That’s a question to which
you’ll need to supply the answers, of course. To get you started, here are my
own views.
So, do I get the 'hates'
out of the way first, or inspire with the 'loves'?
Let's make it a 'love'
sandwich.
I love the freedom
self-publishing gives me as a writer, allowing me to select all aspects of my
books, so that they really are my products in as many ways as possible. I have
the final say over the text, the content, the layout, font, length and the
cover illustration. I can choose my titles and not have some marketing
accountant interfere because he thinks another would sound more enticing.
And that's the real issue,
I suppose. I get to publish what I want, not the mish-mash that some bean
counters would have me publish. Because, make no mistake, in
traditional
publishing the accountants are the ones who have the final say about what is
and is not published. And this, in spite of the fact that they have frequently
rejected books that have later gone on to be best sellers. Men who care more
about profits than about artistic honesty and integrity are not the people I
want dictating how my books should look and what they should contain.
Publishing has grown to be too much like modern football: all about profit and
very little to do with the activity itself.
So, what do I hate?
Marketing. I don't want to spend my time as a salesman. It's not a natural role
for me. And I speak as one who has sold for a living on more than one occasion.
I worked as a shop manager for a few years and I worked as representative for a
company selling photographic printing services to shops for a year. That year
almost killed me. The whole process requires a level of dishonesty I'm
incapable of sustaining, even should I wish. I was selling a product that was
sub-standard and I had no faith in it. It was a role I left as soon as I found
an alternative method of earning my daily bread.
Of course, selling one's
own work is a different matter, in that one has faith in the product. But, that
apart, the actual process of selling is something alien to my personality and
philosophy. It isn't that I have some subconscious problem with making money
from my work. That isn't the issue. We all tend to judge others by our own
standards and habits. For me, shopping for anything is a matter of discovering
which product suits my needs and then finding a place that I trust where I can
obtain it for a reasonable price. I'm not an average shopper, as I find the
whole process of buying things something of a necessary evil. It's definitely
not a social activity for me. I don't enjoy the process. And the aspect of
shopping I most dislike is having some sales assistant trying to sell me
something I don't want.
As a result of these
feelings, I find myself reluctant to 'force' my work onto others. I'd prefer
them to discover for themselves the delights to be had between the covers. I
know that this is not practical or even wise if I'm to maximise my income from
my books. So, I compromise in ways that I'm able. I place my books on sites
that people visit frequently, I write this blog on matters that I hope will
attract attention, I use the social networks to increase my 'visibility'. And I
offer my work free from time to time so that readers can sample my
writing and
hopefully feel inspired to write reviews. Reviews sell more indie books than
almost anything else.
What I'm not prepared to
do is spend my precious writing time on marketing the work. I hope people will
enjoy my books and, over time, will spread the word. Unrealistic? Possibly. But
it's how I am. In the good old days of traditional publishing it was actually
possible for an author to remain entirely hidden and for his writing to be the
only thing known about him by his readers. That situation no longer obtains and,
as in so many other aspects of life, I have compromised in order to attract
some attention. But there is a limit to what I'll do in this regard and, if
that means I don't make the best-seller lists, so be it. I'm not about to sell
my soul in order to gain more readers.
The other real advantage
of self-publishing, the other aspect I love about it, is the freedom it gives
the writer to choose the subject matter and style of writing; what is generally
termed 'genre' in the trade. With traditional publishing, the agent and the
editor tend to confine the writer to a specific area of writing. So, you become
known and labelled as a 'crime writer', a 'fantasy writer', a 'romance writer'
and traditional publishing does everything in its power to restrict authors and
prevent them straying from the field of activity they see as suitable for the
writer. In reality, the field they expect to make the most money from.
Well, I have many subjects
I wish to explore and many different types of story I wish to tell. If I wish
to write a romance and then follow that with a science fiction thriller and
then an epic fantasy, I'm free to do that as a self-publishing writer. I have
the freedom of choice.
For me, that freedom is
paramount. I’m a creative artist and I don't intend to allow the false
restrictions of the perceived market place and the Great God Profit to confine
my creative spirit and strangle my individuality by forcing me to write in any
particular vein. I accept that I will not make as much money as I might under
the guidance and governance of a publisher and agent, but I will remain
artistically true to my own standards and interests. That's my choice as an
author. I have no responsibility to anyone but myself and my readers.
In the end, it comes down
to what the individual regards as success. For the majority, that quality is
measured in cash returns. For me, it’s measured in the work itself. I write the
best I can and leave it to readers to decide whether they like that work enough
to recommend it to others. It's a slow and uncertain process of growth in an
overcrowded field full of poor and generic work hyped for the consumption of
the majority. But it's my choice. Not the imposed direction of some accountant.
And that's why I love self-publishing.
Does that mean I would
reject any offer from an agent or a tradition publisher? Not necessarily. I’d
examine what was on offer and if it suited my way of doing things, I’d consider
it. But if it involved me in what I consider unreasonable and harmful
restrictions, I'd turn it down, regardless of the amount of money on offer. I
realise that makes me a fool in the eyes of many, if not most, but it's how I
feel about the whole business.
I am, first and foremost,
a creator. I'm not some sort of profit generator to be moulded and distorted by
the needs of the market place.
My position is that
readers either like my work and buy it or they don't. That's their choice and
I'm willing to live by that ideal.
So, how do you feel? What are your loves and hates about self-publishing?
The comment space below is easy to use to make a contribution, so let’s have
your words, please.
The third in a package of books on writing in the digital
age, this one deals with the nuts and bolts of getting your books to market.
That may sound daunting or technical or simply distasteful to many writers. It
did to me. We are, after all, artists. We have souls and care about the words
we share, the stories we tell, the characters we invent. Surely selling is a
dirty world full of shysters, slimy creeps and people bent on separating the
gullible from their money for personal gain, isn’t it? Well, it turns out that
isn’t actually what it’s about.
