Is anyone here self-publishing books on Amazon? Pros / cons? Doesn't seem like a bad idea while waiting a hundred years... for a potential publisher to respond... Does anyone have experience of the process? Would be interested to hear.
If one publishes on its own, wouldn't it be easier to publish ebooks via a homepage or something? As possible with a long teaser or even one whole short story or something people can download for free to let people see if they like your works? Just a question, I don't have any experience with that. Would think without a publisher, you dont get publicity and advertisement, so why should a potential reader look for your books at Amazon? Finding your homepage, reading some free stuff first, recognizing that he likes your stuff, downloading a few ebooks would seem to be an alternative to get readers. As I said no experience with that, just my two cents.
I actually looked this one up a while back because I wanted to know the pros and cons of self-publishing myself. Found some good articles on it. http://www.writersdigest.com/online...ons-of-self-publishing-traditional-publishing Traditional Publishing Pros Wide distribution and more exposure Most offer an advance, sometimes a large one They do the editing, formatting, cover art Marketing power Traditional Publishing Cons Take six to eighteen months before publication Price ebooks waaaaaay too high They have power over cover art and title Dont use the marketing power they wield effectively Pay royalties twice a year Dont involve you in many of the decisions regarding your book Difficult to implement changes Lousy royalty rates, between 6% and 25% Very hard to break into Self Publishing Pros Paid once a month You control price and cover Publication is almost instant Easy to implement changes Every decision is yours Great royalty rates Anyone can do it Self Publishing Cons No free professional editing, formatting, or cover art Fewer sales Less than 10% of current book market Greater potential to publish crappy books
Thanks, Glucksritter. I appreciate your suggestions. I had a blog once with a great many people following the blog. I have no idea where those people came from?! I'm hoping it may go the same way. Apparently you can 'pay' people to write reviews of your books / and you can go around to other people's writing sites to plug your own books, or something... I will take my chances. I have two books ready to go. I think I will approach publishers / and self-publish simultaneously. Can't hurt. The homepage is a great idea, thanks. I'm hoping that if enough 'keywords' are allowed, that a potential reader would find the book/s through searching for their particular area of interest. I will pester my friends and ask them to pester more friends... so I may at least sell half a dozen that way!!
Thanks, Pasithea, for the info and link. I figure it can't hurt to give it a go. I think the biggest pro / con scenario would be in how hard it is to get published the traditional way. It's a fickle industry, or at least it used to be. I really like the concept of self-publishing. I like the autonomy factor. The freedom of choosing your own book cover... and the freedom not to have a publisher chop your book to bits / heavily edit it. I think self-publishing has definitely given the book publishing industry a kick up the pants. In some part, quite deserved, I think.
Oh absolutely. I totally agree. I would be so mad if my book got published and I had no control over the cover choice because I plan to illustrate the cover myself! lol And definitely. I hope that more self-publishing will change the way the bigger industries treat authors and give them more say in the editing of their own books.
I tried it but it is hard to market it on amazon, a bricks and mortar publisher will get a book to sell for commissions.
I have a good friend who has self-published several books. But I don't know the details of the process. I would google 'self-publishing' and I bet tons of stuff will come up. Good luck----
I have a collection of poetry ready to go, just need the money to go self-published. I already have a presence on YouTube, and people keep asking me when I will have something on paper or e-book. Being active on the web seems to help, from what friends who have already published tell me. This is especially easy for poetry, there being so many poetry forums out there. Be aware, too, that there are self-publishers who run contests for never-before published works. They offer a prize plus printing a limited run. Usuallity, publishing rights return to the author at the end of the first run, with an option to pay for additional printings and distribution through the sponsor, or you can sell it to a tradition publisher. Can't offer you a link right now for contests. You might Google it.
Thanks for the information about contests, I will give it a look over. Have you considered self-publishing an ebook on Amazon since it would be free to upload your poetry? There's a prominent mainstream publisher over here who guarantees to read part of any book and give an answer in 2 weeks. I will try them. Could pass on their details if you were interested. I like the idea of autonomy connected to self-publishing on Amazon, and the bonus of it being a free process. But wanting to self-publish hard copy books, I imagine would take a bit of money. If you ever publish an ebook on Amazon, or anywhere, let me know, I will buy your collection of poetry. I write poetry too, one day we could swap a poem through PM. There's quite an amazing story here of ebook success on Amazon: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/jan/12/amanda-hocking-self-publishing?CMP=twt_gu
Finding your homepage, reading some free stuff first, recognizing that he likes your stuff, downloading a few ebooks would seem to be an alternative to get readers. As I said no experience with that, just my two cents.
Self-publishing on Amazon has sometimes led to best sellers. The key is publicity, which can be had many ways - anything you do that puts your name in the news, even before a small or specialized audience, will help. An old friend went to Amazon for his three-volume work on inflation investing. His secret was to lead an investment Meet-Up with thousands of members. This ready-made audience made his book a success. He asked those who read the book to add favorable reviews on Amazon. (He also got a deal with a publisher, supposed to edit and publicize his book in exchange for a big chunk of the profits. They actually did very little advertising, so it was a bad deal for him. I suggested he do a one volume abridgement of his original 3 volumes, and that took off without the publisher.) Don't forget media like radio and newspapers - they have a voracious appetite for fresh material, and if you can claim to be an expert on an interesting subject you may be a guest on radio interviews, or quoted as an expert in a newspaper article. That will drive readers to your book. There are plenty of sites for free press releases that will broadcast news about you and your book (for modest fees, you can get more). If you have the nerve, you can even find journalists and publishers who follow your subject and contact them directly. A literary agent can also help you. They usually work on commission, so you won't owe them anything unless they get you a deal. Approach publishers of audio books - there's a large and growing market for these. Wherever you're well known, e.g., a group you belong to, or even a job, you have a chance to give people your book in exchange for giving you publicity. Then there's word of mouth - a few happy readers can post about your book on Facebook, Twitter, or the review sites like Digg, Reddit, Technorati, Stumble Upon, etc. You can create a Facebook Fan Page for your book, where you interact with readers and the public. Have your own web site where readers can communicate with you. (Optimizing a web site for maximum exposure is not easy. I did it myself and it took months of grueling labor. A very technical subject. If you're willing to give up some flexibility on the site design, and allow them to advertise on your site, there are free site-builders on-line. Google, Wix, and Weebly are three leading free site providers.) If your book has chapters, you can submit it for serial publication in magazines. Don't forget organizations with relevant focus - many have their own sites or magazines that might publish you. Offer to do public readings. There are many, many groups seeking speakers for lectures, and there are speakers' bureaus who'll get bookings for you. You'll collect a fee for each speech (the bureau gets a percent). Once you become a "name," you can make a good living just from public speaking. And of course a few YouTube videos of you reading excerpts (don't forget to offer viewers a link to your Amazon sales page, and your own site). If you have any money to spend, try small print ads in targeted publications, where your likely audience might go. Here's an article from the Wall Street Journal about self-publishing success - http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887323475304578501390745524694 Here's one from the Times about a great success - http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/19/magazine/amanda-hocking-storyseller.html?pagewanted=all&loadDynamically=false&ribbonAdDisabled=true&_r=0 Do a Google search on "publishing on Amazon success stories" and you'll get plenty. Many have useful tips you can copy. That's all I can think of now. Best of luck! If you publish, let us know.
Thanks for the fund of information, bobov. Good to know you have been through the process. Hope it has been successful and fruitful for you. In the interim since I posted the thread I decided to look for a publisher rather than go the way of Amazon. I write OK but have to admit I am no good at this thing of self-promotion and having to 'hustle' for my work. So I'm trying the 'traditional' route and will see where that goes. I've had some positive feedback recently which encourages me, but I realise this stuff doesn't happen overnight. If I change my mind and give the alternative a go, I'll be sure to give thought to the resources you posted - and thanks. All the best to you for your future writing endeavours.
Thanks, Gwendoline, and best of luck to you. You may not wish for "this thing of self-promotion and having to 'hustle' for my work," but most publishers will want you to do publicity tours for your book: signings, readings, radio and TV interviews. There's no escaping it. Remember that some of the finest writers have done the same. Dickens was a prolific public reader, and most literary stars since. Gore Vidal, who died last week, was a regular on the lecture and talk-show circuits. The fact, perhaps unpleasant, is that people buy people, not books. Readers who feel they know and like you will get your books. Others may not, regardless of your books' merits. Writers who succeed despite invisibility, like Salinger, are rarities. Now that I'm invested in your success (see how it works?), I'll be sure to read your book when it's published. Please let your PF fans know when that happens.
