Writers who’ve been around the block ask me every day if self-publishing via POD and e-books is becoming more acceptable. New writers don’t even ask—they see the successes of those who have done so, and often just assume that’s the way to go.
Of course, there’s no quick or easy answer.
Even 10 years ago, you’d have gotten a rapid-fire (and unanimous) response to that: NO! Still five years ago, you’d get the same answer (albeit not quite as adamant). Today, well, oh, Lord. We’re watching things change so fast everyone’s head is spinning.
Within the industry, there is still a huge distinction between authors who are Traditionally published (i.e., a house has purchased the rights to publish the book, including advance and subsequent royalty scale), as opposed to those who self-published (the writer paying to have the book published). The however is, we’ve watched this perception change radically on the outside.
The fact is, readers can’t tell how your book was published.
If your self-published book sells 50,000 copies or so, you will be welcomed into the insiders’ world with open arms and champagne toasts. Selling that many copies is, well, not impossible but it’s danged tough.
Some of my writers have broken in that very way, and done so superbly. Naleighna Kai did this, self-pubbing her first books. Then, her Every Woman Needs a Wife was published by Strebor Books (an imprint of Simon & Schuster). She’s a marketing whirlwind!
She, as well as others who’ve gone this route, busted their butts marketing, pure and simple. Which is of course the name of the game whether you publish your book under your own name, or it comes out from Random House. The marketing is primarily up to you.
Sales numbers continue to be all over the map. Publishers Weekly reported that sales of adult trade books dropped 2.8% in the first half of 2016 compared to the same period in 2015, according to figures released by the Association of American Publishers. Sales in the children’s/young adult segment, meanwhile, rose 0.9% in the same period.
The largest decline in the six-month span came in the e-book format, where sales fell 18.1%. Sales of physical audio dropped 12.7% in the six months, while hardcover sales declined 4.5% and mass market paperback sales fell 2.5%.
Paperback and hardcover formats accounted for the 0.9% sales increase in the children’s/YA category. E-book sales actually fell 34.9%.
The only category to have a sales increase was Religion, which was up 10.4%.
According to a 2014 report in PW:
- The Big Five traditional publishers now account for only 16% of the e-books on Amazon’s bestseller lists.
- DRM (digital rights management) “harms e-book sales at any price point.”
- Self-published books now represent 31% of e-book sales on Amazon’s Kindle Store.
- Indie authors are earning nearly 40% of the e-book dollars going to authors.
- Self-published authors are “dominating traditionally published authors” in sci-fi/fantasy, mystery/thriller, and romance genres but — and here is the surprise — they are also taking “significant market share in all genres.
2015 brought a number of high-profile success stories to self-publishing as well. James McGuire’s Beautiful Redemption found shelf space at Walmart. Andy Weir’s The Martian (which was originally self-published) became a major motion picture starring Matt Damon.
The list goes on.
And more and more traditionally published authors are also self-pubbing other titles.
So where will this all lead?
No one knows. Publishing has never been a great predictor, but rather, makes future decisions based on hindsight.
And with the flux of things the last ten years, no one knows where we’ll go from here.
So, where does that leave you, the aspiring author?
In the midst of authorpreneurship. No matter which route you aspire to, the marketing will be mostly if not all up to you. There’s a reason that “platform” matters to Traditional publishers—it’s how they sell books.
And it’s also how you’ll sell books.
Welcome to the brave new world!
As an award-winning author and editor, since 1993, 50 + of my authors’ books have sold to Traditional publishers. Many have won awards, been made into films, been featured in Publishers Weekly, and become bestsellers. I also love English Labradors, red wine, and write literary fiction and co-authored nonfiction,
I loved tha article thank you so much!! smiles…I have also done research on this and there seem to be 2 diffferences in the types of publishing. Of course you pointed both of them out…Due to marketing alone, I would need a traditional publisher…When it comes down to it though, if you are in black and white and making money off what you love to write, does it matter? I love that things are changing and that ebooks are taking off. I also hope that the traditional publishing companies give more writers a shot who are self published and have great work…Time will tell…Thank you so much for the information.
Joann–you are well into the crux of this issue! You have to market one way or the other. But oh, what a changing world!
Great article. I ride the train into NYC everyday, and I am seeing more and more people with Kindles and Nooks. Thanks to you, Swiss Chocolate: A memoir of school in Switzerland, is being traditionally published this fall. There will be an ebook version available as well. I read Publishers Weekly, and the market is changing so fast it’s mind boggling. The publishing industry is certainly not what it used to be.
James M. Weil
You are so right, James. Isn’t it just amazing? Amazon reported Thursday afternoon that total revenue for the company jumped 46% in the first quarter to $7.13 billion, and net income rose 68% to $299 million. The revenue gain was driven by the electronics and general merchandise segment, home to the Kindle, where sales jumped 72% to $3.5 billion. Wow.
SWISS CHOCOLATE is a great book, and I’m SO thrilled it found a Traditional home!
Gary Goldstein, Senior Editor at Kensington Press, commented on your link:
“self-publishing certainly isn’t the taboo it once was, when it was associated with outifts like Vantage Press (vanity publishing as it was affectionately referred to). I’ve picked up rights to several self-published non-fiction books in the last couple of years–it would have been unthinkable five years ago. One on pets and the bible, which sold like 60,000 copies, and another on martial arts, which also did well. For an author, it has plus and minuses like anything else. On the plus side, if you’re really willing to get out there and hustle, set up signings at your local Borders or B&N, good things can happen. Bestselling thriller author Vince Flynn originally self-pubbed his first book, TERM LIMITS, and sold it in around the Minneapolis/St Paul area. A regional manager at B&N recommended it to a NY sales rep and the rest is history. But then again, Vince had a product that people wanted to read and it was in a category that NY publishers understood and knew how to market. On the downside, self publishing does come with its risks–a major trade publisher will edit, copy edit, proofread, design and create the cover for a book and it will look professionally done; with selfpublishing, you run the risk of wall-to-wall typos, unattractive covers, and you will not always have the opportunity to decide on typefaces or paper stock for the , giving it a shoddy look. So to do it right can come with a fairly substantial investment. If you’re going to self publish, avoid the “vanity” type houses like Vantage Press or any outfit that promises anything other than delivering 100 or 200 copies of your book. They’ll charge you an exorbitant sum–sometimes upwards of $10,000, depending on length, photos, etc., give you 100 copies and a huge author discount–as much as 60%–on additional copies you order. Sounds great until you realize that the company loses money by reprinting because of the steep discount. So the bottom line is, they don’t want the book to sell because reprinting costs come out of their pocket. Rapidly changing technology, too, is changing the world of self-publishing. You can now put your manuscript up on Kindle for the world to read. You may not get rich, but there’s a chance an editor will spot your work and acquire it. ”
Thanks, Gary!
Susan: I agree, totally. Self publishing books are not the “vanity” books of yesterday. Sadly, as I point out in my blog for TPW Magazine’s summer edition, not all big NY book publishers are wise to this fact.
Likewise, e-books are here to stay and I predict will take over the majority of the book market before the end of this decade, most likely, way before.
Hi Ned,
You are so right, although individual editors at NY houses are coming around. Gary Goldstein, a senior editor at Kensington, just commented on this as well.
And e-books are taking over–right before our eyes. Interesting state publishing is finding itself in!
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Thank you for this post. It was very interesting. The thing I have noticed is that if you self-publish, it’s almost impossible to get reviewed. That makes marketing much harder. Reviewers on magazines and newspapers are told not to deal with self=published books. Except in Vermont. I have had some great reviews in Vermont.
You’re welcome, Ruth. That’s one of those little secrets “they” don’t tell you. Frustrating to learn it on the back end, no? But you’re doing it right, starting locally. And then build on that, throughout your state and in neighboring ones. Send tear sheets to periodicals there.
I have a good friend who for a very long time was the top-selling Western author in the country. And he did it the old-fashioned way–with reviews and signings in his hometown, then to surrounding towns, then across the state, then he loaded up and kept that going in surrounding states. Even in this era of the e-book revolution and blogging one’s way to superstardom, the old-fashioned way still works!
Loved the article. I’ve been writing since I was 19 (I’m 49 these days), and made a few bucks writing over only a few short years. I agree with Joann Fuoss, who said above, “if you are in black and white and making money off what you love to write, does it matter?” No, it really doesn’t. Not to me anyway. After all, I get excited opening up my Notes app on my iPhone and writing a grocery list.
I was one of those guys who fiercely clung to my bound books (one of mankind’s greatest inventions, no doubt), and thought the ebook thing just a passing fancy… That is, until my daughter gave me a Kindle. Now, I could care less about any bound book, and take with me wherever I go another of mankind’s greatest inventions, Kindle. So right, electronic publishing isn’t going anywhere, unless we run out of electricity all of a sudden, so the only question to be asked about it is, where’s my market?
The only money I have ever made as a writer wasn’t made as a writer, but as a security officer. I moved to Las Vegas in late 2001 and needed a job. I knew nothing about gaming or hotels, but only knew that I wanted to give them a try. I didn’t know anyone in town who could juice me into a position, so I had to start from scratch and take a break-in job as a blackjack dealer. I did that for three days and hated every minute of it. I was about to quit when the hotel manager took a shine to me and explained that they needed people all over the hotel and that I should think twice about quitting because they needed people in every part of the organization. I heeded his advice and took a job outside the hotel as a security bike/mobile officer.
I took to the job like a black lab in water. I was so good at it I was promoted almost instantly to a supervisory position. It was in that position that I really did shine, not so much as a supervisor, but as a report writer. To make a long story short, good writers are few and far between in the security business (and everywhere and in everything else in the world for that matter), and they liked my writing ability so much that they had me stuck in an office for the entirety of every shift writing all the reports, correcting all the reports, teaching others how to write reports, etc. I didn’t mind. In fact I loved it. I relished it. I cherished it. I was doing what I loved and getting paid for it. I was saving the company millions every year by helping them win every case that went to court. I never lost a case. Not even close. My attention to detail and my self-made ability to present it on paper made it all happen for our team. I had no training whatsoever. I just made the whole thing up all those years.
Then the place I worked in was sold and new management came in and wrecked everything. My job was finished, and along with it came lots of boredom and stupidity from the new owners who, of course, had acquired gaming licenses, but had no gaming and no hotel experience whatsoever. I quit after only three months of their nonsense–and they lost their business after only a year of their nonsense left them unable to pay their workers and forcing themselves into bankruptcy. That’s what ya get for acting like a big shot–only you’re not.
I quit midway through 2011. I have been wandering around looking for another job like that one ever since. But it was only a fluke, a pipe dream. The truth is, the management invented the job for me. They put me in that position because I was definitely out of the ordinary, and nothing like they had ever seen. There was no job like it before or since, that I am aware of.
So, that’s my problem in a nutshell. Have laptop and Internet connection, will travel. Have skills, will travel. But where to? What next? Sure, writing my memoir and thinking about tackling a novel and/or some short stories for publication for the first time are great ideas, and I could potentially make some money off them–someday–maybe. Meantime, what to do to keep the lights on and food on the table? There’s got to be something out there for a lowly nobody, like me. How can I find what I’m good at in writing? How can I market myself and make some money? I have no illusions about getting rich or being another Hemmingway or anything of the kind, but, hey, there’s got to be a way to make a little grocery money off this damn laptop keyboard to which the tips of my fingers are crazy-glued to all day long.
What a great job you fell into, Ted! Keep looking for paying writing jobs. You’re a natural!
Great article, totally what I was looking for.
Glad to be of help, Dave!
This is some really good information about book publishing. It is good to know that it would be smart to know that there are some different types of book publishing nowadays. It does seem like you should take into consideration when it comes to licensing.
And it looks as though you’re an expert at licensing. Can you tell us how that relates to book publishing? Authors are always chewing over this.
I totally agree with it. This was such an informative article. Thank you for giving all this information in this detail. The e-books are undoubtedly spreading at large and the traditional methods are finding hard to come up with the same speed of influence. The biggest struggle with self-pub is regarding marketing.
So true! Marketing is the struggle with all forms of publishing.