<\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/p>\nBecause many people have been asking me, here is a meandering overview of the process and reasoning behind self-publishing.<\/p>\n
Note that a lot of what I have to say here is based on my own observations, and on views expressed by author Joe Konrath<\/a>. This is not an authoritative article. Heck, it’s not even particularly well-informed. I’m one of a growing number of people who have returned from the vast, uncharted lands of internet self-publishing, and I’ve drawn a crude little map of what I saw along the way. As more of us take this trip, the picture will become clearer. Until that happens, we’re obliged to rely on scraps and guesses. If you’re really serious about this subject, I think Konrath is your go-to guy. Check out his blog<\/a>, and good luck to you. <\/p>\n But for the curious, here is what I learned in the process of self-publishing The Witch Watch<\/a>:<\/p>\n So, you’ve written a book. You’ve got a big ol’ pile of words in your word processor of choice, and now you want people to read it in return for money. For the sake of argument, let’s just assume the book is good.<\/strong><\/p>\n In traditional publishing, you would begin by spamming the publishing world with your manuscript. Like a desperate job applicant sending out resumes, you send it to everyone who might possibly have an interest in it. Then you wait. Some will reject you. Eventually. Most will ignore you. If you’re very, very lucky, one of them might express an interest in publishing your work. <\/p>\n If this happens, they will take on the burden of printing it, binding it, distributing it, and so on. You might have to do a few revisions, but for the most part your job is done. Your book will show up on the shelves of Barnes & Noble, and on Amazon.com. However, unless you’re super-famous (we’re talking J.K. Rowling or Stephen King famous, here) you will be left to do the marketing on your own. It will be up to you to get people talking about the book. While they don’t do marketing, the publisher will relieve you of the burden of money, by keeping most of it for themselves. (I think you’ll get 10% or 15% of the sale price.) Also, publishers really only care about the first-wave sales. They don’t have the resources to keep your book on the shelves in case it turns out to be a sleeper hit. Your books sell fast or they get dumped to make room for the next hopeful. Then your books will be pulped into molded fibre<\/a> and turned into fast food containers, which will be used to serve people high-fat, high-cholesterol foods. This is why failed writers are always so depressed: They’re in anguish over all the people killed by their recycled books.<\/p>\n Eventually, your book will go out of print, and will stop making money. It will vanish. It will not be printed again unless the publisher thinks a significant number of people are still interested in buying it. As an author, I want my books to be on the shelves where I can point them out to friends and talk about how important and famous I am. The publisher does not want my books on the shelf, because books on shelves are books they have paid to produce but not yet sold. <\/p>\n To sum up traditional publishing: After you finish your book, the work will sit around for a year or more making no money at all, giving you no return on investment. Then if you’re lucky it will earn money for a limited time, of which you will get a small percent. The publisher will only do marketing for you if you don’t need it. After that, the book will vanish and only your future fame can bring it back for additional printings. <\/p>\n Which brings us to the alternative:<\/p>\n You can take your manuscript and publish it yourself.<\/strong><\/p>\n
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