Self publishing musings

I've been reading a lot about self publishing in preparation for this blog series. Today's post is a collection of facts, observations and musings that have sparked my interest.

People worry about pricing their eBooks at 99p because it seems too cheap, but think about it this way: If successful authors are selling their books at £9.99 and you are selling your books at 99p and still making a profit, you don't have anything to prove. Rather, those successful authors have to prove they are ten times better than you!

Wouldn't it be exciting if your book was downloaded somewhere in the world every minute?

Amazon's royalty rates are as follows: 70% if your cover price is between £1.98 and £6.60 and 35% if you price either higher or lower. More on this debate to come...

For many authors, the time spent writing and researching a book is disproportionate to the time we actually spend packaging it and marketing it. So... write the best book you can write, get it edited to make it better, get it proofread to eliminate typos, have a professional design the cover, convert into an eBook, promote and market - and then start all over again on your next.

Traditional Publishers are still behaving as if they have the monopoly. What they do is punish both their providers (the authors) and their end users (the readers) by offering limited creative, financial and other terms to authors, and not fully embracing the digital market to give the readers choice.

As authors and writers we know how easy it is to publish something, but many people are still in awe of authors.

However, let's not forget that telling a story is hard. Getting the perfect blend of description, emotion, character creation, setting, atmosphere etc etc with words is still a very clever art.

Is "self" publishing just user generated content or does it have more purpose and value? Do you see YouTube as content, or as independent film making?

You can get lost in the debate surrounding the nature and meaning of "publishing" - vanity, self, indie, trade... We make our living by selling words, but it seems we can't agree! The task of educating ourselves and the ordinary layman is endless. Don't go there unless you have to. As Humpty Dumpty told Alice, "When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean."

Self publishing gives you three fundamental handles on your book efforts - price, control and speed.

There's never been a better time to be a novelist, but along with this liberation comes great responsibility. Authors have more to understand and more roles to take on.