The pros and cons of self-publishing

[Anthony G Williams]

I have posted on my homepage (url on the left) my experiences and thoughts on the subject of self-publishing: just scroll down to On Publishing Fiction.

I keep updating this one - the latest version being finished five minutes ago. Comments welcomed!

 

[scalem X]

Apart from the crude statements from time to time, I found it an interesting sum up. Then again remain some questions:

Apart from family and friends, you'll probably have used your other contacts (through publications in magazines and conventions being my guess) to get your other SP novels of the hook. Mark Robson, who also self published some novels toured on schools. It seems that you will need at least a small plan for reaching the public in an alternative way.

Of course being published in magazines before and through TP, you might have had an idea of what was writing that is good enough. But how can you know you're ready for self publishing?

 

[Anthony G Williams]

Apart from family and friends, you'll probably have used your other contacts (through publications in magazines and conventions being my guess) to get your other SP novels of the hook.

I'm afraid I suffer from a serious weakness: a strong aversion to pushing my books to my friends and family. As a result, I only know of one person from that group who bought my first novel.

In retrospect, I was lucky with the subject of The Foresight War, as there seem to be quite a lot of people who are interested in the "what ifs" of WW2, and they frequent certain discussion forums on the net. So I was able to reach my target audience very easily. All I did in the way of marketing was to mention the book on my website and forum, and on a few of the "WW2 what-if" forums. And I sent out a couple of copies to reviewers who expressed an interest (resulting in two reviews on SF websites).

Of course being published in magazines before and through TP, you might have had an idea of what was writing that is good enough. But how can you know you're ready for self publishing?

Only by reader reaction. So far my first novel has gained a total of 17 reviews on the US and UK amazon sites, with an average 4 star rating (and, believe it or not, I didn't know any of the amazon reviewers, not did I send any of them free copies!). Several of them commented favourably on my writing style, so I don't think I can be doing anything drastically wrong.

 

[Mark Robson]

Interesting statistics on average sales of self published books you have there. At my first booksigning I met the owner of a small publishing house. He looked down his nose at my first book and informed me in no uncertain terms that if I sold a thousand copies of the book, I would have done well. That does tie in well to your figures. I'd quite like to meet that chap again now as total sales of that series, (I published 3 more) are approaching 50 000, but then I doubt that many self publishers have either the belief, or the energy that I have.

Good sales are built on a sound marketing strategy and a quality product. So long as you keep hitting the target market, then you'll continue to get positive feedback and word of your book will spread. I wish you continued good fortune and many more sales.

 

[Anthony G Williams]

You've sold over 10,000 copies per volume of a self-published series?

Wow, that is seriously impressive.

 

[Mark Robson]

To be fair they have been around a while. I released the first book into four bookshops in summer 2000, so it's been out there for nearly 7 years now. The rest came out at one year intervals.

Sales are beginning to slow now, but that's mainly because I'm concentrating on promoting the more recent series. I still sell a good number of the Darkweaver books every month, though, so I can't complain.

 

[Anthony G Williams]

I have to admit that I'm facing more of a problem with my second novel. It has an entirely different plot which doesn't particularly appeal to the readers of my first one (or those who frequent my military tech website), so I'm having to start from scratch. And as it's mainstream SF rather than a niche product, it's in a huge pool of books all competing for attention.

I think I've had an easy ride with my first book, but the second one will need a lot more pushing (especially, getting reviews on amazon.co.uk). Any suggestions welcomed...

 

[Steve Jordan]

This is the same quandry I'm in, after writing a number of novels and making them available as e-books on my own site. Just like your case, my novels are science fiction, so they are competing with a horde of other material. How to rise above the hordes? I'm still working on it, and always looking for opportunities to shine.

Right now, a double-sided "passive" approach, participating in SF-related forums (like this one), and hosting a professional-looking website, get me some recognition and sales, but certainly not much (I still have my day job!). And my budget is limited, so I can't, say, spring for multi-thousand-dollar ad space in a major magazine or website.

So I'm trying to identify smaller, more targeted (and significantly less expensive) venues for advertising... in this case, SF magazines, and any SF convention that accepts advertising for its programs. Even if you can't get a magazine to review you, an ad might attract as many eyes. There may also be SF-themed websites that you can advertise on, if the rates aren't too high.

 

[Simon Haynes]

You might want to look into Google Adwords. You can specify a daily cap and you can also target a particular country (e.g. the UK)

It's a lot easier than contacting a bunch of sites directly, asking about rates and daily visitors and page hits and so on.

 

[Birol]

Buy banner ads on appropriate sites, where the members might be interested in what you have to sell. Also, start a blog, get other bloggers to mention your book, and join sites like MySpace in order to network.

 

[lin robinson]

EXCHANGE LINKS with anybody you can. Join appropriate Yahoo and MSN groups and place links to your site in their Files, posts where they will accept them.

 

[Anthony G Williams]

I've recently started an SFF blog, consisting of reviews and comments about writing and publishing (url on the left). Too soon to say what effect it might have, although I'd appreciate any comments.

 

[Gary Compton]

hi my name is gary compton and i am new to this forum which i have been watching for a few days. I am currently writing my second book after the 1st got one positive comment from an agent but generally got more knockbacks than Quasimodo on a night out at Stringfellows. I have read the comments on this thread and in particular Anthony Williams and after visiting his website i have bought his book "The Foresight War" on Amazon (you owe me commission on your royalty for mentioning this by the way). I am looking forward to reading it and comparing it with books published by the mainstream publishers versus this self published work. If its okay I will comment on the board, this subject interests me and after reading the first chapter cant wait for the postman to come. All the best Gary

 

[Anthony G Williams]

I have read the comments on this thread and in particular Anthony Williams and after visiting his website i have bought his book "The Foresight War" on Amazon (you owe me commission on your royalty for mentioning this by the way). I am looking forward to reading it and comparing it with books published by the mainstream publishers versus this self published work. If its okay I will comment on the board, this subject interests me and after reading the first chapter cant wait for the postman to come. All the best Gary

That's got to be worth a (virtual) pint!

I hope you enjoy it!

 

[Gary Compton]

i
more like a gallon, anyway amazingly got email today from amazon saying it had been despatched. They must have stock surely, it couldnt be POD could it, whats the full story Anthony??. Also your publisher is Authorhouse isnt it, what are they like?, would you reccomend them.

cheers gary

 

[Anthony G Williams]

It is indeed a POD, but the turnaround is quite fast.

The firm I work with concentrates on supporting authors who want to self-publish. They are called Authors Online, and I am very happy with the service I have from them - they are efficient and friendly. There are more details in my web article: ON PUBLISHING FICTION