Did you go to Catholic Writers Conference Live? Or perhaps you’ve been lucky enough to attend another writers’ conference in the past few months. You’ve come home with a mind spinning with possibilities. Suddenly you have options, and choices to make. You’ve pitched a book (or two, or three), and hurriedly polished your work in order to send it to interested editors or agents.
Maybe you sense a sale in the offing. (Cue cheering crowds and confetti!)
Or…maybe not. Maybe your work straddles two genres, or maybe publishers are saying your story is unmarketable. Or worse, your genre is dead. Whatever the case, you’ve found no takers.
No need for discouragement – not in this day and age. Now you can publish your work by yourself. Five years ago, self-publishing was still new, and still carried a fair amount of risk. Print on demand (in its current form) didn’t exist, and an author basically had to commission a small print run out of their own pocket. Without the ability to market or access traditional booksellers, more than a few self-published authors ended up with a garage filled with thousands of unsold books – and a big hole in their coffers. Thanks to the explosion of e-books, authors of well-written fiction can now publish their own work.
Rather than go into the nuts and bolts of how to self-publish, let’s examine the pros and cons of taking on the venture.
At first blush, there is no con. After all, you just format and upload your work and wait for the money to roll in. Well, not so fast.
It boils down to: How much work are you willing to do, in order to succeed? And how do you define success? The answers to those two questions will drive your decision.
As a self-pubber, you are responsible for obtaining quality editing (yes, you must do this, and no, critique partners don’t count), formatting, cover design, obtaining ISBN numbers, finding out how to upload to the different platforms (Kindle, Nook, Smashwords, etc.) and then doing it, and promotion.
Some people relish the control they have over the process; others would rather poke their eye out than deal with all the details. As a self-pubber, you will create business relationships with cover designers, free-lance editors, and formatters. You will build an online presence and platform. This includes at least a website (complete with “buy” buttons) and an author Facebook page.
Marketing and promotion are essential. Getting your book noticed now that “everybody” is self-pubbing is not an easy task. Depending on your comfort level and ability to create and manipulate social media, you may face a steep learning curve – or pay experts to build and maintain your website, etc. Either way, it takes time and effort to market. *Note: Marketing and promotion are required of all authors nowadays, whether their route is via traditional publishers or self-publishing.
Sound like something you’d like to tackle? Then here are a couple of important things to keep in mind.
The most critical item in self-publishing is having a quality product. That means your book has to be the best it can possibly be. No ‘throwing it out there’ to see how it does. If the quality is mediocre, or worse, poor, you’ll generate bad reviews on Goodreads or Amazon. It is very difficult to entice people to try a subsequent work if the initial one was of poor quality.
The best way to ensure quality? Surround yourself with a superb team.
Before you jump into the self-pubbed fray, pay for a free-lance editor. At three to five hundred dollars, it’s a chunk of change, but every successful self-pubbed author I know views this step as vital. Read other people’s self-pubbed books, and when you find one that’s well-edited, contact the author to find out who they use. The best ones are booked a year or so out.
Find a great cover designer. Even in e-books, a sloppy or amateurish cover can kill sales. Same for formatting. Most readers will let an occasional error slide, but repeated errors are annoying.
Build a strong online network. Word of mouth still sells more than anything – but when your ‘word of mouth’ is a small group of authors with a similar readership and ten to twenty thousand Twitter followers each, ‘word of mouth’ takes on a whole new meaning. Too, there are Twitter accounts that exist solely to promote self-published works.
Other options are available if you choose to not take on the responsibility of self-publishing. Many smaller e-publishers are springing up to serve specific niches. You give up some of the profit in return for not having to go it alone. A ready-made team might be the perfect solution.
Or consider the hybrid route. Self-publish some work and seek traditional publication for others. Mix and match between larger and smaller houses.
Having a clear plan is essential. And since this is the Catholic Writers Guild, it is imperative to begin the discernment process with prayer. It’s crucial to align ourselves with God’s plan for us and our work. Sometimes an examination of conscience reveals that our ego or pride is driving our insistence on a particular path. Neither avoidance of rejection nor arrogance will serve us (or God) well.
What are your thoughts regarding self-publishing? Can you add some wisdom gleaned from your experience? What led you to take that path? And what have you found to be the most important elements for success?
Leslie Lynch
Leslie Lynch writes women's fiction, giving voice to characters who struggle to find healing for their brokenness – and discover unconventional solutions to life’s unexpected twists. She is an occasional contributor to the Archdiocese of Indianapolis’s weekly paper, The Criterion. She can be found at www.leslielynch.com and is on facebook and Twitter@Leslie_Lynch_
This was very helpful, thanks! I really didn’t want to put time and money into having someone edit it professionally, but you have made me think twice. I am in the midst of self-publishing a book called “Chosen to Heal” about Catholics from the United States who have God-given gift to heal people. I am working hard to figure out a promotion plan, but I find the entire experience exciting! Maybe Ill change my mind in a couple months though:)
Hi, Laura! What an interesting book you are working on! (As are everyone’s who responded to this blog.) I have critiqued two self-published authors’ books, and thought they were as good as they could get, but they both use professional editors after the critique is done – and the editor makes the books even better. Sometimes it’s as simple as changing a character’s name or picking up typos that the critique partners missed, but often it’s in filling plot holes or fixing pace issues. Maybe it comes down to fresh eyes and no underlying desire to avoid hurting a friend’s feelings! But none of my successful self-pubbed friends will bypass this step.
I hope you still find the process as exciting in a couple of months! (I suspect you will…)
Blessings,
Leslie
Hi Leslie,
As usual, your blog draws many interesting comments. Your timely blog sensitized me to new possibilities. There is a publisher in my own town who runs a Neighborhood Newspaper and has self-published several books.
Thanks again,
God Bless,
Don
Isn’t it funny how when you become aware of something – an idea, an interest, a direction or even a calling – that suddenly opportunities around that very idea appear everywhere? I think God just waits for us to see what He has for us. And in such abundance!
You may have the seeds of a wonderful collaboration right in your own backyard! Or not. But sometimes the journey is more important than the destination. I’m sure you’ll have a wonderful time meeting your local newspaper-cum-self-publishing publisher!
Blessings,
Leslie
Thank you Leslie,
This is another keeper. Have you started down the road to self-publishing your excellent manuscripts?
God Bless,
Don
Hi, Don! I’m contemplating taking the first step…and thank you for your kind words about the quality of my work!
Once I convince myself that this is the way to go, I’ll go gangbusters. 🙂 I’m still weighing the options. It takes me a while to make up my mind, but once I do, there’s no turning back.
Glad my non-expert opinion is helpful! I’m grateful to the self-pubbers who have responded to this blog. Each story is different, and each story demonstrates success. Thanks, everyone, for sharing!
Blessings,
Leslie
I self-published an 1800-word ebook as a trial run. It’s called Five Lessons from the Carmelite Saints That Will Change Your Life. I offered it free to blog subscribers and put it on Amazon for $.99 just for my readers’ convenience. I was surprised when it sold 900 copies in 2 months! I did do a fair amount of promotion through asking other bloggers to review it, etc. I also made sure it was my very best work. It’s now free in virtually (haha) all formats.
Now I’m working on a full-length book I plan to do both as an ebook and POD. I’m blessed to have a husband who has worked as a professional editor and knows how to be hard on my work without feelings getting in the way. I know this will be lots of work for me, but I’d rather not wait several months just to get a rejection slip back from a publisher, then several more after acceptance before the book comes out in print. Plus I think the ebook revolution offers a great opportunity to new authors. I believe this is the way God is directing me to go at this time.
Thanks for the tips!
Hi, Connie! I like what you did in terms of promotion. Don’t underestimate the power of the blogosphere! Also, having something to offer for free is a good way to get your book into the hands of readers – and hopefully, they will generate positive reviews and/or buzz.
You’ve summarized the reasons for going self-pubbed in a nutshell. You’re lucky to have a built-in editor 😉 and I wish you the very best in your full-length book. The e-book revolution does offer new opportunity to authors. Thanks for sharing your journey!
Blessings,
Leslie
Hi, Lisa! Great summary of your experience so far. Thanks for sharing. 🙂
I have one thing to add. All the self-pubbed authors in my experience also offer their e-books as print. It’s an option that they choose through Amazon, in particular. The pricing is different, of course, but I spoke with an author who had a business background in printing and she really opened my eyes to the process.
She said that when a buyer clicks on ‘print copy’, the command goes straight to the printer, which is slightly larger than a standard office copy machine. It prints and binds the book (because, after all, it’s simply a Word document) and spits it out in less than five minutes. It goes by conveyor belt to shipping, and is in the buyer’s hand as soon as a pre-published book would be. Check into that with your already-published Amazon book. You may not need to wait until your next book to explore the option!
I will add what I should have put in the body of my blog: I don’t know anyone who regrets self-publishing. It can be a grand adventure, and as one person said, your book will be doing more good than it is now, sitting on your computer!
Of course, success is measured very differently by different people. Perhaps the subject of another blog…
I have self-published one (very) small book on Amazon (Kindle and POD), which is selling well in its category — no outside help whatsoever and no promotion, other than occasional free download promos. It was something I published just to try out the Amazon system. See the book here: http://amzn.to/14cJmvn
Now I’m working on a Catholic science fiction novel (how’s that for a small niche?), the first of a planned series, and my plan is to start it out on Amazon, and see how well it does, with me actively promoting it as many ways as I can. I am fortunate to have an experienced professional book cover designer who has volunteered to design my cover gratis, and a retired editor friend who has similarly volunteered to edit — both wonderful boons, since I have NO money. Later, I would like to seek a publisher for the print edition, but retain rights to the ebook version myself — a publisher will be able to produce a nicer print edition than POD allows, and will also have a distribution network and, hopefully, some name recognition that I lack.
I look on all this as a learning process, and I’ve already learned a lot in the last couple of years. The publishing industry is changing so rapidly that the ones who make it in the present (and future) environment will be those who either are already well-established as writers, or those newbies like myself who are willing to take on the challenge of constantly learning new things (like book marketing).
Lisa, I apologize for misreading your post. My original reply indicated that I missed that your current book is available in POD now, so ignore that part!
I’m very interested to see that you are already looking at the hybrid author route. Best wishes for your success, no matter how your books get out there!
Blessings,
Leslie
Very helpful article. I wish I had more info on this prior to publishing A Body in Prayer, as it may have saved some work and time to get where I’m at, but its really about marketing and persistence afterward.
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Hi, Neil! I am by no means an expert in this subject, but I’ve watched several of my friends go through the process. The self-pub pioneers have done a lot of trial and error, but there’s a larger body of folks who’ve been down that road now. See if you can connect with some of them, either locally or online. There are Yahoo loops out there for independently published or self-published authors. I know that CWG has a number of folks who’ve found success with self-pubbing. Perhaps you can put a question out on one of the forums, or see if a new forum for self-publishing can be created.
One thing that does help is positive (and genuine) reviews on Amazon. Ask folks who’ve read your book to review it there, and perhaps on Goodreads. I try to do that for books I enjoy, and I often get thank you notes from the authors.
Wishing you the best of luck!
Blessings,
Leslie