Authors Can Be Stupid: The Self-publishing Stigma
08. Feb, 2010 
20 Comments
There’s a stigma to self-publishing, and we all know it. Why? Because, in the past, self-published books have sucked. A lot of self-published work today sucks. And when I use that word, it’s a technical term.
Face it, most self-published books are a pig-in-a-poke. Looks good, but you can’t be sure. If it’s a physical book and has been professionally produced, it mimics the legitimacy of a commercially-produced book. It’s an ambush. You snag the book, you get into it, and it sucks. You feel you were cheated, and no one likes to be cheated. (And we won’t even touch on the topic of how many times that’s happened with commercially-produced books. Thank goodness the percentage is lower.)
Self-published work has become synonymous with “violation of trust” and buyers are wise to be wary of tossing money in that direction.
Self-publishing has long been the realm of someone whose belief in their work far exceeds the actual quality of that work, and they back their belief with their own money. The game industry from whence I come has, for the past forty years, has been a bastion of self-publishing. While there are a bunch of larger companies that publish very high quality work, the industry is open to someone whose warehouse is his garage. And the simple fact of the matter is that games by these small companies prove themselves through interaction with the buying audience, either falling to obscurity, or selling well and funding new creations by the game designers.
The same thing can, and should, happen in the realm of fiction.
In an effort to escape the stigma, the new practitioners of self-publishing have ascribed a number of different names to the phenomenon. A lot of folks call it Indie publishing. I actually prefer the term coined by Robert Vardeman: Vertically Integrated Publishing, or Vipub. What vertically integrated publishing allows is for an author to control every aspect of his work and how it is delivered. By putting in the work, he reaps the majority of the profit. It’s the equivalent of being a small winery—notice no one attaches a stigma to a boutique winery or cheese-making operation? Their products are described as “artisanal” and somehow better than massed produced rivals.
How does one get around the stigma—arising from the lack of quality of many self-published works—to attract an audience to your Vipub work? The solution is very simple: sampling. It’s a wine-tasting for your work. You, the author, publish for free or a nominal price, sample chapters from the work. You record a reading of chapters and make them available as an MP3; or using something like Second Life or streaming audio/internet radio, you provide listeners with a sample of your work. You release the entire book to a trusted cadre of reviewers and bloggers, enlisting them to spread the word about your work. You blog about it yourself. You engage the internet community and build an audience from it.
It has been suggested that my assertion that the production costs of preparing an ebook of a work, especially a work that it out of print and for which the author has no electronic copy, was “negligible.” I have had quoted to me a cost of hundreds of dollars for scanning a book, so the cost was considered substantial.
I disagree with this assessment.
I scanned my novel Once a Hero in three baseball games—I was listening to baseball on the radio, and scanned the book at the same time. Seven and a half hours, tops for that. And I spent another ten hours, roughly speaking, correcting scanning errors and formatting the book to be sold as a PDF, on the iPhone and for the Kindle. (Another hour or two will have it in epub shape, probably less.) So, let’s assume I have a whole twenty hours in the conversion process.
Scanners are very inexpensive—I used the one built into my printer. All scanners and printers come with OCR software, so there is no additional layout there. If an author doesn’t own a scanner, he undoubtedly knows someone who does. And if he doesn’t want to do the physical scanning himself, he can find a spouse, a child, an unpaid intern, or a dilligent fan, to do the scanning for him. (A fan or intern would love to have her name mentioned in the acknowledgements of a digital edition of a book she loves. And if the author feels guilty for accepting free labor like that, cut the scanner in for a percentage of the sales.)
Or, he can do what I did for my other books: I went out onto the internet, found pirated copies of my books, and ripped the text out of them for correction and reformatting. (Does that make me a digital privateer? I kind of like that idea.) I get the scanning and initial correction done for free. (Most pirates are very diligent in their production, having fewer typos and scanning errors than Google Books).
While the rescanning argument holds a limited amount of validity for works that were produced prior to the last decade, for anything published since? No. Authors have short stories that will sell in digital form (I sell tons of them) inserting corrections from the printed copy to keep the digital file up to date. And authors can produce new work related to print books that not only will sell to fans of the print books, but will serve as a taste of the world for those who’ve not yet purchased the print books.
For most folks, it’s not a matter of can’t, it’s a matter of “I don’t want to.” As my partner Kat Klaybourne says, “It’s simple. It’s not easy, but it’s simple.” And I have hot flash for any author who thinks doing this is hard—it isn’t nearly as hard as actually writing a story. It’s all clerical work, and you will get paid on that work forever and ever.
Jim also notes that some publishers will charge authors a great deal of money for an electronic copy of their own book file. That shocks me. First, if a publisher doesn’t have it written into the contract that he can do that, I don’t think he can. Second, all contracts require the publisher to give the author copies of his work in any form they appear, ergo, they should turn them over in all the formats for which they are available. And, three, the pirate option mentioned above is available. Four, authors could do what Dennis L. McKiernan and other authors do, which is to input corrections into a file which becomes the final for the publishers, thereby actually having the final in electronic form. (Publishers on several books have actually required that from me.)
In the latest two issues of my writing newsletter, The Secrets, I go into a lot more depth both on market issues and the variety and ways an author can produce work that will generate income as well as build sales of already existing projects. It also goes into ways that an author can use the internet as a means to heighten his visibility with the available audience.
The thing to bear in mind is that it’s all about profit. This very post is an excellent example of how new media can be used to generate income. I don’t mind giving away ideas on how all this works, but I reserve many of the best ideas for publication in my newsletter. The two issues I mentioned above (#134 and #135) are available as part of the current subscription series. The Secrets costs $25 for 25 issues that cover topics like the current publishing situation, provides solutions to same, and shares my insights into the art of writing itself. Hit the link above, subscribe, and you’ll pull down the last fifteen issues immediately.
My store has a number of other publications related to writing. I teach classes in writing at conventions like Origins, Gencon and DragonCon. I’ll be at StellarCon March 5-7, teaching my 21 Days to a Novel workshop. In two hours I teach writers a series of exercises that lays the groundwork for them to successfully finish a novel.
Because of these posts, because of the things I’ve been saying here, there are readers who will hit those links above or will attend my classes. What did it cost for me to mention them here? Nothing. What did the preparation of those files cost? Virtually nothing and long since paid for. Sales of electronic work, once made available, continue to provide income for no additional work. A short story for an anthology these days pays maybe six cents a word (we’ll be generous here.) So, a 6,000 word short story would net the author $360. Sold at $2 per copy off your website, less Paypal fees, an author would have to sell only 216 copies to match the anthology price. Pick a property that’s already popular and has a fan-base, turn out a new story related to it, and 216 copies shouldn’t be much of a problem. (True, with Amazon and Apple taking 30% off the top, the story would net $1.40, so it would take 258 purchases to match the anthology offering.)
The whole stigma connected with self-publishing is akin to the stigma of being gay, or interracial marriage, or being a gamer or a scifi geek. It has outlived its usefulness as a predictor of problems. Sampling eliminates the risk for readers. Negligible production costs for content providers eliminates the risk of production. The only reason not to do it is because you don’t want to do it.
And if, as an author, you don’t want to make a profit, if you don’t want to have money trickling into your pocket, there’s nothing I can say that will convince you otherwise. But if your intention is to make your life better, gain more exposure for your work, and build a career for yourself as the transition takes place, then just remember:
It’s simple. It isn’t easy, but it’s simple. Do the work, make the money. It’s what publishers have been trying to do since the invention of the printing press, and now we can do it better.
Note: This is an edited version of this essay. Jim Lowder pointed out corrections that needed to be made; being quite gracious in dealing with my unintentional attribution of statements that he never made to him. As I had noted in the original, he is a very smart man, and gracious as well.
Your recent posts about ebooks and the electronic market are fascinating, and I agree with you that these new markets provide a great deal of opportunity for writers.
But what about readers? I, personally, don’t see the point in spending a few hundred dollars on an ereader that is essentially a delivery device. So if writers start publishing their work almost exclusively electronically, how will new readers–or low-income readers–ever have a chance to read their work?
My feeling is that there is already a few hundred years worth of literature that is available used. And while I buy books new occasionally to support current authors I admire, I still haven’t been convinced that I need to read electronically. And until a tablet-like computer comes out that can replace my laptop for all my computing needs, I don’t see the need to buy such a device.
Interesting post. But “The whole stigma connected with self-publishing is akin to the stigma of being gay, or interracial marriage” gives me the creeps – people might look down on self-publishers, but they don’t tend to beat them up.
Indie publishing will inevitably become the next big thing in the world of fiction, and rightly so. If authors are required to market and sell their own work, it will force them to re-examine their core audience and tailor their work accordingly. Everyone benefits. Authors will earn more and be paid based heavily on merit. Readers will then have a wider selection of fiction. After all, a great author is one who connects will with his or her audience.
Mike,
Just wanted to commend you for these very helpful and honest posts. Great job! You’re a pioneer in the new publishing frontier.
People who self-publish might not be physically beaten, but they are commonly held up to derision by people who are traditionally published. The abuse, then, can be mental and inflicted under the guise of wit. It is no less painful in that case.
Casey, there are two factors here to remember. First, the material that can be read on any of the readers can be read on your computer with the same ease you’re reading this, using software that is free. Second, the price of readers is going to plummet as we get more reading devices and as we get reading software on devices you might already own. Smartphones all allow reading and many people carry them with them everywhere. So, while you’re right that the dedicated readers are expensive now, the prices will fall. And the discounted prices of new material may make it worth your while to invest in one at some point in the future.
Okay, these last few posts have convinced me to purchase one of your writing books. Amazing stuff. I’m looking at two in particular: 21 Days to a Novel or Writing Fiction. I write mostly novels, so I’m leaning toward 21 Days. Which would you recommend?
Also: Do you suggest new, currently unpublished writers go the self-publishing route? Or is this a paradigm currently more suited to those authors who have already made a name for themselves in print?
Thanks!
Note, the following comments only apply to fiction from authors that I have no previous knowledge about.
Sampling only works if a reader values his time at, oh about zero. Using reviews and the like of published authors, I find new authors I like about 1/3 times. With self-publishing, because of the ease of getting books out, even with reviews, it’s about 1/200. I’m either spending $30 for three new paperbacks or $0 for 200 sample chapters.
However, if my leisure time is worth $20/hr and I give a book an hour for me to determine if it’s worth it, then I’m spending about $90 for three new paperbacks, or about $4,000 for 200 sample chapters.
Now it’s not quite that bad as the worst of e-books can be tossed within 15 minutes, but still, the point is there. Sampling is *not* free.
If I’m going to gamble my precious leisure time, I want a guarantee that someone who isn’t the author and who has no emotional attachment to the book believes so strongly that I’m going to like this book that they’re willing to put up $50K or so of their own money. Which is what a publisher does.
Having said that, I think self-publishing serves certain already existing markets well. However, for finding a brand-new author, I’m *highly* dubious about this brave new world.
Do you honestly think a publisher invests $50,000 in a new book by an unknown author? Really? In my experience, it’s no where near close enough.
You have a valid point that sampling costs you time, and that time can have a value put on it. Fair enough. And as digital publishing picks up, you’ll find review sites that begin to cover digital work. You’ll have your reviews to point you to new folks; and the really good authors being published digitally will be picked up for print publication.
As long as you know what you like, and know what you’re willing to spend to find more of what you like, you’re not going to get taken, and that’s a very good thing.
Either of those books will suit you well. They actually parallel each other, approaching the same content from different examples. If you like structure and doing exercises, then 21 Days is for you. Otherwise, the Writing Fiction course will work, and it has sample stories that you can read to boot.
If you look at the next post on my website, I reference an essay on established authors in this new world of digital publishing.
Writing is akin to a small business (because that’s essentially what it is). a small business depends as much on word-of-mouth advertising as anything else. Sampling works in conjunction with word-of-mouth. Put out a good product and people will find it.
I’d like to point out that there is at least one good review site for online fiction: http://www.webfictionguide.com It’s only for free fiction, but hey, even better from the reader’s standpoint, right?
Do you honestly think a publisher invests $50,000 in a new book by an unknown author? Really? In my experience, it’s no where near close enough.
If you amortize *everything* to do with the cost of the book, then $50K sounds about right (maybe min $30K). Take the total annual budget of a medium size publisher and divide by number of books they publish annually. Even the print run size doesn’t scale costs linearly as the printer’s setup costs are high unless things have changed for mainstream publishers in the last 5 years. (And remember, this counts your book’s share of the beer in the publisher’s room party
)
Put out a good product and people will find it.
I’m sorry Rick, but that’s almost never true except in the smallest of niches, although it makes a good narrative. As humans, we tend to look at the handful of successes where a good product found its customers and succeeded, ignoring the 10,000 good products that failed because they didn’t have marketing behind them.
And if you’re in a general, wide-spread market like writing, well, you’ve really got challenges.
One sales rep put it rather bluntly to me: If you divide the number of extra sales by the number of hours spent in promotion, the average author grosses about 10 cents/hour… maybe.
So I asked, what should you do to self promote? Be famous for something else.
Now, this was a number of years ago and a cynical sales rep speaking, but looking at the industry, I don’t see any major changes.
Again, I think the self-publishing route can be successful (and potentially a lot more lucrative) for those who already have an audience, but given the difficulty that a new author’s book published by a mainstream publisher has finding its audience when surrounded by hundreds of other books each month, the same task when surrounded by tens of thousands who are also self-published is daunting indeed.
Mike, looking at self-publishing from a problem-solving perspective, the trouble is separating your (presumed) gold, from the dross (more charitably, the work out there that is not yet of publishable quality).
Sampling certainly helps, but you’re still trying to fight for the right to be sampled (a lower bar, but still a bar).
Has anyone started a professional review organization? You pay for a review, and you get say, three honest reviews from real reviewers – a few hundred words each. Each give you an A-F rating, where A and B are let’s say “publishable” quality. If you’re happy, you tell them to post the reviews on their site.
I figure the cost to do a full review is 5 hours x $30 to pay the reviewer X 3 reviews + admin costs + web site publicity comes out to roughly $750.
People now have a place to go for unbiased reviews of self-published (or even published) work.
Problems:
- Can you reassure people that your reviewers are honest when the author paid for the review?
- Are there enough A and B level books in the self-published world (of people desperate enough to pay $750) to populate a web site?
- is $150/review enough to pay decent reviewers to review stuff that’s 90% not wonderful?
- can you find reviewers who don’t eventually fall into the “it’s all crap” or “well, the author obviously put their heart and soul into it and deserves a B” mindset.
- Do people stop using the web site when they mostly get bad reviews? (i.e. can people partially self-evaluate their own books, or do they just assume the reviewers hate everything.)
- How do you get enough publicity to start (until you make a reputation for honesty) to make your site a “go-to” site for reviews?
Anyway, this is a total aside, so feel free to delete this comment if it’s not of general interest.
Can’t you make .pdf from .doc using a converter program. Scanning seems the long way?
Amber, going from .doc to PDF is simple. It’s the reverse that is a bit more work. And if you don’t have a PDF, scanning of older work is the only solution (unless you want to rekey everything.)
Love it. Love the references to so many self-published books spoiling it for the rest of us, and love the ideas you’ve presented that will add to my current marketing plans. As a self-published author of GOOD publications (make that great) that have sold more copies in one year than many house publications will sell in a lifetime, it’s heartening to see others in the same boat. Thanks.
What do you think of ebook publishers like http://www.smashwords.com ? I’ve been publishing with some ebook publishers lately and it’s been very helpful and enlightening. But more royalties = more royalties. That said, more popular titles do go to print and there is some promotion that comes from being part of a network.