the risky side of self-publishing your novel.
can it be done today? what are the drawbacks? has the internet changed the rules?
You dream of being a successful published author. Walking into a book store and seeing your novel on sale alongside the greats. Seeing someone at a table in a coffee shop reading your novel with passion. It’s not easy getting published, it takes a long time with a lot of disappointments along the way. There will be a lot of ups and downs you’ll have to go through to get a book published by a major company and in bookstores available for the masses.
However, you may not wish to publish the traditional way with a literary agent and a well-known publishing house. You wish to take a shot with self-publishing, where you’ll do all the work in getting your book out there. Can it be a reality? Can this work out? what are the risks in you publishing your own novel?
in this blog, we will be looking at the risky side of self-publishing your novel...
THE RISKY SIDE OF YOU SELF PUBLISHING YOUR NOVEL
Table of Contents
Why would you wish to go this route? It could be for many reasons, you might’ve been rejected by literary agents in the past. Or signed by a literary agent only to be rejected by publishing houses. You might have been asked to make changes to the ending you did not want to make. Or your book might be too “different” for mainstream bookstores.
However, there is one reason you wish to self-publish, because your book is hard to “place” on a shelf in a bookstore. It might be a mix of romance, science fiction, comedy, making it difficult for a publisher to market. They might’ve requested you choose one genre so it can be placed on a shelf and you don’t want to make any changes.
THE AUTHOR MAY NOT WANT TO MAKE CHANGES
Maybe the book is too long or the ending isn’t what the publishers like and request it be changed. The author may not want to change the ending or take any chapters out.
Publishers spend a lot of money to print and market a book, they need it marketable to get copies sold. The more difficult it is to market the more difficult to sell. So the author sets out to publish the book themselves.
THE INTERNET HAS CHANGED THINGS
There was a time when self-publishing was a no-go. Simply because it was too much work with very few rewards. As a writer, you had to do everything. If you wanted your book read in other countries you had to take your own copies to that country and sell them book by book.
However, with the internet today things are different. You can write a book on a laptop and have it published all around the world with one click. People in other countries can now download your book while you’re sitting at home. It looks as though the days of needing an agent and publisher are over. However, this opens the door to a new set of problems.
NEGATIVE MINDSET TOWARDS SELF PUBLISHED BOOKS
With publishing online being easy it opens the door for hundreds of new novels uploaded every day which leads to the problem of the market being over-saturated. Leading a new author’s book being lost in the shuffle. Not getting the attention it might deserve. However big publishing houses will only put out a few books every year with a marketing campaign to get readers’ attention.
Plus there’s the negative mindset the public has towards self-published novels. They look down upon them. Seeing them as not worth reading. Believing if they’re not good enough to be published by a big company, they must not be worth reading.
IT’S DIFFICULT TO MARKET
Which is too bad because a new writer might have an amazing novel, but the public has a negative view towards them and will pass on yours before giving it a try.
However, the biggest problem when it comes to self-publishing still remains the biggest problem that has existed for decades. That being the cost for promoting. It’s easy to write a novel but difficult to market.
THEY GOT THE MONEY TO PROMOTE
This is why the publishing houses still have control over the world of publishing. Because they got the money to back up their promotion department. They can invest millions to promote a book across the country or world if they wish to.
Putting money upfront is difficult. If everyone who self-published were a millionaire putting the money upfront would be easy. But it’s not. However, the big companies do have the money.
YOU’RE TAKING A BIG RISK
If you as a self-publisher want your book to be noticed you’ll have to put up your own money. it’s risky. If it turns out to be a success then all the royalty checks go into your pocket. you can really cash in. However, if the book doesn’t sell you’ll have lost all your money.
Keep in mind, the same risk falls onto publishing houses as well. If they spend a ton of money to promote two or three new novels and they do not sell they to will lose all their money. Meaning they could lose their company and all the employees are out of work. Even the biggest publishing houses are in constant fear of new books not selling, leading to them going bankrupt.
THEY HAVE A MARKETING STAFF
Publishing houses are not just promoting one book but many at one time. They need those books to sell for their company to keep going. When it comes to marketing it can be tough. As a new writer not only do you have to write your book but figure out how to market it. Whereas a big printing house has their own department put together for marketing. They have educated staff who are dedicated to promoting books and have money to back them up.
Writers may not have the in-depth knowledge on how to market a book around the country or worldwide. Meaning an amazingly powerful novel might go unnoticed by the public.
HAVING AN UNREAD CLASSIC
This is why the employees of the marketing division do not write novels. Their expertise is in marketing. an author writes, they market. A writer shouldn’t have to do both. because they may not know how.
Even though the internet has helped out in getting new writers’ books all over the world with a click of a button, the problem still comes down to marketing the book to the right fan base. If you fail to reach the right readers they’ll have no idea your wonderful book is out there. Meaning a potential new literary classic might go unread. another problem is not knowing if your book truly is ready. You might believe it is, but is it really? It’s important for new writers to have an editor look over the book before sending it out.
PARENTS WILL NOT GIVE A BAD REVIEW
Never have a friend or parent read your book and ask for their advice. (they will always tell you it’s amazing.) That’s what friends do. but is it? Having a stranger whose a well-known editor read over your book will help out. They’ll be honest. Pointing out errors where they exist. But a parent may not.
Editors know what to look for. they know when the pacing is wrong. They can tell when character arcs are off. When your book is sent to a big publishing house they have a department that edits a novel before it’s sent out. When you’re starting out as a writer you have to do your own editing. It’s not easy because it’s hard to see your own mistakes.
THE BOOKS WERE NOT READY FOR PUBLICATION
Sadly over the years, the world of self-publishing has been hurt by so many books being printed that were not ready for publication. They needed more rewrites. It means the next Stephen King or Dan Brown might be overlooked because everyone has been put off to online books. A diamond in the rough might be missed out on.
New authors sometimes have a problem being told by a big publishing house their book has errors. They can’t believe their novel could possibly have any mistakes needing rewrites. The publishers ask for changes leading the writer to want to self-publish to avoid making any changes.
YOU MAY NOT SEE YOUR ERRORS
But sometimes publishers know what they’re talking about. They have seen books fail and some succeed. Their advice could be the big breakthrough the book needs. Stephen King was given advice on how to make changes to “Carrie.” He could’ve said no and his book would never have been published, leading us to never knowing who he is. But by saying yes and making the changes the book sold and a movie was made.
These could be errors in your story you might not see. Your story might wander. it could lose its focus but as a writer, you think you’re on track. You think everything is fine but the reader who’s downloaded your novel will notice right away. And an editor will have pointed it out.
THEY HAVE LINE EDITORS
It’s amazing how many little things in a sentence go unnoticed. The big companies will hire a line editor. they will read over a book looking for the little mistakes here and there not with the story overall but the actual sentence a new writer might miss. You never want to self-publish a novel with grammar errors that are picked up by someone reading it.
A self-published author could re-read their work countless times over and never notice the little errors right in front of their eyes. Only to have them pointed out after the book has been published.
FALLING THROUGH THE CRACKS
One of the biggest problems new books face is “falling through the cracks.” Meaning they are marketing towards the wrong age group or fail to find an audience. All publishers fear releasing a book that misses its intended reader. Meaning neither young kids or teens or adults wish to read the book. male or females pass on it. Great work has to be done to make sure a target audience exists.
As a self-published author, you have to make sure you know who will read or book. You cannot say “it appeals to everyone.” There is no such book that appeals to every age group. what a 60-year-old reads a 10-year-old will not. You have to know in what section of a book store your book would be found if it were published by a publishing house.
PUBLISHERS KNOW ALL ABOUT TARGET MARKETING
You don’t want to just throw your book out there hoping it finds an audience. Publishers understand the world of “target marketing” they know who to aim the book towards. They have employees who work at reaching the right age group.
Publishers might be tough on new authors but they could be right. they have seen countless books come across their desk and they can tell if it will work or not. Many years of success and failure have taught them.
you might be interested in these blogs…
LEARN HOW TO MASTER THE BOOK PUBLISHING BUSINESS
WHY YOU SHOULDN’T MIX GENRES WHEN STARTING OUT
SEEING THINGS THROUGH A LITERARY AGENT’S EYES
