Where do you even find self-published books at?

starrystorm

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I was doing some research (still not sure if I should traditional pub or self pub) and was trying to see if there were any self-published books I've read. I tried looking up "YA self-published books" and many different variants of that including "list of YA self-published books" but nothing comes up except one goodread's list.

How are people expected to find these author's books if I can't? Is there like a secret place/website everyone knows about but me?

(I use Google Chrome if that helps)
 
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lizmonster

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I was doing some research (still not sure if I should traditional pub or self pub) and was trying to see if there were any self-published books I've read. I tried looking up "YA self-published books" and many different variants of that including "list of YA self-published books" but nothing comes up except one goodread's list.

How are people expected to find these author's books if I can't? Is there like a secret place/website everyone knows about but me?

(I use Google Chrome if that helps)

By far the biggest source of self-published books is Amazon. Because of their pricing scheme, if you look at bestsellers, you'll often find self-published books in among the trade-published ones.

There are a fair number of self-publishers on Twitter and Facebook as well - I've seen Twitter recs for a lot of different genres. You might find some popular tags, and ask there.
 

starrystorm

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Thanks you two. I'm not looking for a particular book. Just a way to see how easy it is for readers to access self-published books.

Also, I like that fact about Amazon--that they combine the two.
 

veinglory

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I buy most of my books from Amazon and about half of them are self published--but I only know that because I take an active interest in self-publishing. There is no benefit to most authors trumpeting that their work is self-published and it would probably cost them some sales. Being self-published is not part of their marketing, it is not how their readers find them. They only way to know which ones are self published is to look at the listed publisher and check whether it is trade, small, or DBA.
 
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Woollybear

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Thanks you two. I'm not looking for a particular book. Just a way to see how easy it is for readers to access self-published books.

I think readers access the books they hear about--and this is generally down to marketing and reviews.

With trade publishing, the idea, as I understand it, is that a publisher knows how to bring a manuscript to a certain standard (cover, editing, etc) and knows how to market. There might be an ARC tour, opportunity for people to preorder, buzz, buzz, buzz, other authors and celebrities somehow getting in on the game (like, off the top of my head, the Oprah book club etc); for an established author there will be existing readers (fans), signings, talks, etc, and so on and so forth. The author, in this version of publishing, writes the book and does some publicity events. But the readers find the book because of the buzz. And they order on Amazon. (or they pick it up at B&N, etc).

For self publishing, the author takes on a good deal of that ^^ above ^^ work. There are self published authors here (incl. me) who do some portion of these things --some do ARC tours (advance reader copies), some do signings, and so on.

So, there might be considerably less buzz. Not always--there are self-published authors here with enough books on Amazon that they've built their readership. Those readers just look for the next book in the series. And they order on Amazon. (or they might order it through B&N if the book is also made available through Ingram Spark).

But, in general, there might be less buzz. (but even some trade books do not get the 'buzz-treatment.')

In the end, do your best to write a good story. If you self publish, you will need to do your own 'buzz' but it is possible. It just takes time and effort.

Lots of balls to juggle.
 

lizmonster

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With trade publishing, the idea, as I understand it, is that a publisher knows how to bring a manuscript to a certain standard (cover, editing, etc) and knows how to market. There might be an ARC tour, opportunity for people to preorder, buzz, buzz, buzz, other authors and celebrities somehow getting in on the game (like, off the top of my head, the Oprah book club etc); for an established author there will be existing readers (fans), signings, talks, etc, and so on and so forth. The author, in this version of publishing, writes the book and does some publicity events. But the readers find the book because of the buzz. And they order on Amazon. (or they pick it up at B&N, etc).

I have experience with exactly one trade publisher, but based on that, this isn't quite right. What you get from a trade publisher that's nearly impossible to duplicate as a self-publisher is the sales channel. Trade publishers sell your book to retailers before it's published, and the retailers hype the book accordingly. Trade publishers will also get you reviews in places like PW and Library Journal, and distributors pay attention to those as well. Buzz most often comes from what the retailers decide to push. These days, pre-release reviews from some consumer-positioned sites can help, too, but you generally get those if the publisher has pushed it.

Things like book signings and even blog tours tend to happen after the book comes out, although they're often set up before. They don't help much, though, unless the pre-release work has done its job, and even then only if the book takes off.

My understanding is the thing that helps most with self-publishing is writing more books, but I do think that's genre-dependent. Because most self-published books are sold through Amazon, it helps a lot to understand the tools they offer. Visibility is a tough nut to crack no matter how you publish, and it's a bit of a chicken-egg thing: if people know about you you'll get more sales, but it's hard to get people to know about you without being a big seller.
 

LJD

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There is no benefit to most authors trumpeting that their work is self-published and it would probably cost them some sales. Being self-published is not part of their marketing, it is not how their readers find them.

Yup.

I self-publish. My books have appeared in various articles and lists. I don't think I've ever seen it on a list specifically for self-published books.