Recently I gave a speech at the Dynamic Communicator's workshop on the benefits of self-publishing. After I was done, one of the attendees said, "Can I have your notes?"
I responded, "How about a blog post instead?"
Here's what I have to say about self-publishing.
One of my favorite comics has a guy in a doctor's office with an x-ray machine against his chest that reveals a book lodged in is ribs. The doctor says, "Yup, you got a book in you." The number of Americans who believe they have a book inside them is between 80 - 86%. To get that book out of them, it takes hard work, lots of writing and a little publishing luck. Okay, a lot of publishing luck. But maybe you don't need that luck at all. Here are the new realities of self-publishing.
The old perception about self-publishing is dead
When you'd hear about self-publishing it typically had to do with a crazy uncle and his manifesto for change. He'd haul that book out and hand it to anyone who would listen to him. Your mother warned you not to bring it up when he'd come over for the holidays. He made it seem like anyone could publish a book, and they can.
Books that matter are getting their start through self-publishing. Mike Foster decided to pursue self-publishing with his book Gracenomics (one of my favorite books about why grace matters). One of my favorite books, Once a Runner, got its start with the author selling books at cross country meets from the trunk of his car. Now it's being published by Simon and Schuster. Golf's Sacred Journey is another book that did really well as a self-pub before we picked it up at Zondervan. Recently it was made into a movie starring Robert Duvall called Seven Days in Utopia.
These are just a few examples of the self-pubs making the jump to traditional publishing. Self-publishing is becoming a place where publishers are searching for their next book project.
Distribution
Distribution used to be one of the old guards for publishing with a traditional publisher. You need them to get your book in stores. Now, with retailers like Google Books and Amazon, you can have your book on their site in no time. And with lots of options for print on demand, like Lulu or Lightning Source, you can have a book printed at an affordable price. You could even walk into Schuler Books in Grand Rapids and print your book while perusing their book section and sippin' a coffee while your book prints. They offer print on demand options right there in the store.
You could also post your ebook instantly for sale online right now, but that's a conversation for another post.
Funding
Everyone who decides to pursue self-pubbing has to face this question: how do I pay for it?
Tough question if you don't have the cash in your bank account. But let's say your book is a collection of stories from mothers and daughters that have dealt with breast cancer, and you want to use the proceeds to support a local "pink" charity. Could you raise the money through donation?
A good example of this is with a book called Bodies of Water. Recently I was watching the author explain his kids' book idea and how he wanted to publish a book that dealt with his personal story about losing his parents. This author was just pursuing a passion, especially with kids' books, which are hard to find publishers for and super competitive. He used kickstarter.com to drum up the support he need to publish it.
There are a lot of options out there to build funding, and it doesn't have to be charity based. Your book project can be just a book you want to build support on by using a system like kickstarter.com.
Royalties
The last new reality of self-publishing is the royalty issue. If you self-publish, you keep 100% of the royalties. The average author negotiates roughly 20% with their publisher. Recently I read the average self-published book sells around 800 copies (Sorry, I can't find my source). So let's say if your book was for sale for $12.99, softcover, and you batted for average, you would make roughly $10,000. Now that's without print costs, but it's still not bad.
Self-publishing real is a viable option for writers who want to pursue their publishing dreams. Yes, it takes some work, but these new realties can help you make it happen.
After reading this post you might be wondering, "Yeah, this is all good, but would YOU self-publish? I'll answer that in my next post.
I responded, "How about a blog post instead?"
Here's what I have to say about self-publishing.
One of my favorite comics has a guy in a doctor's office with an x-ray machine against his chest that reveals a book lodged in is ribs. The doctor says, "Yup, you got a book in you." The number of Americans who believe they have a book inside them is between 80 - 86%. To get that book out of them, it takes hard work, lots of writing and a little publishing luck. Okay, a lot of publishing luck. But maybe you don't need that luck at all. Here are the new realities of self-publishing.
The old perception about self-publishing is dead
When you'd hear about self-publishing it typically had to do with a crazy uncle and his manifesto for change. He'd haul that book out and hand it to anyone who would listen to him. Your mother warned you not to bring it up when he'd come over for the holidays. He made it seem like anyone could publish a book, and they can.
Books that matter are getting their start through self-publishing. Mike Foster decided to pursue self-publishing with his book Gracenomics (one of my favorite books about why grace matters). One of my favorite books, Once a Runner, got its start with the author selling books at cross country meets from the trunk of his car. Now it's being published by Simon and Schuster. Golf's Sacred Journey is another book that did really well as a self-pub before we picked it up at Zondervan. Recently it was made into a movie starring Robert Duvall called Seven Days in Utopia.
These are just a few examples of the self-pubs making the jump to traditional publishing. Self-publishing is becoming a place where publishers are searching for their next book project.
Distribution
Distribution used to be one of the old guards for publishing with a traditional publisher. You need them to get your book in stores. Now, with retailers like Google Books and Amazon, you can have your book on their site in no time. And with lots of options for print on demand, like Lulu or Lightning Source, you can have a book printed at an affordable price. You could even walk into Schuler Books in Grand Rapids and print your book while perusing their book section and sippin' a coffee while your book prints. They offer print on demand options right there in the store.
You could also post your ebook instantly for sale online right now, but that's a conversation for another post.
Funding
Everyone who decides to pursue self-pubbing has to face this question: how do I pay for it?
Tough question if you don't have the cash in your bank account. But let's say your book is a collection of stories from mothers and daughters that have dealt with breast cancer, and you want to use the proceeds to support a local "pink" charity. Could you raise the money through donation?
A good example of this is with a book called Bodies of Water. Recently I was watching the author explain his kids' book idea and how he wanted to publish a book that dealt with his personal story about losing his parents. This author was just pursuing a passion, especially with kids' books, which are hard to find publishers for and super competitive. He used kickstarter.com to drum up the support he need to publish it.
There are a lot of options out there to build funding, and it doesn't have to be charity based. Your book project can be just a book you want to build support on by using a system like kickstarter.com.
Royalties
The last new reality of self-publishing is the royalty issue. If you self-publish, you keep 100% of the royalties. The average author negotiates roughly 20% with their publisher. Recently I read the average self-published book sells around 800 copies (Sorry, I can't find my source). So let's say if your book was for sale for $12.99, softcover, and you batted for average, you would make roughly $10,000. Now that's without print costs, but it's still not bad.
Self-publishing real is a viable option for writers who want to pursue their publishing dreams. Yes, it takes some work, but these new realties can help you make it happen.
After reading this post you might be wondering, "Yeah, this is all good, but would YOU self-publish? I'll answer that in my next post.
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