My first column here at Wave’s dealt with the topic of whether it was necessary for m/m writers to find a mainstream publisher. Given the buzz about self-publishing these days, I guess it’s only natural that the next question would be whether m/m writers need a publisher at all.
The debate about self-publishing — and the best way to go about it — ramped up with a lengthy and much publicized conversation between literary self-promo guru J.A. Konrath and national best-selling author Barry Eisler who turned down a half million dollar advance in order to publish his next books himself. That conversation is an excellent starting point, and you can read it here.
OR I can save you an hour or so and condense it for you in one paragraph: there can be drawbacks to working with a publisher, especially if you’re a midlist author, and — thanks to Amazon’s game-changing decision to pay 70% royalties on books published directly through the Kindle and priced at $2.99 or higher — you might be better off going it on your own in this brave new digital-friendly age of literature.
Here’s the bottom line. Up until now, the book biz has been a publisher’s market. Now it’s an author’s market. Provided — and this one hell of a big provision — you are a name brand author and you have some idea as to what you’re doing when it comes to packaging and promoting your work.
Most authors don’t. I’m just going to put that out there right now. Not that it’s going to stop anyone, but it needs to be said.
Now lest I sound like the wet blanket I’m occasionally accused of being, I find these developments in publishing very exciting and I’m absolutely going to give publishing directly through Amazon a try. In fact, I did that very thing in February when I republished the short story “In a Dark Wood” after the rights reverted to me. As of a few days ago I’d earned a total of $1916. Kindle sales.
Considering that the story is several years old, and that it’s expensive in relation to what shorts typically go for on Amazon, that’s not too bad. It’s not great either, but it’s earning me significantly more than it did with the publisher. Further, In a Dark Wood has done better than my other two shorts on Amazon, which really are (deliberately) priced quite high for their word count. So make of that what you will.
How come I’m not snatching back the rights on all my existing works the second they pop up? A couple of reasons.
First, Amazon is only one piece of the publishing pie; my publishers make my work available through a variety of 3rd party sellers who have customers who don’t buy through Amazon. Frankly, I don’t have the time or energy to be my own publisher. (These days I barely have the time or energy to be my own writer.)
Two, I’m not so keen on helping Amazon become an entertainment monopoly. I may get irritated with my various publishers, but I don’t particularly want to see them all go out of business; most of my books are doing well enough right where they are.
Am I intrigued by the prospect of publishing something new direct to Kindle? Definitely. I’ll probably take ‘er for a spin with a new novel-length work next year. I sincerely doubt I’m going to sell 35,000 copies or make half a mil, but that’s okay. I don’t need to get rich, I just need to make a decent living.
I should probably segue here into the controversial topic of pricing books for the Kindle, since that too is generating a lot of talk, but I don’t want this to be another monster post. There’s a useful overview on the subject in the Wall Street Journal.
Actually, it’s very difficult to get anyone to talk about money in this genre. A useful page to consult is Brenda Hiatt’s Show Me the Money. She’s working from a limited pool of data when it comes to ebooks, and the numbers are not specific to male-male, but it gives us a ballpark estimate. One thing we’re all agreed on is sales in ebooks have jumped since December. I don’t believe anyone in our genre, self-published or not, has sold 35,000 copies like JA Konrath, but we’re definitely seeing a healthy spike. All those folks who got Kindles and Nooks and iPads for the holidays are racing to fill them up with reading material. That boom will continue for a time until ereaders have become commonplace and until readers (the human kind) catch on to just how much dreck is out there. At that stage all the 99-cent price points in the world won’t mean so much (partly because they’ll be standard practice for everyone trying to break into publishing).
Anyway, I don’t have much in the way of self-publishing numbers to throw at you, but I can quote you sales-to-date figures on two of my moderately successful titles from my primary publishers. Note: I have titles that do better and I have titles that do worse.
Dangerous Ground came out in April ’08 from Loose Id. It has a list price of $4.99. They pay 35% royalties. To date, my before tax total is $5342.
Somebody Killed His Editor came out in June ’09 from Samhain. List price $5.50. Samhain pays 40% royalties. To date, my before tax total is $7688.
Now, there are a couple of ways to look at those numbers. First off, seven to five thousand dollars spread over three years is not enough to live on. On the other hand, five thousand dollars for a month’s work (which is about how long it took to write Dangerous Ground) isn’t in itself horrendous. The horrendous part is when we start spreading that amount over the years it took to realize it.
In mainstream publishing we have a thing known as advances. A five to seven thousand dollar advance for, say, a mass market paperback original is pretty common. You still can’t live on five thousand dollars, but getting a chunk of that money ahead of time does help. However, in our genre we don’t have five thousand dollar advances. In most cases we have no advance at all. So there goes one obvious reason for sticking with a publisher versus striking out on your own.
Another reason for dispensing with a publisher would be royalties held against returns. Mainstream publishers justify holding royalties because they do actual print runs and books can, in theory, be returned years later from bookstores (we could digress here and discuss how this business dynamic is one reason bookstores are helping to put themselves out of business, but one thing at a time). In the case of POD or print on demand, which is the technology most of our m/m publishers are using, returns are generally taken out monthly or quarterly as they occur, so an indie publisher hanging onto royalties for a year or so against highly unlikely mass returns is yet another incentive for DIY.
Although no one (with a clue) chooses writing as a surefire way to rake in the bucks, I think most of us dream of being able to make a living at doing what we love. So money is a factor for all of us. It has to be or the only people who will be able to afford to write will be the independently wealthy or the hobbyists.
But it isn’t just about money. Creative control is equally important. A couple of other reasons to dispense with publishers would be…incompetent content editors, tyrannical copyeditors, ugly cover art, dodgy accounting, and publishers who don’t listen to writers’ concerns about any of the above. There are publishers in our genre, just as in mainstream, who view writers not as publishing partners but as a necessary evil.
That’s where Amazon comes in. The playing field has been leveled for many writers.
Many but not most.
So let’s discuss why it might be in your best interests to stick with a publisher.
Good reasons to stay with a publisher would include great content editors, competent and experienced copyeditors, wider readership and professional cover art. Now it’s true that you can hire someone to provide those services for you, but what you do miss out on is the — possibly necessary — pain and pleasure of apprenticeship.
A lot of writers choose self-publishing because no one wants to publish them. Sometimes it has to do with edgy subject matter or shortsightedness on the part of mainstream publishing, but more often than not, it’s that these books simply aren’t ready for prime time. Those writers have finally come into their own — and it’s not pretty.
One obvious advantage of going with a publisher is that it means validation. It gives an artist credibility when someone not related to you finds your work worth investing in. You get a gold star for making it through the gauntlet! What you also get is the experience of working with other people (ideally publishing professionals) who might have different opinions from you. This is often annoying, but it’s usually instructive. It’s a good experience even when it’s a bad experience, if you know what I mean — provided you haven’t signed an exclusive contract that ties you up with a crook or an incompetent for seven years. Experience teaches us. We grow through experience. Even bad experience. Sometimes especially through bad experiences.
If you hire an editor you get to overrule anything he or she tells you, and the instinct of the inexperienced writer is to do just that. But when you’re the hired gun, you have to negotiate with editors and copyeditors, and that process will often make you a better writer. I’m not saying it’s always a perfect process, but I am saying that working with a variety of editors will almost certainly make you a stronger, smarter writer.
This presupposes that you’re working with one of the better publishers in our genre. Not everybody is. But learning to work well with others is still a useful experience. Especially when you’re starting out and you know painfully little. Which is the point at which we all start out.
And speaking of experience, when you work with a publisher, you get the benefit of all their experience. That could be significant or not. The publisher skill set is not the same as the author skill set. Being a good writer doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be a good publisher — especially for your own work. The publisher will ideally invest in targeted advertising for you. Chances are, when you start out, you don’t even know what targeted advertising means. You probably think everyone who likes m/m is your target audience. With a publisher, you get the opportunity to network with other house writers and join forces for promotion on projects. You’ll probably have the opportunity to post regularly on their blog. Your title is introduced to their regular list of readers. Those reading lists are significant, particularly in our genre.
None of which changes the fact that your publisher is (generally speaking) still taking between sixty and seventy percent of the profits. Money that could be — and should be — yours.
Or are they?
We’re hearing a lot of self-publishing success stories from authors who are for the most part already established. One of the exceptions is Amanda Hocking who gets trotted out as the poster girl for DIY publishing. Hocking’s story seems to excite people the most. Not surprisingly, given that she became a millionaire through self-publishing. But Hocking is writing in two very hot mainstream genres: vampire and young adult.
We are not writing in a mainstream genre. If your books are not selling well in this genre, putting them up directly on Amazon is probably not going to change that. Yes, you will keep seventy percent of your earnings, but seventy percent of damn little is still damn little.
Looking at self-publishing as a shortcut is a mistake. Self-publishing is not easy. Instead of relying on a publisher for editing, artwork, accounting, promotion, etc. you’ll now be handling all of that yourself. You might find you have a knack for it, you might find you’re much better at it than your publisher, but what you will also find is being your own publisher cuts into your writing time. And writing is where you make most of your money, regardless of who publishes you.
I’ve said I’m excited about the opportunities of self-publishing and yet I keep coming up with reasons to go with a publisher. So what would be some reasons to turn to self-publishing?
You’re actively and consistently unhappy with your publishers. Yep, that’ll do it. If all you can think about is how much you hate your publisher and how much better you could do it on your own, you’re definitely a candidate for self-publishing.
And on those same lines…you’re a control freak and you prefer to do it — all of it — yourself. Wanting, needing artistic control isn’t always a bad thing. Provided the business end of it doesn’t interfere with the creative part of it, again you could be making the right choice.
You can make more money. It’s certainly possible. There are plenty of stories out there right this minute of authors finding success self-publishing ebooks. For a cogent breakdown of the financial realities, read this blog by former literary agent Nathan Bransford. Granted, he’s talking mainstream and we’re working in a healthy niche market, which does change it up some.
You’ve built your brand, you’ve got a solid core readership, and you’re looking to expand your horizons. Makes sense to me. You’ve put in your time, you’ve paid your dues, and you’re looking to supplement your already steady revenues.
No one else will publish you. Ouch. This is what happened with Hocking. Turns out she was right to have faith in herself, but she’s the first to point out that her story is not typical. Even so, I’m all in favor of following your dream. What’s the worst that can happen? That dream tanks and you realize that you have other dreams
I’m sure there are other solid reasons for choosing to self-publish. But whatever your reasons, to have any shot at success you’ll have to be prepared to invest in editing and art work and promotion. You’re going to have to figure out how to price your work and how to pace yourself between your publisher and author duties. That’s not so easy given that every writer I know is already she’s they’re having trouble balancing writing and promotion.
Finally, we’re hearing a lot along the lines that any real money to be made in self-publishing will be made in the first year or so of this ebook revolution — that those who get there first, will have the home team advantage. We’re already there. We’re already in ebooks and we’ve already got an ebook-loving readership. The best news is if you’re successful in ebooks now, your ebook sales are only going to increase, regardless of whether you choose to stick with your publishers or forge out on your own.
I thought it would be useful to end with a little perspective from K.A Mitchell who, among other things, keeps far better track of her numbers than I do. These three titles were published through Samhain (40% royalties) and they reflect only her ebook numbers.
Diving In Deep released March ‘08 Cover price $4.50 Life to date earnings: $13,196
Regularly Scheduled Life released August ‘08 Cover price $5.50 LTD earnings: $9467
Collision Course released December ‘08 Cover price $5.50 LTD earnings $14,812
K.A. says this: If you want a quote, I figure that if I had self-published any of these titles, I would have earned roughly double, assuming the same number of sales (which is a big assumption). For me, the question of self over e-pubbing comes down to this: is content and line editing, professional cover design, publisher branding, publicity, formatting and placement worth that percentage of my earnings? Considering the amount of time I would have to spend on all those details, it’s worth it to me. I want to spend as much of my professional time writing, which is the part I like, the part I do best, not doing all the stuff about professional writing I hate.
This was again a great and thought provoking post, thank you for sharing! As a VERY newly published author, I didn’t even think of self-publishing. I can only speak for myself, but I’ve hardly got an idea about what I’m doing as a writer, let alone what publishing and promoting my work would be like. And it’s amazing what a good editor can teach you (:rant: and disappoiting to realize you’ve been assigned to an editor who doesn’t even bother to read your story carefully, but that’s another topic /rant off). It’s as K.A. Mitchell’s quote says. And if nobody wanted to publish me, I’d still be writing, just for myself. :anonym:
Thanks, Feliz. There’s been a lot of discussion about what the boom in self-publishing means to NY publishing, but not so much about what it means to the indie publisher or the micropublisher.
A call went out yesterday for an anthology and the offered payment was $60.00 and a free copy of the book. I spluttered when I saw it.
Fantastic fantastic post, Josh!
You literally touch on all the things that make me wary of self-publishing and give a pretty clear picture of the jumping-off-point that glimmers down the line for those authors who can build their brand and fanbase to a point where the exercise would be of benefit. I wonder if self-publishing works best as a kind of hybrid, like recording artists who are signed with a major label, but also do small acoustic sets when they’re testing fresh or unlikely material.
Still, the goofy idea that writers can “put one over” on readers with so-so work or magically “become” bestsellers without the same commitment and focus of ANY successful writer is persistent because it encourages sloppiness and laziness… two things which people are thrilled to cultivate. In my expoerience, there are no shortcuts, there are only tactical shifts of varying utility. Hocking and Eisler et al have made a strategic move at a pivotal moment in publishing. Their decision is as affected by the technology and timing as their books. But millions of fanfic authors aren’t about to become Stephen King because Amazon throws open the barn door.
The funny thing is, the very access that makes this seem an “open door to fame and fortune” will glut the market with shitty books, which in turn will close the door as readers (and Amazon?) catch wise and as traditional publishing unthaws a bit to claim its slice of the e-publishing pie.
So much of self-publishing is simply crappy writing, that I think whaveter millions are to be made, will be made by the same people who would have made them anyway. Only an idiot gambler mentality could turn Amanda Hocking’s success into a magical “lottery ticket” that anyone can punch. What she has done is maximize benefit to herself with some deft maneuvering. But odds are a big publisher would have eventually snapped her up. If a book can make money, the people who make money from books will buy it, eventually. Hocking used a kind of publishing tesseract to get her there faster and with greater profit.
There’s a frantic American Idol quality to the recent yammering in the press about Self-published ZILLIONAIRES… As if (like some callow late night informercial) ANYONE can make a FORTUNE and get FAMOUS in TEN SECONDS with NO WORK!!! Horseshit, says me. Whenever my musician friends bitch about that show they pooint out that the winners who actually MAKE money for/from the AI brand and spin off into real music careers simply used the show to start careers that they would have started another way. It isnt’t a golden ticket, it’s just another door along a long hallway. And as with most things it only helps those who (have and will continue to) help themselves. And as with all things, it comes at a price because it is a BUSINESS.
As you say, the current Kindle “boom” will go bust eventually. That is what booms do. When the dust has settled, there is always still money to be made, and the folks selling fools’ gold will still only be fools. Art is a hard dollar. And typing is not writing. And the writer’s struggle to reach an audience has shifted, but it hasn’t changed.
Many thanks for the thought-provoking, and candid post, sir!
The funny thing is, the very access that makes this seem an “open door to fame and fortune” will glut the market with shitty books, which in turn will close the door as readers (and Amazon?) catch wise and as traditional publishing unthaws a bit to claim its slice of the e-publishing pie.
Right now a lot of new-to-ebooks readers are flooding into the market, and it’s fabulous. They’re like kids in the candy store. All those books — all those books in subjects so many readers love but mainstream doesn’t consider financially viable! They’re buying left and right. But already the chill is settling in and readers are starting to complain that the quality of their little 99-cent find isn’t what it should be.
Yeah, no kidding.
And as these readers grow more savvy, things will even out. So the better writers will absolutely be able to make money with the DIY route, but those who chose self-publishing as a way to avoid learning their craft are going to be right where they started.
There are no shortcuts in writing. There might be shortcuts in publishing, for some, but there’s no magical way around doing the hard work. And writing, whichever route you take, is hard work.
Great article, Josh! Seems to me I’ve read so many lackluster books that have been published by well known publishers, I’d be hesitant to try a new author who chose to go the self pubbed route. It would take a rec by someone I really trusted. I can, as you said, see it being useful for an author who has a following and has a reputation already. There a few authors I would buy if they sent me an email with a word doc. 😉
Word of mouth is going to be increasingly important, Marilyn. The volume of books released onto Amazon alone is already mindboggling, and most mainstream authors are still dragging their feet and hemming and hawing about getting their work up.
Wait till that happens. Whooo boy!
Excellent, well-thought out post, Josh. Thanks for this.
L
Thanks, Leslie!
Another excellent article,Josh!
Thank you, Dammit. Er, Janet. 😀
Thanks for another interesting article Josh. I find it very informative, especially being a self employed business owner, lifelong avid reader, and a Kindle owner. Notice I did not say aspiring writer….I’ll stick to
painting and let the word-smiths take up the might pen (or keypad as it were..) 😉
Dianne, can it be possible? Someone who DOESN’T want to be a writer???? Can I touch your hand? 😀
Seriously, though, when did writing become the art that everyone decided they were qualified to do?
Confession time. I was going through my statements again last night (obsessing over how much more money KA earns than me) 😀 😀 and I realized I’m missing nearly all my statements from 07 and a couple from 08 (including DG’s release month). So my numbers are, er, not as exact as I’d hoped.
So here’s some free advice for all of you writers out there. Start tracking your numbers now so you can graph your growth (or non-growth). My original royalty statement from LI was something like $200.
None of which changes the fact that that KA Mitchell sells books like HOTCAKES.
Hi Josh
Excellent post as always.
The green eyed monster looks good on you. 😀
Seriously, two self publishers I take my hat off to are JCP Books and Macleod/Valentine.
It can be done and it can be done well, but it doesn’t automatically follow that writers will be great at the publishing/promotion/business end of it. There’s all this call for us to remember that we are our own small businesses, but…it can be an uneasy mix, the blend of artist and suit.
I give kudos to anyone who does it well because it’s not easy.
There was also a very good post from Lori L Lake on the topic of ebook pricing, and one of the interesting things was a reader comment which seemed to support Lori’s argument that these unrealistically underpriced books was building an expectation in some readers that quality craft could not possibly support.
And that the market itself could not support.
http://bit.ly/mL53xc
Most of the stories I read that have no publishers are the free online fiction. Many, even the ones people rave about, could benefit from a good strong editor & someone to tell them no. I think writers tend to be self indulgent sometimes, left to their own devices and they do benefit by being put in check. On the other hand, I’ve also read the Psy cop series which I believe JCP self publishes or maybe she’s a publisher. Those are well done & professional.
On another note, I’m wondering why so many M/M books, despite having publishers, are so riddled with errors. I’ve read ebooks with duplicate chapters & many with the most basic spelling & grammatical errors. It does make you wonder if self publishing would really make a difference quality wise.
I like KA Mitchell books, although those happen to be the 3 books of hers I’ve yet to read. I’m assuming those numbers are from all the venues that sells her books and not just from Samhain? I think most people probably buy books from third party vendors or is that an incorrect assumption?
Also as someone who has books in print and ebooks, which ones sell better? When I go to a bookstore I tend to look at the more current books as opposed to when I shop online which pulls up an author’s back catalog. Doesn’t this mean authors are making more money just by publishing ebooks?
Most of the stories I read that have no publishers are the free online fiction. Many, even the ones people rave about, could benefit from a good strong editor & someone to tell them no. I think writers tend to be self indulgent sometimes, left to their own devices and they do benefit by being put in check.
Ya think. 😀
You’re right of course. It’s odd to me — maybe it’s a sign of the times — that so many aspiring writers reject the notion of taking time to learn their craft. So many would-be scribes seem to be believe that they’re born with a gift that should be left untampered and untouched. But even painters and singers and…well, you name it. There’s a learning curve on any skill. No one, not even those naturally inclined or with an apptitude, comes out of the gate at the peak of their abilities.
Child prodigies excepted.
Granted, the fact that half the people calling themselves “publishers” know less about writing and craft and even publishing than some of their authors, doesn’t help — as you point out.
I’ve also read the Psy cop series which I believe JCP self publishes or maybe she’s a publisher. Those are well done & professional.
Jordan is one of the exceptions. She’s very careful not to overexpand — the most common mistake (because, naturally, publishing others is where the money comes in in this game) — and she doesn’t cut corners.
There are some little presses out there like that — and it’s absolutely to a writer’s advantage to hook up with those kinds of operations.
On another note, I’m wondering why so many M/M books, despite having publishers, are so riddled with errors. I’ve read ebooks with duplicate chapters & many with the most basic spelling & grammatical errors. It does make you wonder if self publishing would really make a difference quality wise.
Because in our genre we have many “publishers” who are, in fact, simply other writers with some entrepreneural skills. They don’t know any more about craft than their authors, and they don’t want to invest in good editors and copyeditors.
I like KA Mitchell books, although those happen to be the 3 books of hers I’ve yet to read. I’m assuming those numbers are from all the venues that sells her books and not just from Samhain? I think most people probably buy books from third party vendors or is that an incorrect assumption?
That’s correct. And in fact, that point does change the royalty ratio. We make 40% on Samhain’s own site — but very few books are sold on Samhain’s own site. The bulk of the books are sold through other vendors and that discount rate is always lower.
Also as someone who has books in print and ebooks, which ones sell better?
I sell more print books than a lot of writers in this genre, but my ebook sales far, FAR outweigh my print sales — and the royalty percentage is such that even when the sales are even, I still make a lot more money from the ebooks.
When I go to a bookstore I tend to look at the more current books as opposed to when I shop online which pulls up an author’s back catalog. Doesn’t this mean authors are making more money just by publishing ebooks?
Yep. For one thing, most bookstores do not stock POD books in any significant quantities (and most of our publishers are using the POD technology), so the chances of finding these books are pretty slim. In digital, a book can live forever.
I have mixed feelings about self-publishing. My stories are too short to attract a NY publisher, which is why I’ve turned to the digital publishers. But (sigh) one book isn’t enough. More than one published author has told me one needs a back list. That said, I might self-publish a novella that’s too short for my publisher but is tied in with a particular book. “Might” being the key word. Right now, though, I’ll stay with working with and submitting my work to the E-publishers. (That is, unless my editor doesn’t think my first full-length novel is a horrible piece of dreck and I get the courage to submit it to an agent.) LOL
No, one book is not enough. I’m making a living because I have 40 ebook titles floating around out there in a multitude of venues. But my Amazon sales definitely dominate those numbers.
B&N comes next — sometimes neck and neck with All Romance Ebooks (who has also changed their definition of “publisher” and their royalty percentage so as to compete with Amazon).
You do need a backlist to make money, but it’s GOT to be a quality backlist. I see so many authors rushing to put out a giant backlist of really, REALLY awful books which they then sell to 50 – 100 loyal friends and fans. You can’t make a living like that. You can only make a living at this game if your readership expands and your sales grow.
Which is why it’s important to keep accurate records of your numbers.
I’m being asked a lot about self-publishing right now, and what I keep telling people is go ahead and try the waters. But don’t burn any bridges.
Speaking as a writer wanting to be an author, I can truly say that I was tempted to go with self-publishing. I am so glad I didn’t. Even though using a publisher can result in rejection, there is a lot to learn even from that. If I had self-published, I would have put out a fat and flabby novel that was, honestly, pretty self-indulgent. To tell the absolute truth, I am really glad to have that rejection e-mail. To submit to a new publisher I have had to strip 30K words out. That’s a lot of words. That’s whole scenes. But it has already made my novel so much better that I am still stripping words out after that goal has been met. I have had to think hard about my book, what it says, what it means, why it should be written in the first place. Think hard about motivation, the characters’ and my own. Think hard down to individual scenes, individual characters (can these two who don’t do much on their own be combined), and individual words. It’s better, and I am better. I think I will go the route of getting rejection slips (until the glorious day this work will be accepted for publication by some brave soul). I am new and right now I need all the help I can get.
That’s excellent, Gloria. Kudos to you for having the courage to submit your work and for being willing to put the time and effort into honing your craft.
I keep remembering that Dr. Seuss was rejected 21 or 22 times before he was picked up.
And Harry Potter (JK Rowling) was rejected what…36 or 37 times I believe.
L
Yes. There’s no question that publishers are fallible. As are writers. There are always going to be amazing books floating out there that don’t fall into a convenient niche or just get missed in the flood.
This new publishing environment is a godsend for a lot of authors.
Wow. Thanks for sharing the cold, hard facts. Revealing your income is such a personal thing.
This article is quite an eye-opener.
We keep hearing about all these amazing numbers from people, but as should be clear, my numbers — while respectable in this genre — are not the stuff of homegrown millionaires.
In fairness, mystery doesn’t do as well as romance anyway.
That’s respectable? Your numbers are dazzling. Yours and K.A. Mitchell’s, both.
Good work.
I think self-publishing can be a very defeating experience unless you’re an aggressive marketer (not that epubs always aggressively market your work for you–but at least not all the promotion is on your own head.) And it’s so difficult to overcome the public perception of self-published work as unpolished.
Saying that, I’d still recommend it for first-timers who have built up a pile of rejections from publishers. I will never be Amanda Hocking, but self-pubbing gave me a little step up I wouldn’t have had, otherwise.
Tamara, I really think it comes down to how informed the writer is. As you say, self-publishing can give a nice boost to a career. And publishers are made up of individuals, so any given publisher is only as savvy and efficient as its individual links.
What I fear is a lot of authors in our genre who see some of these numbers from mainstream writers and forget that it doesn’t work like that here. In fact, most of the time it doesn’t work like that THERE either. So there’s so much potential for disappointment unless someone goes into it with their eyes open as you — and others — have done.
As always, an excellent perspective! I look at Self-Publishing the same way I look at homeschooling my children. I have a number of friends who are organized, intelligent, and enthusiastic about doing it but that doesn’t mean it’s the best fit for me.
I applaud well known authors for self-publishing out of print back list books, and I think that if one were to hire an excellent editor and a professional cover artist, a well-known author could make this pay off very well indeed. But in my case I wonder if the cost of those things wouldn’t make it worth my while to go with publishers and simply write. (I require a firm editorial hand. LOL)
Of course, I will probably try it, lemming like, to see how it feels to be without the safety net of a publisher’s approval. Or maybe like you, I’ll do it once I get rights back on something.
I applaud anyone who believes in their work to this extent. As usual, insightful and thought provoking. 😀 Thanks Maestro!
As always, an excellent perspective! I look at Self-Publishing the same way I look at homeschooling my children. I have a number of friends who are organized, intelligent, and enthusiastic about doing it but that doesn’t mean it’s the best fit for me.
The fact that I didn’t bother to track my ebook royalties — that I didn’t even hang onto my monthly statements — indicates a – I never anticipated ebooks becoming the main source of my revenue, and b – I’m not cut out to be my own publisher.
Excellent post as usual, Josh. I link this post on another writers’ forum I participate in because some of them have problems with their publishers and consider self publishing. Granted, they are mostly mainstream fiction.
I think self-publishing mainstream fiction is even more difficult than niche genre like M/M romance because there are simply too many books out there and the target audience is too wide. Like all internet marketing, it is easier to target a niche market than a wide market.
I want to publish something one day, with a publisher. More for confirmation than making money. I am simply not cut out to produce a novella every month. lol. And yes, it feels different when someone else is willing to invest in your work rather than yourself.
I think self-publishing mainstream fiction is even more difficult than niche genre like M/M romance because there are simply too many books out there and the target audience is too wide. Like all internet marketing, it is easier to target a niche market than a wide market.
On the one hand the potential for sales is much higher overall. On the other hand, standing out — getting noticed — in that much larger crowd, is a lot harder. That’s the challenge of all midlist authors.
Of course 3-7K books sold through Amazon directly, while unacceptable to a mainstream publisher, would be a dream come true to an author realizing 70% royalties.
But a mainstream midlist author has already been through the mill, and probably has a workmanlike understanding of what it takes to craft a commercial story.
Excellent discussion.
I will add a couple of things:
1. I recently attended a panel of editors and agents and they discussed self-pubbing and the fact that for many people the decision to selfpub is a one made in anger or frustration after rejection. As someone said, “Maybe your initial consideration is tell the publishing industry to f–k off but that shouldn’t be your last consideration.” The biggest pitfall is un-edited work hitting the street and ruining your reputation before you have one.
2. Amy Atwell (Carina Press Author) recently started a project that collected sales data from e-published authors (much like Ms. Hiatt) and that should be out soon for public consumption.
Robin
Wow. Robin, that is so true. I do think that a lot of the decision to self-pub is fueled by anger and frustration.
And that’s not always a bad thing. JA Konrath made the right decision. He’s the perfect example of a competent but unspectacular writer — the classic midlister. Very bright aqnd vry ambitious (a tireless genius at self-promotion) and not being served as well by traditional publishing as he could do on his own. For those writers, self-publishing throws open financial doors that did not previously exist.
But for the author whose work isn’t quite there yet…sometimes, most of the time, you get one shot with a reader. If the work is amateur and clearly not ready for prime time, that’s it. Chances are, you won’t get another shot at that reader for some time. Maybe years. Maybe never.
I’m fascinated to see Amy’s numbers.
I think the other great thing that this mini-revolution has ushered in is the fact there now are choices. Not that long ago, you had the traditional publishing houses with agents as the gatekeepers and vanity presses. That was about it. Now we have small indie publishers, niche publishers, DIY self-publishing and more. (I am waiting for someone to serialize a book via a blog and publish to the Amazon Kindle! Now there’s an idea!). There’s always been tons of good stuff that’s never seen the light of day. Now it is getting out there, in whatever form. Of course, there’s also a fair amount of drek, but I readers are not stupid. Plus, one person’s drek is another person’s five star read, right? LOL.
L
So true, Leslie. When I said “Author’s Market,” I should have said “Reader’s Market” because as readers the world is our oyster. We’ve got everything from the edgiest of niches to all the OP stuff on the Gutenberg Project site — and everything in between. It’s a great time to be a reader if you have access to the internet.
Thanks for this post, Josh. Very interesting take on this issue from the m/m romance author’s point of view.
You might want to take a look at Dean Wesley Smith’s blog, where he’s been discussing midlist writers self-publishing their backlists. Very eye-opening and food for thought.
I’ll do that. Thanks, Jan.
Very interesting, and sensible, article. Although I’ve done a little writing and had a few short stories published with a good small press, I really want to respond from the perspective of both an avid reader and a freelance copy editor. From both perspectives, I feel that self-published authors who don’t know what they are doing and publishers who don’t care what they are doing–except for raking in a few bucks–are doing themselves and their readers a disservice. As you so rightly point out, after every boom comes a bust and then a settling-out process. In the end, quality product is going to survive. In some cases that may be self-published product, but only if it’s done right by someone who does the work–both the writing and all the rest. And the small publishers who take the trouble to serve and nurture the talent with solid editing, art, and marketing will be around when the rest have collapsed.
Love the icon. 😀
Yes. People talk about the inevitable bust coming in m/m fiction. Is our market flooded? Sure. But certain writers — the good and/or those profficient at promo — are still doing fine.
The problem is that in this democratization of book buying, promotion isn’t going to be enough if the quality of the book isn’t there. It’s the old fool me once…shtick.
I re-released collections of previously published short stories under my own imprint. I couldn’t place them anywhere else, and there was some call for them.
I am considering self-publishing the rest of the Nikolai ‘verse. In order to take the story where it needs to go, I am crossing every hard line all the publishers set. “I raped, killed and ate the mayor’s wife. Not in that order.” Those sentences alone, from our anti-hero’s mouth, violate at least three rules in the first page.
The biggest problem for me is going to be distribution. I have enough trouble racking up sales with a publishing house behind me and their distribution channels.
Angelia, I think print remains tricky. It’s certainly more acceptable for authors to do print themselves than it used to be, but distribution remains iffy.
But strong ebook sales can fund experiments in print, I think. There are still a lot of readers who aren’t budging from print.
As dearly as I love my Kindle, I’m not getting rid of my print collection any time soon.
The average self-published book sells about 200 copies, I remember reading years ago. Not sure if that’s still true.
I did my collections as .pdf, kindle and POD. I find the print sells fairly well at conventions, especially when I do a reading.
I’m part of a author’s consortium, so my stuff is not just at Amazon and my site, but at the Literary Underworld too. That’s an extra channel, and I gave them the exclusive on the .pdf format.
That’s a shrewd move. And, yes, I agree it’s certainly more feasible to move print in person. I think it’s probably the single best way to move print — which is why book signings exploded to the point that bookstores were holding them weekdays.
I’m not sure myself on what the self-pubbed numbers are. I’m thinking that online these days they’re higher. I hope they are, anyway!
I think I agree with just about everything you said. 🙂 I started out in e-publishing back when it was considered laughable and also write for small press, and NY. I’m a great believer in keeping my options open and trying out new publishing ventures. I put up a 99c short erotic story on smashwords and kindle a year ago and have sold roughly 50 copies a week for the past year, which I understand is quite unusual, but I think it sells consistently because I have a small core audience and a ton of backlist on amazon etc.
(Let’s try this again. The internet keeps eating my posts.
I think the 99-cent book or the freebie works well as an introduction to a writer’s backlist.)
Samhain offered The Dickens With Love free for one month and I had over 20K downloads. A number of readers contacted me saying that freebie was their intro to my work and they’ve gone on to buy my entire backlist. But for other readers that freebie is still unread. They’re too busy hunting for the next freebie. 😀
The danger of the 99=cent book is it leads some readers to believe that a story is worth less than a cup of fancy-pants coffee or a 99-cent all-shell-no-filler taco.
I am a reader not a writer and my interest is that I want my preferred authors to earn a living so I can indulge in the books I love. I have heard two things in the past couple of weeks that are interesting to me in light of this discussion:
1. overheard in a cafe … ‘you have to work as hard at your business as you do your craft’
2. heard on Aunty ABC… ‘there is a power shift happening through the e-book revolution that is taking power from publishers and giving it too readers’.
Point 1 speaks for itself; there are two sets of actions in getting a book into the reader’s hands. I was intrigued that the power shift discussion didn’t mention author’s power but I think took that as a given in this changing e-environment and that they discussed these changes in terms of power dynamics.
Point 1 speaks for itself; there are two sets of actions in getting a book into the reader’s hands. I was intrigued that the power shift discussion didn’t mention author’s power but I think took that as a given in this changing e-environment and that they discussed these changes in terms of power dynamics.
In a funny way I think you have two separate revolutions going on. One is the revolution of authors against the establishment AKA traditional publishing.
But the other revolution has to do with readers feeling “gouged” by ebook pricing and DRM — tactics used by mainstream publishing to protect a dying infrastructure. That’s where some of the (specious) arguments for piracy come in.
And there’s no question that an ebook priced higher than the hardcover is an artificial price designed to protect hardcover sales.
Of course readers are angry about that. It’s ridiculous.
But there are readers who are angry at the idea of paying more than 2.99 for any story, regardless of length or production values, and that’s equally unrealistic and artificial. The expense of a book is about a lot more than paper and ink. In fact, paper and ink is the least expensive part of a book.
The simple truth is that you’re not going to get quality work on an ongoing basis for the price of a cheap taco.
Josh, first of all, a huge thank you to you and KA for sharing some of your earnings figures. One of the hardest things to find out when starting out has been what an m/m writer can reasonably aspire to make (assuming they’re any good and manage to capture reader’s imaginations). I know most of us won’t be able to acheive these figures, but it’s good to know that they’re possible and gives me hope for the future 🙂
Secondly, thanks for a great analysis of the pros and cons of going it alone. I might self-pub a few short stories as the rights revert to me, but other than that, I appreciate what publishers do far too much to want to go it alone. Plus, I’m really not all that fond of paperwork…
Josh, first of all, a huge thank you to you and KA for sharing some of your earnings figures. One of the hardest things to find out when starting out has been what an m/m writer can reasonably aspire to make (assuming they’re any good and manage to capture reader’s imaginations). I know most of us won’t be able to acheive these figures, but it’s good to know that they’re possible and gives me hope for the future
Thanks, Josephine. I wish more authors had been brave enough to kick in with what they earn — I did have a couple who offered figures but for the most part…it does remain a questionmark for aspiring authors. I know from looking over my statements that from January on my sales doubled and tripled all across the board.
That’s primarily, if not solely, due to ereaders being THE gift of choice last year. So in theory we’ve all benefitted from that.
I know the question that haunts all of us is will those numbers hold true? Is this the new norm or is this a temporary boom?
Secondly, thanks for a great analysis of the pros and cons of going it alone. I might self-pub a few short stories as the rights revert to me, but other than that, I appreciate what publishers do far too much to want to go it alone. Plus, I’m really not all that fond of paperwork…
The advantages of going with a terrific publishing are huge. But moving forward — say, a year or two down the line — there will be pressure on publishers to prove their value added. It’ll be interesting to see how the shrewdest publishers move on that — those will be the survivors.
Great article Josh!!
As an author I probably fall into the category of “established author with titles reverted.”
After 25 books, I’m going to self-publish for the first time this summer a reverted book. It’s a m/f – great book that languished, due to the word count = price that most publishers work with (my belief, however right or wrong it may be).
I’m going to offer it at over half it’s original price, and even then, I’ll make the same amount of money as I did with the publisher.
Self-publishing is a pain in the patooie. I re-edited it myself since it had been edited very well the first time, hired a cover artist, and my dh is going to do the technical stuff in the uploading to Kindle. Let’s not even talk about promo!
This is an experiment for me. I’m not even considering doing another self-pub until I see what’s happens with this one. If it looks promising, I may try it again.
I have no intentions of leaving my publishers, all of which I love and respect. There’s too many benefits they give me, and I’m happy with them on all counts.
But I’m glad I have this self-pub option now. I look at it as another venue, for now. Maybe it’ll be a game changer, maybe not. Time will tell.
And I am a strong believer in tracking your sales from day one. (I’m giving a little chat at L.I. in June on using spreadsheets to track sales) Anal I might be, but it’s valuable information a writer needs to have – once you publish, despite feeling you’re an “artiste”, you are a business. Tracking sales and money is just part of that business.
Once again, great article Josh!
Lynn, it would be great to hear from you on your results with that!
I agree with keeping accurate records. for one thing, if you don’t know sales are increasing — and where they’re increasing — how do you know if your promo efforts are paying off?
My husband obsessively tracks my sales…I get daily reports… bless him!
Rj x
Whoa! I don’t think I could handle that pressure! 😀 But what a great husband.
He may just be a little invested in the end result! He has spreadsheets…I guess we needed them to guage whether I could stop the web design…ROFL…
It’s not only good business, it can also give you insight into why one book sells like hotcakes and one doesn’t.
And tracking promo efforts? It’s dicey at best, but impossible without sales numbers. Despite what anyone says, very little promo is done by publishers (including NY). Today, an author must be aware of promo, and be actively involved with it.
Hocking states that she spent a ton of time doing promo for her books. Now that she’s sold to NY she’s going to hire someone to do promo for her. So? She got a huge deal, and she still feels like she needs to do promo, not leave it up to the NY publisher.
For anyone self-publishing, be ready to become a promo slut. Put on your red dress, Roxanne….
Hi Josh…
This is such a well timed post! Thank you for the time you put into this, you don’t know how interesting this is to read at this very moment in time for RJ Scott.
I have written three YA books that unfortunately my publisher of choice can’t take, given that their site is geared to an *adult* market.
I am considering self publishing these storeis, and I do seem to have a core of people that like to read my writing, YA though is a new direction.
My husband tracks every sale I make religiously, and I admire that you can come out and tell people how much you have earned… lets just say Christmas Throwaway did very well *grins* and is still doing really well, and forms a good core of the rest of my sales. I have become a full time writer, it is the main source of my income now… *bites nails*.
I know an awesome cover artist that I would hope to hire (watch out Reese, coming your way!), and the awesome Jason at Parenthetical Proofing would be my first stop for the final checks after editing. I have the technical know how, so does my IT geek hubby… I could set up a website to pimp it…
So why am I hesitating?
Mostly I feel a little disloyal to Silver, who, I tell you, deserve every penny that they make from my work (incidentally Silver only take 40% which is an amazing contract percentage). I just can’t wait until they branch out into YA themselves…
Your post has certainly given me something to think about. 😕
And one thing… “Frankly, I don’t have the time or energy to be my own publisher. (These days I barely have the time or energy to be my own writer.)” Ditto…
Hugs and thank you for letting me ramble… Rj x 😀