Anyone can publish a book these days.
Some writers simply sell their books to family and friends and never get beyond that. Others gain local exposure. A few find their way to a national audience.
And they do it all themselves.
Because the self-publishing trend is growing so quickly, there’s little in the way of data analyzing it. However, an article by Phillip Jones on Bookseller.com, based in the UK, cited Nielsen Book Data: The numbers of new English-language titles published in 2010 was 4.2 million compared to 1.2 million in 2009. This spike is thought to be because of the influx of self-published books.
In the past, self-published books have suffered from an image problem. They’ve been seen as second-rate. But these days, with so many sales platforms available to self-published authors, the path to print has grown in popularity—and has become more financially viable.
There have been notable success stories in the self-publishing world; people like Seth Godin and Amanda Hocking have self-published best sellers. Many experts agree, however, that finding that type of success is rare. Still, people can make a modest income from the venture—if they do the research and know the challenges inherent in doing it for themselves.
John McReynolds is twice self-
published. He penned a booked called Padres to Pinot, a history of the Lompoc Valley, and Vanished, in which he delves into the historic disappearance of Japanese residents from the Lompoc Valley. He knew his first book had too much of a local focus to get picked up by a big-name publisher, so he went about it himself. Not that he doesn’t know the process of querying editors. As a freelance journalist, McReynolds is used to convincing magazine editors to print his articles.
“That’s hard to do,” he said. “You send out letters, then you call and call. I enjoy the writing and research. I don’t enjoy bugging editors.”
That first book sold about 800 copies and opened a lot of doors leading to his second book. For that project, McReynolds thought the subject matter would have a wider appeal, so he tried a publisher with whom he thought the book might fit.
It was still considered too local.
He contemplated shopping the book to other publishers, but came across another obstacle: The subjects of the book were getting older every day—and even passing away.
“I couldn’t wait any longer,” McReynolds said. “My people were dying. There had already been six deaths. These people who gave me their time, told me their stories, they wanted to see it in a book.”
Truth No. 1 about getting a publisher:
It can take up to two years before you will see your book in print.
Aside from the countless hours, days, weeks, months, years an author will spend researching and writing a book, it takes time to find a publisher who likes the idea. Writers often have to query hundreds of publishers before finding interest. Then the author gets paired with an editor who helps fine tune the work. A proof is created, and then there’s more fine tuning before it’s actually in print. The process is a slow one. McReynolds didn’t want to wait that long before publishing his second book.
“If I went the traditional route, it would be five years before I released my second book,” he said.
So he went the self-publishing route once again, this time knowing the ropes a bit more. He quickly sold his entire first printing batch. He’s sold nearly 1,000 books since he released his book last year. The money, he said, has covered his out-of-pocket expenses and a little of his time.
“It’s a labor of love,” he admitted. “It’s not likely you’re going to get rich off of it.”
When Jennifer Best started her first book, Best Adventures SLO County, she knew it would be too local to appeal to a national publishing house. She checked with a local publisher and, after doing the math, realized her cut would be minimal—even with substantial sales. The numbers worked, however, if she went the self-publishing route.
Truth No. 2 about getting a publisher:
The author’s cut of the piece is diminished as agents, publishers, distributors, and bookstores each take a bite.
The profit margin is significantly slim with a publisher because there are so many middlemen who get their fingers in the process between printing the book and getting it into readers’ hands.
Instead, Best published Best Adventures herself. It did quite well, thanks in large part to her own marketing efforts.
Truth No. 3 about getting a publisher:
You still have to do your own marketing.
Best can be found at a fair number of book fairs, and her books can easily be found anywhere on the Central Coast. Part of the marketing process is thinking beyond simply getting volumes into bookstores.
McReynolds has branched out with his books. Padres to Pinot sells well in a Lompoc Chevron that sees a lot of tourists. Likewise, one of the best selling places for Vanished is an Asian restaurant. He said he was surprised when those locations agreed to sell his books, but he was even more surprised that the owners continue to call him and ask for more copies to sell.
Like McReynolds, Best’s books have been featured in places that don’t automatically come to mind as book outlets. Her books can be found in displays at supermarkets and educational stores. Though her book targets easy local hikes that families can take together, she found the book also appealed to seniors who like the idea of a handy reference guide to the best leisurely hiking areas on the Central Coast.
Rule No. 1 about self-publishing:
Know your market.
Best’s marketing efforts were so successful, she went on to write a similar book about Santa Barbara County. Best Adventures Santa Barbara County had some competition, however, and hasn’t enjoyed the same success as the SLO County edition.
“I think it’s like any business,” she reasoned. “If you have a shoe store and you open it in a place with a lot of shoe stores, then you won’t do as well as if you find a place that doesn’t have any shoe stores and you fill that niche.”
That sort of thinking is exactly what Nipomo’s Cathe Olson did for her project, The Vegetarian Mother’s Cookbook. Olson had been making baby food for her infant, and when people started asking for her recipes, she whipped up a Microsoft Word document and began selling recipes. She sold 500 copies through local book shops.
Then she printed a book and sold 5,000 copies in a year. She sold another 5,000 the second year.
“I made enough I got to buy my daughter a bedroom set, and a little more,” she said. “It’s nice to stay home with my daughters and make this income.”
She said she owes her success to finding a need and filling it.
“I think one of the reasons I have been successful is I found there weren’t books out there for what I needed and what other people needed and I filled that niche,” she said.
Olson also has a different take on marketing.
Rule No. 2 of self-publishing:
Know how you are going to market to your audience.
Olson figures she can let her words speak for themselves—as opposed to her being physically present. She said reviews, like the starred review she received in the Library Journal, helped her sales.
“I could spend a day at festivals and sell 10 books at a book fair, or I can write an article and get exposure to a far wider audience,” Olson said.
She followed the success of her first book (which is still her best seller) with a second book, Simply Natural Baby Food. She self-published that one as well and found moderate success.
“In my case, it was a good choice [to self-publish],” she said. “I had already tested my audience and knew where
to sell it.”
Her third book caught the eye of someone in the business. Lick It! Creamy Dreamy Vegan Ice Creams Your Mouth Will Love was picked up by a publisher—mainly, Olson believes, because she established a track record of marketing her other two books and making sales.
She said she makes less money on that book and also lost some control.
Truth No. 4 about getting a publisher:
You sometimes lose control.
The book wasn’t supposed to be called Lick It! The publishers originally wanted a more suggestive cover, too.
“I said, ‘This isn’t my audience,’” Olson said. “They agreed to change the cover, but the title of the book stayed.”
Self-publishing success will maybe net you more money than you could get on your own, but it also comes at
a price.
There are usually two options when it comes to self-publishing. The first is print on demand, which typically requires a relatively small upfront fee. The author doesn’t have to deal too much with the formatting process, cover creation, or graphics. The books are printed as readers buy them, so the author doesn’t have to shell out for and hold onto a lot of inventory. The author has the option to buy books at a discount to sell or can just do the marketing and refer people to the ordering information. The print-on-demand company then sends a check
to the author for any sales during a certain period—after taking a chunk of the profits.
This system takes a lot of hassle away from the author, but it also digs into a bigger portion of the profits.
Rule No. 3 of self-publishing:
You’ll have to be your own manager, distributor, sales team, and secretary.
Traditional self-publishing takes a lot of involvement on the part of the author.
“I still have to fill distributor orders, deal with the orders, deal with the printer,” Olson said.
Sales through online outlets may be easier to track, but sales through brick-and-mortar stores get a little trickier. Some shops like to purchase their books at a discount up front. Others like to have the books on consignment. Some stores don’t want to deal with the sales tax.
All of that needs to be tracked.
But even prior to getting the book finished, the headaches begin. An author needs to provide files to the printer, formatted exactly the way the book is to be printed, and handle any graphics or photos.
The extra work is worth it, however, Olson said. People often do judge a book by its cover. A well-presented book will attract more attention from customers and will go a long way toward getting past the self-published book stigma.
“It needs to look professional. There are a lot of print-on-demand places that will say you can write a book in a month, but don’t,” Olson said. “You really need to put the time in and make it look professional. I spend the extra time and extra money, and I think that is the reason the Library Journal looked at my book is because it didn’t look like a self-published book.”
Rule No. 4 of self-publishing:
Be prepared to invest money up front.
Expect to shell out some cash with either option. While the upfront fees of printing on demand mean you can launch your title with less cash, it also means you’ll get paid less, as printing in fewer quantities means a higher printer charge. Expect to pay anywhere from $500 to $1,000 or so to get a print-on-demand book ready for sale.
The traditional self-publishing method means authors have to buy books in advance—and usually in large batches. Costs can easily run into the $1,000s—and that doesn’t include any money paid out to people hired to format the book and cover or edit. However, all costs after that go to the author, because there’s no middleman.
Eliminating that infamous middleman was the impetus behind Wubbit.com, an online site that connects authors, consumers, and bookstores. For a small fee, authors can list their books on the site, making them available and easily accessible, both retail and wholesale.
Founder Blaine Loomer started the site after getting frustrated with small profits coming from his own self-published book.
“When it got to the point of sales and distribution, I stepped back and scratched my head and thought, ‘This is a convoluted way to do this,’” Loomer said.
His method allows a bigger profit for authors.
“Right now, traditional methods of selling a book means the book goes from the author to an agent to a publisher to a distributor and to a bookstore,” he explained. “Everybody along the road wants a cut.
“The thing that’s killing the book industry is not e-books,” he added. “It’s this convoluted distribution system.”
There’s a benefit for bookstores, too. One of the biggest challenges to selling self-published books in physical shops, Loomer said, is access to information. Say someone walks into a bookstore and asks about a particular self-published book. The store employee likely doesn’t have the time it takes to find the book, contact the author and negotiate a discount, order that book, ship it to the store, and sell it to the customer. The thread of effort represents a loss of profit for the bookstore. Wubbit.com, however, allows authors to register their books to make them available wholesale for bookstores.
Loomer said in his experience with Wubbit.com, he’s noticed the stigma of self-published books has decreased dramatically, even in just the last two years.
No one has to tell McReynolds that.
“No one has ever turned their nose up at me and said, ‘I don’t want to buy it; you’re not Random House,’” he said. “If I waited around for Doubleday, I’d wait five years until something came out again.”
McReynolds, who is currently working on a book about Jalama Beach, said the increase in self-publishing is a good thing and has opened doors to more people to become authors.
“If I don’t [sell a lot of books], I’ve still learned a lot and I’m a better writer for having done it. If I had someone at Random House say, ‘Hey, John I want your book,’ of course I’ll take it,” he admitted. “But I don’t think that option is open to me.”
Contact Arts Editor Shelly Cone at scone@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Mar 17-24, 2011.