2 April 2013 - SELF-PUBLISHING PERCEPTIONS

SELF-PUBLISHING

PERCEPTIONS

G'day guys,

Have public perceptions changed in relation to self-published authors? From my readings, I certainly think they have. Here is an article courtesy of Susan Lulgjuraj from Teleread.com. 

" Self-publishing a book can come with pre-conceived notions from readers, other writers and even publishers. People used to think self-publishing a book meant it wasn’t good enough to get picked up by traditional houses. However, the stigma of self-publishing is changing. Success stories have become more and more abundant, and the shock those successes caused even five to 10 years ago is slowly beginning to dissipate.

Those in the industry have watched the development closely.
Smashwords founder Mark Coker began his site five years ago as an outlet for self-published authors. It started small and has grown into a site where nearly 100,000 books are published each year.

“You know, five years ago when we started Smashwords, self-publishing was seen as the option of last resort,” Coker said, in a recent interview with NPR’s All Things Considered. ”It was seen as the option for failed writers. And the publishing industry held that view, and even writers held that view.”
“But that’s changing now,” Coker continued. “Self-publishing is now becoming the option of first choice for many writers. And even traditional publishers now have newfound respect for self-publishing. They’re using the self-publishing bestseller lists to troll for new authors to acquire.”
Coker hits on an important notion in the self-publishing world—are self-published bestseller lists ripe for agents and publishing houses?

In truth, many authors are happy being self-published; many authors went that route after years of being published the traditional way.
While the bestseller lists remain a great resource for agents, literary agent Rachelle Gardner, in a recent post on her blog, argues that self-published books are not the new slush pile.

For one, not everyone wants to come off that list, but it’s just one place she seemingly searches when looking for new talent.
“My conclusion is that self-published books are just one source of good authors and books, but they’re not ‘the new slush pile,’” Gardner wrote. “Over time, things may move in that direction, but I would never want that to be the only place we look for new authors to publish.”

Penny C. Sansevieri recently tackled the issue on The Huffington Post. She’s been part of the business for years and witnessed the transformation. Self-publishing a book doesn’t have to mean the end of a budding career. In fact, it could be the start of something great.

“Well, a lesson most of us (hopefully) learned when we were young: don’t judge,” Sansevieri wrote on HuffPo. “Though then again, many of us do. I’m guilty of this as well. If I see a self-published book with a shoddy cover, I probably won’t bother to open it. And though a lot of people like to tout the secrets of success in self-publishing, there really are no secrets. And in the end, it comes down to just two things:
“Put out a good product, then do a lot of pretty obvious stuff to promote it.”"

Clancy's comment: As you know, last week I had a great book review in a large Australian newspaper - the Daily Telegraph. That would not have happened a year ago. Sure, I marketed heavily and sent a copy of my book to a journalist, who then gave it to a book reviewer. But, they must have liked the story, or they'd have not given it a breath of space, let alone given it a good review. 

I network with people every day in many countries. The authors I connect with all say the same as me, 'Marketing is a pain, but it is necessary.' Sadly, it takes me away from my real love - writing. But, as I said to a musician many years ago who was scared of rejection, 'Fine, do your tracks and DVD and hide them in a shoebox under your bed. However, you forget one thing: it might be a sensational piece that goes viral .... and you'll never know because you never shared it.'

Bring on the revolution! 

 Happy Easter!

  
I'm ...