Becky Reed, author of Crumbs, and successful self-published author.
First, before I give you Becky’s story, a little background about various publishing options for aspiring authors.
Professional publishers and agents don’t ask for money up front. Once they sell your book, agents receive 15% of the total book advance and the same percentage of any royalties. Publishers receive substantially more. Bookstores also get their piece, and by the end, after the advance, if any royalties accrue, an author receives a small portion of the $24.95 price of the novel.
Vanity presses charge a lot of money and deliver little except boxes of books to your door. They give no editorial advice and what you type on your computer screen is what you see in print. Misspellings and all.
You can self-publish, finding a printer yourself and doing all the other work that comes with that. And it’s a lot of work. I know. I self-published my book.
The option Becky Reed chose was to go the ePress and POD (print-on-demand) route. Publishers sometimes offer good value for your money. Although stores can order your book (that’s the POD part), you won’t see your book in any brick-and-mortar outlets, as e-Books = internet. Your customers must buy from the online publisher or Amazon.com.
Still, this is a reasonably inexpensive way to get your book published. Becky Reed’s compelling, gritty memoir about overcoming compulsive emotional overeating, Crumbs, debuted through a self-publishing partnership with Amazon’s BookSurge.
Books like Dan Poyneter’s Self-Publishing Manual are good sources of information about self-publishing, as are websites like Moira Allen’s Writing World and Lulu. Becky tells me “Lulu also has forums where people with questions can get answers.”
Becky liked BookSurge’s way of getting the books out to the public. “Amazon.com owns them, they are easy to work with, and have a good name in the publishing industry. Agents and traditional publishers respect them, which is important in case your book gets picked up down the road by a big name publisher. My books are available via many online outlets: Amazon, Borders, Alibris, Target, Walmart, and Baker & Taylor.”
Start up costs, varying publishing packages, and other mystifying options all carry different price tags. Since she “already had experience with formatting, editing and graphic design” Becky chose BookSurge’s $99 package. That price includes “an ISBN, a color cover, black and white interior, as well as other little perks.”
Becky adds that “BookSurge also has a Talent Acquisition Program, which is a list that goes out to all the big name publishers. For more money, they will format, edit, create a cover, and do everything a traditional publishing house offers, including some marketing.”
I once reviewed eBooks, and while there were some exceptions, most of them were terrible, with standards well below what you’d see in a traditionally published novel. I asked Becky about that. ”Self-published books have a bad rap in the publishing industry, mainly because of the poor quality of the writing. An author can read and re-read, revise and revise again, but will always miss something that could have been changed to improve the work. It’s good to have a new set of eyes examine your work, not only for typos, but to offer a fresh perspective one might not have seen before.”
For a writer considering self-publishing, Becky recommends reading Complete Guide to Self-Publishing: Everything You Need to Know to Write, Publish, Promote, and Sell Your Own Book by Tom and Marilyn Ross.