Self-publishing: a creative choice, or a last resort?

by Terry Tyler

Most writers, whilst penning their first novel, have fantasies about submitting to a major literary agent and being accepted by a traditional publishing house. This fantasy becomes reality for one in a million, if not fewer. I started writing long before Kindle; back in the days when I occasionally submitted novels to agents I gained some interest, but it amounted to 'yes, like the way you write, but can you change the content according to what is currently in vogue, so I can sell it to a publisher?'

I wrote nine novels in the 1990s, then started writing again in 2010. I submitted the first to an established agent, and received the same response. My book was from multiple-first-person points of view, which was not popular at the time. Then someone told me about self-publishing on Amazon, and I decided to go down that road, instead—which was when I discovered that some see self-publishing as a last resort on which to fall back after being turned down by agents, mainstream publishers, and even the smallest independent presses. It isn't. It is, in many cases, a creative choice, for the writer who doesn't want to follow grip lit thriller with grip lit thriller, or remove a whole character because she must conform to the romance formula as laid down by her publisher.

Yes, of course, self-published books on Amazon range from the brilliant to the efforts that inspire you to write emails asking for better quality control on the site. The desire to stand apart from the stigma of self-pub and 'be a published author' leads many to sign with the first independent who says 'yes', or, worse, with the rip-off vanity presses—in case you don't know, this is where they flatter you until you sign the contract, then hit you will a huge bill for editing, proofreading, etc. Often, they masquerade as trad pub. They will accept anything as long as you pay their exorbitant fees, and their editing and proofreading usually leaves much to be desired. I was recently asked to review a book published by a well-known vanity press. It had three errors in the blurb alone.

As far as independent publishers are concerned, they range from the very good, who will promote your book, present it professionally, seek out book bloggers and placement in bookshops, etc, to the bad, who don't recognise slack editing and will let books go out with too many errors in them (I've read independent press books with American English in an English historical, waffling narrative that should have been cut, etc), to the ugly, who just want a cut of your takings and will have your books 'edited' by someone who doesn't understand basic grammar. According to blog posts I've read, some writers who've chosen to go with an indie press find that they end up with all the restrictions of the traditionally published: losing royalties, and control of content, timing of publication, price, with none of the advantages (books in high street shops, paid Amazon advertising, sales, etc).

A few years back, a writer friend told me that he'd felt so excited when Kindle publishing was first introduced, but became disillusioned by the reality: wannabe best sellers bunging up any old rubbish on Amazon, thinking they were going to be the next EL James/GRR Martin. This has added to the bad name self-publishing has had since the days when vanity was the only option available, and not only with book bloggers and the reading public. The writers' hierarchy lives on: some who sign with small presses consider themselves superior to the self-published, and indeed make scathing remarks about them, not realising that the standard for acceptance by these companies may be more, shall we say, 'relaxed' than for literary agents/trad pub. Some writers do not even realise the difference between a traditional publisher and an independent publishing company (the latter of which can be set up by anyone), and believe themselves to be among the 'chosen few', and thus vastly superior to the self-pub.

When a writer says they self-publish 'by choice', it means they don't submit their books to publishers in the first place. It doesn't mean they've been rejected by lots of publishers but have come to terms with it. Acceptance by a major publishing house should not be seen as the only affirmation that your output is of merit; such large companies exist to make money, first and foremost, not to nurture the artist, so money invested has to be a safe bet. Saleability to the masses (and investment from large corporations) does not necessarily indicate creative brilliance; it's fair to say that creativity and making money do not go hand in hand.

But what about validation of your talent? Doesn't such acceptance give you that? Not necessarily. I've heard, straight from one horse's mouth, that being taken on by an agent doesn't necessarily mean that you're an amazing writer, just that you've produced a product that can be moulded to have mass appeal. If you want validation, wait to see if readers buy more than one of your books. Rejoice in your genuine reviews from book bloggers and the reading public.

Terry Tyler's latest, psychological thriller, novel

I've been described many times as a 'supporter of self-published authors', but I'm not. Some are dreadful. I'm a supporter of good writers, however they're published. I read a great deal; that some of my favourites are self-pub is neither here nor there. An equal amount are mainstream or small press. A book is a book; while we keep making the distinction, self-publishing will always be seen as the impoverished, embarrassing relation.

It took me a while to realise that I actively WANT to be self-published. A few readers and book bloggers have expressed surprise that I don't have a publisher, and one writer friend keeps very kindly suggesting publishers I could submit to, but I don't like the idea of anyone having control over what I produce. If you have the necessary basic talent and understand the importance of good editing and proofreading, if you realise you will have to do all your own promotion, and accept that creative freedom doesn't mean darting from sweet romance to horror, to cowboy comedy to Plantagenet history and back again, you can do well with self-publishing. Once you stop worrying about writing synopses and what-the-hell-agents-are-looking-for, or getting yet another rejection email, your writing life gets a lot easier—and you can spend your time producing novels, instead of query letters.

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Global Trends in Self-Publishing - FBF 14 Reportage

By JJ Marsh

This year, I attended the International Self Publishing and Author Programme at the Frankfurt Book Fair. Seminars, panel discussions, informal discussions, insider opinion and up-to-the-minute observations on what’s happening in the publishing world.

Are there too many books in the world?

With speakers such as Porter Anderson of FutureBook, Edward Nawotka of Publishing Perspectives, Alison Baverstock of Kingston University, Orna Ross of ALLi, David Taylor of Ingram UK, Joanna Penn of The Creative Penn, Hayley Radford of Authoright, Jonas Lennermo of Publit, Julia Koblentz of Nook, Dr Florian Geuppert of Books On Demand, Camille Mofidi of Kobo Writing Life, Matthias Matting of Der SelfPublisher Bibel, Meire Dias of Bookcase Literary Agency plus lots and lots of successful authors, the information was overwhelming. Here's my digested version of the big picture.

Global Trends in Self Publishing

Last year, the number of ISBN numbers purchased by indie authors surpassed those bought by trade publishing. The estimates of books published without ISBNs exceed 1 million. Trade publishing is watching the indie scene very carefully and regards it as “a seed bed”.

Established authors are considering the benefits of creative control. Edward Nawotka shared how the University of Houston’s Creative Writing Programme expressed an interest in self-publishing. Not for their students, but for faculty members - all successful authors and prize winners.

Self publishers are moving away from the Do Everything Yourself model and using expert resources. According to Alison Baverstock’s recent research, 59% used an editor, 26% availed themselves of marketing support and 21% had taken legal advice.

Success Stories

Companies are springing up everywhere to take advantage of this new demand. Freelance editors, designers, proofreaders, sales data tools, marketing services and specialists in intellectual property and entertainment law are a growing infrastructure to support the professionalism of the independent author.

Legal advice is an essential area. Without a publishing house’s lawyer to check copyright issues, potential libel and accusations of plagiarism or infringement, authors need to take this responsibility themselves. This gets more complex when dealing with translations. For example, while there is no copyright on titles in the UK & US, German laws prevent the use of a title if an existing work already holds that name. Pleading ignorance is insufficient. You’ll have to remove your book and may have to pay the other party’s legal costs.

Staying with Germany, a curious phenomenon is that many of the latest self-publishing initiatives have come from major publishers. One example featured in Publishing Perspectives’ Author Guide is 100 Fans (German only). This is a crowd-funding platform, supported by Münchner Verlagsgruppe. When a writer’s campaign gains 100+ fans, the book is produced and distributed as both print and ebook. When it gets over 1000 fans, it receives frontlist treatment in the publisher’s catalogue.

A variety of platforms and formats is crucial to connecting with readers. Every single speaker stressed the same message: exclusivity is a bad idea. Joanna Penn made the point that few companies in publishing are too big to fail. Some presenters made a strong case for building a successful name in digital only before venturing into print. Especially as indie authors have a hard time getting into bookshops, due to basic economics. However, many voices spoke up for the value of handselling and the importance of the paperback to their readership.

Audience at the Author Programme

New formats including audiobooks, games, translations and TV/film adaptations are fertile ground for self-published material. The adage used to be ‘bring an existing audience’, but now opinion is changing. One of these formats might be the place you find your audience.

One instance is the huge potential emerging in China. Tens of millions of people are reading on their phones or other hand-held devices. In The Wall Street Journal, Wei Gu quotes authors such as Tang Jia San, Li Hu, Liu Wei and Zhu Hongzhi, all of whom are under 40 and each has become a millionaire since publishing online.

And to end on a high note, Alison Baverstock made two points about self publishing. Firstly, she has found a fundamental difference between self published and traditionally published authors. According to her research, which you can find in her book The Naked Author, self published authors are generally happier. Secondly, the supportive and generous nature of the independent author community makes it a positive and helpful place to be.

Long may that trend continue.


In this issue of Words with JAM, you’ll find a second FBF14 summary:

Marketing for Authors

Plus if you’re thinking of attending the fair next year, check out this post:

Five Tips on how authors can get the most out of a book fair.