Why Most Authors Should Not Be Self Publishers
Submitted by World Class Poetry Blog
The New York Times published this story on June 29. I’ve read about it in several other places since then.
I find this sort of thing to be rather interesting because we’re often told that the Internet and social media have “leveled the playing field” so to speak between the big cheeses and the “little guys”. Fascinating!
It seems in this case, the big cheese won.
A Summary Of Big And Small
I usually hear about the battle between David and Goliath in business circles where I spend a great deal of time as a small business marketer. But I’m going to steer this discussion in the direction of the author-editor-publisher troika.
I believe I have some unique insight here because I fall into all of the above categories. I own my business and have people working for me, which makes me somewhat of a big cheese. Yet, my business is small enough to be considered a small business so I’m still a little guy. In the literary world I am an author, an editor, and a publisher. So I’ve got all the bases covered.
But this isn’t about me. It’s about power.
Here’s the question: Has the Internet truly leveled the power structure between the “haves” and the “have nots” or has it simply provided opportunities to succeed and to fail that before were not available to people at the lower end of the socioeconomic scale?
You should probably read that question two or three times and let it sink in. I believe if you ask a question the right way then you can get any answer you want. So I’ve specifically worded this question to ask it in such a way that it might shed some light on what’s really going on in this newfangled techno-revolution.
But I’m going to try and apply the answer to the publishing field and see where it gets us.
My Response As An Author
I see the world through multiple lenses. Sometimes those lenses are at odds with one another and I must find some way to reconcile them. Such is the case with my literary aspirations.
As an author, I’m excited about the unique opportunities the Internet affords. But there are just as many pitfalls as there are opportunities. It isn’t all a bed of roses.
Before the Internet, before newsrooms and forums, and even before e-mail, if an author disagreed with a review, she could just send a private letter to the reviewer or pick up the phone and call the reviewer and give that reviewer a piece of her mind. No one had to know. I’m not saying that’s what one should have done, but an author could have done just that and no one would have known. Or likely cared.
Today, the temptation to respond to something someone writes online is so great that an author can embarrass herself before she comes to her senses. And everyone will know it.
That’s a pitfall. But it isn’t the only one.
Many authors are so excited about the opportunity to self-publish that they hasten themselves to do so long before they are ready. They could be hurting their careers before they get them off the ground. That’s another pitfall.
These pitfalls don’t diminish the opportunities or the rewards for success. But any author who is considering doing it all themselves should take note of them. Calculate the risks or they could get you in the end.
My Response As An Editor
An editor’s job is to give a work the best presentation possible in order to make the experience a great one for the reader. Too many authors do not understand the editor’s role.
Editors are people so we are prone to mistakes, errors, and bad judgment just like the rest of you. But a good editor can make a mediocre writer look outstanding. Trust me, I’ve made many a small town news reporter look much better than they actually were on paper. It’s not hard if you’re any good at editing.
As an editor, however, I’ve seen good writers make fatal mistakes that a little restraint could have saved them from making. I’ve made my fair share for sure.
Reviewers, too, have their challenges. It isn’t easy to read someone else’s work and pull out the good, separate it from the bad, and communicate one’s findings to an audience that may or may not give a damn. I am fortunate in that no one I have reviewed for World Class Poetry book reviews has responded to me in the manner that Alice Hoffman did to her reviewer. And I’ve said some pretty nasty things about some of those books - by independent authors nonetheless. The bright spot has been that some of them have thanked me for taking the time to read their work and comment on it. That shows a level of professionalism that can be admired.
So as an editor, when I see someone act publicly in the manner that Alice Hoffman has, it frustrates me. There really is no excuse.
My Response As A Publisher
My response as a publisher is much more bleak. But it really is from an author’s perspective as much as from a publisher’s.
When you take on the roll of publisher, you are assuming responsibility for all aspects of the publishing process, from selection of material to editing to printing, copyrighting, marketing, and distribution. You accept the failures and the successes for all of it. Period.
In all likelihood, you will not be good at all of it. I see too many self-published authors who are just downright awful at editing their own work. I have fallen prey to this myself. While I consider myself a good editor of other’s, I am no good at editing my own. And that’s a terrible tragedy.
By the same token, many authors are lousy at marketing. They could be great editors, but if you can’t market your book then what difference does it make? Your book won’t sell.
Many self-published authors have no problem outsourcing the printing of their book, but when it comes to handling the rest of the publishing process, they want to do it all themselves. And they fail miserably. No wonder. They’ve got bad judgment.
Bad judgment comes in many flavors. As a publisher, you can exercise bad judgment in your selection of authors, or more specifically in the selection of a particular project. As an editor, you can exercise bad judgment in the layout and design of a book. As an author, you can exercise bad judgment in any number of ways (choice of words, choice of editors, choice of publishers, subject matter, et. al.). And marketing. Who is responsible for that?
Well, honestly, everyone is responsible for marketing. Many authors who opt for traditional publishing think that just because they have the name of a big publisher behind them that their job is done. When the marketing fails, it’s time to complain. But ask them if they gave any readings, sent out any press releases, or hired a publicist and the answer is almost always “No.”
Fail!
If you are a working author then you have to take responsibility for your own success, whether you do it all yourself or publish through a large publishing house. If you want to succeed, you’ve got to learn how to market yourself. And that requires more than a strategy based on hope.
It’s hard being a publisher. You have risks. Financial risks, legal risks, editorial risks, just to name a few. The risks don’t change if you are a self-publisher. Their magnitude may change, but at the heart of it all is risk. Real risks. And I’m talking more than the risk you took to expose your innermost, darkest secrets. Those are minimal compared to the risk that your publisher is taking on you.
The competition is stiff. Consumers are fickle. Production costs are rising. The budget is tight. Those assholes in Congress are in session again. Someone put chocolate in someone else’s peanut butter.
You get the picture. There’s always a reason (or an excuse) to fail. Do it yourself and you have no one to blame.
The Most Important Part Of The Publishing Process
You have your strengths. I have mine. Quasimodo has his. And they are all quite different, yes?
Yes.
My strength is editing, though admittedly I am lousy at editing my own work. I’m a not-so-bad writer. A better than average poet. Good at certain aspects of marketing, and getting better. And the verdict is still out on my skill as a publisher. I’m banking on adequate. If not profitable.
But this isn’t about tooting my horn. It’s about knowing thyself and to thine own self being true (thanks, Shakey).
Do you know your strengths? Your weaknesses? Your biases?
I’m surprised at how many authors enter into self-publishing without taking personal inventory and counting the costs. Were you aware that marketing is the most important aspect of the publishing process? It isn’t the writing. No one cares how good a writer you are until they’ve bought your book. But for that to happen, someone has to “sell” it. It has to be marketed. Are you any good at marketing?
As mentioned before, too many authors are willing to outsource the printing, but not much else. Why? You should outsource every part of the process that you aren’t any good at. You know why? Because your success is at stake. And as a publisher you’ve got to make good decisions. That means hiring the best person for the job.
This is why most self-published authors don’t get very far. I wrote a blog post in March in which I discussed the vanity of self-publishing online. Several readers took me to task on my stance, which I expected. But the majority of the comments were made due to a misunderstanding of my intent. That was likely my fault for not communicating clearly about the subject matter. I can take those hits.
But what I can’t take is an author who fails and blames it on someone else. I don’t think for a minute that Alice Hoffman’s apology is all that sincere. When an author list’s a reviewer’s phone number and asks her readers to
“Tell her what u think of snarky critics.”
it indicates to me that the author clearly thought that such a request would be honored and vindicate her by popular opinion. It stems from the misconception that the Internet has “leveled the playing field”. Such moves are done as a power play. In this case, it backfired.
Lousy marketing.
Hoffman took a calculated risk and failed. So own up to it. The fact that she deleted her Twitter account seems to imply that her embarrassment runs deeper than a mere publisher’s statement. It likely means that she was ordered to remove it by her publisher or she has realized that she does not know how to use social media and removed it for fear of retaliation, or some other concern. I’m not trying to crawl into Hoffman’s head, but I know that she now is a liability to her publisher and that her publisher would be right in having concerns about Hoffman’s future marketability.
Marketing is the most important part of the publishing process. Do it right, do it wrong, or not at all. The payoff is a sonofabitch for somebody.
Why You Should Think Twice About Publishing Your Own Book
Hoffman’s faux pas is not unique. For every successful author or artist doing it all themselves (and there are some) there are 10 Alice Hoffmans with heads planted firmly up asses.
Hoffman’s response to a critic could have been made by anyone - even a self-published author. But it gets media attention because Hoffman has achieved a certain level of success in the past. However, future success is not dependent on the past. It is dependent on the present.
Do you know how to use the marketing tools at your disposal? Do you know how to conduct a feasibility study or find the audience for your book? How about social media marketing or search engine optimization? Understand how it’s done?
This blog achieved high traffic and high search engine rankings within six months with hardly any marketing simply because of my skill in search engine optimization. But readers have continued to come back because I can write with their interests in mind (or at least with enough fisticuffs to keep their voyeuristic eye open). In the past eight months I have written less often, but my rankings are still present at the search engines and while my traffic has declined somewhat my subscriptions are going up.
Again, I’m not tooting my horn for ego’s sake. I have made certain editorial decisions that have contributed to this blog’s success. Some of those have to do with my “snarkiness”, a quality not appreciated by everyone. My sarcasm on this blog is partly due to temperament and partly due to a marketing “concept” to make myself unique. It works. People read it and respond to it, sometimes negatively. Boo hoo.
At some point in your life as a publisher, you’ll have to make decisions that, as an author, you’ll simply hate. If you don’t make them then you won’t succeed, either as an author or a publisher. In a word, you’ve got to exercise good judgment.
Many writers don’t have good judgment when it comes to editing or publishing. It comes from knowing your strengths. Simply being in control of your works of art is not a benefit. You decide to self-publish because you hope to profit from your writing. Otherwise, why would you shell out the expense? Printing isn’t cheap. And controlling too much can mean putting the stranglehold of death upon your talents.
To bring a long story to a quick halt, the most important quality for an author, an editor, or a publisher is good judgment. And that judgment manifests in different ways depending on the hat you are wearing. But if you don’t have good judgment in matters of publishing then you should fire your publisher and find a new one. Because bad judgment is a killer and the last thing you want left in the morgue is your writing career.
July 7th, 2009 at 5:43 pm
I agree with you completely that it all comes down to marketing (i.e.) connecting with an audience. That is something that Internet marketers and Information publishers understand far better than many big publishing houses. It all comes down to the economics of the marketplace.
If I can go direct to a consumer and have them pay me $19 or $29 or even $39 or more for valuable information, without paying all kinds of percents to every one in the value chain, why not?
Self publishing opens up many new distribution channels that never existed before and its great!
It is also one of the lowest cost businesses you can get into.
Bernie Malonson
North Audley Media