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For quite some time, self-publishing has kept a bad reputation. It has often insinuated bad writing, not worthy of traditional publishing. Self-publishing was also pricey, as authors dished out thousands of dollars to see their work in print.
Today, the term is Independent, and Print-On-Demand technologies (such as CreateSpace, Lulu and BookSurge) have made it possible for unknown authors to make their presence known. For little to nothing, an author can upload their writing, create a cover and assign themselves an ISBN. Their work will appear on Amazon and Barnes and Noble online for free.
Amazon allows Independent authors interested in making their work available for the Kindle a unique opportunity: upload, set a price and go. Within a few hours, their work has its own Amazon sales page and is available to hundreds of thousands of Kindle readers with one click. While traditional publishers continue to offer their books for $10 and more, Amazon will discount (often 50-65%) to a more reasonable price, perhaps nearly losing profits to make popular books available for their Kindle readers. Independent authors interested in creating a reader base have found success in offering their Kindle books for less than a dollar. The low price is tempting to readers and allows the author to connect with readers that were unreachable. After all, it's surely hard enough to sell a book by an unknown author, let alone an unknown author with a hefty download price. The author receives a 35% profit on Kindle downloads.
Aspiring writers entering the publishing game shouldn't expect to make a killing off of sales. Still, self-publishing offers authors this: control and connection. They can control the destiny of their work and connect with readers on a personal level. How many times have you read a great book and wished to contact the author, finding a generic form on their website with a drop box menu, with options like question, comment and other? The exception here would be David Sedaris, often staying after a reading until the late hours of the night for signings and conversation.
Independent authors offer readers a choice and connectivity and more readers are finding that self-published doesn't necessarily equate to sloppy, unwanted writing.
Independent Authors on Kindle:
Stacey Cochran, Claws: www.amazon.com/CLAWS-ebook/dp/B0024NL6QS/ref=sr_1_1
Dawson Vosburg, Double Life: www.amazon.com/Double-Life-ebook/dp/B002BH4H3Q/ref=sr_1_1
Zoe Winters, Kept: www.amazon.com/Kept-ebook/dp/B001M5TE1I/ref=sr_1_1
Sam Landstrom, Metagame: www.amazon.com/MetaGame-ebook/dp/B002AJ88LC/ref=sr_1_1
Comments
What you're describing (CreateSpace, BookSurge, Lulu) is called POD/subsidy publishing, or vanity publishing: You pay a company to publish you, and they put together the editing, design, and printing. It is different from self-publishing (aka independent publishing) where you independently decide upon and contract with vendors (editors, cover and interior designers, printers, publicists) and general-contract the project yourself.
There are several differences, but primarily, if you vanity publish, your books are *not* eligible for bookstore and library sales. However, if you self-publish, they are.
You can find out more information on the differences between self-publishing and POD/vanity publishing at PublishingGame.com and at the International Association of Writers, AssociationofWriters.com
Best,
/Fern
Fern,
Thank you for your comments. While POD publishers do offer editing, design and printing services, purchasing these services is not required. Uploading your work is completely free. With a vanity press, these services are normally required.
Once you upload and receive a free ISBN, you can then choose to have your work available for bookstores for a small fee (normally about $50, making the work availble through Ingrams so that brick and mortar book stores can purchase directly through Ingrams). For $30, your book will be entered into the LOC database.
Furthermore, local bookstores will often accept work from any local author on consignment.
As with anything, POD publishing is what the author makes of it. An Independent Author is any author that is free of contracts. Not one of the POD publishers I listed requires any contract.
Thank you for including the link to your website.
I would hesitate to call Booksurge or POD "vanity publishing". Facts:
1. Real publishers now use POD. I know because my "real publisher" tells me they do.
2. Real professional authors, who have published with "real publishers", for the very reasons this article states, ALSO use POD as well for their work. At a click of a button, I can have my book available worldwide, and I get a huge royalty. What's not to like?
3. In the recession, "real publishers" are shutting their doors, or putting a freeze on all acquisitions of certain genres (like fiction). There are many articles that note that real authors (not vanity authors) are now forced to go to POD to get their work out so that they can reach their fans.
4. Traditional publishing is broken. This recession might kill it off. All the more POD is on the rise, and their economics and quality - and the caliber of the authors going into POD - suggests that it is many things, but VANITY it is not.
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