The ease of self-publishing changes everything, and this change has been coming for some time.
Joe Konrath, among others, has been encouraging you…us…to do it. The advent of ebooks and ereaders, and self-publishing formats offered by smashwords, booksurge and Barnes and Noble, not only ease a writer’s way along the path of self-publishing, they legitimize that path. How? By keeping costs minimal and helping authors maximize profits. Even authors whose works are marginal or flat out bad, are making some big bucks by following Konrath’s advice - underpricing the large, well-established pubs, and even the indie pubs. In the minds of many, high sales figures equal legitimacy, author street cred, if you will. Maybe they do, maybe they don’t.
Six months ago, I was probably ninety percent in favor of self-publishing, even though I was not then, and am not now quite yet prepared to go that route. You see, I’m having second thoughts. Why? Because over the past three to four months, I’ve read a series of these very popular, very cheaply priced, self-published books - books that are top Kindle sellers - and I’m stunned by how awful many of them are. Bad writing, bad editing, poorly contrived plots, cardboard characters…I’m starting to worry this will become the norm, that this is what the world will be reading because…hey, after all, what’s the big deal? You’re only out $.99 - $2.99. So what if the book sucks? It hit me, despite my criticism of literary fiction and the lack of responsiveness from big publishing houses and literary agents to changing times, I get it…I grok why authors of literary fiction are upset. Unfortunately, a great deal of this self-published stuff is pure, unadulterated crap.
Do I want my books read? Hell yes. Do I want to make a reasonable financial return for my efforts? Of course. Do I make a reasonable financial return? No, not by a long shot. Some authors make mega-bucks, but I’m not even mid-list…I’m more like bruised and bloody from scraping the bottom of the barrel. I consider myself a damn good writer - I know many damn good writers and they’re my companions on the bottom of the heap.
I’m not condemning anyone for self-publishing. The traditional route is fraught with disappointment and frustration. I understand why a writer, or someone who styles him or herself a writer, would jump on the self-publishing bandwagon. A few months ago I commented that this is capitalism at its best and the cream will rise to the top. Candidly, I’m no longer convinced of that. The poor quality of the sampling I’ve read concerns me. Yes, there are diamonds in the rough out there, but until things sort out, there’s quite a bit of rough.
I don’t know what else to say.
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It will change. This is a fresh frontier and anything new has an audience.
The real question is how much return business will some of these authors get?
Personally I need an editor, I need others to tell me when I’ve veered off track. I like the input and the community effort of publishing a book with a publishing house. It feels right and I’d never have the expertise to do all the other very necessary jobs by myself.
I wouldn’t perform brain surgery on myself, dentistry or even cut my own hair (I tried that already-please don’t ask) And I wouldn’t self-publish, not at this time.
XXOO Kat
Having said that my neighbor wrote the book of his heart and earned all his self-publishing expenses back in three weeks on Amazon… He was pleased and encouraged.
See Kat? You too have mixed emotions.
I know I need an editor. Would I do it if I was more confident I could produce an error free book without one - YES. Not gonna happen in the near future for me.
Yep, I’m an editor needing gal too. See? I missed commas in that sentence.
I’m encouraged by self-pub because I think more people have returned to reading in this economy. I’m discouraged because easy pricing for wannabe authors makes the distribution of crap that much more an issue. One day, the Library of Congress will have shelves littered with the mental babbling of every person out there…like a published blog. That’s a little scary.
On the other hand, I wish I could ride the wave and ease the strain on my choking bank account. Pardon me while I pull a splinter out of my ass.
My sister-in-law just signed a contract with a small company that ‘self’ publishes books. I don’t know exact figures, but she said it is quite pricey. They will edit, produce a certain amount of books and market them to libraries and schools - her book is young adult fiction. It will be interesting to see how it turns out.
Hey Babe, I’m flopping in the barrel with you:)
re: Self-publishing. You’ve got a very legit point, but I’ve got a bud, who is a truly good writer also works on and off as an editor and chose the self pub route because she felt like she could do more to get her name out there and garner more exposure than with the pubs.
Its a mixed bag.
Yes - insightful comments. Don’t we all want to ride this wave? I actually do edit, but I’m guilty of missing things too - I agree with Mia, some of this stuff is just semi-incoherent rambling. I know there are good books out there, I’ve read them, but a lot of it is junk, yet it sells, at least initially, because of the price. If you make big bucks early on in sales, do you care if a reader never buys another one of your books? Does it even matter? Quite the conundrum. I guess there’s something to be said for laughing all the way to the bank!
I have mixed emotions about it too. I believe only a very, very select few can pull off the self-publishing route. Like you, Julia I’ve read a few self-published books online and I’ve actually cringed at some of the obvious mistakes that an editor or even a proofreader would quickly catch. It’s hard to make money as a writer, but I still don’t think I would go the self-publishing route, not after seeing how valuable an actual publishing company is in helping to polish and shine my work. Great article. I love how you always put such thought into them!
Wonderful discussion, Julia. It is difficult when anyone can upload their writing to Amazon and call it a book. There is no way to know until you’ve purchased it what lies between the covers. At least when you buy from a publisher you know it’s been edited. I’m afraid this may begin to turn off some Kindle owners.
I’m so grateful none of this was around when I first started writing. I’m sure I would have jumped into the self-publishing fray! But those books *cringe* are soooo not ready for public exposure. I know this because I’ve been through the editing process. I LOVE my editors. They have helped me make my books shine! The process of writing those books and having them rejected also taught me a lot about writing and the publishing world.
BUT, I have gotten the rights back to a three book series from one of my publishers. They’ve been through an editor so I’m now in the process of uploading them to Kindle. I wouldn’t do it with something new (I NEED an editor.) And it will be interesting to see how it goes.
Nina - I completely agree - in your position I would do exactly the same thing. Once the books have been through the editing process, once you’ve gone through edits multiple times, you have a pretty darn good idea of how a story should read. Frankly, I don’t want to pay any amount of money to read some disjointed ramblings full of - “I said…” “He said….” She said…” Love your porn post at DSB, by the way.
Thanks, Delilah - I actually think self-publishing will continue to grow and may, in fact, ultimately become the way most ebooks are published. It’s just that when we write our first book, we all think it’s great and deserves to be read by everyone. I have to be honest - those brilliant first books are a rarity. I judge contests and while some of what I read has potential and is very clean in terms of editing, some is cringe-worthy. It seems to me the cringe-worthy stuff is ending up self-pubbed.
I know if and when I ever decide to self pub I will make sure the book is up to par. I think that there should be more attention paid esp if you are going the self route…It reflects a lot about you…
Savannah - I think it’s an easier job if you’ve been through edits. At this point, I wouldn’t be afraid to self-publish, but I’m not ready to jump in the pool yet.
Julia, that’s a great topic, with many factors to consider. I admit I don’t fully embrace self-publishing for the same reasons you mention. One interesting thing that came up at a writers’ association meeting in my hometown, is that self-published books are rarely reviewed-or at least respectable reviewers don’t touch them. This information came straight from the owner of a traditional press who’s been in the business for over forty years. So, that’s something one should consider if thinking about self-publishing. Unless of course, sales and publicity don’t matter-and the need to get one’s personal story out there-somewhere-is purely emotional (which might very well be the case with memoirs).
I haven’t read any self-published books and I don’t doubt many of them are crap. Then again, I’ve read several traditionally published books that were less than mediocre and disappointing.
Evie
I would be more inclined to go with someone who had a back-list on Amazon for just the reason Nina mentioned. It’s already been through an editor. That said, I remember in the 70′s (there I go, dating myself:-) when the romance market exploded. I can’t tell you how many wall-bangers I read and the same thing is happening now. Personally, if I bought a book for even .99 and it was full of editing errors that I recognized and wasn’t a good story, I’d do the same thing that I’d do with any author. I wouldn’t buy them again.
Evie - it sort of seems - and I know I’m going out on a limb by saying this - that people are making money writing without paying the dues the rest of us have paid and will continue to pay - worries about submission and rejection, edits, re-writes, the specter of reviews (good and bad)…Would I like to be making the money they make? Yes, of course. Why not? But would making money self-publishing mean I’m a good writer? In my case, I should hope so, but I’m not quite so sure I can generalize.
Right now, the bag is pretty mixed and judging from the sampling of 40 books I read, I am sorely disappointed in what’s out there.
Yeah, Paris, I agree, but here’s the thing. Let’s say you sell 200,000 copies for $1.99 per copy - Kindle sales - and I think Amazon is offering self-published authors a good deal - like 50% of sales or better, something like that. Even if not a single one of those 200,000 people ever buys another book from you, you’ve still got it made in the shade and you can thumb your nose at the rest of us.
My reader opinion on this: I know self-publishing is much work and I’m sure that there are some gems out there who are just wonderful, but after having read some more than disappointing ones I have to admit I prefer the traditional published ones. And I know many readers who do. I hate when I find typos in books and that happens more than often in SP cuz of the missing editing. I know my spelling is of sometimes too but I don’t make people pay for it.
For me as someone always nearly broke I like to spend my money on books that I will like so no self publishing books for me. I’m awfully prejudiced, I know.
I know, Susi - I don’t like to waste any amount of money on a book if I can’t even make it through the first ten pages.
When I first got my Kindle I bought lots of these self-published books. I have pretty high standards when it comes to grammar and typos and most the books I bought were shite to be quite honest. I quickly learned to never buy without getting a sample first and after a few months I stopped buying them altogether because it just wasn’t worth it. You could see the bones of a good idea in there but they needed editing so badly that it really made me question which was more important, the author or the editor?
The most amazing thing though was reading the raves that some of these books got. Either my standards are too high, or most people just don’t appreciate the skill and craft of good writing. Either way, I worry that books and stories will become completely devalued because people will get so used to this crapola that the standards for all books will be lowered.
Jen - your comment is perfect - yes, that’s my concern as well, that readers will become so used to this stuff that they won’t know a good story when they read it - or who knows? Perhaps a well-crafted story will be a revelation! I don’t get the reviews either. Even the very best authors get some bad reviews. Apparently self-pubbed authors don’t - sometimes I wonder….silly me….if all their friends are writing the reviews.
Geez, I’m been off the radar for a few days and missed this discussion. Last year I attended a writers convention here in Baltimore. Hundreds of people milling around. Erudite people giving workshops. Great, you say?
I did not meet ONE person pubbed through an established publisher. Not one. Every person I met, whether in a workshop or at lunch, was self-pubbed. Most of them had no clue there were established e-pubs. ALL of them seemed to believe that self-publishing was the only route open for digital publishing.
It was a very discouraging experience. I cannot tell you how many of them looked at me like I had two heads with a handful of horns when I discussed the world of established digital publishing. It was sad.