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Self-publishing

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Self-publishing

Self-publishing is the publication of any book or other media by the author of the work, without the involvement of an established third-party publisher. A self-published physical book is said to be privately printed. The author is responsible and in control of entire process including, in the case of a book, the design of the cover and interior, formats, price, distribution, marketing and public relations. The authors can do it all themselves or outsource all or part of the process to companies that offer these services.

Self-publishing is not limited to physical books. Ebooks, pamphlets, sales brochures, websites, and other materials are commonly self-published.

Contents

  • Business aspects 1
  • Types of self-publishing 2
    • Electronic (E-book) Publishing 2.1
    • Print on Demand 2.2
    • Vanity publishing 2.3
  • Self-published best-sellers 3
  • Self-publishing in music and in other media 4
  • See also 5
  • Notes 6
  • External links 7

Business aspects

The key distinguishing characteristic of self-publishing is that the author has decided to publish his or her work independent of a publishing house. In the past, self-published authors had to spend considerable amounts of money preparing a book for publication, and to purchase bulk copies of their title and find a place to store them. Print-On-Demand and e-book technology mean the author, via numerous, accessible global distribution channels like Amazon.com, can have a book printed or digitally delivered – virtually world-wide – only when an order has been placed.

In 2008, for the first time in history, more books were self-published than those published traditionally. In 2009, 76% of all books released were self-published, while publishing houses reduced the number of books they produced.[1] According to Robert Kroese, "the average return of the self-published book is £500".[2]

Technological advances have enabled this growth:

  • Online retailing, wherein dominant players like Amazon.com have enticed readers away from bookstores into an online environment.
  • Print-On-Demand (POD) technology which can produce a quality product equal to those produced by traditional publishers – in the past, you could easily identify a self-published title because of its quality.
  • Technological advances with e-book readers and tablet computers that enhance readability and allow readers to "carry" numerous books in a concise, portable product.

Types of self-publishing

Unless a book is to be sold directly from the author to the public, an ISBN number is required to uniquely identify the title. ISBN is a global standard used for all titles worldwide. Most self-publishing companies either provide their own ISBN to a title or can provide direction;[3] it may be in the best interest of the self-published author to retain ownership of ISBN and copyright instead of using a number owned by a vanity press.

Electronic (E-book) Publishing

There are a variety of E-book formats and tools that can be used to create them. The most popular formats are epub, .mobi, PDF, HTML, and Amazon's .azw format. Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, and Smashwords all offer online tools for creating and converting files from other formats to formats that can be sold on their websites. Because it is possible to create E-books with no up-front or per-book costs, E-book publishing is an extremely popular option for self-publishers. Some recent bestsellers, such as Hugh Howey's Wool series, began as digital-only books.

Print on Demand

Print-On-Demand (POD) publishing refers to the ability to print high-quality books as needed. For self-published books, this is often a more economical option than conducting a print run of hundreds or thousands of books. Many companies, such as Createspace (owned by Amazon.com), Lulu and iUniverse allow printing single books at per-book costs not much higher than those paid by publishing companies for large print runs.[4][5] Most POD companies also offer distribution through Amazon.com and other online and brick-and-mortar retailers, most often as "special order" or "web-only" as retail outlets are usually unwilling to stock physical books that cannot be returned if they do not sell.

Vanity publishing

The term 'vanity publishing' originated at a time when the only way for an author to get a book published was to sign a contract with a publishing company. Reputable publishing companies generally paid authors a percentage of sales, so it was in the company's interest to sign only authors whose books would sell well. It was extremely difficult for the typical unknown author to get a publishing contract under these circumstances, and many 'vanity publishers' sprang up to give these authors an alternative: essentially, they would publish any book in exchange for payment up front from the author. The term "vanity publishing" arose from the common perception that the authors who paid for such services were motivated by an exaggerated sense of their own talent.

Vanity publishing differs from self-publishing in that the author does not own the print run of finished books and is not in primary control of their distribution.

The line between vanity publishing and traditional publishing has, however, become increasingly blurred in the past few years. Currently there are several companies that offer digital and/or print publication with no up front cost. However, most of these companies also offer add-on services such as editing, marketing and cover design. Self-publishing companies that fit this model include CreateSpace (owned by Amazon.com), iUniverse, and Lulu. An author who simply hands his or her book over to one of these companies, expecting the company to make it a bestseller, would meet the previously established definition of vanity publishing, but it's unclear how many authors fit this description.[6] Further blurring the distinction between self-publishing and traditional publishing was Penguin's purchase in 2012 of Author Solutions.[7]

Increasingly, then, vanity publishing is being defined as a behavior rather than a set characteristic of certain companies or individuals, although there remain a handful of companies that clearly qualify as vanity publishers. These are companies that offer the cachet of being published and make the majority of their income on fees for intangible services paid for by the author, rather than sales revenue. These companies are also known as joint venture or subsidy presses.

Self-published best-sellers

Contemporary authors have also self-published.

Title Author Notes
What Color is Your Parachute? Bolles, Richard Nelson Later published by Ten Speed Press
Chicken Soup for the Soul Canfield, Jack With Hansen, Mark Victor, co-author
Golden Handcuffs Courtney, Polly [12]
The Christmas Box Evans, Richard Paul
Spartacus Fast, Howard During the McCarthy era when Fast was rejected by previous large scale publishers
Invisible Life Harris, E. Lynn
Eragon Paolini, Christopher [13] Later published by Knopf
In Search of Excellence Peters, Tom
Elfquest Pini, Wendy and Richard [14]
The Celestine Prophecy Redfield, James
The Joy of Cooking Rombauer, Irma S.
A Choice, Not An Echo Schlafly, Phyllis [15]
Shadowmancer Taylor, G. P. Later published by Faber & Faber
The Visual Display of Quantitative Information Tufte, Edward
Poems in Prose Wilde, Oscar
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Baum, L. Frank Later published By Reilly & Lee
Wool Howey, Hugh Later published By Simon and Schuster
The Shack Young, William P. First million copies published by Windblown Media; subsequently on New York Times best seller list.[16]

Self-publishing in music and in other media

Musical performers often self-publish, or "self-release" their recordings without having access to record label resources. While some acts who enjoy local or small scale popularity have started their own labels in order to release their music through stores, others simply sell the music directly to customers, for example, making it available to those at their live concerts.

In the years since the Internet became prominent as a medium for publicizing and distributing music, many musical acts have sold their recordings directly over the Internet without a label, either through their own websites or from third party websites. In some cases the sale takes the form of a physical CD or LP that is shipped to customers, while more sales today are beginning to take the form of downloads. Several musicians who first found prominence recording for record labels have recently attracted wide attention for self-releasing records online, among them A Day to Remember, Brian Eno, Frank Ocean, Nine Inch Nails, and Radiohead.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Publishers Weekly (4 April 2010). "Self-Published Titles Topped 764,000 in 2009 as Traditional Output Dipped". Retrieved 31 October 2011. 
  2. ^ Robert Kroese. Self-Publish Your Novel: Lessons from an Indie Publishing Success Story. 
  3. ^ http://www.isbn-us.com/blog/2014/03/12/isbn-information-frequently-asked-questions/
  4. ^ RICH, MOTOKO (28 February 2010). "Math of Publishing Meets the E-Book". New York Times. Retrieved 9 May 2013. 
  5. ^ Rosenthal, Morris. "Print on Demand Publishing". Retrieved 9 May 2013. 
  6. ^ Neuburger, Jeffrey D. (10 September 2008). "Court Rules Print-on-Demand Service Not Liable for Defamation". Retrieved 31 October 2011. 
  7. ^ Greenfield, Jeremy (19 July 2012). "Penguin Buys Self-Publishing Platform Author Solutions for $116 Million". 
  8. ^ a b c d e Christina Patterson (18 August 2012). "How the great writers published themselves". The Independent (London). Retrieved 17 August 2012. 
  9. ^ Paull, John (2011). "The making of an agricultural classic: Farmers of Forty Centuries or Permanent Agriculture in China, Korea and Japan, 1911–2011". Agricultural Sciences 2 (3): 175–180.  
  10. ^ "How To Self-Publish A Bestseller: Publishing 3.0". 
  11. ^ The Guardian (27 March 2012). "Pottermore conjures Harry Potter ebooks". London. Retrieved 9 August 2012. 
  12. ^ Brown, Helen (2010-01-08). "Unleash your inner novelist".  
  13. ^ Saichek, Wiley (September 2003). "Christopher Paolini interview". Teenreads.com. Retrieved 2009-01-31. 
  14. ^ Elfquest.com
  15. ^ Lane, Frederick S. (2006). The Decency Wars: The Campaign to Cleanse American Culture.  
  16. ^ Rich, Motoko (2008-06-24). "Christian Novel Is Surprise Best Seller". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-06-24. 

External links

  • Self-publishing at DMOZ
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