"I've always wanted publishers and organized crime to swap." This strapline caught my eyes this morning when I was combing through my already spam-stripped inbox. Some semi-intelligent robot out there on the net must have picked it up in order to fulfill one of my requests for up-to-date knowledge. (Yes, I admit, I am interested in organized crime).
But what it brought up today is a completely different story. It's the musings of Dusk Peterson, fiction writer, history writer, editor and journalist, on the not-so-delightful world of e-book publishing.
I spent nearly four hours researching whether I should make my online fiction available in e-book form at Lulu.com. While I'm still not sure whether anyone would actually buy my stories - I wouldn't buy an electronic text if it was available for free - I decided to go ahead and try the experiment. It can't hurt. At this stage, even a couple of extra dollars would help.
However, set-up fees, buying ISBNs — "which is more money than I've earned annually since 1992″ — and the time (and nerves) spent on preparing the cover art make this experiment a rather serious experience. Is this the brave new world of self-determined, self-controled, self-publishing authors?
“I’ve always wanted publishers and organized crime to swap.”
In the interests of proper credit, I should note (for those who don’t follow the link to my blog entry) that this delightful quotation isn’t from me. Also (to avoid confusion by your readers), the set-up fees you mention are for the printer Lightning Source, not for Lulu.
“Is this the brave new world of self-determined, self-controled, self-publishing authors? ”
Well, I officially became a self-publisher when I founded my first e-zine in 1997.
I have to confess that I’m always a bit puzzled when people talk about the “new” world of self-publishing, because anyone who posts at their own blog or Website is a self-publisher. For that matter, the line between self-publishing and small press has always been exceedingly hazy. But yes, the new technologies for printed books and e-books have provided interesting possibilities, particularly in niche genres where the traditional markets for submission by writers are very tight. In one of the genres in which I work - a genre that’s been around since the 1960s - a grand total of about half a dozen titles were published by small presses last year. This isn’t due to lack of interest from readers; it’s simply due to crippling economic problems that are being faced by many presses, large and small. So self-publishing does provide an alternative under such circumstances.
The basic problem I see at the moment is lack of knowledge by most self-published authors on how to design and market their books. It’s a bit like the early days of the Web, when most Websites were atrociously designed, and few people had really figured out how to get word out about their online writings. Matters will improve in the self-publishing world as time goes on, I think.
I would like to introduce a book that could be a valuable resource to would-be authors on this blog.
Publishing for Small Press Runs is a pioneering book promoting quick and affordable short press run book publication using the latest digital technology for producing covers and text. This 372-page guide currently is being used as the course text for a class at the University of New Orleans. For more information, see www.ChatgrisPress.com, Books, Publishing for Small Press Runs.
For an AuthorViews video, see http://www.authorviews.com/authors/smith/video.php.
[editor:] Dear Gary, thank you for your comment on yourauthor.org … How does it cover the European context (where copyright / authors’ rights are slightly different than in the US)?
very interesting, but I don’t agree with you
Idetrorce