Publisher you prefer: Traditional or Self?

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Primus

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What publisher do you, the reader, look to to satiate your sf/f fix? Do you read sf/f books published in the traditional format: by the 'Big Houses', including also small presses? Or do you instead read sf/f books by self-publishers? Or is it more of both? Why are you partial to that format of publisher, if you in fact are partial? And what would/does it take for you to journey into that other realm, so to speak, and pick up that book, lying so precariously there on that lopsided IKEA table, or desk or whatever the hell it is, to read?
 

waylander

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I prefer books from 'Big Houses'. They're generally better produced and more readable.
The quality of books from self-publishers is generally sh#t, badly written and under-edited. I've only read one that was good, that by an author previously published by one of the 'big houses'. I'm prepared to believe that there are other diamonds out there in the dung-heap, but imho they are few and far between.
 
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PeteMC

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I buy books in bookshops, so if it's not published I wouldn't even know it exists I'm afraid.
 

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I mostly buy e-books these days, and mostly from Amazon. When browsing, I don't pay much attention to whether a book is self-pubbed or major-pubbed; I read the reviews to gauge whether I'm interested.

While I'm often disappointed in self-pubbed stuff, 1) I've read some real gems too, and 2) I typically pay $4 or less for them, so it doesn't feel like a huge loss if I stop reading one. Whereas, I've stopped reading major-pubbed works that I spent $8-$12 on, and that's irritating.

And BTW, self-pubbed needn't mean "not edited". I've read some fine Indie stuff whose authors did pay an editor, and it shows.
 

Filigree

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Same here. I love e-books because they're easy to buy and research. If the book is from an unfamiliar author I'll usually skim the first chapter or the sample text. If it intrigues me, I'll buy it or check it out from the library. Who publishes it really doesn't matter, as long as the writing is solid.

That said, when I see substandard writing, I will then check to see if the book has been self-published or vanity-published. And then avoid it.
 

Barbara R.

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I don't read much s.f., but in general I don't buy self-published work unless it's written by a friend or client. I know how much work goes into published stories, how thoroughly they're edited and how much better the finished product is compared to the accepted draft. Time is more precious to me than money, so regardless of the low-price of self-published ebooks, I avoid them.
 

Polenth

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I buy books based on the author and story, not the publisher. I don't think I'm alone in that, as it's unusual to hear someone say, "Wow, Orbit has a new novel out!"

I do check self-published books more carefully, to see if the author has taken the time over formatting and editing. But by that, I mean I read more of the sample before deciding.
 

EMaree

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Both, but majority trade-published (and majority mid-list). My recommendations usually come via book bloggers and one or two mid-list publishers.
 

Hapax Legomenon

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I read a significant number of pre-release small press/self pub books but most of those are historical romances. Most of the SF/Fbooks I read are large press and from the library.
 

zanzjan

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What publisher do you, the reader, look to to satiate your sf/f fix? Do you read sf/f books published in the traditional format: by the 'Big Houses', including also small presses? Or do you instead read sf/f books by self-publishers? Or is it more of both? Why are you partial to that format of publisher, if you in fact are partial? And what would/does it take for you to journey into that other realm, so to speak, and pick up that book, lying so precariously there on that lopsided IKEA table, or desk or whatever the hell it is, to read?

Like most readers, I buy books for the words inside. I don't particularly care how it's published.

I'd be curious to know more about why you're asking this, especially in this particular way, though.
 

Atalanta

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I prefer books from 'Big Houses'. They're generally better produced and more readable.
The quality of books from self-publishers is generally sh#t, badly written and under-edited. I've only read one that was good, that by an author previously published by one of the 'big houses'. I'm prepared to believe that there are other diamonds out there in the dung-heap, but imho they are few and far between.

^This. I used to review genre books on my own website and ended up having to post a notice saying that I didn't review self-pub work because the ones people kept sending to me were almost universally unreadable.

That said, I did find two books I liked -- one of which I've read three times and remains on my bookshelf to this day. But the ratio of good to bad is just too harsh for me to bother looking that deeply for them.

What would lure me back for a second try? Nothing. I can't even trust the recommendations of friends because my standards are just too high these days.

I do read small-press books, generally from presses that have earned some cred over the years (Aqueduct, Circlet, Alyson, sometimes Bella) but even then I don't hold them to the same standards as the major presses.

Other than that, I stick to the big publishers, usually on paper, sometimes electronic.
 

E.F.B.

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I don't care and most of the time I don't know who the publisher is. It's the story inside the book that makes me want to read it, not the publisher.
 

etherme

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If the first page sucks me in, I'm good to go. Doesn't make if it's tradition or self-pubbed.
 

Papaya

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It doesn’t matter to me. I don’t pay any attention to the publisher, because I find a lot of best sellers published through the big houses to be sub-standard writing, too. The editing for some of these best sellers is severely lacking IMO. We seem to be trending towards story at the expense of everything else, and while I agree the story itself is very important, I don’t think it should supersede everything else. For me, there are no excuses for vomiting out over 1000 pages of self-indulgent, repetitive crap and not having it edited down to at least half the size. But it seems marketing trumps everything else these days, including the gatekeepers, and particularly if you’ve already made a name for yourself.

My point is: I feel like quality has taken a hit across the board. I'm guessing there are a number of factors involved in why this is happening. I certainly don’t think self-publishing is the only cause, although it might have started the trend. :Shrug:

Bottom line -- I read carefully, and often find myself not enjoying books I had high hopes for, because they just can’t live up to the hype of the marketing campaign backing them.
 

Jamesaritchie

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What publisher do you, the reader, look to to satiate your sf/f fix? Do you read sf/f books published in the traditional format: by the 'Big Houses', including also small presses? Or do you instead read sf/f books by self-publishers? Or is it more of both? Why are you partial to that format of publisher, if you in fact are partial? And what would/does it take for you to journey into that other realm, so to speak, and pick up that book, lying so precariously there on that lopsided IKEA table, or desk or whatever the hell it is, to read?

My life is way too short to look at self-published writing, unless the writer has a strong history in traditional publishing. I have no shortage of good, even great, writing to read. I can't begin to read all the good novel traditional, commercial publishers release.

This means I don't need self-published writing. And long experience has taught me that even if I did want to read self-published writing, I'd have to wade through at least ninety-nine horrible stories to find one that was even decent.

So why bother?
 

Brightdreamer

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TBH, the only time I really notice the publisher is when I'm writing a book review on my blog and have to fill in the "Publisher" line.

I've read good and bad self-published titles. I've also read good and bad traditionally-published titles, from houses big and small. Yeah, it's easier to trip yourself up in self-pubbing - it's so fast and easy to hit Amazon or Smashwords that some people forget that they have to be their own proofreader and editor, and a few don't seem familiar with the concept of beta-reading, to their story's detriment - but that doesn't mean they're all half-baked stories. It's like saying all musicians who haven't signed with a big label are crud. Some are, but some aren't, and it's unfair to tar them all with the same brush.
 

jjdebenedictis

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I buy books in bookshops, so if it's not published I wouldn't even know it exists I'm afraid.
Ditto.

However, my brother reads even more sff than I do, and he reads ebooks exclusively, so he will vacuum up anything from any source. With self-published books, it helps that my brother's a bit dyslexic. Typos and punctuation errors are a non-issue to him; he doesn't even see them.
 
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Levico

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I've written with other young adults who have wonderful stories that never took off. So I'm willing to pick up a promising self-published scifi/fantasy novel and give it a go. Readers of the genera aren't your average readers either, so that's something to consider when looking at self-publishing.
That said, traditional is honestly the best route. Between marketing, professional editing, PUBLICITY=big $$$ . . . If you can get your book published with a decent publisher I'd certainly take that over doing it myself.
Of course, once I'm a writer on the level of Martin or Rowling, I'll self publish something and let my popularity do the rest. :tongue
 

CrastersBabies

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I just don't read self-published works anymore.

1. Don't have time to try and try until I find one that doesn't suck.
2. Been burned too many times by writers who don't have basic understanding of grammar and spelling.
3. Same as #2 only with story-creation and character arc.

I used to try self-published books. Tried 40+ and found only one that I made it through completely.

Bottom line is: I trust the SFF gatekeepers right now. Until the internet world/technology finds a decent way to rank/rate self-published titles, I'm pretty much done. Which sucks because I imagine there are decent self-published titles out there. I just don't have the stomach to wade through all the gunk to find a tiny pebble of hope.

I know I'm sounding negative, but if I had a way to find what I know I like in an efficient manner, I'd be more interested.

I want self-publishing to make it. I love the idea of the power being in the hands of the writers. (LOVE LOVE LOVE.) But I'm really weary of being disappointed. Over and over again. It's like a toxic romantic relationship. Sometimes, you just have to step away until the system (business end) changes enough to give you a little hope.

And, honestly? I've seen a number of writing pals self-publish because they failed to get into traditional. Bad query letter (that they didn't bother fixing/adapting), and/or bad manuscript that they feel is "perfect the way it is" and that "nobody gets their brilliance." It taints my decision. I feel it's a bias that I have to work very hard to overcome. And right now? Too much going on in life to mitigate all of that and look for stories that won't piss me off.
 

shadowwalker

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I either buy books by authors I already know, or through browsing bookstores. I don't like ebooks. So I haven't read many SP books. But quite honestly, price is one tip-off for me. May not be totally true, just my personal experience, but I have found that cheap books (unless they're close-outs) mean cheap production and poor writing (story as well as technicals). Even if I were willing to read ebooks, I'd skip the free or cheap stuff, which typically means SP, simply because I don't want to waste my time on "throw away" writing.
 

zanzjan

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Because I'm doing some research. :)

Well, that's totally unhelpful as an anwer goes, thanks for not helping us help you.

Guessing from your intro, though, I suggest you google up the "Slushkiller" post on Making Light, and either read down or skip down to the part where the various reasons why manuscripts get rejected are enumerated. Go do it now.

...

Done?

Okay, so here's (a) thing about self-published books: that filtering process doesn't exist. So really genuinely good novels are mixed in with a significantly larger pool of mostly significantly worse stuff, stuff that fails at each and every step along the list you just read. People can and do succeed at SP, and it's a perfectly valid path to take, but that's what you're competing against, trying getting noticed in the crowd.

Now, having said all that, SFF is a room for discussing writing SFF and relevant, related topics, not for hashing out the pros and cons of self-pub versus trade. We have a whole room for that, and it has stickies that are full of all sorts of useful information, which are well worth your time to read if you're considering the SP path.

Since you've elected not to provide any reason why your original question is relevant to the writing of SFF, I am going to now close this thread. If you'd like to be more forthcoming in a way that might change my mind, please feel free to PM me. Thanks. :)
 
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