about the profits, whether talking about a self-published book or something from a trade house.

That may be a reason why a self-pubbed book "can" succeed, if the author doesn't define success that way.

Uncle Jim's very much correct about each person defining their own goals, and being objective about both those goals, and the measuring of them. I'd take that to the next step and say "define what success means to you".

If my measure of success is X percentage of new readers read my work this year over last year; then that is what I have to build my tracking around. That may mean new page views on a website, or new customers sold to.

If success to me is "This month I want it to pay for itself." "Pay for itself" might mean cost of labor/time to market the work, or it may come to include a fair hourly wage applied to the writing time itself. Either way, you get into success becoming units sold, and from that, net profits.

Self publishing can succeed. So, to can the more traditional route. Either way the "can" requires knowing the goals, knowing the obstacles, and being realistic about both.

But first you have to define for yourself what "succeed" means, and at the end of the day, anyone else's definition has to take a backseat to that.
 
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