The New World of Self-Publishing

The world of self-publishing to mushrooming rapidly and may be destined to take over a huge portion of the book publishing industry.  Channeling Elvis: How Television Saved the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll is my fourth book and the first that I have self published.  I chose to publish through Amazon’s CreateSpace and Kindle Direct Publishing companies, but there are a growing number of online companies that will provide this service.

Having dealt with four “traditional” publishers and several New York literary agents, I found a few notable differences between going that route and publishing a book myself.  Most aspects of publishing were easier and more pleasant online, although the most notable downside is the initial financial cost to the author-publisher.  Traditional publishers pay the costs of printing and distributing books, including books that are sent out for review.  They also may absorb at least some of the costs of licensing photographs and other images.  As a self-publishing author I had to pay these costs myself as well as fees for professional editing and indexing, cover design, and copyright registration.  Today’s legal environment also motivated me to purchase an umbrella liability insurance policy and form a Limited Liability Company for my own publishing imprint.  These costs will vary with the needs of each author, but can run several thousand dollars.

All promotion is the author-publisher’s responsibility.  This is another area where traditional publishers have typically played a role, but my personal experience showed very minimal efforts in this area.  I had to hustle on my own to arrange book signings and obtain space at book festivals.  For one book, my co-author and I hired a publicist, who did get some additional press for us, but at an additional cost and with minimal result.  Since much marketing and promotion is now done digitally, gaining a good working knowledge of social media alone can be, for some, a better investment than hiring a publicist.  There are, of course, still printed publications that review books and it is certainly worth shipping review copies to them in hopes of a good notice that will spur sales.  Be sure to include a press release that has the name, email address, and phone number of a contact person, a brief, punchy summary of the book’s strongest points, excerpts from any blurbs or reviews the book has already received, and a bio paragraph about you.

Digital marketing involves researching websites and Facebook pages that are related to your topic and likely to be used by people who share an interest in your topic.  Also find online discussion forums that deal with your subject or those closely related to it, and join in.  Tell participants about your book and include a link to the online sites where it can be purchased.  Also include links to your Facebook page, Twitter handle, and your blog.  More important, join in the conversations on these forums to establish your knowledge of and genuine interest in your subject, rather than simply asking people to buy your book.  They are more likely to buy it if they get to know you a bit and see that you have a passion for the subject. 

Some digital publishers enable authors to monitor sales of their books throughout the day and provide a running tally of royalties in all currencies, something no mainstream publisher will do.  Thus, you can roughly track spikes in sales to various blogs or items that you’ve posted on the web. 

Another downside to digital self-publishing is the refusal of most bookshops to arrange book signings or other promotions for you in their stores.  I have been left with the impression that there exists a deep resentment toward digital publishers among book store owners, who may view such online companies as competitors. However, in this rapidly evolving landscape, traditional publishers and book sellers must find a way to survive within this new paradigm, just as authors are trying to do.

Channeling Elvis: How Television Saved the King of Rock 'n' Roll  is available from Amazon:  http://tinyurl.com/mhyaouz

Please visit my Facebook Authors Page: http://tinyurl.com/pofg47v

And my Amazon Authors Page: http://tinyurl.com/po638bd