Why Self Publish?

Filed under Get Published.

book_with_handPicture the situation…A new writer has spent a year writing a novel then, once deciding it is ‘ready’, has knocked up a quick query and synopsis and sent the book out to ten publishers. Three months later the writer is sitting on ten rejections and decides that self publishing is the way to go.

Before any writer splashes out their own money on publishing their own book, they should first consider just why traditional publishers have passed up on the opportunity to publish.

A novel can get rejected for many reasons:

It is not good enough: This is by far the most common reason for a book getting rejected. The writing or plot or character development or grammar or overall structure or pace or (could be a number of things) simply are not up to publishable standard. Publishers will work with writers to a certain extent in an attempt to improve a novel but if it is too much work then the book will simply be rejected.

Poor query or submission A writer can spend years writing a novel but then wants to knock out a query and synopsis in hours. There are tons of resources on the internet to help writers prepare a decent submission package. Yet, many writers still simply include a query letter that says ‘please read my extract’ and a synopsis that is just a straight description of the plot. Poor query and synopsis will equal rejection. Publishers are just too busy.

No market: If a publisher is going to take on your book, then they must believe they can sell enough books to cover printing costs, pre-printing costs (editing etc) and any advance they pay. It is not uncommon for a publisher to reject a book because they feel they can’t sell enough to break even.

It is not differently different: Publishers realise that selling books is tough and being ‘like Harry Potter’ is not enough for a book to do well. In a publisher’s eyes books need to be differently different from their other titles. By this I mean that need to be similar enough to fit a genre but different enough to stand alone in the market as something unusual and unique.

Wrong publisher: Finally it might be that your book has simply been pitched to the wrong publisher. Each publishing house has its own specialities and if your book falls outside their list it will be rejected, even if it ticks all the other boxes.

So, the question any wrier that has been rejected must ask themselves before considering self publication is why was I rejected? It may be that you have a masterpiece on your hands, but it may also be the case that you have a novel that needs more work or whose market is too small to make it worthwhile or is just not differently different enough to appeal. Is self publishing really the best option?

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  • http://www.publishsmarts.wordpress.com @BenDawe

    Good points. Self publishing after multiple rejections says one or more of these:
    1. I’m not prepared to listen to market feedback and believe my book will sell because of my views about it
    AND/OR
    2. I’m publishing for non-commercial reasons
    AND/OR
    3. I’m an entrepreneur capable of extracting a return on my investment

    As long as the rationale is clear, there’s no problem.

    • admin

      Ben – I agree. I am not against self publishing, I am just trying to get writers to think carefully before spending their own money.

  • http://leslirichardson.com Lesli Richardson

    Self-publishing “general” fiction is an iffy proposition at best. Unless you’re an A-list name already.

    Self-publishing a highly niche book when you have a marketing network in place can possibly pay off. I’ve self-published software tutorials for several years, but it’s an extremely tight niche that makes it extremely impractical to go traditional routes. And it makes it easy for me to update the tutorials as the software is upgraded. Before my fiction was accepted at a house, I was supporting myself with my non-fiction sales.

    Self-publishing a fiction book though is a whole ‘nother animal, and if a first-time author wants to make money, they’d better have a crystal clear grasp of marketing, be prepared to market their heinie off, and still be prepared to be disappointed in sales once their relatives and close friends have all bought it. Yes there are exceptions to the rule. Very few. (Which is why they’re called “exceptions.”)

    • Gary Smailes

      I think the key to your experience is that you had access to a clearly definable market. Under these circumstances, in a situation where you have direct influence with the actual people who would buy your book, I would positively encourage self publishing.

      As you say fiction is another animal.

  • http://www.helpineedapublisher.blogspot.com Nicola Morgan

    Brilliant. It can’t be said often enough.

  • http://leslirichardson.com Lesli Richardson

    Oh, I always discourage new writers from self-pubbing fiction out of the gate. When they say, “Well, so-and-so was discovered by an agent/publisher that way,” I say yes, and how many thousands were NOT discovered like that?” LOL

    There are so many GOOD small houses now that a new writer can cut their teeth on to start with, hone their craft, earn money, build a backlist and gather a following of readers, that it doesn’t make sense to go it alone. It’s not like a few years ago. The market and business has shifted dramatically over the past couple of years. Look at writers like Lora Leigh, who started at a small house and moved over to traditional print. She built her following and reputation while still making money.

    I cringe at writers who say, “I want to be published by a REAL publisher.” Um, I get paid real money, which my mortgage company accepts as payment for my real house.” No, not all of my books are in print, and the ones that are are POD. Would I like to see my books on shelves in every B&N or BAM or Borders as well as indies? Sure! Duh. But in the meanwhile, I’m making a living, earning money, and building a backlist and reputation.

    I do have a couple of manuscripts I’m holding back to shop around to agents in a “traditional” manner. Once I get to that point, I can add to my query letter my (at this writing, twenty published or contracted projects, several of which hit the top 10 in Amazon Kindle for erotica) backlist, show I have a grasp on marketing, I have a web presence, etc. At that point I have a bit of an edge. My writing can stand on its own and not be shadowed as darkly by the “unknown writer” factor. I mean, I realize an agent will take a good manuscript regardless of the author’s published status. But if they are on the fence about a project, why not give myself every advantage I can to help them want to take a chance on me?

    • Gary Smailes

      I think you comment about smaller houses is very valid indeed. Writers still have this dream of making it big with one book. The reality is it never really happens. Writing need to build a following. Self publishing is a very expensive way to do this.

      I think one thing a lot of experienced writers never say is that the longer you are in the business the more people you know. I remember when I started writing I would have killed for a direct introduction to a publisher. However, years down the line I now consider a number of commissioning editors and publishers as friends. We communicate regally. Yeah I sometimes pitch ideas, but often simply to get a push towards the correct person within the industry. Writers need to work are their career much the same as any other industry.

  • http://leslirichardson.com Lesli Richardson

    Absolutely Gary. When a newer writer tells me, “Oh, writing is so hard!” I snort and say, um, no, the real work has yet to begin. Writing is the EASIEST part of the process. Then there’s editing. The booger of them all is promotion. That’s the hardest part, selling yourself and your work. Networking. Any writer that thinks they can write a book and sit on their butts after that is a writer who won’t sell anything.

    The days of one A-list book making you a household name are in the past. Yes, it can and does happen, but in far fewer numbers than it ever did before (which were pretty scarce to begin with). The easiest way to crawl to the top of the heap in today’s modern publishing world is to start out small and work your way to the top, but the good news is a good writer can make money along the way. Maybe not a lot at first, especially if they’re not in one of the better selling genres for ebooks (romance and erotica top the list currently overall), but it’s better to make money on a manuscript than have it languishing for years never seeing the light of day.