Self-Publishing: Is it for You?

01 Feb 2011

Self-Publishing: Is it for You?

For perhaps as long as publishing has existed self-publishing has been stigmatized. The terms “self-publishing” and “vanity publishing” often are used interchangeably. They are not interchangeable. We’ll get to that shortly. For now, here are a few writers, established writers, who have self-published some of their own work:

Willa Cather, author of such novels as My Antonia and the Pulitzer Prize-winning One of Ours, paid to publish her first book.
Early in his career, L. Frank Baum – author of the Wizard of Oz books – self-published pamphlets on chicken farming.
Stephen King published the first installment of his novel The Plant on his Website (http://www.stephenking.com) on July 24, 2000 and the second installment a few weeks later.
Tarzan author Edgar Rice Burroughs formed a publishing company which published a variety of books, some of which were his own.
Bestselling author Pat Conroy spent thousands of dollars to print and promote his first book, The Boo.
Nathaniel Hawthorne, author of The Scarlet Letter and The House of the Seven Gables, paid to publish his first book.
Mark Twain grew tired of the “foolishness” of his publishers, so he self-published The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
Edgar Allen Poe – often called the father of the modern short story and the author of “The Tell-Tale Heart,” “The Fall of the House of Usher,” “The Raven,” and many others – self-published some of his works.
Richard Paul Evans self-published 8,000 copies of The Christmas Box, which he later sold to Simon & Schuster for a $4.2 million advance (including the rights to a prequel). Evans even wrote a book about his incredible journey, The Christmas Box Miracle.
In 1901, Beatrix Potter self-published 250 copies of The Tale of Peter Rabbit. The following year, publisher Frederick Warne, who had initially rejected the book, published a commercial edition with color illustrations. Since then, the book has sold more than 40 million copies.
Henry David Thoreau self-published Walden in 1854.
William Strunk, Jr. and E.B. White self-published the writer’s Bible, The Elements of Style.
Other famous poets, authors, and playwrights who published some of their own works include: T.S. Eliot, Lord Byron, Thomas Hardy, Louis L’Amour, Walt Whitman, Robert James Waller (The Bridges of Madison County), Amanda Brown (Legally Blonde), Stephen Crane, Zane Grey, Ernest Hemingway, Rudyard Kipling, and George Bernard Shaw.

This list just scratches the surface.

The Pelican in the Desert: And Other Stories of the Family Farm, edited by David Kubicek

I have, technically, published some of my own work. In 1988 I established Kubicek & Associates to publish an anthology of farm stories I had collected. The book contained one story I had written, about 3,50o words, and 13 stories by other writers. I thought publishing was cool, so I went on to publish three books by other writers and, in 1989, an anthology of horror stories which also contained one of my own stories (again, about 3,500 words) as well as 19 stories by other writers (including a classic story by Henry Kuttner, originally published in 1939).

October Dreams, edited by David Kubicek and Jeff Mason

October Dreams: A Harvest of Horror, edited by David Kubicek & Jeff Mason

Self-published books differ from vanity published books by being of a higher quality. They achieve that higher quality by going through a similar process as a traditionally published book. A vanity book, on the other hand, is a book that the author considers to be good enough to publish and pays to have it published – there are no checks and balances, no feedback from other reliable sources, and minimal – if any – revision or copy-editing.

Many years ago during my brief stint in publishing, a copy of a self-published novel came across my desk. The author was selling the thing door-to-door with the goal of making enough sales to impress a major publisher, who would then buy the rights and turn it into a bestseller. In the first place, he would have had to sell lots and lots of copies – we’re talking tens of thousands – to impress a major publisher. Second, the writing was horrid. It was the kind of manuscript the garbage collector would reject. That novel was an example of a vanity-published book; the author thought his book was good, but others didn’t share his opinion.

Not everyone will like your book or your writing. This is true of every writer, including the likes of Stephen King; but whether you like King or not, he does know how to write and he does know how to tell a story that touches the readers’ emotions.

Here are some guidelines that will keep you from falling into the vanity publishing sludge heap, only a few, but they are important:

Make sure your work is well written and that others besides yourself like it. Give the manuscript to a few people you trust to give you honest feedback (don’t give it to friends or family members who will choke back their revulsion and tell you what you want to hear). Soon I will be self-publishing a collection of my short stories – some of them have been published previously, but others haven’t. My wife, Cheryl, is reading the manuscript. So far, she’s found two stories that “don’t do anything” for her. Those stories were immediately deleted, deep-sixed, sent to Mr. Recycle Bin.
The book must look and feel professional. It must have an attractive cover, well-written and provocative cover copy, and a bar code (if it is a physical book rather than an ebook), etc. You get the picture.
A blurb from a reviewer, author, or expert in your field – while not be essential – may lend credibility to your book and help it sell.

Today with inexpensive publishing services like iUniverse and free services like those offered by Amazon and Barnes & Noble it is much easier to self-publish and sell a book than it used to be.

A self-published book is not the stigma it once was. A well-written book that looks profession will be able to hold its own with all of the traditionally published books that are released each year. Keep in mind that you must market your book (if no one hears about it, no one can buy it), and keep your expectations realistic – although you may sell some copies, possibly even a good number of copies, it’s highly unlikely that your self-published book will shoot immediately to the top of the New York Times Bestseller List, or even come within rock-throwing distance of that list. Although such things have happened, the authors invested much blood, sweat, and tears to get there.

Posted in Publishing and tagged authors, fiction, novel, publishing fiction, selling fiction, Stephen King, Writing

4 thoughts on “Self-Publishing: Is it for You?”

Glenda Fraliin on February 2, 2011 at 8:18 am said:

I am getting very close to self-publishing my first e-book. I have a picture of the cover in mind (I’ve heard of the importance of, covers for e-books.) As a reader, I know that when I buy print I often go by title,t cover (as it usually reflects something of the story, and the blurb. It’s great to read positive information about self-publishing. Does it help to develop your own publisher’s page? I have a publisher’s business account with several of my supplier as ANT Publishing which is the initials of my children’s names.I don’t feel that is being deceptive. The proof will be in the end product and how I promote it right? I have a business degree instead of an English or Creative Writing degree.

What is your take on this avenue? Do you have some links to other sites where I can find do’s and don’ts of self publishing and editing? I would really be interested in giving myself the best chance possible. I know with e-books, I am entering a new field and even though it seems to be the up and coming thing, I’m still up against some big names. I guess I better stop there because I could flood this comment box with questions and misgivings.

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David Kubicek on February 2, 2011 at 3:28 pm said:

Glenda,

A fellow named John Kremer (http://www.bookmarket.com/)will be very helpful in providing you with all the information you’ll need to know about publishing and marketing books. Start with the URL in parentheses. John Kremer’s publications helped me tremendously when I dipped my toe into publishing more than 20 years ago, and I was glad to see that he’s still around and, I assume, up-to-date. Since the collection I’m working on will be my first publication since the late 1980s,I will once again be relying on Kremer’s guidance.

To answer your other questions, the name of your publishing company won’t matter to prospective readers. The cover and the title do; they need to grab the readers’ attention. Check out this URL: http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/. The blog is about self-publishing; on it is a link to a cover artist. I haven’t worked with the artist, but his rates are fairly reasonable for cover art.

Also, it can’t hurt to have your own publisher page – anything that gets your book in front of prospective readers.

I hope this helps.

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Glenda Fraliin on February 3, 2011 at 8:33 am said:

Dear David,
You reply is very informative. I will be visiting those sites very soon. I have some cover art in mind that will be staged soon, I hope, but if not I will be looking for someone reasonable to help me. You’re prompt answer, David, is encouraging since I know you have a busy schedule. Thanks so much and yes this helps a lot.

Glenda K. Fralin

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