Tag Archives: self-publishing

Reasons to Self-Publish: E-books Are Forever

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Books of the Past (picture: Lin Pernille Photography)One could argue books can, too, be forever, and they would be right. At least, until they get burned or damaged, but that’s another topic, and as long as there’s paper, there could be books.

That’s not what I’m talking about here – I’m not comparing durability as medium, but durability on the shelves when you’re publishing your book with one of the legacy publishers…

When published by a legacy publisher, your books can have a very small timeframe on the shelves before they’re turned into mush and forgotten. If they’re not an instant bestseller, if they’re not finding their fans instantly, they won’t last long on the limited shelve space in the bookstore. Publishers will take them down, because they’re not publishing your books because they’re your friend; they’re publishing it to make money, and if your book doesn’t make money, it will be automatically pulled out of the bookstores to make room for new titles, that may make more money than the story that you’ve spent years to polish and love.

That’s why books are not forever, unless you are a bestseller. Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Anne Rice probably won’t have that kind of problem, and their books will go on being reprinted for many years, maybe forever. Yours? Probably not.

New releases in series don’t interest fans, since most of the time you can’t find the first books in the series anymore. Why? Because the legacy publishers stopped printing them years ago, and now only people who were fans since the beginning can enjoy that story – unless you’re into used books and are lucky enough to find the one you need…

Now, e-books are forever. If you self-publish, you’re the only one to decide if your books stop being published (and why would you do that?). Virtual bookshelves have unlimited space. Your book could be there forever if you pass it on to your children.

It gives your books time to find their fans, to win over time enough money to cover the time and money spent on them, and probably more. If you’re talented, and price right, you could even make enough money to retire from your day job and write for a living, if that’s something you dream about.

With print-on-demand, you can even have your book in dead trees form for those who like them. Since the Internet has become so popular and mainstream, you can showcase your books on many platforms: your blog, but also big online bookstores like Amazon. It has never been so easy for your book to be found. My guess is that it will be een easier in the years to come.

Reasons to Self-Publish: I’m Pig-Headed

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Pigs 13 (picture: Linda N.)I’ve been pondering lately what my reasons are to self-publish. Some people ask me why I won’t go the legacy publishing route, why I won’t even consider it. There’s so many of them, I guess it’s best if I dedicate a post to each one of them…

I’m very stubborn. I don’t like being told what to do in general, unless I ask for help. I like to do my own thing, make my own mistakes, and follow my own path.

When choosing the legacy road, you have to forgo a lot of options, and listen to the potential buyers re: your story. If Big Boss doesn’t like the ending, you have to rewrite it. Same if he hates one of the main characters, you have to change him, or get rid of him. You have got, in order to get the honour of being published, to allow someone to stomp on your story, with both feet.

Business is business, right? Well, no. Not for me. I am very protective of my writing, of my art. I could never stand being ordered around for rewrites – most of all if they don’t make sense to me! Also: free rewrites? They live in Disneyland, for sure.

I want the stories to be mine. That’s one of the reasons I’m choosing self-publishing. Indies have it all: the last word on the story, on the cover art, on the book format, on the price… It’s empowering, and I’m glad I’ve taken to writing now, in this digital age, at the new turn for publishing and writers altogether.

The Friendly Spam

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Spam (picture: Eddie Awad)This is a problem I’ve been having ever since I’ve begun to be “famous” – not that I’m a celebrity, but lots of people come and go on my Autisme Infantile website, and mail me on a regular basis.

Once we’ve interracted, some people generally think it’s okay to put me, without my permission, on their newsletter list. When I had one or two e-mails a day, I managed, trying not to hurt anyone’s feelings by requesting they take me off the list.

These days, if I spend one day without Internet, it’s more between one and three hundred e-mails that await me when I log back and check my inbox. As much as I want to be of help, I can’t take this anymore. It’s very tedious to find something worth my attention in the middle of all those unwanted e-mails, ranging from this that could interest me (but I have no time to check further) to things that are really out of my interest area.

Most of those e-mails have no unsuscribe link, either. You have to personally drop a note to whomever sends you those, and try not to hurt their feelings when you ask nicely to be unsuscribed. Some will try to guilt you into staying on the list too (look, my cause is important too, what about the children?).

Because this is getting out of control (don’t even talk to me about people that feel I have to be in copy of any discussion ever e-mailed and those who send me jokes – not funny), I have decided that there is no more Mrs NiceGirl. I will drop two lines to ask to be unsuscribed. I will ask not to be included in mass e-mails. I will be curt, to the point, and also, I will spam you if you send me any newsletter I haven’t suscribed to.