I
published a book this afternoon, on Smashwords and Amazon KDP.
The
process took about three hours, including creating a cover and
wrestling with Word formatting. Oh, there was also some time consumed
by a power outage that killed off our router for a while.
Of
course, this volume—Divided We Fall—is just a 7500 word
short story. A novel would have taken me longer, simply to get the
formatting right. Nevertheless, self-publishing is definitely the way
to go if you’re the type who likes instant gratification.
That’s
not the main reason I’ve embraced the process, though. The most
desirable aspect of self-publishing is the way it gives you almost
total control.
You
have control over the price. I’m convinced that many of my romance
novels would sell much better if my main romance publisher didn’t
charge so much (six or seven bucks for an ebook novel!), but there’s nothing I can do about that. My
contracts state quite clearly that the publisher has final say over
the selling price.
In
addition, for a self-pubbed book, you can change the price when you
want, if that suits your marketing strategy. Especially with
Smashwords, it’s extremely easy to set up a discounted price for a
limited period of time, or even make the book free for purposes of
promotion. Amazon requires a bit more time and work to modify prices,
and is rather hostile to free stories, but I gather even that can be
arranged if you can document that the book is free on other
platforms.
When
you self-publish, you have control over the cover. Granted, this is a
mixed blessing when you have only basic graphic arts skills, like me,
but at least I don’t have to put up with covers that I hate. (If I
have to look at another waxed, muscular male torso, I might vomit.)
Most of my self-published books have simple covers based on a single
stock photo. However, at least they don’t look like every other
book that’s out there. Furthermore, if I decided it might be worth
it, I could always pay to have a professional cover designed. And it
would be exactly the way I wanted it. I wouldn’t have to
negotiate with the art department, or accept a bland cover just
because it matches the style of an imprint.
Finally,
the most important kind of control, for me, is control over content.
When I’m working on a book that I intend to self-publish, I don’t
have to please anyone but myself. I can break genre rules right and
left, if that suits me. I can use any sort of sexual terminology and
portray any sort of erotic activity, without either being censored or
accused of being coy. I don’t have to satisfy an editor or convince
anyone that my book “fits” the publisher’s image or supposed
readers.
I
truly love the freedom of self-publishing. I should say that I
consider publishing with Excessica to be self-publishing as well.
Their cooperative model means that authors have full control over,
and responsibility for, content, price, cover, editing and release
date. Excessica handles the final formatting and submission to
different publishers, plus adds the book to their own on-line store,
and takes a 10% cut in return. I appreciate having someone more
skilled handling these tasks, and am happy to pay for that.
So
what’s the down side of self-publishing? It’s often claimed that
self-published work sells more poorly than books released by
publishing houses. Maybe that’s true for some people. As for me,
all my books sell poorly. I think the titles I have with Excessica
are probably my most popular right now—not counting Raw Silk,
which continues to find new readers eighteen years after its first
publication.
Obviously
you’ve got to put in more effort editing your self-pubbed books. If
you’re not confident about your own grammar and spelling, you need
someone else to help. However, I’ve read (and reviewed) plenty of
traditionally published works that suffered from inadequate editing.
Signing a publishing contract does not guarantee that you’ll get
great editing—nor does it free you from the ultimate responsibility
for your words.
Self-pubbed
books used to get less respect, but it’s not clear to me that this
is still true. Many authors with stellar reputations are going the
self-pub route for at least some of their work. I recently read a
wonderful self-published title by K.D. Grace, for instance.
If
you think that a publisher is going to be much help with
marketing—sorry, but you’re deluding yourself. Publishers may
have their own branded channels—web site, Facebook page, Twitter
account and so on—but honestly, they are as clueless as the rest of
us regarding the magic formula for selling books. You’ll have to
market a traditionally published book as actively as a self-pubbed
one, without having some of the same tools.
I
could go on, but I’ve got three other blog posts to write today, so
I’ll let my fellow Grip people expound further. (I’m especially
interested to read what Cameron has to say, given that he has just
started a publishing company.)
However,
I’d like to share the blurb for my new book with you, because it’s
a charity volume in response to the recent U.S. Election.
All proceeds from the book sales will go to Planned Parenthood. Right now they need all the help they can get!
All proceeds from the book sales will go to Planned Parenthood. Right now they need all the help they can get!
Divided
We Fall by Lisabet Sarai
Multiracial
erotic romance, 7500 words
Hate
takes too high a
toll
Linh’s
three
year
old
brother
has
wandered
out
of
Viet
Village
into
Niggertown.
Despite
the
danger,
she
has
no
choice
but
to
go
looking
for
him
in
hostile
territory.
She
manages
to
convince
the
rifle-toting
guard
at
the
entrance
to
the
black
ghetto
to
help
her
search,
using
a
mixture
of
bribery
and
bravado.
As
they
comb
the
desolate
streets
of
Niggertown,
seeking
any
trace
of
Duy,
Linh
discovers
that
the
barrio’s
inhabitants
aren’t
necessarily
the
violent,
drug-addled
brutes
she’s
been
taught
to
hate,
and
by
the
time
Linh
and
Steel
have
rescued
the
injured
toddler
and
spent
a
long
night
hiding
in
a
derelict
building,
she
has
come
to
understand
who
are
their
real
enemies.
Get
your copy at Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/699997