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     Tee AALBC .com Platinum Poster Username: Tee Post Number: 93 Registered: 01-2004 Rating: |
This article is going through discussion on one of my groups and I thought I'd share it here. It's from the Atlanta-Journal Constitution. Thoughts and comments? (Thanks akaivyleaf for sending it for discussion) ----------- Source: AJC - Sunday, October 10, 2004 http://www.accessatlanta.com/entertainment/content/arts/1004/10selfpub.html COME ONE, COME ALL New world of self-publishing allows writers to print, market own books Don O'Briant - Staff Sunday, October 10, 2004 Once upon a time, self-publishing was considered a vanity outlet for the untalented and a last resort for writers who had been rejected by New York editors. It still serves that purpose, but not exclusively. Fueled largely by technological advances that have made self-publishing much more affordable, the industry has shed some of its stigma and become a viable alternative for people who --- whether by choice or last resort --- don't go the traditional route to seeing their work in print. "Anybody can get a book published for a couple of hundred dollars," says Calvin Reid, an editor at the industry journal Publishers Weekly. That is both a blessing and a curse. The development of desktop publishing software and the proliferation of subsidy and print-on-demand publishers have opened the floodgates in an industry already overflowing with books that few people read. More than 175,000 books were published by mainstream publishers last year, an increase of 19 percent from 2002. The number of self-published books has soared from 5,000 in 1995 to more than 80,000 last year, according to BooksAmerica, a nonprofit organization that monitors the self-publishing industry. Encouraged by extremely rare success stories such as "What Color Is Your Parachute?" (1970) and "The Celestine Prophecy" (1993) --- and all the new companies that make it easy --- thousands of writers are taking the do-it-yourself route. Some 35 subsidy presses and print-on-demand companies such as XLibris and iUniverse offer a range of services from straight printing to copy editing, packaging and marketing for fees ranging from $450 to $20,000. Quantity doesn't necessarily mean quality, however. Many of these books are unlikely to appeal to the general reader, and few ever become best sellers. But Cinderella stories such as that of E. Lynn Harris and others keep hope alive for many writers who dream of hitting the literary lottery. Harris is a New York Times best-selling author now, but a dozen years ago the Atlanta writer's novel "Invisible Life" had been rejected by numerous publishers. Frustrated, Harris paid a Nashville printer to publish the book and began selling it out of the trunk of his car. "I went to book fairs and beauty parlors," Harris says, "and I had friends give book parties for me. I ended up selling 10,000 copies, and in July of that year Doubleday offered me a contract." "Invisible Life" eventually sold more than 500,000 copies, but Harris cautions others not to expect similar results. "One reason I was so successful is I had a marketing background," he says. "I wasn't afraid to go out and meet people. If you're a serious writer who can't find a publisher, I would advise you to wait until the right editor comes along." Boon for 'street' lit Self-publishing has undergone dramatic changes since then, says Reid. "When E. Lynn Harris started, that was a different era. Now they're using e-mails and the Internet as well as the trunks of their cars. And they're coming to New York editors with finished, well-designed books and documented sales figures." Self-publishing has had the greatest impact on the number and types of African-American books being produced, Reid says. There is a proliferation of "street life" or "gangsta rap" novels that once were considered too raw or ungrammatical for mainstream presses. "In New York, they sell these books on the streets," Reid says. "I know many an editor at New York's big publishing houses who goes from table to table to see what's selling." One of the most successful of the new breed of self-published writers is Zane. Now a best-selling author with Atria, she began by selling 80,000 copies of her graphically erotic books such as "Gettin' Buck Wild" on her Web site. As self-publishing has gotten more sophisticated, major publishers and literary agents have changed their attitudes about these kinds of books and constantly browse the market for gems in the rough. Teenage author Christopher Paolini and his parents had been hawking his self-published fantasy novel "Eragon" in schools and grocery stores in Montana when best-selling novelist Carl Hiaasen read a copy while on a fly-fishing trip. Hiaasen recommended it to his publisher, Alfred A. Knopf, who bought the rights and made it a best seller. Diane Higgins, an editor at St. Martin's Press, bought a biblical novel titled "Queenmaker" after reading about it in a New York Times Book Review article about self-publishing. The fictional story of King David's queen, by New York librarian India Edghill, went on to sell 50,000 copies, says Higgins, who was the editor for another best-selling biblical tale, Anita Diamant's "The Red Tent." Higgins says she bought "Queenmaker" on the basis of the quality of Edghill's writing. "Now I'm publishing her second novel, 'Wisdom's Daughter,' about the Queen of Sheba, and it's even better." Publishers tend to look for self-published books that have already sold well regionally, Higgins says. Other keys to getting noticed are having a reputable literary agent and knowing who your target audience is. "If writers send a query letter with a summation of how many books they've sold and a brief but hard-hitting marketing angle," she says, "some editors will look twice at self-published books." Other times, being in the right place at the right time makes all the difference. Going it alone Atlanta writer Travis Hunter had no idea how the business worked when he went to a seminar on self-publishing and scraped together $4,000 to print 2,000 copies of his first novel, "The Hearts of Men," a story about three generations of African-American males. Hunter had sold 6,000 copies of the novel at jazz clubs and book parties when a friend told him about BookExpo, a convention of booksellers and publishers being held in Chicago. After loading up a sack of his books, Hunter roamed the aisles of the convention center, handing out copies to anyone who would take them. "A week later," Hunter says, "I started getting calls from major publishers and signed a deal with Random House." Other self-published authors have decided they would rather go it alone and keep more of the profits for themselves. Bobbie Christensen, director of BooksAmerica, a nonprofit organization of self-published writers in Sacramento, says she makes about $100,000 a year from the seven books she's published, including her personal best sellers, "Getting a Free Education" and "Building Your Financial Portfolio on $25 a Month." Her advice to aspiring writers is to avoid subsidy presses that charge hefty fees. "You can find a printer who can do a good job for $2 a book for 1,000 copies," she says. "If you sell it for $14.95, that's a lot more profit than you would get in royalties from a publisher. I would have had to sell four or five times as many books with a publisher to make what I did on my own." Shirley Garrett of Carrollton went the same route with "A Tap Water Girl in a Bottled Water World," a coming-of-age memoir that won honorable mention in the Writer's Digest International Self-Published Book Awards competition last year. (Some 2,000 writers entered the annual contest, which has been around for 11 years and awards $10,000 in prizes.) Only one of four previous winners notified the magazine about landing contracts with mainstream publishers. Garrett, 53, a professional public speaker, spent $7,800 for cover design and printing for 3,300 copies. She's already sold those, she says, plus another 3,000 copies (at $14.95 each) at book parties and speaking engagements. Garrett says she had an opportunity to sell her book to a national publisher but refused to make the changes the editors stipulated. "They wanted more childhood trauma and less coming-of-age escapades," Garrett says. "They were looking for a victim that became a hero. I see myself as neither." Garrett is working on another book, which she also plans to self-publish. 'Parallel universe' Beyond the satisfied authors, some observers consider self-publishing an expensive option for writers who simply want to see their name in print. "Self-publishing is a bad trend, and it exists because aspiring writers do not respond correctly to rejection," says Jim Fisher, author of "Ten Percent of Nothing" (Southern Illinois University Press, $27.50), an expose of a literary agent/self-publisher who was convicted of fraud. "Successful published writers are successful because they corrected the things that got them rejected." With a few exceptions, Fisher says, he doesn't think self-publishing is a vehicle to commercial publication. "It's not even the minor leagues," he says. "It's a parallel universe." Writers who decide to go with a subsidy press may be required to buy a certain number of copies at retail prices, Fisher warns. Vantage Press, a subsidy publisher that has been in business since 1949, will print a minimum of 500 books for $5,000. Editor Walter Kendall says Vantage publishes 300 to 400 books every year, but he can't remember any that became best sellers. Scarce reviews Self-publishing a book is relatively easy compared with the next hurdle of distribution and marketing. Some chain bookstores, such as Barnes & Noble, and many independent booksellers include self-published authors among their signing events, with just judging each book on its own merits. Philip Rafshoon, owner of Outwrite Bookstore, an independent bookstore in Midtown that caters primarily to Atlanta's gay community, considers self-published books an important part of his business. "We can be a catalyst for introducing new authors," says Rafshoon, pointing out that he booked Ruby Ann Boxcar for a signing when she was relatively unknown. Now the self-published author of "Ruby Ann's Down Home Trailer Park Cookbook" has been signed by a New York publisher. As for getting reviewed in major publications, self-published authors can forget about it. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, like most daily newspapers, doesn't review any books that are self-published or print-on-demand. (See accompanying column.) The best chances of being reviewed lie with smaller newspapers --- the author's hometown weekly, for instance --- or with specialty publications that focus on specific genres such as science fiction, romance novels, military memoirs, etc. Some national publications such as Foreword magazine and Library Journal review self-published books, although they typically stipulate that books be available either at local bookstores or through online retailers. Anonymous reviewers also weigh in on self-published books on Amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com and other Web sites. A new publication, Kirkus Discoveries, will provide reviews for a $350 fee. Ron Charles, book editor at The Christian Science Monitor in Boston, says reviewers at daily newspapers already are overwhelmed by the 175,000 books released annually by mainstream publishers. "Cruel as the publishing industry is, hard as it is to get published, it's still an effective way to sift through the millions of manuscripts that are being pounded out every year," says Charles. "Yes, every once in a blue moon, there's a 'Christmas Box' or . . . some such self-published book that catches on and makes it big. But every week somebody wins the lottery, too. That's no reason to invest your retirement savings in Lotto tickets." Illustration of a man, surrounded by piles of his self-published books, standing atop his computer with copies of his book in his hand. / MICHAEL SCHOLZ / Special BY THE NUMBERS 175,000 - Books published by mainstream publishers last year, up 19 percent from 2002 5,000 - Self-published books in 1995 80,000 - Self-published books last year | ||
| Emanuel Veteran Poster Username: Emanuel Post Number: 71 Registered: 03-2004 Rating: N/A |
I've seen lots of self-published authors who either started their own publishing company and published their own books or started their own publishing company and published other people's books. How many books does a new publisher have to produce to be considered a legitimate publisher and not self-published? -Emanuel Carpenter |
