In today’s world, self-publishing is considered by many to be an art. There are many different methods and ways to accomplish your goal of producing and selling your own printed or electronic books. Though the idea of self-publishing can be traced back to our elementary school days of creating our own card-board backed books, the digitization of publishing has matured the art into a science, with many new authorities on the subject giving advice and plans for making your book into a reality. Entrepreneur Guy Kawasaki wrote the book APE: How to Publish a Book, a complete guide to self-publishing, after dealing with his own problems getting his writing off the ground. Check out his website here for tips and to learn more about publishing without the involvement of major companies.”
He also has this great video!
Self-publishing allows people to make their own books and that’s great! I don’t see it truly revolutionizing the industry however. I see it more practical for small uses, as in making a photo book for your family or making a book for your school.
I think that the individual looking to become a major author without the help of a major publisher or agent just has a pretty small likelihood of getting their name out there. Editing and designing a book can be learned by anyone, however the connections traditional publishers have with sales outlets and marketing know-how are pretty hard to just ‘learn.’ Though there are obviously exceptions to this rule, and people have sprouted out as successes without the help of publishers, I don’t think the average author has the market sensibilities and business sense to go it alone.
I think it’s likely that self-publishing will be a sort of last resort for people who’ve tried and failed to publish a book through the more traditional route. I know if I had a book that I’d been trying to get published for years and years with no success, I’d see self-publishing not so much as a potential moneymaker but as a way to relieve frustration. Whether you make money or not, it’s always cool to see something you wrote in print.
kawasaki makes a lot of good points, most of which have been reinforced in my classes last semester. Self-publishing is a tough gig, but sometimes it’s worth the effort, especially if you have the time to devote to it. Social media is without a doubt the easiest and most efficient way to market yourself and your book and thus has bridged the gap in success between a self-published author and the big houses. With the advents of social media and amazon, self-publishing is easier than ever but Kawasaki makes and excellent point that it is worth investing in a copy editor and cover designer. Those two things are definitely areas where you want another set of eyes and hands involved.
I read some of this book for my class last semester with Prof. Rosati. It was very interesting. I know self-publishing is something that many authors are doing. I believe Stephen King self-published one title so far. Miguel makes a lot of vaild points on what Guy states to do. One of his big things on the list is social media. A good social media will show how devoted the author is and is a make or brake you type of thing. If you can’t self promote how do you expect to sell the book. I think this book is a must for people who want to self-publish.
In the April 22nd issue of Publishers Weekly, Jon Clinch talks about self-publishing and the mistakes he had made his first time around. He states many things that you lose out without going through a publishing firm: pre-sales, many booksellers hate POD, there’s not enough time to do it alone, and your book might get bootlegged before your publication date. While there are many reasons to self-publish there are also many reasons not to. I think self-publishing works better when you are already a popular published author, although if you are–why go that route? Marketing, sales, distribution, manufacturing…that all takes a lot of time, work, and experience to really publish a book successfully (but it’s not impossible).