Allaboutwriting

Judy Croome weighs the pros and cons of self-publishing. 

Self-publishing is the current buzzword.  Amanda Hocking’s meteoric success. John Locke’s million copy sales in five months. JA Konrath’s steady mid-list income, earning him quadruple what he was earning in royalties from his traditionally published books. All these have unpublished authors humming with excitement and possibilities.

So why aren’t all authors suddenly dumping their traditional publishers and rushing off to the self-publishing websites like Lulu or Amazon’s CreateSpace?

Here are five good reasons not to self-publish:

• One in million. And I don’t mean that in a good way. There are so many self-published authors out in the book world that your book is, literally, one in a million. And it’ll have to be a one-in-a-million book to stand out from a market that has too many writers and not enough readers with money to spend.

• Hard work:  Self-publishing is hard work. Really hard work. You can delegate some of the tasks to professionals with more experience than you, but you still have to manage the whole process. For every task you cross off your list, you can be sure you’ll add another three like blog tours, blog hops and writing guest posts.

• Lack of time: Very few authors, whether traditionally or self-published, have the luxury of writing full-time. They have lives beyond their writing. When you self-publish, you not only have to find time to write new books, you also have to find the time to market and publish your completed books.  For a self-publisher, twenty-four hour days are simply not enough to fit in all that needs to be completed.

• High costs:  Publishing is a high cost business. You can try and do it all yourself but if, like me, you’re a techno-idiot, how long do you think you’ll take to become a professional at converting print books to eBooks and learning about bleeds and trims and…the mind boggles. Hire a professional. But that costs money, and you haven’t even begun to plan the marketing budget yet. Be prepared. Self-publishing is expensive.

• Ingrained prejudices: There’s long been a stigma against self-published books. Unless you can march to your own drumbeat, knowing that the book you’ve produced is professional enough to match any traditionally published book, this negative element of the self-publishing journey may wear you down. If you constantly feel the need to defend your book or your choice to self-publish; if you subscribe to the “us” or “them” attitude with self-published authors the “in-group” and traditionally published authors the “out group” (or vice versa), you’ll waste precious creative energy that could be better spent learning your craft from anyone who is willing to teach you.

Self-publishing doesn’t sound worth the pain, does it? Why then did I self-publish?

Here are five great reasons to self-publish your book:

• Creative freedom: One of the most frustrating aspects of trying to get traditionally published as a romance author was that, if any of the seven romances I wrote got accepted, I wouldn’t have the final say in anything. When I decided to experiment with another genre, and discovered my true voice, I wanted to keep my artistic vision mine and not what someone else told me was “selling like hotcakes.” The only restrictions with self-publishing are those I set for myself. I am in charge of my writing and I like it.

• Controversial topic:  Some topics just aren’t currently popular. If your book’s topic falls in this category, self-publishing is probably the only way you’ll see your book in print. If you self-publish, your book may never hit it big. But, if it languishes unpublished in your bottom drawer, it definitely won’t hit it big! Self-publishing gives your book at least the chance of becoming a surprise hit.

• Niche market: Linked to the above, your book may fall into a niche market that’s too small to make the traditional publishing houses enough money to cover their costs. If you know your market and how to target the community of possible readers in your niche, then self-publishing is your answer.

• No time delays: In traditional publishing it can take up to two years, sometimes even longer, for your book to go from acceptance to appearing on the shelves. With self-publishing, you can drastically cut this time delay to a matter of weeks.

• Commitment: Nobody—not the best editor nor the best marketing team in the world— is as committed as you are to seeing your book become a success. Unless you’re Stephen King, of course. But for most mid-list authors (of whom there are far more than the megastars like King or Rowling), your book is only one of a stable of books that a publishing house has to deal with. When you self-publish, your book is your top priority and that commitment can drive it to heights it might otherwise not have reached.

Will I self-publish my next book? Yes. Self-publishing suits me and, despite the multitude of daunting challenges, I love  the freedom self-publishing offers a writer.

But, before you rush off and self-publish that old manuscript gathering dust under your bed, remember this: freedom comes with responsibility. Successful self-publishing is dependent on accepting the many heavy responsibilities that come when you make the decision to self-publish…or not.

Judy Croome lives and writes in Johannesburg, South Africa. She was recently shortlisted in the African Writing Flash Fiction 2011 competition, and other short stories and poems have appeared in Itch-e Magazine and “Notes from Underground Anthology.” Her independently published novel, “Dancing in the Shadows of Love,” is available from Amazon.com and Loot.co.za. Visit Judy on her blog www.judycroome.blogspot.com and read more about self-publishing.