Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Self - Publishing versus Traditional Publishing


Last year I had the pleasure of reviewing few books that were self published by the authors. Reading the books changed my perception of self publishing. My initial view was that books that were turned down by publishers were self published by the authors who were unable to wait for the long time it took to  encounter a publisher willing to invest  time, money and energy on them.

I was also under the impression that self published books would not be of a good quality, both in the literary sense : plot, character, grammar, and story line and that the quality of the books: paper, printing and book covers would not be good. The books I reviewed were of a superior quality in each and every way. As a reviewer, I did find few mistakes in the plot structure of one book and felt that the author had  been in a hurry to end it, and the length of  the other book was too long. Perhaps as writers we tend to get too harsh and critical, not just of other  writer’s books, but also of our own.

I did wonder why editors of publishing houses had turned them down. The books were good. With a little bit of rewriting and editing  the books would have been great. I  indulged in a bit of pop analysis to uncover the reason why both the books missed the traditional publishing bus.

One thing I realized  is that it’s next to impossible for publishers to publish every book that lands at their doorstep. Many times they have to turn down books that they like, because they feel there will be no market for such books, or they have done similar books earlier, or the book is ahead of its time.  In such  scenarios  the authors have no other option but to self-publish.

I am not sure if I am right in my suggestions. But here they are. I feel the first and foremost thing  someone  taking the self published route should invest in is few  critique partners who can catch the initial knots in the story and help shape it up with critical and valuable feedback.

After the final rewrite  the  author opting for the self published route should invest in a professional edit. A professional  editor will catch all the mistakes that crop up in the plot structure which the editor of a traditional publishing house would normally have done.. He or she can spot the weak links in the story and pay detailed attention to  character growth and help tighten the plot. The editor will  also take care of   grammar, punctuation and tense.

This is just my amateur analysis, I am no expert. I now have only admiration for self published authors who choose to take the difficult route to publishing. These authors have so much faith in their stories that they are willing to shoulder the burden of editing, publishing  and marketing onto their own shoulders. What about you all? What do you think of self publishing? Any advice you would give to authors seeking that route? Would you opt for it? Please share your views and feelings on self publishing.

17 comments:

  1. Have you heard of Amanda Hocking?? Just read about her today and she's had immense success in self publishing. Makes me wonder if that really is a viable option now with e books being so popular!

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  2. Since I self published my first book I'll tell you I'm in favour of it. The traditional publishing companies are badly in need of modernising and shaking up but they're not moving fast enough to cope with that demand. It only makes sense that authors take matters into their own hands and discover other routes to reach the public.

    Jai

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  3. I've read both great and not so great self pubbed books. I'm so glad to say that the ones I've read of friends were superb and I too wondered why they hadn't been snapped up. It's disheartening to think their journey's took this u turn because there were not enough publishing dollars to go around. Sad, but true.

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  4. @ Saumya...will google Amanda Hocking and read about her. I too am hearing that its a very viable option for writers to take the self published route nowadays.

    @ Jai..completely agree that publishing companies are not moving fast enough to cope with the demand. In such a scenario authors do need to take other routes.

    @ Tana...its sad that there are not enough publishing dollars to go around. I have heard of authors pitching in with their money to help publishers pay for publishing their books.

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  5. I think the lack of professional editing is what self-pubbed books suffer from the most.

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  6. I'm actually not sure about it. I have seen a lot of very good self-published books.

    I have also seen some that really should have gone through a very long round of edits.

    Not sure that I would take this route, but I can't say I won't either.

    :-)

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  7. I think times have changed with the popularity of e-books. There's opportunities for writers to get their stories out into the world where they couldn't before simply due to the established publishing world. It seems to be pretty easy to publish your book electronically.

    I agree with Lynda's comment about editing. If you are going to self-publish, I think it would be vital to have it read and critiqued and edited by a trusted writer colleague. I would be hesitant to self-publish something before anyone else had put some eyes to it.

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  8. A good friend of mine has self-published several books with good success but, she asked me to read the first one and I had her cut about half of it out, and she really needed a professional editor. IT amazes me how her readers don't pick up on mistakes that are obvious to me. I agree an editor should be used.

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  9. I don't think I'd self-publish, but I do think it's a great thing anyway. Why not take creative control if you want to? Plus you'll get your book out faster than going the traditional route. And sometimes a self-published novel gets enough attention that a big publishing house will pick it up!

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  10. Great post. Thought-provoking. I would argue that even traditionally published books can have hurried endings and plot structure issues. But you touch upon an interesting question: with self-publishing and no agents/editors, how can READERS be confident they are picking up something that is well-crafted? Without the publishing and editing gatekeepers, are the waters muddied for book buyers? Do the self-pubbed books create too much competition for traditionally published authors? Don't know the answers... just posing the ?s (and on an unrelated note - yes, Rachna, you can use my photos. Or tell me what you're looking for. I can give you 'fresh' ones that haven't been on my blog before. I have oodles! I'm running an amateur photo contest right now too! http://bit.ly/g3YFZc)

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  11. I enjoyed your "pop analysis" and the comments of everyone here! The world is changing in so many ways. New opportunities abound.

    I think authors should do what they feel is best for them and their work. The good stuff will rise to the top!

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  12. I've read quite a bit on self-publishing, and it seems to be split down the line. Some people prefer the traditional route, but acknowledge times are changing. For myself, I haven't really given it much thought as yet..

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  13. I did self-publish a book, and everyone that I know of that read it really liked it. But it's a lot of work to market it. I know these days writers still have to put effort into making a commercially published book successful, but I do think it's harder to get the word out on a self-published book.

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  14. I'm on the fence about self-publishing. I've read some books that needed plenty of work or should have been junked by the author as a practice novel. But I've read others that have impressed me. So i'm not really sure.

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  15. That was a thoughtful post! Very helpful

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  16. I think you hit the nail on the head when you said some self published books are of a superior quality and were probably not picked up by conventional publishers because they were ahead of their time or because the publishers had doubts about the book's marketing. Publishing companies are morphing into more of an Internet based business in an attempt to keep their heads above water during these difficult financial times. However, they still need to publish books (one way or another) to survive. That is why I am trying the traditional route of publishing first, and then if that doesn't work, I'll self publish.

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  17. My wonderful agent, Robert Ducas, died just as he was beginning to represnt my novel, "Saving Miss Oliver's." I didn' have the heart to find another, so, because the novel is set in an independent school and is about professiona school people, I self-published and marketed the novel to school professionals in the National Association of Independent Schools in which I've been involved professionally for years. Sales have been moderate but they have continued steadily. I will spend a small amount of time and energy finding an agent for the sequel, but even if I find an enthusiastic agent, I migh choose to self-publish again. This time, i won't spend a cent on publicity professionals and I might not print; instead stick to e-book, selling on my website and Amazon, etc. Not sure we need the gatekeepers anymore!

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