Features | Self-Publishing Review

Adventures in Self-Publishing

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I’ve been self-publishing novels for a little more than ten years. I’ve had some successes–for example, I’ve won the Writer’s Digest National Self-Published Book competition and I’ve sold more than 6,000 copies of my books. But I’m not a self-publishing rock star and I still dream of doing much better.

Here’s an essay on some things I’ve learned in ten years of doing this. Other versions of this essay appear elsewhere on the net, most recently on my site wetmachine.com, from whence you can download versions of my books for free if you feel like […]

John Sundman2011-10-08T19:38:08+02:00March 24th, 2010|Categories: Features, Lead Story, Resources|

The Pain of Promotion

When promoting your own book, the pain of promotion isn’t necessarily the amount of time it takes, but how it actually feels to be the salesman of your own work. It’s what makes writing a query letter so hard – not just condensing a book into a few words, but trying to be an advocate without sounding like a used car salesman. One of the problems you’ll see in self-published books is hyperbole on the back cover copy. It’s important to realize that self-published books and traditionally published books aren’t equal in this regard. So if a writer calls his/her […]

Henry Baum2011-10-08T19:38:28+02:00March 24th, 2010|Categories: Features|

What Killed My Faith in the Formal Channels and Gatekeepers…

I think what may have killed my faith
in the formal channels
and gatekeepers
who hold the keys
to opportunity in the creative world
was, at least in part, the years I spent being a gatekeeper myself
first as an intern at Seattle Repertory Theatre,
then at the Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, CT,
where I and my interns would slowly, slowly , slowly plow
our way through the piles, and piles, and piles
of good, and bad, and terrible submissions
from authors and their agents.

When we were really smoking,
the scripts in our agent pile got […]

stefanlanfer2011-10-08T19:38:53+02:00March 22nd, 2010|Categories: Features|

Comic Relief! “Writing, Time Management, and You”

Life is short, and the business of self-publishing, while completely joyful, can also make you want to stab yourself in the throat – but in the end, what’s most important is to remember why we write.

Or rather, why we don’t.

[…]

Kristen Tsetsi2011-10-08T19:39:30+02:00March 21st, 2010|Categories: Features|Tags: Writing Tips|

Trad Author Goes Indie and Back

There is a lot of passionate discussion about whether self-publishing is a valid career move. I’ve learned that instead of wasting time trying to win converts, I’ll simply follow what I believe, based on the evidence I have at this point.

To wit:
1) I will make more on my backlist first novel THE RED CHURCH this year than I did from its original advance. In other words, in the year it took the book to get through “traditional production.” And I can do whatever I want with it, forever.

2) My later publishing contracts tied up my rights for […]

scottnicholson2011-10-08T18:36:20+02:00March 11th, 2010|Categories: Features|

The Real Source of Self-Publishing Stigma

So here is the thing…

There is a lot of talk about the “stigma” of self-publishing. But for the most part this stigma is rather contained. For example:

Mainstream Publishers/Agents: They don’t really care whether you self-publish or not. I mean think about this for a moment. If you’re self-publishing, you’re one less manuscript in their slush pile. If you fail, they don’t have to deal with you. If you succeed, then you are a proven quantity to them… a sure thing, which is something publishers like. So exactly why would they care? Publishers and agents reject bad writing all

[…]

Zoe Winters2014-01-08T20:48:44+02:00March 10th, 2010|Categories: Features|

Publishing: Advocate or Be Damned

Self-publishers or traditionally published—what are we really advocates of?

There are those in the traditional world of publishing who believe self-publishing has the potential to tarnish an author’s book. Usually there are a myriad of under-the-surface reasons for this view, but, at least as far as tried and trusted publishing practice is concerned, their valid argument is that an author who chooses to first self-publish their book gives up their first publication rights. When an author or agent tries to sell a book that has been published before—no matter how obscure or whatever format, print or e-book—it removes one of […]

Mick Rooney2011-10-08T18:39:03+02:00February 24th, 2010|Categories: Features|

Self-Publishing is Humanity’s Progress (and also the Apocalypse)

How’s that for a bombastic title? Not that self-publishing needs any more defending because it’s here to stay and detractors are gathering cobwebs, but not a lot has been written here about publishing as it relates to the music industry, or about the long-term future of publishing. One of the mysteries about self-publishing is that a playwright can put on his own play out of pocket, or a band can self-release a book, and this is not considered…pathetic. The difference between this and self-publishing, as far as I can see it, is that book writing and reading is far more […]

Henry Baum2011-10-08T18:39:53+02:00February 19th, 2010|Categories: Features, Lead Story|