Great post Marla….I am learning too. I found it very helpful.

Even a self-published author should ask the same questions. That is, “Do I have a built-in market who are sure to buy my book with little effort?” Answering “Yes” to that question means you might be able to cover your costs with the first round of sales. And being willing to do some self-promotion is vital to your success *especially* as a self-published author.

I’m sure Stephen King and Danielle Steel can “hunker down to write the next one” but for the majority of authors there’s work to do once the book goes off to the printer.

If an author just wants the ego boost of “being published” then there are lots of options. If, on the other hand, “selling books” is your goal, then it sounds like publishers are asking all the right questions.

What’s the difference? You own your own ISBN and make profits not royalties. Also, you need to be even more of a business person and a strong marketer no doubt. For some, this is a good fit.

Also, with regard to Craig’s note about publishers promoting, yes publishers do some stuff (realize more effort goes to big names) but that’s not the whole story any more.

Currently, many publishers want to know you have an established following who will buy once the book is out. If you don’t, it may not eliminate you from being picked up, but if someone else has this and all the rest being equal, they’ll probably be higher on the list.

They also want to know what you’re willing to do to help market from speaking to blogging etc. I’ve also read on an agent’s blog very recently that it is not unreasonable now for a publisher to figure the author will be responsible for half of the sales of a title. If they’re planning on a minimum of 10K+ books, that’s more than a little bit of author participation. The days of sending a book to a publisher and then hunkering down to write the next one are pretty much close to or completely gone.

There are pros and cons to each option. As I mentioned in yesterday’s comment, the biggest key is to educate yourself, look at your circumstances and then make the best decision you can.

I self-publish because I can write exactly what I want (romance with Christian principles that won’t make the Christian market or the secular market). Mine is a niche brand that really doesn’t fit with the industry. Now, I am writing some stories that do fit the industry, so I do have plans to traditionally publish as well. I do get inspired when I hear people can do both traditional and self-publishing. It’s nice to know it’s not an all-or-nothing proposition.

As for expenses, I publish through Lulu and CreateSpace, so I don’t pay anything except the $39 fee to be able to lower my book price through CreateSpace. Self-publishing doesn’t have to be expensive. I used to go with vanity publishers and pay them up to $1200 a book. That got way too expensive. Then someone told me about Lulu and CreateSpace and it saved my wallet a lot of grief. So I’m just letting others who may be wondering if there is a cheaper way to self-publish know that there is.

Again, this was a great post!

A good agent knows what publishers are looking for and can help you shape the book to give it its best shot at finding a publisher. When an agent tells you your book isn’t going to sell, 99% of the time they’re right. If two or three agents tell you the same thing, chances they’re right go up to 100%. An agent earns his or her cut by letting you benefit from their experience.

A publisher doesn’t just print your book, they advertise it and sell it. This is what self-published authors miss. They think their book will sell itself. It won’t. You have to spend money and time to promote it. Publishers employ people to do just that, and in return for their share of “your” sales, they will let you benefit from having those people working for you. In addition to creating demand, publishers also have the sales connections to get your book into the retail sales channels so it can get sold. The people who do that are also experts at what they do, and in return for a commission on sales (another piece of “your” pie) they will share that expertise with you.

Publishers buy their printing in bulk and can print cheaper than you can. Again, for a share of “your” profits they’ll let you benefit from those relationships.

Agents and publishers (and bookstores) serve a purpose and there’s a reason things work like they do. Sure, these days you can self-publish if you’re willing to pay for everything, but like people who try to sell their own house to cut out the cost of a realtor, the reason one might think self-publishing is a good idea is that they’re too dumb to realize they’re too dumb to do it all on their own. And I mean “dumb” in a nice way. There are many things I’m too dumb to do. Some of them I do anyway.

IMHO self-publishing companies take advantage of narcissists and dimwits to make money. But that gives them a pretty large, almost inexhaustible supply of customers.