The Stereotype of Self-publication

Today we have a guest, Robin Cain, author of When Dreams Bleed, discusing the hot topic of self-publication.

The Stereotype of Self-publication by Robin Cain:
I am a self-published author.

I am stating this upfront to bring attention to some preconceived notions many people have about “traditional publisher rejects”. I’m aware that this is what many of you (readers) call us (self-published authors), so why not get it out in the open? I know… you think we couldn’t sell our manuscripts, our writing stinks; we don’t edit our work. Yada, yada, yada. Much of this is true about some self-published authors; some of it is just plain garbage. On the other hand, much of it is not.

Nowadays, while millions of writers are querying agents each year and not getting through, new avenues of publication are becoming easier, more affordable and making more economic sense. Why wouldn’t any new author consider self-publication as a means to an end?

The traditionalists will answer, “Exposure and reputation” and they won’t be too far off the mark.

When an author chooses (for whatever reason) to self-publish, he immediately loses the connections that a big-name publisher brings to the table. That is no small loss. Being backed by a Simon & Shuster can go a long way to getting one’s books in readers’ hands. Additionally, when an author chooses to self-publish, they immediately have the stereotype branding – “self-published: must not be any good”. These two items are tough to argue, but…news flash, folks: This is all changing.

With the advent of e-publishing, social networking, online media and book pricing wars, the book selling market is changing – and changing rapidly. The book business, once rationed off in predetermined slices, is now anyone’s market. More and more of the “unknowns” are getting a piece of it – a piece which up until now would never have been theirs for the taking. One may or may not be a fan of the Kindle or e-books in general, but their impact on the book-buying market can’t be ignored – particularly after Amazon’s announcement that Kindle book sales recently surpassed regular book sales for the first time in history.

With an increased market share and greater exposure, it is now possible for a self-published author to attain the same level of success as traditionally published authors - as long as they follow the same rules:

Write quality work

Get it professionally edited

Have it reviewed by a multitude of unbiased readers (and re-write if necessary)

Hire a professional cover designer and formatter

Create a good platform… and then market the hell out of yourself!

Unfortunately, there are a great many writers out there who don’t follow these rules and it makes it awfully difficult for those of us authors that did (and do). Regardless, whether traditionally published or not, reputation still has to be built one book at a time.

So how do we get rid of the stereotype and reach those readers who otherwise wouldn’t give us a second look? Like any author (super star or rising star), we just hope the cream rises to the top, word-of-mouth does us some favors and generous bloggers (Thanks, Anita!) give us some of their spare space…

© 2010 Robin Cain, Author of WHEN DREAMS BLEED

Robin Lives in Scottsdale, Arizona with her husband, daughter, three dogs, three horses and an adopted donkey named Sophia. As a novelist and regular contributing writer for The Examiner, she spends her days searching for the perfect words to amuse, enlighten and touch her readers. A 3-chapter excerpt of her book, WHEN DREAMS BLEED, can be found on her website, http://www.robincain.com/


Robin's blog:  http://robincain.wordpress.com/

Time to discard Lulu.com?

I just published my latest book, The Incomplete Guide to Action Movies, with Lulu.com and it was a bit of a nightmare.

Once again Lulu's incompetent (at least in my experience) cover wizard glitched and screwed up my cover.  This time it happened during a book revision; it somehow (the staff at Lulu.com say the how is a mystery) reverted my cover to default colour and font and removed my front cover blurb. 
Now, every time you revise you must purchased an obligatory proof copy, so having not realised the glitch, I bought not one, but two copies (the second copy was to be used in a book giveaway).  The two copies arrived and, surprise, I was looking at a cover I didn't want.  This was highly annoying and problematic for the loss of money and the disruption of my marketing plans.  So I contacted Lulu to complain and that is when my problems got worse.

Their first response email said they had to send my problem higher up the food chain.  Okay, I could understand that.  Too bad they sent it to someone who seemed to have little grasp of the words "customer service".
My first email from this "person" stated, "We noticed that you had disabled your account".  Well gee, I hadn't.  The guy didn't even look up the right account!
In the second email he states, "we unfortunately cannot revise the cover for you".  I never asked them to do that; I just wanted answers.  He did also state though, "we can bypass the proof copy requirement by offering you a free copy of the version with the corrected cover".  Okay, I thought at least that's something, so I replied.  I asked how I could obtain the free copy and a few other questions about using the PDF of the original cover.  I waited for an answer, but none came that day or the next morning.  So I went ahead and revised the cover, figuring I could wait to order the copy.
Then the third email arrives, with this gem, "We can use the cover from the first version, however we will need to upload this as a one-piece cover as opposed to going through the studio. If you would like, I can make a revision and upload the cover for you, as well as place a replacement order. I will also set the order up in order to bypass the proof copy requirement. How would you wish to proceed?"  So, I guess they could revise the cover after all, despite the earlier statement.  Too bad I did it already.   So I relate this information and inquire, again, how can I get the free copy.  This exchange happened on July 1st and I waited patiently for a reply, taking the holidays in to consideration. 
By the 6th I lost patience waiting for a reply and just ordered the book.  Then I received this email, "Thank you again for your patience and I apologize for the delay. I have placed a reorder for the new revised book."  Oh thanks, you don't get back to me, don't answer my inquiries about the ordering procedures and then order the book the day after I do!   Way to communicate with your customer!

This is just the newest round of indifference I had with customer service at Lulu, but it is the last straw for me.  I'm disillusioned with Lulu.com; their prices and shipping charges are too high, their customer service sucks and I'm finding them less and less author friendly.  I think it is past time for me to find a new way to get published.

The Incomplete Guide to Action Movies


Almost everything you need to know to enjoy an action film!

Here it is at last!

Presenting an irreverent manual for dissecting an action movie, a guide to the nuances of that summer blockbuster!
Consider musings about crashes, clichés and cannon fodder!

Discover how to survive an action movie!

Learn the proper way to watch a bad action film!

Disagree with the recommendations and the top ten lists!


Read all about it today!
http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/the-incomplete-guide-to-action-movies/11602857


 

Update

Just an update on was has been going on with my writing.

- One of my poems will be appearing in an upcoming chapbook produced by Bards and Sages Publishing. I'll keep you advised of its progress.
- Another one of my poems won second place in a contest on the WritersCafe.org website.
- I got my first interview as an author, Yeah! It's been posted on Blogcritics:
Interview with Fantasy Author A. F. Stewart

So, not a bad couple of weeks.


Don't forget to check out my Squidoo.com lens:
A. F. Stewart
How to write a Fantasy Novel
How to become an Independently Published Author

What is wrong with publishers?

Q: How does a new writer get published?

A: With extreme difficulty.


These days it seems that the publishing industry is lined up against the new writer, bent on stopping them from becoming an author. Which to me seems stupid. What is going to happening to the publishing industry if they don't have new authors?

Traditional publishers seem to have a certain disdain for new writers, giving their preference to established authors that have a proven track record. Understandable, but as a long range strategy, a bit silly. Established authors won't publish indefinitely, and if all the new blood is going elsewhere or giving up entirely, what will they be publishing?

Now new writers can self-publish, which can be expensive and time-consuming, but it is a viable option these days. But even this area is being harassed; by traditional publishers who seem to feel threatened by the competition and now by Amazon/Booksurge who seems to want to exert a Big Brother control over the industry. And the writer is the last person considered, again.

Small press publishing seems to be the best way to go for the new writer, but even here the process is hampered, simply because the publishers are being swamped with submissions. I did a search of dozens of these companies and quite a few are no longer accepting submissions because they simply cannot handle the overload.

So there are writers out there looking for publishers. Will there be a place for them in the future, or will we lose their prose to greed and short-sighted CEO's.

Are Amazon and Booksurge bullies?

Amazon is currently busy ruining the ability for self-published authors to sell on their retail site. Unless of course they have published through their new company, BookSurge. What is even more insidious is they are actually trying to blackmail their rivals, (sites like Lulu.com, iUnverse, etc.), into using the BookSurge printing service.
How are they doing this, you ask? It's simple.
Most self-published authors use a subsidy publisher; the author pays for the cost to assemble the book(stuff like editing, cover art, etc), and the subsidy publisher takes care of the printing (usually Print-on-Demand, which basically means a copy of the book is printed as it is purchased) and distribution (usually to places such as Amazon or Barnes and Noble). Amazon's BookSurge is one of these subsidy publishers, and unlike other subsidy publishers (who outsource the printing, mostly to Lightning Source) it has its own POD printing service.
This is how Amazon is extorting the other publishers. Amazon is telling subsidy publishers, if you are not currently using BookSource as your printing service, your authors will not be able to sell on Amazon. They are actually disabling buy buttons for these books; PublishAmerica and Whiskey Press are the first victms.
If this continues, BookSurge will be the only one who gets to sell on Amazon; very convenient for Amazon.
At the very least this is a conflict of interest, at worst it is an illegal monopoly, extortion, and market fixing.

In the interest of being fair I emailed Amazon.com to see what they had to say on the matter.
Here is the email I sent:
"I would like to know if your company is seriously considering forcing independent, Print-on-Demand publishing companies, to use BookSurge. Even going so far as to threaten to disable the Amazon buy buttons on their titles if they do not comply.
Don't you realise the damage to authors this policy will wreak, or the fact you are leaving yourselves wide open to charges of illegal monopoly?"

This is their reply:
"Thank you for writing to Amazon.com

If you are interested in printing books on demand, we strongly recommend you work with BookSurge, an Amazon.com Company which offers complete publishing and printing services for authors and publishers. Whether your book manuscript is a ready-to-print finished PDF file or a working draft requiring editing, illustration and printing services, we've got the resources you need to get your book into distribution cost effectively.

BookSurge will be able to assist you with the preparation of your title(s) and, once ready, can print on demand as you require, including quick fulfillment for orders placed on Amazon.com. In the future, you will be able to manage your account with physical books or print on demand books with BookSurge through the Advantage interface. You can find more information about BookSurge here:

http://www.booksurge.com

If you have further questions about BookSurge after reviewing the web site above, please feel free to write to customerservice@booksurge.com.


Best regards,

Ajeeth
Amazon.com Customer Service
http://www.amazon.com "

So do you think Amazon is in full marketing mode or what?

It was this email, and the callous disregard of my concerns that promoted me to create an online petition to fight Amazon and BookSurge.

If you want to sign, you can go here:

Stop the BookSurge Monopoly

Why is Self-publishing the wrong move?

Answer: It's not necessarily wrong at all.

I recently Googled, looking for information on editor services for the self-published. I kept coming across articles on how you should not self-publish, that you should always try the traditional publishing route.

This made me angry. Why are people so against self-publishing?

One article said the self-publishing companies are just in it for the money. True. But traditional publishers are in it for the money too.

Publishing your book comes down to either fighting through the system (and it is a fight to get a traditional publisher to even look at your manuscript), or doing the work yourself with self-publishing. And if you are going to self-publish it is going to take work. But it should be your choice.

And yes, there are a lot of bad books self-published. But there are bad books published the old-fashioned way as well. I know I've read some.

I say stop bad-mouthing the self-publishing industry and try to fix it. Opportunities are better the destroying potential dreams.

New Book Published

My newest book, Inside Realms, has been published on Lulu.com
It is a fantasy short story collection, of six short stories, telling the tales of wizards, magic and vampires. Plus, there is a sneak peek at the upcoming novella Chronicles of the Undead.

Here is the link: Inside Realms

Here is a Press Release: Press Release

How things go wrong.

I finally finished my short story collection, Inside Realms, after much delay in the last editing processes.
First a plotline just wouldn't mesh, (got it eventually), then the roofers (noise is very distracting when you are editing), and of course I must not forget the computer problems. (Never try to set up a new computer, and transfer files from the old one, when you do not have a great deal of time to spare.)
But, I persevered and at last, I uploaded the file to Lulu.com. Went through the whole publishing process, uploaded the cover design, set the price, and had it ready for sale on my storefront. I even put links on my website.
Then on Sunday, I went to my storefront to check on things, and there it was: No Book. Due to problems on Lulu, the whole thing had been deleted. They are working on restoring the book, but I may have to re-publish.
It has left me wondering what else can go wrong?

Press Kit- July 02, 2007

I now have an online Press Kit, with some book related freebies.
Go here: Online Press Kit

Published!

Hi, I'm a writer and I'm pleased to announce that I have just self published my first book on Lulu.com.
It is a book of poetry, entitled Tears of Poetry, available here: Tears of Poetry