Today we welcome back Scott Roche of Flying Island Press with some observations on self-publishing.

Take it away, Scott!

A few days ago I was at a convention of science fiction writers and podcasters. We’re all big fans of the various methods of self pub that are out there. During that weekend, more than one friend launched a book that they had put out themselves . We talked about a variety of pitfalls and pluses and I even attended a panel on that very topic. What was my takeaway?

Why would any sane person self publish?

There are a number of reasons that you shouldn’t, at least not as a first resort.

I’m primarily a fiction writer and there’s at least one major problem that I’ve run into when it comes to publishing my own short fiction. If you publish short fiction online in any form, there’s the potential that your work will be unsellable in most primary markets. The publishers that are looking to buy those shorts want First North American Serial rights. That means they want to be the first ones to put your stuff out there. Even if you don’t give up those rights by putting it out through a variety of electronic means, you might just undercut yourself in their eyes if they feel the market is tapped out.

The other big issue with self publishing is that you aren’t being “vetted” by anyone. There’s no official editorial process, unless you spend the money for a good copy editor, and unless you possess the ability to be incredibly objective when it comes to what you do it can be difficult to reject yourself. Given that, there’s no real good reason for most audiences to read your self published material, particularly if you’re charging for it.

Finally, there’s the matter of distribution and marketing. If you’re publishing on your own there’s a high probability that you’re tooting your own horn and delivering your own product. If you’re just “pushing pixels”, distribution may not be that big of a complication, but the marketing piece is still there. And frankly, that’s a skill set that most of us don’t have. You may be a phenomenal copy writer or fantasy author, but do you know how to spread the word or make sure that your audience gets what it orders?

So having said all that, why would any sane person self publish?

I think there are a number of very good reasons.

In the self publishing panel I attended, web-comic artist Howard Tayler went over his reasons. His webcomic has been out for ten years and he decided to self publish and sell printed collections. He did some excellent market research via his web site and knew how many copies he could sell. A publisher approached him about putting it out for him and they confirmed the numbers that he came up with. Simply put, based on what the publisher told him, he would make more money and sell as many copies if he just did it himself. He was quick to point out though that this was a serious risk since he would be holding inventory and sales aren’t guaranteed no matter how good your research is. He certainly didn’t recommend this course of action to anyone that didn’t have firm numbers to back up this decision or the financial wherewithal to make the investment. The truth remains though, in almost every case, you will see a larger percentage of profit by self publishing.

Another good reason to take the plunge is that what you have to say may fill a very specific niche. “Narrowcasting”, finding this niche audience and delivering them content, is custom made for self publishing. I see this daily in new podcasts that spring up. Traditional publishers may simply not know of the need or might be unwilling to fill it since there won’t be enough sales to satisfy their needs. In the case of fiction publishers, the genre mashup that you’ve come up with may be too outside the norm for them, whereas there might be thousands of people on the internet that would eat it up. If that’s the case then a strong argument can be made for doing it yourself.

Finally, we get back to the reasons that I do most of the self publishing I do. Getting noticed and getting better. This is not a tactic for getting rich overnight, or perhaps ever. It is a tactic for getting eyeballs on your product. It may be only a few dozen, or hundred, or perhaps even thousand, but that’s progress. The feedback that you receive and the hundreds of hours of practice you put in, not only in creating but also in honing that creation, are invaluable steps. Perhaps the result will be a successful and lucrative self publishing career such as Mr. Tayler has for himself. It could also mean that down the road you’ll attract the attention of the gatekeepers and have the numbers to show them that there is potential in your work and that it has grown. Having a back catalog of work when they do show up isn’t a bad idea either.

So, there are some very good reasons to not self publish and some even better ones to follow through. You don’t have to be crazy (though it might not hurt), but you do have to be informed and really think through your reasons for doing it.

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