Self-publish or Perish?

So many authors dream the dream: Write a book, get picked up by a major publisher, pocket a hefty advance, watch readers snatch your book off bookstore shelves and wait for hours just to get your autograph, meet Oprah, meet the screenwriter who will help you turn your book into a major motion picture, accept a Pulitzer, closely followed by an Oscar.…

Okay, that’s a pretty extravagant dream. Let’s stop right before we meet Oprah. That gives our dreaming author a major publisher, a nice advance, and a wildly popular book. Still a big dream, and one that relatively few authors will realize. How about a small publisher, little or no advance, and modest sales? Some authors dream of this (for example, those of us who feel ill at the mere thought of becoming accidentally famous). But even this smaller dream will not work out for many writers.

So how about self-publishing? You do all the writing, editing, and designing yourself, or you write the book and then pay someone to do the editing and designing. Your work is available through a print-on-demand publisher, or you pay a publisher to print a certain number of copies of your book. The marketing is up to you, and unless you’re savvy about such things or know someone who is, you probably won’t sell many copies, which means you won’t make much money. You might even lose money. Sounds like a lousy deal, right?

Actually, I think self-publishing is a great deal for many authors. I know so-called “vanity” presses get a bad rap from the “real” publishing world. In fact, I used to be one of those people who sniff at self-published books and call them rotten. If the book had any merit, it would get picked up by a major publisher, right? Well, maybe.

The fact is, many talented authors with stories worth telling will never see their books in print—at least not under the imprint of a big publishing house. This could be a sad fact, but it doesn’t have to be. There is another fact to keep in mind: Authors today have more options than ever for getting their work into readers’ hands.

When you’re thinking through your many publishing options, start by deciding what you want. If you think your book will appeal to a large audience and you really want to see it on bookstore shelves, you’ll want to do the work of finding a good agent and a deal from a major publisher. If your work appeals to a smaller audience or you wrote it mostly for fun or you want to have absolute control over your marketing and message, self-publishing might be a good option for you. If you’ve been turned down by publisher after publisher and you’re about to give up and never write another word again, self-publishing might be a good option for you.

One last note: Self-publishing your book does not close the door on “real” publishing. Perhaps you’ve heard of Christopher Paolini, the young author of the Inheritance series (Eragon, Eldest, and Brisingr). His first book was self-published, but it gained a following and eventually fell into the hands of the right person. Paolini’s books went on to become bestsellers, and Eragon was made into a movie.

And so the dream lives on.

Tags: self-publishing