Self Publishing
The topic of the hour is, because of the e-books, the self publishing. People in favour of self publishing talk about that it’s the only way to get your writing published, you have more freedom and control of your work otherwise you couldn´t get. People who is against it, they argue that it would mean a decrease of writing quality. My question is, if you admire the musician who record or self publish their own music to show it to Discography Industry, gigs venues owners and magazines, why do we think that poets and writers’ work is so different?
My personal view about self publishing is like internet’s blogs: there are many out there, some of them are impressive but many other are just a waste of time. But I do believe is to stand out, you should offer a high quality item (not only good writing quality but a good design, publishing, etc) it should be unique and easily linked to its author.
What do you think about it?
Image source: desktop.self-publishing.com
Posted in High places, Inner places, the place where I belong | 5 Comments »
June 6th, 2010 at 11:02 am
Self-publishing is a wonderful option. And to be perfectly honest, I have seen books that were published by publishing companies that looked like crap.
Ultimately, it depends on how professional the writer wants to appear. It has nothing to do with the company in itself.
Publishing a book is the easiest part. Marketing is the killer.
People who criticize self-publishing have obviously not used it and have no clue what it stands for.
June 6th, 2010 at 11:09 am
I think both sides of this argument have merit, although I am definitely pro-self-publishing. As a self-publisher (I publish a small literary journal called Leaves & Flowers featuring writers I meet primarily through Twitter and the #amwriting hashtag
), I love this new industry. I would never have been able to put Leaves & Flowers out if it weren’t for self-publishing -I think it’s going to revolutionize the publishing industry. And that’s kind of rocky right now, because we’re all just getting used to it: the writers, the buyers, the traditional industry.
It’s a new market. There are some books being put out that are not of the highest quality. The good thing about that, though, is it’s a market! If it’s not good, it won’t sell. What is good will; that includes not only books that are of high quality and have good design, it also includes books whose authors know how to target their market well and get people interested in what they are selling.
Self-publishing places a huge amount of responsibility on the writer. As time goes on, I imagine the market will start to self-regulate in order to ensure more quality.
June 6th, 2010 at 11:22 am
Just like with new music. If you go to a site like soundclick that offers a lot of unsigned bands, you have to wade through some bad stuff before you find the gems.
The same is true with self publishing. I try to support my fellow authors, but I have been burned a few times too. Books that should have gone to an editor, etc. But then I pick up one of the latest “hot” best sellers and find the same issues.
The best part of self publishing with the internet. Is that if you hit it right, you can become a meme, theoretically. Think about Justin Beiber, he is famous because he put a couple of videos up on YouTube. The same can happen to the self published author.
June 6th, 2010 at 9:08 pm
I believe in self-publishing, but the main problem remains marketing. Even if it’s a niche book and even if the author doesn’t necessarily want to become the next Victor Hugo, he/she still has to advertise the book a little bit. And not everyone is good at marketing – I know I’m not
June 19th, 2010 at 9:36 am
@Cendrine: Thanks for your comment and you’re right. Everything depends on how professional the writer wants to appear but moreover, how professional the writer is.
@Bailey: I go along with you when you said that self-publishing places a huge amount of responsibility on the writer. It’s thrilling and scary but the responsability is on the author.
@Mari Miniatt: Absolutely, if we accept it in Music we should accept it in Writing as well.
@Zhu: I completely agree with you. Writing doesn’t have anything to do with Marketing and Marketing is not an art, it’s a business. However, a self-published work can help you when you’re knocking at so many doors.
Thanks everybody for dropping by and leave your comments. All of them made me think about different aspects of self-publishing.
Take care,
M.