Things in self-publishing have changed a lot just in the past couple of years. Awareness of, and respect for, self-publishing has grown to the point that it’s virtually gone mainstream. Yet based on some posts and comments I’ve seen around the web in the wake of the Harlequin Horizons/DellArte Press rumpus, it’s clear to me there’s still an awful lot of misinformation being spread around the web about self-publishing in comparison to mainstream publishing.
The Harsh Realities of Being A Mainstream-Published Novelist
The novelist’s traditional path to authorship is common enough knowledge. First, you spend months or years writing and workshopping your manuscript. Next comes months or years of querying for an agent. After that follows months of your agent trying to sell the manuscript, and for all but about 5% of aspiring authors, the answer is “no.” As for the 5%, their novels were chosen more on the basis of broad appeal and marketability than the quality of writing. But however disappointed the 95% are, the 5% may yet be more disappointed still once the initial rush of I’m-Getting-Published wears off.
Author advances are down and mainstream publishers don’t offer much in the way of promotional support to the great majority of their authors anymore. For the most part, debut authors find themselves on the hook to arrange and finance their own book tours, bear the burden of effort and expense for their author platform themselves, and if they want a publicist, pay for that themselves, too. Okay, so maybe they’re not getting much money up front and have to do most of their own promotion, but the 5% of novelists will still get the sales boost and status that come from having their books on physical store shelves, right? Well, sort of.
Turnover in brick-and-mortar bookstores is high and shelf space is shrinking all the time as more and more store real estate is given over to games, stationery, cosmetics, gifts, music, movies, and the like. It’s gotten to the point where landing a mainstream publishing contract is no longer even any guarantee of seeing your book shelved at your local Borders or Barnes & Noble. Among those that are shelved, with few exceptions, any newly-released trade book that fails to make the NYT bestseller list will be pulled from physical chain booksellers within three months to make way for the next batch of hopefuls. All sales must then be driven either online or through small, independent booksellers, which requires significantly more effort on the author’s part.
Woe betide the author who fails to put in the effort, since publishers will be looking long and hard at his first novel’s earnings when deciding whether or not to publish his second. Among the novels of that 5% which made it to print, only about 20% (or less, depending on who you ask) earn back the author’s advance, never mind turning a profit. If you do the math, you’ll find the authors in this group account for .001%—that’s one-hundredth of 1%—of the larger group of aspiring novelists who all started down the road to authorship together. Okay, but some of those books earn back the advance and a little profit too, and some authors do make the NYT list and end up being very successful, right? Well, sort of.
The Dan Browns, JK Rowlings and Stephanie Meyerses of the world aren’t just successful authors, they’re worldwide cultural phenomena around whom entire cottage industries of movies and merchandise have sprung up. So let’s just all agree they’re the rarified rockstars of lit, and deal with the realities for most mainstream-published authors, those who aren’t household names.
Thanks to the generous and brave posts of authors such as Lynne Viehl, Kimberly Pauley, Saundra Mitchell and others, something truly shocking has finally come to light: most successful mainstream-published novelists (meaning those who have been repeatedly published), including those who hit the NYT list multiple times, net an annual income on par with that of a fast food restaurant manager. Very prolific authors who can manage to get, and keep, multiple books in print every year fare better, but it’s the rare author who can produce quality work at that pace year after year. I don’t know what’s more jaw-dropping: that most mainstream-published authors earn so little (even those whose books hit the NYT list!), or the conspiracy of silence that’s kept this fact under wraps for so long. From Lynne Viehl’s post:
On the statement my publisher reports sales of 7,550 copies and returns of 10,812 copies. The publisher released credits of 21,140 copies or $13,512.69 from reserves held against returns, but at the same time reserved credits against another 13,790 copies or $8,814.57, which reduces the credit adjustment to 7,350 copies or $4698.12.
Total sales for the novel now stand at 89,142 copies, minus returns of 27,479, for net sales of 61,663 copies. My credited earnings from this statement was $2,434.38 with no money due; it will probably take another six months to a year for the novel to earn out the last of my $50,000.00 advance.
So how much money have I made from my Times bestseller? Depending on the type of sale, I gross 6-8% of the cover price of $7.99. After paying taxes, commission to my agent and covering my expenses, my net profit on the book currently stands at $24,517.36, which is actually pretty good since on average I generally net about 30-40% of my advance. Unless something triggers an unexpected spike in my sales, I don’t expect to see any additional profit from this book coming in for at least another year or two.
Okay, but all those mainstream-published novelists still get the status that comes from being able to say you’re a Published Author with a Literary Agent and a Big Publisher, right? Yes, they definitely do. But the question of whether the status bump alone is worth all the years of time, effort, sacrifice, rejection and heartache that went into becoming a published novelist is well worth considering.
The Self-Publishing Alternative
The self-publishing stigma is losing its hold thanks to recent revelations about, and current challenges of, the trade publishing business. Between competing ebook formats, the battles over ebook pricing and DRM, emerging all-digital imprints, the Google Books quagmire, falling profits, bookstore closures and staff downsizings, it seems the future of trade publishing is murky at best. New ideas and new business models are needed, and self-publishing has become just one among many possible approaches.
Is it any surprise that authors as successful and well-known as Stephen King, Piers Anthony and JA Konrath have self-published, or are self-publishing? Konrath has found he earns far more on his self-published Kindle editions than on the Kindle editions released by his publisher, and I don’t doubt many more authors will soon be following his lead.
I’m not saying self-publishing is a slide on ice in comparison to the mainstream path. Many self-published books are of poor quality in terms of content or production—but so are many mainstream books. Most self-published books never earn a profit—but neither do most mainstream books. Self-published authors have to do all their own marketing and promotion—but so do most mainstream-published authors. Most self-published authors will never make a living off their books—but neither will most mainstream-published authors.
Self-published authors don’t get advance checks, but neither must they invest large sums out of pocket to publish. There are numerous Print On Demand service providers that don’t charge up-front fees, authors can publish to the Kindle for free using Amazon’s Digital Text Platform tool, and they can publish in multiple other ebook formats for free via Smashwords, Scribd and other outlets.
And given that self-published authors have access to the same distribution channels, quality production methods, marketing and promotion methods, and audiences as their mainstream-published peers, it should be very clear by now that the choice of whether or not to self-publish is, to quote Guy LeCharles Gonzalez, a business decision. Period.
About the Author: April L. Hamilton
K. Crumley said on January 5, 2010
New avenues are opening up for indie publishers. Createspace even offers a distro plan now. And, if you have your own small press/imprint you can handle your own distro…which IMO is better.
Amazon is where you really want to be, imho anyways…and most Self-publishing sites (like createspace) get you on Amazon almost automatically.
People say “not everybody has a computer” and “not everybody shops online” but a) Those people are few & far between now a days. b) where there’s a will, there is a way; but we self-pubs have to do the work to create an interest in our books. and c) a book store can order your book if someone asks for it (most of the time) and there’s always good old consignment.
Also, there are a lot of TP books that aren’t easy to find in book stores…Small press publishers have the same issues Self-publishers do. For those books, people (as I’ve said above) have to just have the book store order them…or find them on Amazon.
Jane Smith said on January 6, 2010
April wrote, “Actually, self-pubbers have access to ALL the same distribution channels mainstream authors do, with just one exception: they do not have a sales rep going out to brick-and-mortar stores, trying to get those stores to stock their books.”
I still think you’re wrong, but I might well be missing something: or it could be that we agree, but we’re using different definitions for distribution. Here’s how I understand it works.
There are several levels in the book distribution network. The most basic is inclusion in a reference catalogue, and anything with an ISBN is going to get included here. Next step up is the wholesaler, which holds stock of qualifying titles and fulfils orders when they’re placed. Distribution involves order processing, stock handling, invoicing etc (all explained in the link I provided in my previous post) and is a full step up from wholesaling; and having a sales force selling books into retail outlets is another step up again.
Self-publishers can get their books into wholesale catalogues if their books have ISBNs, but do not generally have access to the full wholesale service (including stockholding) because the majority of wholesalers usually require a publisher (whether self or otherwise) to have a minimum number of publications each year, and to have achieved a decent sales revenue for those books, before they’ll add the books to their lists. The catalogue which self-published books are going to appear in is only used to look up books which have been enquired about: it’s not the all-colour catalogue which is used as a sales-generating tool, it’s just a reference with author name, title and ISBN—a bit like a phone book. Books which appear in this catalogue but are not held in stock by the wholesaler are only available on special order.
“But that’s really the only distribution limitation self-pubbers face, assuming they’re making the right choices in their publishinng process. It *is* possible—and not even all that difficult—to get your self-pub book registered with Nielsen, Bowker’s Books In Print, the Library of Congress, the U.S. Copyright Office, and any other catalog service. It just depends on your choice of print service provider (e.g., if you go with LSI they take care of getting your book listed/registered with all the major distribution channels for you), and/or your willingness to pay the fees (if applicable) and fill out the paperwork yourself.”
As I’ve said before, pretty much anything with an ISBN will get listed in the various catalogues which surround the booktrade. But having books listed in a catalogue, without any sales or distribution attached to them, is not going to bring the books to anyone’s attention, and if no one knows about the books, then they are not going to sell.
“Some catalog services don’t want to work with individual self-pubbers and limit their listings to those coming from larger publishers and print service providers, but it’s easy enough to get around that problem by working with a service provider that already has an account set up with the catalog in question (e.g., LSI and Nielsen/Bowker). The print service provider gets the listings set up *for* you in that case.
“It’s true that if you publish through, say, Lulu, and go with a basic, no-cost POD production option, your distribution options will be very limited. However, even Lulu offers an expanded distribution option for a fee. These are the questions self-pubbers need to research early on, before committing to a service provider. If wide—even global—distribution is important to you, it’s entirely possible to make that happen as a self-pubber.”
I don’t know enough about Lulu’s “distribution option”, so can’t comment fully here. But as I understand it (and please correct me if I’m wrong) it does not involve any sales efforts, invoicing, order processing, returns processing, etc: it is just another listing that the books will appear on and then sit quietly waiting for people to notice them. And as I’ve already said, appearing on lists is NOT what the mainstream publishing world considers to be distribution. I do wonder if we only disagree about this because we’re using different terms for the various options, though.
April L. Hamilton said on January 6, 2010
Jane -
This is really getting down to semantics and hairsplitting.
Self-pubbers *can* get their books into all the same bookseller outlets as mainstream-published books by having them listed in catalogs and therefore available for those stores to order. Is it *likely* that self-pubbers will achieve this goal? No. I’ve never said otherwise; it’s very, very difficult for self-pubbers to get their books shelved in chain brick-and-mortar outlets, but it’s not all that difficult to get them shelved by indie booksellers or make them available for order from *any* bookseller, chain or not.
But as you know, I don’t think chain, brick-and-mortar bookseller store presence is all that important anyway. Even mainstream-pubbed authors are no longer guaranteed to have their books shelved in those outlets so apparently publishers have come to feel that mere ordering availability in brick-and-mortar stores and online is fine, too. Borders UK has already collapsed, and Borders and Barnes & Noble here in the US look more like variety stores that happen to stock some books than dedicated booksellers. Both I and Eoin Purcell have blogged about the death of the chain bookstore:
http://aprillhamilton.blogspot.com/2008_06_01_archive.html
http://eoinpurcellsblog.com/2010/01/04/bookshops-are-dead-and-i-killed-them/
Even those mainstream authors who *do* get their books shelved in brick-and-mortar chains following publication will see their three to five copies disappear from those shelves to be returned to the publisher within 3 months unless their books take off to become bestsellers—and the vast majority do not. So the mainstream-pubbed author finds himself in the same “distribution” situation as a self-pubbed author very quickly.
April L. Hamilton said on January 6, 2010
To clarify my above comment -
When I talk about making one’s book available for order from any bookseller outlet, I don’t mean just available to the bookseller’s own buying agents. Having your self-pubbed book listed in the right catalogs/listings makes it available for any consumer to order from any bookseller (except maybe a used bookstore situation, but that’s true for mainstream-pubbed books, too).
From the consumer perspective, it doesn’t matter what goes on behind the scenes with wholesalers, distribution chains and the like. Either you can walk into a store and order the book you want, or you can’t. Self-pubbers can easily put their books into the former circumstance, and that’s point I’m trying to make here.
Jane Smith said on January 6, 2010
April, in my earlier comments here I was responding to your statement that self-publishers have access to the same methods of distribution as mainstream publishers.
I’ve explained how, in mainstream publishing, “distribution” refers to a very specific service which very few self-publishers have access to. Either you were completely wrong in your original statement or you are not using the term “distribution” in the same way that I understand it. I hope it’s the latter.
You now suggest that I’m hair-splitting, and state that bookshop sales aren’t really that important to you anyway. Which is an entirely different discussion.
April L. Hamilton said on January 6, 2010
Jane -
I think I said “channels”, not “methods”. There’s a difference, as you pointed out.
The only thing that interests me in this matter is the outcome, not the means. To me, if a consumer can walk into a store and order a self-pubber’s book the same way he can order a mainstream-published author’s book, the question of how this came to be is irrelevant both to the author and to the consumer purchasing the book.