“Dear Agent:

I’ve got 5,000 copies of my published book in my garage, all ready for you to sell to bookstores for me.

Signed,

Eager Author”

We can’t tell you how many times writers have contacted us with letters like this, or something similar. We’d guess the number to be in the thousands.

Sometimes the “published” books they refer to were self-published; more often, they were not. Instead, the eager writer paid exorbitant prices for a sub-standard product from a vanity press.

It’s not our job

Either way, self-published or a vanity scam, getting your book into bookstores is not what a literary agent does. We’re in the business of getting the writer’s manuscript published by a real book publishing company—one who pays the author for the privilege, not the other way around.

When we’ve taken the time to explain this to the Eager Authors who write to our agency, they become quite disappointed. “What am I going to do with all my books?” they ask.

What happened?

Obviously, in their eagerness to get their name on a printed book, these wanna-be published writers didn’t think this through, learning what self-publishing a book is and what it isn’t.

Some of them may have self-published books that could go on to sell well; most of these Eager Authors do not. And the problems holding them back often go way beyond the issue of the quality of the text. It’s not possible to be successful with a sub-standard printed book.

Self-education should come before self-publication.

Done properly, your self-published book may lead you to contact a literary agent with a different kind of letter, one that asks if it is time to take your successful title to a trade book publisher for even greater success.

Copyright 2007 by Barbara Doyen. All rights reserved.

A publishing professional offers a checklist to determine if entering book publishing might be a good business decision for you. 

You’ve written a great manuscript all ready for a book publishing company. You’ve heard that some authors are self-publishing their own books and you’re wondering if you should try it yourself. What elements should be present to indicate your book could be successfully self-published?

Check off all the following that apply to you and your book:

1. ___Your book will be nonfiction

Fiction makes up only a small portion of the self-published book market because it’s so tough to sell self-published novels. Nonfiction is much easier.

Added in late 2009: It is now easier to sell your self-published fiction if you do publish ebooks online.

2. ___Your book topic is needed and something people will pay money to read.

Hopefully you are an expert in the topic and you have a thorough understanding of what information is useful in your subject area.

3. ___You’ve identified your target book-buying audience niche.

A description of your book’s potential audience should be written up in detail, including actual numbers.

4. ___You know how to reach your target book-buying audience.

This is perhaps the most essential element for self-published authors. Not only must you be able to make your audience aware of your book, you must also provide them with convenient buying opportunities.

At the outset, assume that you will be selling the books by yourself. Don’t count on getting a self-published book on bookstore shelves, because it is tough to do. Marketing and sales will be your responsibility.

5. ___You are committed to creating a high-quality book.

You will provide all the elements of book publishing, hiring professionals where needed to insure a fine product. Amateur efforts are not good enough.

6. ___You understand that you are creating your own company to self-publish your book.

You are not paying another so-called publishing company to publish your book—the latter indicates a vanity or book publishing scam.

7. ___You will give a great deal of time to your book publishing company.

First, by investing time educating yourself thoroughly about the self-publishing book business. Then, by taking the time necessary to create a quality product. Finally, by regularly and diligently dedicating time to marketing and sales.

8. ___You’ve researched the other similar books in print.

Your book should be comparable, if not superior to others.

The mere presence of competing books should not be a deterrent. Being able to identify, reach and provide sales opportunities to your target audience is more important.

* * * * * *

How did you rate?

The results of this checklist will help you decide about self-publishing your book.

Obviously, you should have checked every item, above. Even so, starting your own book publishing company to self-publish your book should be considered carefully. Like any other business decision, you should not go into it without having strong indicators that your investment of time and money will be worthwhile.

Copyright 2007 by Barbara Doyen. All rights reserved.

Related reading:

What is Book Publishing?

What Is Self Publishing?

Trade Publish or Self Publish?

Book Publishing Scams and Writer, Beware!

You’ve got a great nonfiction book topic. You’d love to place it with a legitimate book publishing company, one that pays you to publish your book. But you’ve heard that self-publishing can be a viable option, too. How do you know which route to take?

It all comes down to a matter of numbers. Numbers of copies that can be sold, that is.

Here are some questions to help you decide between trade publishing and self-publishing your book.

1. Will your topic be of interest only to a niche audience?

If your book would appeal to a large national or international audience, trade publishing is the better choice because a regular book publishing company can do a better job of reaching that audience than you can on your own.

If your book would primarily interest a specific, niche audience, trade publishing houses may not be interested.

2. Is your niche audience difficult to reach via normal book publishing sales outlets?

If so, a major publisher may feel that the potential number of copies sold will be too small for them to be able to profitably take on your project, no matter how well it is written.

3. Can you reach your niche audience on your own?

If you have the means to reach that niche audience via marketing and sales opportunities, you may well be better off to self-publish your nonfiction book.

4. Do you do speaking engagements?

Several of our successful author/clients appear before tens of thousands of people annually via their speaking engagements. If a trade book publisher feels their book’s audience is too small, self-publishing makes sense for these authors, providing the book can be marketed and sold in conjunction with their speeches. Sales are better if the book topic is related to the speech topic.

5. Do you publish a popular newsletter?

Many of our authors have quite a following through newsletters, often delivered via email. Their newsletters provides a vehicle for making interested people aware of their published books on related topics, and can offer an easy means to purchase them.

6. Are you well-known in your organization?

If you serve on a national or international board of directors for a club or organization, or if you are well-respected in your special field, you may have an audience for your book on a relevant topic, and the organization may provide the means of informing your audience of the book’s availability in their communications to members.

7. Are you still unsure between seeking trade publication or becoming self-published?

You can first try to interest a trade publisher. If trade publishers aren’t interested, self publishing your book is still an option.

If you can answer yes to the questions, above, you may be successful at self-publication.

8. Can you be self-published then trade published?

Some successful self-published books later get picked up by trade book publishers. If the author can sell a respectable number of self-published copies on their own, and if a sizable untapped audience remains who would be interested in buying the book, an appropriate trade publisher might become interested.

Copyright 2007 by Barbara Doyen. All rights reserved.

What is Self Publishing?

Do I Have a Trade Book or Should I Self Publish?

A publishing professional discusses publishing a book yourself, which is different from vanity publishing and which can be quite successful.

Self-publishing a book involves the same elements as regular trade book publishing with one major exception: you are paying for everything.

What self-publishing is and isn’t

Self-publishing means that you are responsible for writing the text, getting it edited and proofread, hiring a printer (not a publisher) to make copies of the book, figuring out how to sell the book, creating advertising and promotional materials, physically getting the book into the hands of buyers, collecting the money, etc. Aside from the actual writing, the author either learns how to do the other elements himself, or (preferably) subcontracts each one with professionals. (NOTE: there is no such thing as a “publisher” who offers to do all of these things for you for a price. This is where the scammers come in.)

What kinds of book become self-published?

By far, the majority of self-published books are nonfiction. Nonfiction books, even from an unknown author, stand a greater chance of becoming profitable than fiction. Although it is not impossible to find success self-publishing fiction, it is much harder if your name is unknown.

Self-publishing successes

While many self-published books experience far more limited sales, it is possible to become hugely successful. Consider these:

• When I Am an Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple by Sandra Haldeman Martz. This anthology of short stories and poems has sold well over a million copies for the author’s self-publishing company, Paper Mache Press.  Its success has led to many related titles, both for Paper Mache and other publishers. The book addressed a real need to change society’s view on women and aging and even led to the formation of a popular international group, The Red Hat Society.

• Fix-It and Forget-It cookbooks by Phyllis Pellman Good have sold millions and millions of copies, creating a profit center for her self-publishing company, Good Books.

• Travel Free launched Ben Dominitz’ successful Prima Publishing, which enjoyed higher profits than other houses year after year, becoming a top independent publisher. (Unfortunately, this press is no longer in existence, being bought out and then dissolved by another company.)

From self-publishing to trade publishing

Although the majority of self-published books never go on to trade publication, it is possible to have your successful self-published book garner the interest of a major publisher, generating even more sales, stints on the bestseller lists, and lots of money for the author. Some examples:

• What Color is Your Parachute, originally self-published by Richard Nelson Bolles over 30 years ago, is a perennial favorite that is annually updated. Acquired by Ten Speed Press, it appeared on the New York Times bestseller list for over 5 years, it has sold many millions of copies internationally, and it inspired many spin-off books and products about job hunting.

• The One-Minute Manager, self-published by Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson, attracted the interest of William Morrow after the authors sold 20,000 copies on their own. It, too, went on to become a book publishing phenomenon.

Copyright 2007 by Barbara Doyen. All rights reserved.

See Also:

Book Publishing Scams

What is Trade Publishing?

Trade Publish or Self-Publish?