Self Publishing Page 2

It was this article in the Guardian that made me think about self-publishing on Amazon Kindle last weekend.

Since then I've published 10 books (no, seriously, look I have, mostly by digging out my old Sitcom Trials scripts and comic strips and putting them out there.

I've sold 5 books so far (ie 1 copy of each of 5 books), so I won't be bidding for Stephen King's house yet. But the stories of other peoples success are enticing.

I agree that professional publishing, with the marketing and editing that that entails, is a very different kettle of fish. But given that 99.9% of manuscripts get rejected by all major publishers (and many more don't even get read since most publishers won't look at work that doesn't come via an agent) this is a very good way of trying to reach your public directly. And if you've written something that people turn out to want to read (in the way that I obviously haven't yet) it could take off. And you have control over it, rather than having to wait for some posh snob at a publishers to tell you where to go.

Kev F

PS: Bristol Sitcom Trials first meeting is tomorrow (Friday 20th),get in touch with Vince Stadon if you're interested in contributing.

The whole Amazon Kindle self-publishing thing will, in the end, do more harm than good.
There is no way to tell whether a book is any good or not, because anyone can publish - there are no filters.
And contrary to popular belief, everyone does NOT have a novel in them.
I bought my wife a Kindle and she's already heartily sick of badly put together, misspelt, poorly written shite.
Do you really want to be seen mixing with that crowd?

It's karaoke, nothing more.

The industry will change - and in the end, once the barrier of costly production is taken out of the equation, there probably will be more stuff published.
But people will look to reliable 'arbiters' of taste, wether it be existing publishers, brands or 'names' you trust.
Otherwise we will all drown in a sea of atrociously bad vampire books.

It's an interesting issue. In the music industry, my perception at least, is that the model has shifted to a heavily promoted mass product top end with a long tail of niche products coming onto the market through small labels and self-issuing. This has enabled a lot of talented people to gain exposure that would have been denied to them when the A&R man was king. But the music industry is different because gigs, radio plays, cover CDs etc allow us to make informed buying decisions.

It is far more difficult to see how self-publishing can work without quality filters, and as Laz says the easier self-publishing becomes the harder it will be to sort the wheat from the chaff. In a sense the reader is put in the same position as the publisher is now, faced with a slushpile of manuscripts and not knowing where to start - so publishing something by a celebrity instead. Life was so much easier for publishers in the nineteenth century when only seven or eight maiden aunts in the Chilterns had the education and leisure to write books; now anyone can bang away at a wordprocessor in their lunch hour.

I suppose a successful self-publishing model would have to involve collaboration with an editorial service who were prepared only to put their name to books of a certain standard. Basically you work with an established publisher and underwrite his costs. I think there are models close to this already out there.

Also needed would be promotional networks; which would work best for genre fiction. I like folk music so I read a magazine that gives me the lowdown on the latest releases and introduces me to new acts. In the same way if you like, e.g. westerns you could go to a website which give you the word of mouth on the latest sagebrush offerings.

Quote: Timbo @ January 19 2012, 11:49 PM GMT

I suppose a successful self-publishing model would have to involve collaboration with an editorial service who were prepared only to put their name to books of a certain standard.

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I think you're right.
One situation I can imagine is where literary agents begin to publish - either on their own or forming alliances.
Agents are still a pretty good filter - they don't take much (as many of us here can attest!) - but at least they are arbiters of quality rather than the trend-driven mavens of the publishing world.
These would then become small publishing houses - names we would trust, probably with a genre bias so you know what you're in for.
Then there's the celebrity/brand model.
Other media outfits might publish - A 'Guardian' book; Celebs - 'The Stephen Fry Imprint' ( like Oprah, Richard & Judy).

There will HAVE to be a way for the public to judge - we will want our writers to have jumped through some hoops - albeit slightly less impossible ones than the existing publishers demand.

And those existing publishers will need take note and see which way the wind's blowing.
I give you HMV & Kodak.

Quote: Lazzard @ January 20 2012, 10:15 AM GMT

I think you're right.
One situation I can imagine is where literary agents begin to publish

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Already happening.

I take your pont Lazzard but there is an awful lot of tripe that does get published simply because the author is a 'name'. And it's some of this type of overpromoted dross that means that new authors can't get into the market for love nor money. Let me give you just a few examples: Carlos Acosta - great dancer, not quite sure what his writing creditials are; Prue Leith - have written cookery books but does that qualify her to write novels? Don't know but she's in print and selling; Martine McCutcheon - about whom I can offer nothing. Positive or negative.
I think Timbo's point about determined writers trying to break the market in the same way as new bands/singers are building a following by going to you tube and the internet generally is probably going to be followed to a lesser extent because there will be a tendency to shy away from self published if the experience that people have is that its badly written, poorly spelt, unedited etc. However, what's to stop a group of frustrated authors getting together to organise their own little publishing collective and use that as a quality control? (copyright KL Riley 2012). Anyone up for it?

Quote: Marc P @ January 20 2012, 10:32 AM GMT

Already happening.

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Tell me more...

Well some agents are publishing their clients work as ebooks.

Quote: Marc P @ January 20 2012, 12:40 PM GMT

Well some agents are publishing their clients work as ebooks.

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Nothing more 'organized' than that, then?

I was going to sound it out with my agent - but he might be a bit old school.
If a few of them got together they might get better deals on editing, formatting etc.
Of course they might fear the wrath of the established publishers...

Check out bookseller there were some high profile cases

http://writing-community.writersworkshop.co.uk/forum/topic/5077

Bloody hell - what a mess!
I guess it's going to get bloody.

Oh yeah, mind you the RH woman is very very nice

Agreed.
I think all publishers are lovely.

<3

LOL.

Quote: KLRiley @ January 20 2012, 10:58 AM GMT

Carlos Acosta - great dancer, not quite sure what his writing creditials are

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How many books has Carlos Acosta written? I only know of one - his autobiography. He's probably quite qualified to write that.