When to Self-publish a book?

From the last few days, lots of my writing friends (both in India and abroad) whose books have encountered rejection, are considering opting for the self-publishing route. In India as we don’t have agents, we writers approach the publishers directly after getting their email id’s from the website. One of my friends told me that she was strongly considering uploading it on Amazon just so that people could read it, as all the publishers she had approached had not bothered replying. I am sure it’s not that easy and that there are other things to consider while self-publishing.

I made her reconsider her decision. I even beta read her book, sent her feedback and requested her to resend the book to the same few Indian publishers after she had revised it extensively. I asked her to send it in batches, to a few publishers at a time. First send the bigger publishers, then the smaller ones. She has done that and is happy that the publishers have told her they will get back to her.

I personally feel that sometimes a particular story has no appeal for the publishers however well we write it. That’s why it’s important not to pin our hopes on one book and to keep writing other books and stories.

Now I come to an important question. At what stage does one consider self-publishing? After how many rejections should one drop the idea of going the traditional publishing route? At what point should we give up on getting that particular book traditionally published? For those who have gone the self-published route what was the reason and the process? Please share your views. 

P.S. If any self-published writer is interested in doing a  guest post on the entire process, then please email me. There are many writers who want to self-publish but don't know how to go about it. The post will help them.

Self - Publishing versus Traditional Publishing

Last year I had the pleasure of reviewing few books that were self published by the authors. Reading the books changed my perception of self publishing. My initial view was that books that were turned down by publishers were self published by the authors who were unable to wait for the long time it took to  encounter a publisher willing to invest  time, money and energy on them.

I was also under the impression that self published books would not be of a good quality, both in the literary sense : plot, character, grammar, and story line and that the quality of the books: paper, printing and book covers would not be good. The books I reviewed were of a superior quality in each and every way. As a reviewer, I did find few mistakes in the plot structure of one book and felt that the author had  been in a hurry to end it, and the length of  the other book was too long. Perhaps as writers we tend to get too harsh and critical, not just of other  writer’s books, but also of our own.

I did wonder why editors of publishing houses had turned them down. The books were good. With a little bit of rewriting and editing  the books would have been great. I  indulged in a bit of pop analysis to uncover the reason why both the books missed the traditional publishing bus.

One thing I realized  is that it’s next to impossible for publishers to publish every book that lands at their doorstep. Many times they have to turn down books that they like, because they feel there will be no market for such books, or they have done similar books earlier, or the book is ahead of its time.  In such  scenarios  the authors have no other option but to self-publish.

I am not sure if I am right in my suggestions. But here they are. I feel the first and foremost thing  someone  taking the self published route should invest in is few  critique partners who can catch the initial knots in the story and help shape it up with critical and valuable feedback.

After the final rewrite  the  author opting for the self published route should invest in a professional edit. A professional  editor will catch all the mistakes that crop up in the plot structure which the editor of a traditional publishing house would normally have done.. He or she can spot the weak links in the story and pay detailed attention to  character growth and help tighten the plot. The editor will  also take care of   grammar, punctuation and tense.

This is just my amateur analysis, I am no expert. I now have only admiration for self published authors who choose to take the difficult route to publishing. These authors have so much faith in their stories that they are willing to shoulder the burden of editing, publishing  and marketing onto their own shoulders. What about you all? What do you think of self publishing? Any advice you would give to authors seeking that route? Would you opt for it? Please share your views and feelings on self publishing.

Today's Guest is Peter Canova

Today’s guest blogger is Peter Canova, award winning author of Pope Annalisa: book one of a fictional trilogy called The First Souls, a saga about the first spirits to fall into material experience. The trilogy traces their incarnations over different epochs of history.

Pope Annalisa has won two Silver Medal Nautilus Book Awards for Visionary Fiction and Spirituality. It has also bagged the coveted Gold Medal for Adult Fiction/Visionary Fiction.

Here is Peter to tell you about his journey to publishing.

SEVEN THINGS I’VE LEARNED ABOUT WRITING AND SELF-PUBLISHING

I went from being a hotshot in the hotel development and finance field to being a lowly newbie of an author trawling around writers’ conferences, trying to figure out what the heck writing a good book was about. Here’s my modest wisdom from past years for new authors:

1. Writing is a lonely profession—yep, just like the cliché says. No one stands over your shoulder saying, “this is good, this is bad; leave it, cut it.” A new writer has few parameters and yardsticks to measure his or her writing. Sure, you can go to writers’ conferences and workshop your material for critiques. It does help, but remember, everyone has their own biases, limitations, and agendas in those forums so take it with a grain of salt. I started with an online writers’ group. The best thing I did was find an elderly retired novelist in my area who mentored me. The next best thing was running my work through a cross section of good editors, though expect to pay for that.

2. Why we write-- It helps to realize that we write for two reasons, because you may never be published in the traditional manner. First we write for ourselves, secondly to communicate with others. Good writers have a burning passion to say something, so writing is a cathartic experience that expresses some core aspect of our personality. But we also want to share, so we must produce an interesting and clear literary vehicle to convey our story to others. Keep these things in mind.

3. Agents-- Agents review tons of material besides yours. Like rejected writers, they can get jaded. The worst ones get arrogant, cynical, and come to believe that their subjective feelings determine the marketability of a book. Not always so. When you run into one of these, don’t take it personally. Research the right agent with the right angle of approach for your work to improve your chances.

4. What helps—Whether its agents, publishers, PR companies, or, the media, I found the following factors matter in this order—who you know, the quality of the book, the uniqueness of the book, your ability to convey the book (very different to talk about it than to write it), your ability to talk fluently and persuasively to people, your personal appearance.

5. When nothing works— Ah, now we enter into why people self-publish. I was always told that the cream will rise to the top. Not so in the book world. The sad fact is, maybe it will, maybe it won’t, so here’s my personal disclosure on this issue. I wrote a good book called POPE ANNALISA (popeannalisa.com). That’s not just my opinion. It won the first two national book awards contests it entered. It’s about a miraculous African nun who becomes the first female pope. No one can figure out if she’s the savior or destroyer of the world; terrorists and her own church are out for her blood; she’s in the middle of a nuclear confrontation between Iran and America; and the story reveals a genuine, near- lost spiritual tradition that may have been a secret teaching of Jesus. Original? Yes. Page turner? Yes. Life changing? For many, it has been. Publishable? No, at least not according to the gazillion agents I went through. The problem is that the book market is a shrinking industry now slid into a HORRIBLE economy. No one will risk publishing such an epic, unusual work from a first time author. It’s an “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” industry that sticks with the tried and true. A creatively original book like mine just falls through the cracks. Give the traditional approach your best shot. If not successful, read the next point.

6. Self publishing 101 -- People self-publish for many different reasons. The industry has come a long way, but it’s still partially occluded by a fair amount of junk that in an earlier era would have been the domain of Vanity Presses. If you’re not in that category, you really have to make sure you have a good book to go anywhere. You need to have a clear idea of your market and how your book can resonate with it because the literary world is not constructed around paying attention to individual authors. If you’re the peanut in the coconut pile, better be a standout peanut. All authors, published or self-published, are ultimately responsible for marketing their own book unless they’re a celebrity with a sex scandal or a big name with huge publisher backing behind you. If you’re serious about selling your book, marketing becomes a full time job. Speaking, book signings, and seeking media outlets is a real pavement-pounding exercise. And it can get expensive too, depending on how fast you want the book to sell. A good primer book to read is John Kremer’s 1,001 Ways to Market Your Book.

7. Don’t ever, ever, give up-- I do believe that if the book is good and if you work at it, eventually you’ll find some level of success, though each of us may define that differently.

Peter’s website - http://www.popeannalisa.com/

Book Details - ISBN # 978-0-9821813-0-0.

Peter's Journey has been truly inspirational! Would you all like to share  a little of your inspirational journey?