Just a few years ago the distinction between self-publishing and vanity publishing was fairly clear. You pay someone to publish your book, that’s vanity, right? You set up your own company to publish your book yourself – that’s self-publishing. Easy. Now though I think the distinction is becoming blurred.
So what’s changed? Well the advances in print-on-demand technology coupled with the development of simple template-based solutions to creating a book file (by that I mean a print-ready version of your book) have opened up the book publishing arena to anyone with a computer and internet connection.
It has enabled companies to quickly move to provide complete book publishing services to authors keen to get into print and it has enabled authors to take control of the publication of their own book. This can only be a good thing, surely? Well yes and no.
The reason vanity presses ended up with such a bad reputation is because by and large they exploited an author’s desire to have their book published, often conning them into thinking that their book was actually being published by a commercial press – even though they were paying for it. Well it’s no surprise to know that those companies still exist and are still exploiting authors but the good news is there are many more who are offering a good and valuable service to help authors publish their book.
But how do you know who is who?
Just because a company asks you to pay to have your book published, it doesn’t mean they are a vanity press. Historically it doesn’t mean they are a self-publisher either, but something in between. And why shouldn’t there be something in between? There is no need to squeeze the industry into preconceived pigeonholes and if a company can create and publish your book, making it available through certain retail channels and that is what you want then why shouldn’t you pay for it? Why is that vanity? When a business pays to advertise its product or service we don’t accuse them of vanity – it’s business and whether you are hoping to carve out a career in writing, attract a publisher or agent or simply bind a few copies of your life story for your kids then why not?
Whatever the semantics of the debate, the fact is that the publishing landscape has changed and is changing, making it easier than ever to take the publishing of your book into your own hands. What matters is that you, as author are aware of the options available to you if you are thinking of publishing your own book and that you are clear about how each option works, what is expected from you and what you can expect to achieve at the end of it.
A good self-publishing service will make those options clear to you, a bad one won’t. This, then is the difference that matters now.
Tuesday, 28 September 2010
Thursday, 16 September 2010
The Self-Publishing Advice Service - Why?
Well, a short while ago I was participating in a panel debate attended largely by writers. The debate changed as it always does from whatever the original discussion was to ‘how do I get published?’.
The usual questions, answers and objections were put forward (‘Publishers won’t even look at me without an agent’, ‘Agents never reply when I submit’, ‘How can Jordan have published X,Y,Z for a gazillion pounds when I can’t even publish one? And I can spell!’.)
But one comment really stood out. It was from a man who had self-published his book, sold a reasonable number of copies but *still* couldn’t find a commercial publisher. The problem he said was that when a self-published book arrived on a publisher’s desk, the assumption was that it was rubbish (he chose slightly stronger wording but you get the idea).
Well that got me thinking. As a ‘traditional’ publisher of quite a few years I have had my fair share of self-published books arrive on my desk and I realised that he is probably right. That is the assumption. And why is that the assumption? Because, quite often, I’m afraid they do look rubbish.
It is the fault (and loss) of a lazy publisher to discount a book on the basis of how it looks but think about how we select books in a bookshop. We pick up those that look nice. That feel nice. That smell nice (If you see someone in a bookshop breathing in the lovely smell of new book it could well be me.) We look at the back. We are teased and intrigued by clever, concise blurbs. We look at the image. We look at the finish.
If a book fails on any of these things (apart from maybe the smell), it goes back on the shelf and that’s it. Sale lost.
In the same way you have one chance to get a publisher (or agent, or bookseller) to notice your book and whether you are presenting it in manuscript form, in book form or in any other form you can think of you owe it to yourself to make it look the best you possibly can.
So there is my chief bugbear with the self-publishing industry. All too often the books that are put out there are just not acceptable quality. The formats are odd, the paper is wrong and the covers shout ‘self-published’.
And why is that? Well I think that in part it is because people who want to see their book in print are often – usually – from outside the industry. It’s hard to know the questions to ask, the companies to trust and the prices to pay when you are coming to it cold and are faced with the huge range of options available.
So that’s where the idea for the Self-Publishing Advice Service came from. A service that will help authors create the best possible book from their work. A service that looks at each individual set of requirements and makes recommendations for the most suitable and cost-effective route to publication depending on those individual requirements. A service that gives authors the information they need to be fully in control of the self-publication of their book – and enjoy it.
And of course the book itself is just one part of it. I’ll be posting a series of articles about the self-publishing process, including how to sell and market your book here, so please do check back from time to time or sign up to the mailing list using the box on the site.
Thanks for visiting!
The usual questions, answers and objections were put forward (‘Publishers won’t even look at me without an agent’, ‘Agents never reply when I submit’, ‘How can Jordan have published X,Y,Z for a gazillion pounds when I can’t even publish one? And I can spell!’.)
But one comment really stood out. It was from a man who had self-published his book, sold a reasonable number of copies but *still* couldn’t find a commercial publisher. The problem he said was that when a self-published book arrived on a publisher’s desk, the assumption was that it was rubbish (he chose slightly stronger wording but you get the idea).
Well that got me thinking. As a ‘traditional’ publisher of quite a few years I have had my fair share of self-published books arrive on my desk and I realised that he is probably right. That is the assumption. And why is that the assumption? Because, quite often, I’m afraid they do look rubbish.
It is the fault (and loss) of a lazy publisher to discount a book on the basis of how it looks but think about how we select books in a bookshop. We pick up those that look nice. That feel nice. That smell nice (If you see someone in a bookshop breathing in the lovely smell of new book it could well be me.) We look at the back. We are teased and intrigued by clever, concise blurbs. We look at the image. We look at the finish.
If a book fails on any of these things (apart from maybe the smell), it goes back on the shelf and that’s it. Sale lost.
In the same way you have one chance to get a publisher (or agent, or bookseller) to notice your book and whether you are presenting it in manuscript form, in book form or in any other form you can think of you owe it to yourself to make it look the best you possibly can.
So there is my chief bugbear with the self-publishing industry. All too often the books that are put out there are just not acceptable quality. The formats are odd, the paper is wrong and the covers shout ‘self-published’.
And why is that? Well I think that in part it is because people who want to see their book in print are often – usually – from outside the industry. It’s hard to know the questions to ask, the companies to trust and the prices to pay when you are coming to it cold and are faced with the huge range of options available.
So that’s where the idea for the Self-Publishing Advice Service came from. A service that will help authors create the best possible book from their work. A service that looks at each individual set of requirements and makes recommendations for the most suitable and cost-effective route to publication depending on those individual requirements. A service that gives authors the information they need to be fully in control of the self-publication of their book – and enjoy it.
And of course the book itself is just one part of it. I’ll be posting a series of articles about the self-publishing process, including how to sell and market your book here, so please do check back from time to time or sign up to the mailing list using the box on the site.
Thanks for visiting!
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