Independent Publishing

I was moved in March 2014 to put my book on paper.

I did that. I took the first draft to my daddy, and explained the project to him. I explained it to my two brothers and to my mom. Because I held a spiral bound draft of the finished book - printed at Fedex Kinko's - everyone knew this was serious. It was done. No one pushed back and so I felt confident about moving forward with publishing it somehow.

Always write before you think about the publishing.

There are two general courses for book publishing:

1. A writer markets himself to a literary agent, who then markets the client's book projects to a major publisher. The publisher buys the projects through the agent, paying the writer for the book less a commission to the agent or whatever the contracts all stipulate. The writer may give up a little or a lot of the editorial control, design of the cover, and everything related to his book. You sell out, essentially, but the more popular you become the more leverage you have over your products. I don't imagine Stephen King gets messed with every much.

I wrote two literary agents, and they immediately rejected me. No big deal - I expected it. Even though I have a 40-year resume as I writer, I'm unknown in literary circles and have never published a book. I've rarely been published in magazines - most of my work is published in newspapers and ministry publications. I would imagine there are first-time writers who - through relationships and contacts - get noticed and picked up by an agent. Through relationships or just providence, I'm sure there's an unknown author somewhere that bypassed all this and was picked up by a major book publisher.

The odds would be against it. The odds against it would be similar to winning the Power Ball.

2. So, most writers - like me and perhaps you - get tired and bored with finding literary agents, and go the independent publishing route. I figured, all along, I would go the independent publishing route. Independent publishing is where the author becomes the publisher, creating a small business through which he pays to publish his own book. My decision was based on a lack of patience to find an agent and wanting to maintain all of my creative control. 

Independent publishing no longer has the "vanity" stigma it did say 10 years ago. It's possible to pay enough to churn out an independent book of the same general quality as a professionally published book. As I learned, major book publishers have even created independent publishing arms, which allows publishers to "spy" on prospective authors. If they see an independent's work having success or see potential, these book publishers can follow an author's journey from a distance, letting the author pay-to-play, and perhaps swoop in with an author to republish a book or pick up future work.

I actually made a decision not to use one of the self-publishing arms of a major book publisher. I did lots of research and ultimately chose CreateSpace - the independent publishing platform owned by Amazon. I was impressed with its overall approach to graphic design services, editing services, and marketing services. It was expensive, yes, but a good fit for me. By the way - you will always get what you pay for in book publishing. Go cheap and that's what you'll have. Invest money in it and you'll have a worthy looking, readable product. 

Blessings,

Scott