Why Consider Self-Publishing? Part 1
A Little History
As we learn about self-publishing it’s important to know the path of those before us. The process seems easy now. It hasn’t always been that way.
Dan Poynter was the first to start a serious push away from publishing houses to self-publishing. His Self-Publishing Manual: How to Write, Print and Sell Your Own Book was originally published in 1979. He is called the “father of self-publishing” by Jennifer Wilber.[i]
At that time, the author was responsible for everything, including finding a printer, storing and shipping products, and marketing to retail outlets (there was no internet marketing). Poynter borrowed $15,000 from his parents to publish his first book, a manual on hang gliding, in 1977. Through this process, he learned all he could about the publishing industry and applied it to his book. He went on to write and publish more than a hundred books through his company, Para Publishing.
Print-on-demand (POD) technology helped boost self-publishing. It was no longer necessary to print hundreds or thousands of copies of a book. POD also made it possible for an author to publish a print book with the same quality as the traditional publishers. It became as easy as uploading a manuscript, selecting interior formatting, creating a cover, and starting to sell.
The earliest mention of print-on-demand by the American Printing History Association was in 1990 with Xerox DocuTech: a “production-publishing system that allowed paper documents to be scanned, electronically edited, and then printed on demand.”[ii]
One of the next big steps was BookSurge, which described the process as “inventory-free publishing.” It was founded in 2000. When Amazon bought BookSurge in 2005, the self-publishing industry took off. Authors could publish a book with no upfront cost, as many of the POD companies require, and have access to the largest market in the world.
Amazon used BookSurge for its POD publishing, then eventually changed the name to CreateSpace. In August 2018, CreateSpace merged with Kindle Direct Publishing for both print and e-books.
When Amazon introduced the Kindle and Kindle Direct Publishing in 2007, self-publishing surged. It became easier and faster to have a publication to sell. Amazon publishing platforms now offer some worldwide distribution options.
Most self-publishing companies offer both e-books and print-on-demand.
What Is in a Name?
“Five years ago, self-publishing was a scar,” White says. “Now it’s a tattoo.”[iii]
Traditional Publishing and Royalty Publishing
These two terms are nearly synonymous. They refer to selling a book to a publishing company in return for an advance and, later, royalties on the book. Traditional publishers assume the financial risks. With those risks, the publishers also have more control over the book.
Vanity Publishing or Subsidy Publishing
Writer’s magazines are full of ads for vanity publishers. The claims are to print, distribute, and market your book—for a fee. Printing they do. Distribution is often left to the author, and marketing is nonexistent. The difference between vanity or subsidy publishing and self-publishing is expectations and cost.
Full-Rights Publishing and Self-Publishing
With full rights, you maintain all the rights. Although many publishing contracts give the rights to the author, some keep international rights or electronic rights. Most of the time the term “full-rights publishing” is used in place of the term “self-publishing” because of the stigma attached to the term “self-publishing.”
Independent Publishing
Some writers use the term “independent published” in place of self-published, again due to the stigma still attached to self-publishing. AuthorYou defines independent publishers as small press companies not part of large conglomerates or multinational corporations. AuthorYou says about 50 percent of publishing companies are classified as independent publishers.[iv]
Print on Demand
Print-on-demand (POD) publishing is a form of self-publishing in which books are printed as ordered. The author often gets a larger discount when ordering for back-of-room sales. In some cases, the author is allowed to set the price; other times the POD company sets the price with a percentage going to the author. Some POD companies charge setup fees; some do not. POD is good for small runs.
E-publishing
More and more writers are publishing e-books or electronic books. These books are inexpensive because there is no cost of printing. They can be sold through a website or on a CD. Many authors are choosing to provide both hard and electronic copies of their publications.
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[i]. Jennifer Wilber, “Dan Poynter, the Father of Self-Publishing,” ToughNickel, accessed September 16, 2018, https://toughnickel.com/self-employment/Dan-Poynter-The-Father-of-Self-Publishing.
[ii]. “History of Printing Timeline,” American Printing History Association, accessed September 12, 2018, https://printinghistory.org/timeline/.
[iii]. Karen Angel, “It’s a Writer’s Market: Digital Platforms Have Emerged to Serve Midlist Authors,” Bloomberg News, May 26, 2016, https://www.pressreader.com/canada/bloomberg-businessweek-north-america/20160530/282179355327317.
[iv]. Judith Briles, “Don’t Confuse Independent Publishing with Self-Publishing,” AuthorYou, December 8, 2014, accessed September 12, 2018, https://authoru.org/dont-confuse-independent-publishing-with-self-publishing.html.