Apex Book Company

Whenever a writer talks about writing at any length, eventually the topic of whether or not to self-publish comes up. It doesn’t matter how gingerly how one talks about the subject, once it rears its head, it can become fairly divisive. Accusations of being elitist, a shill for the establishment/Old Boys Network; of belittling those who challenge the way things have been done, the comments come quick and furious as people justify their career choices. And that’s what it boils down to – a career decision each writer must make for themselves.

For the purposes of this blog, I’m defining self-publishing as you having to pay for your book to see print. Call it subsidized or vanity press, it is the same beast by another name – the author sets his own book, finds a printer and publishes. [Though some folks use the terms interchangeably, POD (Print On Demand) is a technology and not the same thing as self-publishing.] Self-publishing includes the trap many new writers experience known as PublishAmerica and the many other scammers who prey on the hopes and dreams of would be writers. Scams that can tie up your rights so that you aren’t as in control of your own work as you think. Just as there are many myths floating around about who has been self-published and the number of “success” stories.

I feel like I’m in a religious debate and I have to lay out the dogmatic/doctrinal issues I have with another set of beliefs in explaining why I won’t convert. My “dogmatic issues” boil down to three:

1. Money should flow to the writer. It’s the main lesson professional writers have drummed into my head and an easy check against you falling into a scam deal.

Writing can be like owning your own business. I have costs from my web site maintenance, postage, maybe some editing costs (well, before I had friends in the business). There are obvious costs associated with putting out your own novel.

There’s the cost of editing. Writers develop blind spots and are notoriously the worst judges of our own work. One of the knocks against self-published books is how badly they are in need of a professional editor. Not too long ago, I turned in what I believed was a clean manuscript. The editor bought the manuscript, however, the line editor revealed just how riddled with errors it had been. And I knew that I had gone over it a half dozen times (not including other eyes who’d gone over it) before turning it in.

Other costs not often thought about are cover art (or the software to do it yourself), transportation (for example, first-class shipping to the Amazon distribution centers), and storage, especially since authors are encouraged to buy a large number of copies from some scams. And there’s the rub: how much you have to pay, whether upfront or once they are printed, for your book to see print. Money should flow to the writer.

2. Marketing. We’re all competing for limited shelf space. I know the dream is that through the miracle of the Internet and online campaigning, the playing field has been leveled, but we’re not there yet. I don’t live in a dream world where I believe whoever buys my book will pour hundreds of thousands into promoting it. Much of the promotion will probably still fall on me. On the other hand, the way the dame is set up, no, I can’t self-publish my way into book store chains or the Wal-Marts of the world.

Marketing ourselves is a different skill set from writing. I’m using the word marketing to cover a whole host of issues:
-distribution – major distributors require that you have ten or more books published before they consider you
-blurbs and reviews – it is harder for self-published books to get reviewed or blurbed (though, I also think that these things are over-rated in how many copies of your book will get moved)
-discounts – Amazon charges 55% of the cover price to get into their distribution channel. Those charges can go upwards of 65% for some smaller distributors
-higher cover prices – The trade paperbacks typically run about $5 higher per copy. I have known writers who sell their PublishAmerica published novels at a loss just to be competitive.
-returns – some places want 100% returns on books that don’t sell, costs that come back to you (or to your distributer … and then to you).

3. Honing my craft. I know the temptation of going the self-publishing route. I have a novel that I’ve shopped around, but have been rejected. I believe in the book, I want to see it in print, but I won’t self-publish it. The rejections have taught me that the book isn’t ready. Self-publishing would mean that I would have a bad (at worse) or prematurely released (at best) novel on my resume.

Rejection is part of the process. You submit, you wait, you reassess, you re-write, and you grow. The rejections, besides thickening your skin (when the discouragement doesn’t break your spirit), they should give you a sense of how difficult it is and how hard you have to work to get published. Granted, there is a certain validation when known editors want to buy your work.

There are no easy paths to success and no matter what route you choose, it takes hard work to get published. It’s a long race to get published and I don’t believe in placing unnecessary hurdles in my way. We write to be read otherwise we’d write our stories and leave them in a drawer. All of the technologies and ease of publication ushering in the 21st century, have combined with our need for instant gratification, leaving no patience in our rush to be called a writer.

Self-publishing if fine if you’re a hobbyist and just want to see your name in print. It’s fine if you have a small niche you wish to reach. It’s also fine if you have a guaranteed audience that you can get product to. I know a few writers with dedicated fan bases for whom it made perfect sense to self-publish a project. It’s your career choice. Do your research.

Here’s a good column to peruse if you decide self-publishing is right for you. For me, the only thing I self-publish is my blog. If I were interested in going that route for the sake of exposure or strictly being read, I’d just post my stories on my blog.

Maurice Broaddus is a notorious egotist whose sole goal is to be a big enough name to be able to snub people at conventions. In anticipation of such a successful writing career, he is practicing speaking of himself in the third person. The “House of M” includes the lovely Sally Jo (“Mommy”) and two boys: Maurice Gerald Broaddus II (thus, he gets to retroactively declare himself “Maurice the Great”) and Malcolm Xavier Broaddus. Visit his site so he can bore you with details of all things him at www.MauriceBroaddus.com. Most importantly, read his blog. He loves that. A lot.

In 2008, Apex Publications released Orgy of Souls, co-written by Maurice Broaddus and Wrath James White. He is also the author of the upcoming trilogy, Knights of Breton Court, from Angry Robot.