Not Your Grandmother's Indie Publishing:

The Ups and Downs of Self-Publishing

Imagine filling the trunk of your car with books and schlepping them around to beauty parlors and bookstores around the country. That’s what author E. Lynn Harris did in 1991 to sell his self-published title Invisible Life about his experiences as a gay black man.

Indie publishing became far more accessible when Amazon developed its self-publishing arm Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) in 2007. Many authors found themselves making six figures a year, and a few became millionaires: Hugh Howey, Amanda Hocking, Andrew Weir, and more.

There was a boom time in self-publishing when even mediocre books with unprofessional covers could make decent bank, but those days are over. Now the competition is much stiffer. In the last five years, the number of self-published books has increased by 264 percent. The authors who succeed put out a professional product that is mostly indistinguishable from a traditionally published book.

In a recent Publishers Weekly article, Smashwords founder Coker said, “When I launched Smashwords, self-publishing was viewed as the publishing option of last resort. Today, self-publishing is the ‘option of choice’ for many authors…”.

It’s a choice I made a few years ago. I wrote about my experience in an earlier newsletter, where I also bust many myths about self-publishing.

This article is the third in the series. Two weeks ago, I looked at traditional publishing and last week I tackled small publishers. Now let’s look at the pros and cons of self publishing.

PROS:

Control Freaks Rejoice!

If only I had a better cover… If only my book was priced lower… Those are common laments of a traditionally published author. Not so with an indie author who is in complete control of the process.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve experimented with different covers to better suit the marketplace. If a reader complains about a typo, I can fix it almost immediately. I can re-brand an old book and mark down the price on a slow moving title.

I have access to my royalties in real time every day so I can tell which promo activities are benefitting sales and which are a waste of time and money.

What’s more, there’s less pressure to make a title work in the first three months. In trad publishing, if your book doesn’t get traction quickly, it’s seen as a failure. In self-publishing, your book could take off at any time. I have twenty-year-old books that still sell hundreds of copies each month.

Potential for Higher Earnings

According to the Alliance for Independent Authors, self-published authors earn more than their traditionally published counterparts and they have the potential for eye-popping incomes. I belong to a Facebook page called 20Booksto50k, and authors share screenshots of their KDP earnings. It’s not uncommon to see seven figures a year, and those authors are generous about sharing exactly how they reached those heights.

As a self-published author, you get a 70 percent royalty rate with KDP (as opposed to 25 percent for ebooks from a trad publisher), and you’re not sharing 15 percent of those royalties with an agent.

No gatekeeping

Finding an agent is almost a part-time job, and the search can take months. When you self-publish, you can skip that task. Also, if there’s a novel you’ve always wanted to write but it doesn’t align with what’s hot right now, you can take the plunge and possibly prove everyone wrong. One indie author, Travis Baldree was so successful with his self-published title he’s credited with inventing the genre of cozy fantasy.

What if you like to write in a niche area, say Western romances, but publishers aren’t interested in servicing such a specialized readership? As an indie author, you can forge ahead.

Faster moving

I used to think publishing was slow but nowadays banana slugs seem speedier. Not so with self-publishing. If you have a book about a timely topic, you can get it out there while it’s still relevant.

Also, you can publish at your own pace. If you’re a fast writer, it’s not a problem if you publish more than a book a year. Instead of hanging out, waiting years for a book deal, you can start building a fan base and begin to hone in on what resonates with readers. Sometimes it’s a trial by fire but at least your work is out there instead of locked up in your computer.

Writers write to be read, and indie publishing means that anywhere from dozens to thousands of your books will be read each month. With each book, your name is getting out there more.

Armchair Marketing

If the idea of selling books from the comfort of your armchair sounds like heaven, self-publishing might be for you. Most indie authors market with social media ads and promos. Since the price point is usually lower than trad titles, people who aren’t familiar with your books are more likely to take a risk on a $3.99 title than they are on a $14.99 title. And if an ad isn’t moving merchandise, you can experiment until you find one that does.

There is a learning curve to social media ads, but in the long run they save you time. I recommend Matthew Holmes courses for both Facebook and Amazon ads.

The future of publishing?

There will always be publishers but it’s getting more common for them to partner with writers who have already made a splash on their own, even in the fiction arena. With every passing year it seems as if the chances of getting discovered in the slush pile are less likely. According to the Alliance for Independent Authors, more than half of authors under 45 have made self-publishing their first choice over traditional publishing.

Indie authors tend to be happy with their choices

Ninety-three percent of indie authors report being somewhat or extremely positive about their choices (Alliance for Independent Authors). I couldn’t find happiness statistics for trad authors, but anecdotal evidence indicates a discontent bunch who are worried about sales, dropped options, and insufficient publisher support.

CONS

Start-up costs

Successful indie authors invest in good editing and covers, and none of that is cheap. I invest an average of $2,000 in each title. While I’ve always more than recouped my investment, there are no guarantees.

High learning curve and time-consuming

Wearing so many hats in the publishing process can be overwhelming but luckily there are many resources out there to help as well as associations to join and conferences to attend.

Also, once you get the hang of it, it’s not that daunting. I spend the bulk of my time writing new novels and probably about two to four hours a week on publishing-related tasks.

Success rate often depends on genre

Romance is the most popular indie genre by far, but other genres can also work well. Written Word Media provides a breakdown of some of the more popular genres.(Look for chapter 3)

I write in the light Southern women’s fiction space, an area that has high demand and low competition. If you have an intriguing premise with a great cover and hook, likely you can attract readers no matter what your genre.

Series work better than standalones, but I’ve done well promoting a number of standalones, and the readthrough overlaps with all my titles.

Stigma

If you produce a professional product, most readers won’t care if you’re indie published. Reviewers, however, won’t cover indie books, and media attention will be hard to get. On the other hand, media coverage doesn’t necessarily sell as many books as it used to.

You’re also less likely to be invited to book festivals and other literary events. Although self-publishing has become less stigmatized, there are still people who view it as a last resort instead of a choice, and a lot of authors still put out shoddy work.

Poor distribution

There are ways to get your books into bookstores and libraries but it’s labor intensive and probably not worth it financially at least at first.

OVERVIEW

Now that I’ve covered the three main options for publishing, I hope that you have a better idea of which one might be right for you. For the most part, it will depend on what you want to get out of publishing.

Last night I watched The Founder about Ray Kroc, who was responsible for McDonald’s amazing growth. Early on, he was hustling like crazy and succesfully attracting franchisees. People were seeking him out, but financially his rewards were paltry. An adviser said to him, “Selling hamburgers won’t make you rich, you need to be in the real estate business.” That was a game-changer for Kroc who made his fortune by buying the land for the McDonalds’ stores and collected rent from the franchisees. His profile wasn’t quite as high but it eventually made him a billionaire.

You have to decide what you want out of your writing. Some people adore the hustle of visiting bookstores, book clubs and festivals, and don’t care so much about the financial returns. If that appeals to you, a traditional publishing contract is probably the best option. Same if you’re an academic trying to get a job or tenure.

But if you’d eventually like to make real money from your books and you have an entrepreneurial spirit, self-publishing is likely your best best. It won’t happen right away but, in the beginning, you’ll be able to experiment with your brand and test ideas in a relatively low-stakes environment. As Rumi said, “When you start to walk on the way, the way appears.”

Also, instead of being in perpetual purgatory of waiting for others to choose you, you choose yourself. The path is two steps forward, one step back but if you learn from your mistakes, there’s a forward momentum.

What’s more, if you’re determined to one day see traditional publishing, if you do well enough, they’ll come to you. But be forewarned, at that point, you might not be interested. Once you’re selling lots of books, nobody will know how to find and connect readers better than you, and the only reason you might consider a trad publisher is for their distribution capabilities.

FURTHER READING: An article that reflects on the state of publishing and how the Big 5 is becoming less of an option for many authors.

Questions? Comments? I’m here to help.

NEWS YOU CAN USE

Weird Girls Vs. Neglected Boys

I’ve commented here before how angsty young female fiction has become a genre of its own—books like Margot’s Got Money Troubles and My Year of Rest and Relaxation, and now The Bookseller has coined a name for those novels: weird girl fiction. A book influencer in the article said, “There’s a deep hunger for flawed, raw and deeply human characters, especially when it comes to female characters who aren’t trying to be likeable.”

So, females have weird girl fiction, but males now have their own “boys only” publisher imprint. The Guardian reports on Conduit Books which will only publish male authors.

“It is indeed the case that publishers are finding it increasingly difficult to break out male writers…” said Neel Mukherjee, author of novels including The Lives of Others. More on the vanishing male writer.