The Fading Stigmata of Self-Publishing

This post was originally written in 2015. How far we have come, and how much is still the same.

Gerry Martin pointed this article by Liz Long out to me, thanks, Gerry.

The publishing system isn’t broken by any means, but the stigma behind “traditional” and “indie” publishing has really gotten my goat lately.

I’m independently published, or self-published. What does that mean? It means I do not have an agent or traditional publisher backing me. It means that I’m in control of my stories, my edits, my covers, my marketing, and everything else that goes along with it. It means that I bust my ass working towards a dream.

Does it make me better than traditional authors? Nope. We all work hard to earn our keep; they just have a little extra help.

Does it make me worse than traditional authors? Still no. I’m not just chucking up the first draft and waiting for rave reviews to come in.

Things are changing and it’s time for folks to get on board before they’re left behind. I work in magazines, but it’s no secret that the indie waves are crashing down and changing the book publishing landscape. You know the stories – how Amanda Hocking self-published and rocked the publishing world to its knees when she became a bestseller without the help of the Big Six. How hundreds of authors are hitting NY Times and USA Today bestseller lists thanks to their fans and friends, to the straight up hustle it takes to earn such a title.

...

Self-published authors are not desperate losers (nor were they ever, but I like to think we’re more marketable now). Those of us in it to win it are not hoping to publish one book and get rich quick. I’m not quitting my job in the hopes of writing the “Next Great Novel” (because that plan doesn’t work for me).

I don’t need to be a traditionally published author to understand what goes into my books. I put on my pants like everyone else, going through the correct steps just like traditional authors do with their work: I have an editor to check my spelling and grammar, brilliant cover designers to catch readers’ attention, and a marketing team behind me so that I’m not in it alone and completely overwhelmed. Read the whole thing here.

I think it is a slowly receding stigma - healing stigmata, if you want. When asked, I tell people I'm independently published. I own my publishing imprint, and because I have the background, I run it like a business. I do my level best to deliver a professional product to the consumer, just as if I weren't the artist creating it in the first place. To that end, I've gathered a crew of people who help me with the bits I can't manage on my own, like editing. And it's not easy, it's a ton of work. But I don't expect to wind up on bestselling lists (other than on Amazon, where they count, being generated by real sales rather than projections).

As for the slowly fading, a movie comes out in a couple of months, created from a book that was originally self-published. I read The Martian back then, before it was bought by a 'real publisher' and optioned to be a movie. It was good. It's still good. The only difference is who is handling it, and the level of publicity... and that's making a wave through readers. If a self-published book can be good, then maybe others will be, too?

It's not going to be overnight. But already, I'm seeing the readers care less about who handles the book and more about the story inside the book.

Brad Torgersen, commenting on the article, talked about his path into publishing,

It may be another generation before the unconscious "wall" totally collapses. Too many of us were born in the age when "self" and "vanity" were synonymous.

Kevin J. Anderson said it best: publishing has now been made *easy* but SUCCESS is still as hard as it's ever been.

Speaking from my military experience, I think it's inevitable human nature that people begin to check each other out according to what kinds of rites of passage each of us has endured. For the vast bulk of publishing history, "making it" with an editor was a celebrated rite of passage. You knew you were "for real" when you'd cut muster with an established magazine or novel house.

Certainly the three most joyous events in my entire publishing career to date have been (in order):

1 - winning Writers of the Future.

2 - getting my first sale to Analog magazine.

3 - getting a first novel sale with Baen Books.

I am a middle aged duffer. I come from the "old" world. I think the new world is exciting (and a relief) because now there is an amazing additional option that is available to everybody, and people are making money at it. But I also think it's not perfect either. Especially when Amazon dominates so much of the marketing and delivery mechanism. If Amazon were to fold, or get draconian with its practices, indie publishing would be in a bad place. 

Cedar brings up a GREAT point: indie publishing forces the writer to actually *be* "in the business" as it were. A lot of us from the "old world" of publishing (I guess I am technically a "cusper" because I broke in right when indie was exploding?) are absolutely shit businesspeople. You can't be a shit businessperson and manage your indie career. You just can't. You might luck into a phenomenon, such as 50 Shades. But that's a one-in-a-million lightning strike. The working indie writer MUST be his/her own accountant, tax specialist, marketer, art department, etc.

I respect the HELL out of the successful indie writers I know, for this reason above all others. They are doing so much more than just writing books!

I ran into this perception with the first business I ran - and I was pitched into that one headfirst with no option but to learn how, or drown - and that is that artists can't be businesspeople. Which is BS, and lazy. It's a matter of learning, and even if you aren't an Indie Publisher, you still have to learn how to be businesslike, or you will be taken advantage of. How many of us know writers who blithely signed over rights to a publisher than then ripped them off for that book, and possibly others? Brad's been fortunate - or wise, and I know where I incline with that - in that he's working with honorable publishers.

As for the fading stigmata, it's going to take time. It's going to take a raft full of authors willing to put in the time and effort to prove over and over that we can deliver professional products the public will enjoy reading, and that we can do this consistently. Right now, we're getting our toes in the door by being able to deliver those products for less than the Big Five do. That won't last forever - someone over there is going to get a clue and realize they have to choose between obscene profits on ebooks and keeping any bit of market share. Readers choosing between the $9.99 ebook and the $3.99 ebook will buy two or three of the latter before the former. If they really really want the expensive one, they will wait for a sale, or go to their library.

And like any scar, there may be lingering marks for a long time to come. Something makes me suspect that they may come to be a badge of honor, on the other hand. We're working hard to make a go of it, and when you work hard, you get banged up. As much of a cliche as it is, something you have to work for is worth more than something that's handed to you. I've seen that over and over.

In the meantime, the advice I offer everyone who asks about Indie?

• Write. Write more. You will survive on quantity, not quality alone. Perfection is the enemy of good enough.

• Go into it with your eyes open. It's a sh*t-ton of work, and still, you're going to trip over things you weren't prepared to do when you started out.

• Be patient. This is going to take time, and writing, and more writing - not all of it fiction.

• If you opt out, read the contract. Have an IP Lawyer look at the contract. Even then, know that small publishers have the unfortunate problem that they will go belly-up on a surfeit of dreams and lack of capital.

• Study the success stories. Larry Correia, who self-published his first book. Kevin Anderson, who writes like a machine AND runs a good-sized publishing house. Hugh Howey, the self-published man of mystery (just kidding. But he's pretty nifty to watch work). There are others, but that's a start.