Self-Publishing Lies
June 12, 2009 by michele52
Filed under Publishing Business
It has been said that if you tell a lie loud enough, or often enough, it begins to sound like the truth. It’s happening every day in self-publishing articles in major newspapers and on self-publishing websites and blogs everywhere, and it’s hurting a lot of really good people.
I can be pretty sure that others, like myself, who have worked in publishing for most of our lives, particularly book editors, book designers and typesetters, are about to go mad at the misinformation about self-publishing that is regurgitated, and unfortunately widely accepted, today.
Let’s have a little fun with words for a moment. You go to the doctor. She says you need surgery and it’s going to cost a lot of money. You leave her office and drive directly to the library to check out a medical textbook. A few moments later, at the local medical supply store, you buy a scalpel and a few other supplies. You hand the book and the scalpel to a friend and say, “This is easy. Just hand me that bottle of bourbon and we can do it ourselves. The step-by-step instructions are right there…there’s nothing to it!”
Sounds crazy, doesn’t it? And yet websites abound that promise uninformed authors that they can self-publish a book, without editing, without design, without quality typesetting, if only they will give XYZ Company a little money. XYZ will take care of all the hard work. XYZ will make their book available in bookstores nationwide. XYZ will market their book. Soon, the author will be as famous as Stephen King or Dean Koontz. It’s easy. Just upload your Word file, they say. Just use our easy cover templates, they say. You don’t need experts. You can do everything yourself. No training, no experience, no talent required.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m a big fan of self-esteem. It’s an unparalleled source of courage that propels us forward toward a goal when everyone else thinks we’re crazy. But really, does it seem sensible to you that anyone’s first-time efforts at book editing, design and typesetting will compare to the results that professionals can achieve? Apparently so, judging by the many thousands of authors who use these services.
In some cases, people just don’t know there’s a better way. If you search on “self-publishing”, the first 20 results will unfortunately be “self-publishing companies”, who are in reality, nothing more than vanity presses. Unless you drill down through many pages, you won’t even find out that there are competent editors, designers, printers, and publicists who offer far better services, and results, albeit at a higher cost.
While it may be tempting to use a vanity service that promises to do everything for a price you can afford, there are more important numbers to consider, namely book sales. The largest of the so-called “self-publishing” companies report that the average author sells 50 books. Yes, 50. I can’t imagine that selling just 50 books is anyone’s goal after spending many months or years on a manuscript. So what does that tell us? That something is very wrong. And, whether it’s welcome news or not, we experts — the ones you’ll almost never find in search results — know what that something is.
Self-publishing is hard work. As Dan Poynter says, “If you want your book to sell like a book, it has to look like a book.” No matter how proud you may be of your own beginner’s efforts at editing, typesetting and design, the truth is an amateur job will never be more than an amateur job. That’s why reviewers won’t even open a book from most of the self-publishing companies. Reviewers and retailers know that these companies don’t serve the author; they serve themselves. By allowing anyone to publish anything with no quality control, they make their money on the front end, not from book sales. Yes, they make their money by selling YOU a fairy tale.
Even worse, some very, very, very big companies (that I cannot name and who should have more integrity) have now begun to offer these services. We complain about the culpability and greed of Wall Street in the recent meltdown. How is this any different? Line ‘em up, take their money, laugh all the way to the bank. Forget about the fact that someone’s dream of writing a book and sharing it with the world has been cruelly converted into a nightmare.
Here’s what we experts are shouting from the rooftops to anyone who will listen. Your book needs professional editing, professional cover design, professional typesetting and professional marketing and publicity to stand out in a crowded marketplace. This costs money. There’s no way around that. Not if you want a quality book that has the best possible chance to sell. You can believe the fairy tales if you want, but that won’t make them true.
Writing a book is an awesome accomplishment. Self-publishing is a steep hill to climb, for anyone. Please, hire pros who can help you create a product that the market will accept.
Michele DeFilippo, owner, 1106 Design • Main site: http://www.1106design.com
Hello Val,
Thanks for your comments. You’re absolutely correct. A book has to be a good story (or helpful non-fiction) above all else to succeed, whether it’s released by a major publisher or a self publisher. Design and marketing can sell the first few books, but it takes word of mouth and rave reviews to achieve maximum sales.
I’m not discouraging self-publishing at all! In fact, I think it’s a great way to go. Most of our clients are, in fact, self publishers. I wrote the post because many self-publishers inadvertently shoot themselves in the foot and limit their success by ignoring crucial quality issues. In an attempt to save money, they release a book with a poor outer package and with text that is poorly writtend and/or unedited. Buyers understand and respond to quality, and like you, they are disappointed when they don’t get it. When quality isn’t offered, either by major publishers or self-publishers, then disappointed buyers may stop buying books altogether.
I’m also saddened that major publishers are, in some cases, abandoning these quality issues. When I read The DaVinci Code, the text was so poorly typeset that I started keeping track of errors. I wound up with a list of more than 20 items that we would have corrected as a matter of course. As a life-long book typesetter, it pains me that many major publishers typeset their books in third-world countries for cost savings, but no individual can’t change that. Authors and designers can only offer quality and hope that enough people recognize its value.
I always thought the words on the page were what mattered. You can have the most enticing cover art and the expertise of a seasoned editor, but if the story is terrible, the book won’t sell. Unless I’m wrong, the gist of your post is to disparage and thus discourage self publishing in favour of the more polished and traditional route of submissions and queries etc. In light of this as well as your mention of Stephen King, I would like to remark on this ‘traditional’ expertise. As I was reading Duma Key, I noticed so many grammatical errors, misspellings and lack of continuity that it was difficult to tell if the ‘seasoned’ editor at this ‘traditional’ publishing house was actually competent enough to fulfill her/his duties.
The work belongs to the writer and what they choose to do with it is entirely up to them. They took thoughts and ideas, made them real by putting them on a page. Self publishing gives an artist control of their creation. I don’t quite understand why publishing houses, who claim to have slush piles as high as their office ceilings, give a damn about writers who self publish. That is the mystery to me. What on earth do they care, as it appears they have such an avalanche of manuscripts to wade through? I doubt it has anything to do with a loving concern for the self published authors who they claim are making a big uninformed mistake. I think it has something to do with a growing trend that won’t go away.
Michelle,
Thanks for pointing out the “elephant in the room” and for bringing your passion to this topic.
The misinformation continues to thicken, and the very real challenges of producing a book that will even have a good chance of succeeding in the market continue to be made more difficult by the unrealistic expectations of people whose only mistake was to believe what they have been told.
I guess the spirit of P.T. Barnum continues to live on in American enterprise. But it also seems that those of us who help serious self-publishers and independent publishers bring their books to market will have to continue to shout back against the storm of tripe that people are shoveling on this subject.
Good job.
AMEN!