Publishing Myths Part 10: Realistic Expectations, Anyone?
Fresh when it gets here from
Julie Barrett
Monday, November 23, 2009
(Update at the bottom.)
After all the ranting about Harlequin Horizons* I did earlier in the
week, I thought it would be a good idea to take a couple of steps back
and talk about expectations.
Through this blog and the SF
conventions I attend I encounter quite a few writers who are either
self-published or vanity-published. Or vanity-pubbed who think they've
self-published. I also meet many people who are with legitimate small
presses. Most of them - thanks to their publishers being up-front with
things - have realistic expectations. A few do not - sometimes because
their publisher isn't forthcoming, but more often because the publisher
is and the author isn't listening.
So, let's talk about that, shall we?
What
are your goals? Do you want a best seller? Do you want a few copies to
hand out to family and friends? Do you want to sell primarily from your
web site or at speaking engagements? Do you have other goals?
While
I don't generally talk about non-fiction in this series, this is a good
time to bring it into the mix. Non-fiction authors are generally
selling their expertise, while fiction authors are selling a cracking
good read. The audience - and distribution channels - are different.
One of my hobbies is quilting. I've bought quilting books at shows that
were cranked out on a copy machine and comb-bound, some that were
privately printed and perfect bound, some that came from a mainstream
publisher. I buy all for their expertise. A comb-bound, photocopied
book is of use to me if the author is teaching me a particular
technique. I'll put up with the layout problems, the 12 point Times New
Roman or Courier, widows and orphans and the whole bit because I know
I'm getting some useful information.
Generally, I won't get my
fiction in that format. The exception for me is fanzines. That's how I
started writing all those years ago when dinosaurs stomped the planet
with their ray guns. Or something like that. These were amateur
publications, and we did our best to make them easy to read we didn't have the technology or budget to do it as well as the big boys. As a
reader, my expectations were that I would not be getting pro quality
work or production values. As a zine publisher, one of my goals was to lose
as little money as possible. I knew I wasn't going to make scads of
money, and it was more important for me to keep the publication
affordable so more people could read it. I'd like to think I met my
goals, modest as they were.
If you're publishing your own fiction, you need to understand your
audience, and how they buy the type of fiction you write. Most readers
aren't keen to spend their money on an unknown author without the
opportunity to preview the content. Reviews and word of mouth help,
too. But you can only go so far on your own. How much are you willing
to invest for the success of your book? How much are you willing to
lose? Are you looking at the shiny dream or the reality?
The lure of self-publishing is strong. As I've said many
times before, there's absolutely nothing wrong with true
self-publishing, as long as you have reasonable expectations.
Self-publishing, in my opinion, is more successful for niche
non-fiction books. If you're selling your expertise at lectures and
seminars, you have an audience that you've cultivated in person. This
is called a platform. You may not be interested in bookstore sales. The
money is there at your speaking engagements. You want to get 'em while
they're interested.
Self-publishing success is not so easy for
fiction authors. Where does your audience come from? Your blog? Your
friends and family? People who hear you on a panel at a genre
convention? It's difficult - though not impossible - to get a
self-published book out to a wide audience. I'm not saying it can't or
shouldn't be done, but you can't go into it on the strength of the hype
you read on web sites.
The big wrinkle now is "assisted
self-publishing." Really, it's vanity publishing. What's the
difference? Here's a handy-dandy table. I've also included commercial
publishing for comparison:
| Commercial
| Self
| Vanity
| Editing
| Part of the service! You'll get as much editing as the publisher deems necessary, then a final round of line and copy edits.
| You pay - prices vary. Or you do it yourself or swap editing services with a friend.
| You pay - often a high-priced service provided by the publisher.
| Copyright
| Included, and the copyright is in your name.
| Register online for $35.The copyright is in your name.
| Depends on the service. Some include registration, others charge an extra fee - generally much higher than $35. The copyright should be in your name.
| Cover
| They'll hire an artist or do it in-house. Many times you get final approval.
| DIY or hire an artist.
| They're
happy to do it for you. A standard cover design is generally included
in the fee you pay up front - but there may be extra fees for using
your own art or doing something beyond their standard templates.
| Author copies
| Yep. Depends on the house. Many will send you a box o' books.
| You're paying for it all, so you need to figure that in your calculations.
| A set number of copies are included in most packages.
| Reviews
| The publisher sends books out to reviewers.
| You have to send books out.
| The publisher may - for a price. Otherwise, you send books out.
| Bookstore placement
| The
publisher makes money by selling books to readers. So whether they get
the books in stores through a distributor, sell e-books online or sell
at regional conventions, they're committed to getting books into the
hands of readers.
| DIY, unless you contract with a distributor.
| The
books are generally for sale on the publisher's site and through online
venues. Generally you have to talk to bookstore managers to get
placement. And if the publisher doesn't take returns you may have to
buy them up front and sell them on consignment to bookstores.
| Payment/
Royalty
| Commercial
publishers generally offer an advance against sales and a royalty.
Small publishers may not be able to offer and advance or they may offer
a very small one, but you will get royalties. Royalties should be based
on cover price.
| The profit is all yours. Muhaha!
| Royalties are generally a percentage of the net profit, not the cover price. Don't be afraid to ask how they calculate the net.
| ISBN assignment
| Your publisher does that, and the ISBN identifies them as the publisher.
| You take care of that, but the ISBN will identify YOU as the publisher.
| That's
generally included, but you need to ask if the ISBN identifies THEM or
YOU as the publisher. If they hold the ISBN, you're not self-published.
| Cost to print
| Nothing. They write YOU a check.
| Depends on whether you go POD or offset, hard or softcover, the number of pages in your book, and the number of copies
| Depends as with self, but with vanity, you don't contract with the printer directly. You have to accept their cost per book.
| Format
| Most commercial book publishers do an offset run, though some smaller publishers may do POD. Ebooks are part of the deal.
| Up to you, but the cost per book is less and the quality generally better if you can afford an offset run.
You can publish your own ebooks for free or very cheap, but you'll need to learn the ropes so your book looks good across different devices.
| Almost always POD. Books generally priced higher than comparably-sized paperbacks.
You may be charged for getting your work into ebook format.
|
As you can see by the above table, there may be
advantages to either of the models - depending on your goals. Let's
take a closer look at self-publishing and vanity-publishing, shall we?
Self-publishing:
YOU control the costs. As the publisher, you have to research printing,
contract with a printer, hire a cover artiest, hire someone to do the
layout, and so on. Of course, you may have some of the necessary skills
yourself, but unless you have a print shop you'll be contracting that
part out. You should think of it as a business, because it is. You'll
need to learn how to effectively communicate with the printer and
designer, how to compare and price services, and so on. You will be
responsible for sales. All of the profits are yours. It's not easy, and
not many people make a profit at it, but at least you know where the
money goes to and where it comes from.
Vanity: Or,
"assisted self-publishing," if you wish. Doing it yourself sounds
daunting - and expensive. How do you decide if this is the right path?
Keep in mind the New York Times
article about self-publishing earlier this year. Someone with Author
Solutions (Harlequin is partnering with them) estimated that the
typical title they publish sells about 150 copies. Falconesse does the math
in a very detailed blog post that you really ought to read. If you're
spending $500, how many copies do you have to sell to break even? What
about if you're spending $1,000? Or more?
One item I didn't mention in the table above is marketing and
promotion. These are two different things. These days most authors are
expected to do some form of promotion on their own. It can be as simple
as a blog or a Twitter account. You may make materials to distribute at
bookstores or genre conventions. You may arrange for your own signings
at bookstores or appearances at genre conventions (or your publisher may supply you with bookmarks and other materials). No matter what you
do, it has to be backed up with books. If you're commercially
published, your publisher should be able to get books in the hands of
readers, which is done through marketing and distribution. They should work with a distributor to get books on shelves of
bookstores, or at least get you some sort of regional exposure. They'll
make sure reviewers get a copy of your book. Small presses have lower
budgets which may present more challenges, but they're still focused on
getting their products to readers. That's how they make their money.
With self-publishing, it's all up to you. Your business plan (you did
work up one, didn't you?) should include a budget and plan for
marketing your book. You'll have to talk local stores into putting it
on the shelves. As the publisher and distributor, you can offer a
return program. If you have money you may want to secure some
distribution, although that's not cheap. As the publisher, you know
that you don't make money until readers buy your book.
If you're vanity or subsidy-published, you're responsible for the
lion's share of marketing. The publisher will get your books in all the
databases and bookstores should be able to order through Ingram and
possibly Baker and Taylor. But that doesn't get your book into
bookstores. Like the self-published author, you have to talk bookstores
into stocking the book. The bookstore may refuse to order if the book
isn't returnable. That means you'll have to provide copies yourself,
which you buy from the publisher. The discount off of the cover price
depends on the publisher. I've seen anywhere from 30-60% off of the
cover price. However, the bookseller may want 40% of the cover price as
their commission. This figure can vary depending on the publisher, the
quantity your order, and the type of deal a bookseller is willing to do
with you.
I would be lying through my teeth if I said that self-published and
vanity-published authors are never successful. Some people have made
decent money. Some have had their books picked up by commercial
publishers. The percentage is small, though.
It all comes back to what I asked up top: What are your goals? You
can't adequately explore any publishing option without first knowing
what you want. Next, research your markets. What is the best method to
get your book into the hands of your readers? Ignore the hype on the
web sites and spend time researching the various options.
What would I do? Well, I have this thing about getting paid for my
work. If no commercial publisher would take it or if I feel it's not
right for a commercial publisher, I would self-publish. I'm enough of a
control freak that I can't see doing it any other way. I'm also looking at self-publishing some of my backlist. I'm not sure I can find reprint markets for some of the stories, so why not?
(Update 3/12/2015: Harlequin Horizons changed its name to Dellarte Press, and that imprint closed in February, 2015. Also updated the last line of the table to include ebooks.)
Check out the previous Publishing Myths posts:
Part 1: Background and Ground Rules
Part 2: Definitions
Part 3: Self-Publishing is Great! (Except When it Isn't)
Part 4: My Book Deserves Publication
Part 5: The Publishing Industry is Broken
Part 6: If I Could Just Get My Name Out There...
Part 7: My Publisher Has Distribution!
Part 8: You Can't Tell A Book by its Cover
Part 9: Everyone Has to Start Somewhere
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