The Eldritch Post

Self-publishing offers a number of benefits. For openers, like old-fashioned vanity publishing, it satisfies the ego and (ideally) produces a finished product you and your mom can be proud of. 

But beyond ego, it offers you the opportunity to bypass the antiquated and burdensome traditional publishing process. It gets your product directly into your markets. And it lets you control how production and marketing funds will be spent and how profits will be reinvested.

I’ll leave the virtues (and seamy downsides) of self-publishing to another blog entry. Today I want to talk specifically about authors who do everything right in self-publishing, but still lose out when it comes to finding traditional publishers for their work.

Here’s the scenario: Author Bob Jones has written and self-published three highly competent novels. First he ran them through his exceptional critique group and made relevant structural and presentation changes. Next he hired a professional editor to do a final review and clean-up. He engaged a graphic designer to create high-quality covers and interior layout, and fronted his own money to have a quantity of the books printed.  He sent out copies to all the right reviewers, hired a publicist to plan promotional activities, did book-signings, radio interviews and served on panels or otherwise participated in appropriate genre and publishing-industry events.  He secured distribution agreements with major booksellers, and created a professional Website with book sales capabilities. He sold over 1,000 copies of each book within the first two years and developed a fan base that increased over time. And finally, he submitted his books to various respected competitions (in many cases competing against traditionally published works) and won several awards.

But, despite the quality of his products and his history of objective praise and independent sales, Bob could not get an agent to represent him or an editor to buy his books.  Why?  There are two big reasons:

1.  Publishers prefer to sacrifice virgins.

This is what my agent told me. She said they don’t want to pick up a book that has already been, well, around the block a few times. They have a hard time getting excited about a “new” product that isn’t exactly new to the marketplace.

Bob’s 1,000-copy book sales were just enough to take away that “new-book smell” and make the product a little less desirable. And with such stiff competition for publishing dollars, even a little tarnish can spoil your chances.

2. Perhaps more significant, publishers don’t want a self-published book because part of their market–and their potential sales–has already been used up.

Especially with first books, publishers are taking a financial risk, hoping that the book won’t lose too much money. They are betting that your subsequent books will break even or make a profit as your audience base develops. If they would ordinarily have expected to lose $5,000 on your first book and you’ve already sold 1,000 copies they would have sold, then they may actually lose $10,000 on that first book instead.

There’s an exception to these rules, though, and that is the self-published book that “takes off” through word-of-mouth. Books that have a magical energy of their own, that find their audiences easily without really trying, will get publishers’ attention. Think: Chicken Soup for the Soul. If a traditional publishing house can catch one of these books early on the rise, it can push the wave still higher and cash in on the work already done by both the book and its author.

So how do you get past the self-publishing stigma? There are no easy answers, unfortunately. Like everything in publishing, you are still at the mercy of luck, mood, circumstances and trends.

However, if you have self-published one or more books and earned rave reviews and respectable sales, then you can use that record to enhance the desirability of your NEXT book.

When you approach agents and editors, offer them a virgin to sacrifice. Give them an unpublished manuscript that has all the same wonderful virtues as the virgins you’ve sacrificed yourself. And then enhance the new book’s desirability by showing evidence of the benefits your previous virgins have delivered (awards, reviews, sales, fan base, promotional opportunities/invitations).

An author who is willing and able to promote his book is certainly an asset to a publisher, though self-promotion has become a virtual requirement in today’s market. But proving and quantifying your ability to sell books may give you a leg up with the next book.

As a final note: self-publishing doesn’t have to be the end of the line for a given book, even a modest seller. One friend, a member of my critique group, self-published his first novel and sold a respectable number of books on his own. He, like many others, could not get a “real” publisher to pick it up. However, he displayed his book (for a fee) at the Frankfurt Book Fair in Germany and found a foreign publisher who offered him a contract.  This, in turn, led a U.S. publisher to do the same in the States.

Backwards, perhaps, but whatever works…

CAVEAT: The purpose of this blog is to share ideas, knowledge and advice on a regular basis. Entries may contain errors of all types.