Self-Publishing: Lessons Learnt



The Lights of Senglea, Malta



I now believe I made Three Major Mistakes before I committed to my first self-publishing experience.

I should have,

(i)  obtained a clear or specific indication of what the actual cost price of my printed book would be.

It ought to have been possible for me to obtain an approximate price for printing costs because this obviously relates to the size and number of pages in the book. However, when I asked, I was fobbed off with ‘we can’t tell you how much it will cost to print until after it has been laid out’ and ‘you will be able to sell your book at whatever price you want because you decide on the amount of profit you want on each sale’.

I supplied my 300-page book in Word format, with the correct margins and page layout.  After it had been laid out by my self-publishing organisation, it was suddenly 400 pages long and I received the shock of my life when the cost price quoted far exceeded the price for which it could be sold.

I then reduced the number of pages, formatted the book myself, and supplied it in a pdf format as 300 pages, but even then there was very little margin between the cost price and the sale price.  In fact, it has been virtually impossible for large distributors/bookshops to sell my first book where they put 100% mark-up on the cost price, because the sale price then becomes extortionate.

In future, I will not be writing a book longer than 200 pages, particularly because the cost price influences the sale price which has to be reasonable, and printing costs need to be keep as low as possible. 

(ii)  dealt with a British self-publishing organisation.

I would definitely recommend, if possible, dealing with a company situated in the same country as yourself, or at least where they speak the same language.  Being British, I wanted to deal with a company based in the United Kingdom.  I thought I was making sure that I was dealing with a British company; Authorhouse (UK) Ltd with offices in Milton Keynes which I visited and where I attended a seminar, met the staff, discussed the options, and even spoke about UK Value Added Tax being included in the price which they confirmed. 

However, in the end it turned out that I was dealing with an American organisation, and UK VAT was not included; therefore, the cost involved was 20% more than I anticipated as at that time I could have reclaimed the VAT. 

I have nothing against Americans, and even during my first self-publishing experience I spoke to people on the telephone who were extremely helpful and polite.  Nevertheless, when Churchill said, “Two nations divided by a common language” it still absolutely rings true.  During conversations on long-distance telephone calls, when dealing with American Accounts Departments and a continually-changing array of Book Consultants, Marketing Consultants and Publishing Consultants, there were occasions when I am quite certain that they did not understand what I was saying (put it down to my accent!), and indisputably there were times when I had trouble understanding them.

I would, therefore, recommend dealing with people who reside in the same country as yourself, and thereby save time and expense.

(iii)  found out more about the costs involved in marketing a self-published book.

I was assured by my publisher that they would provide marketing advice and assistance – they had lots of marketing packages available.  But at what cost?

Naively, I thought that the cost of marketing would be covered by the profits on book sales, as would be the case in any business.  However, with such a small difference between the printed price and the sale price, the profit can contribute very little towards the expenditure involved in some marketing activities.

To be cost effective, certain methods of marketing recommended to me would have to result in sales of thousands of copies of books in order to make them viable, and it was obvious that the probability of this happening when I was an unknown author, was negligible.

However, in my next post I will describe some marketing options which I discovered for myself and which I did find to be cost effective as they generated sales.

The other problem with regard to being personally responsible for all your own marketing activities, in addition to the expenses involved, is that it is very time-consuming; time which you might have been able to use to write another book. 

Nevertheless, I have no excuse for not looking into the above three problem areas in advance because I was (and still am!) an experienced businesswoman.  In my professional role, I continually carried out targeted marketed and evaluated the results.  Furthermore, prior to starting my own business, I undertook research into the need for the services my company was about to offer, and ensured that our fees reflected the type of skills we were going to provide in a competitive marketplace.

I have to admit, though, that it is different when you are attempting to have published something into which you have put your heart and soul, as well as a lot of time and energy.  In those circumstances, the desire to have your work published can overtake reason.

Despite the above, I have not been put off; I will self-publish the two books I am currently in the process of writing, but now I will do so with ‘my eyes wide open’.

Furthermore, I do hope that the above information will prove advantageous to those who are considering entering the world of self-publishing and help others avoid the same mistakes that I made.

The Other Disadvantages of Self-Publishing



Gorf L-Abjad, Malta



Proofreading

A self-published author has to proofread their own work, or pay someone to do so.  To create the right impression with readers, it is not a good idea to publish a work of fact or fiction that contains errors whether these are factual errors, spelling or grammatical errors.  Errors can detract from the enjoyment of the book, and could result in bad publicity, readers not recommending your book to others, or not purchasing future works by the same author.

Readability

A self-published author needs to have their work evaluated by someone who will give them an honest opinion as to whether or not their book is worth publishing – will it be of interest to others?

A professional publisher would undertake the above two tasks, but these roles do not fall within the auspices of a self-publishing organisation – they will publish your work regardless of errors, or readability, because you are paying them to do so.  They will also ask you to sign a clause that states you accept full responsibility for the content, etc, so that they have no legal responsibility in the event of plagiarism, etc.

Electronic Versions

Some self-publishing organisations will charge extra for producing and selling electronic versions, but there are many websites who will sell an electronic version for a percentage of the royalty if you can submit it in the correct format. 

Also, research should be carried out into the cost of setting up your own website from which you can sell your book before you commit to a self-publishing organisation doing this for you as they could charge you much more.

Reaching the Public

Only those who are already aware of your book’s existence are likely to find it on the Amazon website, or the publisher’s website, as it will be like ‘looking for a needle in a haystack’.  Correct information will need to be entered in the Search Criteria to lead potential customers to its details.  If anybody else finds it, it will be ‘pot luck’.

Personal Sales

It is very difficult to sell your book to friends and family who think you are trying to make a profit out of them.  Many people will expect you to give them a copy of the book free of charge.

Selling to Retailers

No bookshop is going to pay you in advance of selling your books.  You will probably need to leave them on a ‘Sale or Return’ basis, and then go back to obtain payment.  Some organisations might not pay you, some books may be stolen or just disappear, and that is not only your royalty gone, but you have also had to cover the printing cost.

And finally ‘The Big One’

The Cost of Self- Publishing

This can vary from organisation to organisation, as does the level of service included in the cost. 

Also, I have heard some horrific stories of organisations taking the payment, which has to be made in advance, and then disappearing or going bankrupt.  In this situation, the author could lose a substantial amount of money.

The answer is to do your research before you commit to using the services of a specific self-publishing organisation.

Advantages & Disadvantages of Self-Publishing



Rock Arch at Il Parsott, Malta


In my previous post, I listed the advantages of Self-Publishing as shown below in black. Now I have added the disadvantages in red and further advantages in blue.

1. The book can be supplied in a pdf format, or as a Word document and it will be laid out for you. If you do allow a self-publishing organisation to lay out your book for you, you may find that the number of pages increases dramatically with a lot of space being included.  This will influence the price of printing and could result in a much higher cost price than what would be regarded as a reasonable retail price.

2.  The publisher obtains the ISBN and copyright, but the copyright is retained by the author. So far, I have not experienced any difficulties with this arrangement, and am now selling my book as an electronic version using the same ISBN.

3.  The book trade will be supplied with an electronic record that links to your book so that any bookshop can purchase it direct from the publisher.  The advantage of this is that they will be able to obtain a copy for a customer who asks for it.  The disadvantage is that if your book is unknown, there will be no copies on the bookshelves for customers to see.

4.  ‘Print on demand’ is used so that copies are only printed as required. Printing single copies of a book is much more expensive per copy than a large print run, and then it might not be possible for your book to be sold at a competitive retail price.

5.  All distribution to customers or bookshops is undertaken on your behalf.  This is a major advantage because if an author had to undertake this task, it would be very time consuming, and also might prove to be more expensive as organisations who undertake distribution on a large-scale can do so not only more efficiently, but also much more cost-effectively.

6.  You can decide on the retail price and the royalty you would like to receive on each sale.  While this is a true statement, it is not exactly so straightforward.  

In any calculations, consideration has to be given to how the retail price of your book compares with others of similar size/genre which are already on the market as this will influence whether customers purchase your book; unless your book is spectacularly different, you cannot charge more than those being sold by other authors.

Then there is the cost price, or printing cost of your book, which will be the cost you have to cover before anything else.

Therefore, the royalty you receive will be determined as being the difference between a reasonable selling price and the cost price.

7.  The book, including a lot of details, will be displayed on the Amazon website as well as on the publisher’s own website.  The publisher’s website could possibly only receive a minimal number of hits, whereas the Amazon website is probably the most popular site for those wishing to purchase books online, but if the book is sold via this method, the author is likely to receive a reduction in their royalty payment.

8.  Cover design was included if a picture was supplied.  From my experience, there will be an extra charge if the publishing house supply a picture for the front cover.  Whether or not a picture is supplied, a different picture has to be used if the book is published elsewhere, ie electronically.

9.  Books can be purchased personally at a reduced cost price. This will only be true if large quantities are purchased at any one time.

10.  A wide range of marketing options are available which will facilitate the book being marketed throughout the world.  There are some marketing opportunities that are free of charge, and I will cover these in my post entitled “Marketing a Self-Published Work”.  However, there are many marketing options being offered by self-publishing organisations that are extremely costly, and self-published authors need to evaluate whether the price of a particular option will result in sufficient return to cover that cost.

In addition to the above, there are other disadvantages of self-publishing that I will be covering in my next post.

However, despite everything mentioned above, I am proud to have published my first book, and I am writing two more.

Why Self-Publish?

I must admit, I did look at all the options first, ie

­Using the services of a Publisher/Agent

This would be regarded as the traditional method. It has advantages as far as an author is concerned in that a Publisher would cover all the costs involved in publishing and marketing a book, ie handling all the set up costs, giving advice on layout, content, proofreading, cover design, obtaining the ISBN/copyright, undertaking all the advertising, distribution, etc. Then the author can just sit back and await the royalties! It also used to be the case that an author would receive an advance – not so likely any more.
Fort St Angelo, Malta

These days it is very unusual for a publisher to accept the work of an unknown author. Even established agents are not interested. With so many books available, and with the large number of ‘famous’ people who are producing books, it would be a stroke of luck if a Publisher or an Agent accepted a novel from someone who was unknown, unless they had the right contacts.

I sent the first three chapters of my book, together with a synopsis and other details, to over 25 publishers and got a very mixed response: they either suggested I find an agent, said they were not interested, came up with extortionate amounts required if I want to self-publish, or just did not reply at all. Some Publishers did not even return the three chapters that I had bound and covered, despite the fact that I included a stamped addressed envelope.

The only thing the responses had in common was that they all amounted to rejections.

Apparently, even J K Rowling experienced at least 12 rejection letters before finding a publisher, and then it was only because a publisher happened to give a copy of her book to his daughter to read and she happened to like it! Also, I understand Lord of the Flies by William Golding was rejected by 20 publishers – he later went on to win the Nobel Prize for Literature.

However, what it amounts to is that in this day and age it is virtually impossible for an unknown to find a publisher or an agent.

Publishers don’t want to take a risk. Why should anyone want to buy a book by an unknown author? Also, selling the printed word is very difficult nowadays; bookshops are closing down because people are buying over the Internet, cheap or reduced price copies of books are available everywhere, electronic versions are there to be downloaded with ease and if they are outside their copyright period, they can be obtained for no cost at all. Then you still have the historic situations – people can obtain books from libraries, second-hand books can be purchased from charity shops and then you are supporting a charity, and finally, books are shared among friends or within Book Clubs. Then there are those people who never read fiction, or would not read fiction of a specific genre, and those who would even think about reading a book at all. Therefore, the market is limited and it all equates to fewer and fewer sales of hard copy books.

­Vanity Press

The author finds a printer willing to print a specific number of books for a certain price. The printer might obtain the ISBN and copyright, or the author might be expected to do this for themselves. However, the author would definitely be expected to do all the marketing, advertising, sales and distribution. In addition, the author would need to supply their work in the correct format, proofread it, supply a cover picture and all the wording required on the cover page, etc.

The other disadvantage with this method is that in order to keep the cost down, the author would probably need to buy a large quantity of books initially and then despite hours spent trying to sell these books, it might prove to be impossible to do so.

How many stories have we heard of people with large quantities of their own publications stored in lofts?

­Self-Publishing

In this instance, the author pays for all the costs involved in publishing their own book. There are many companies out there now offering this option, but the price involved does vary tremendously and it is necessary to ascertain what is included in their quotation.

The following is what I was quoted for:

1. The book can be supplied in a pdf format, or as a Word document and it will be laid out for you.
2. The publisher obtains the ISBN and copyright, but the copyright is retained by the author.
3. The book trade will be supplied with an electronic record that links to your book so that any bookshop can purchase it direct from the publisher.
4. ‘Print on demand’ is used so that copies are only printed as required.
5. All distribution to customers or bookshops is undertaken on your behalf.
6. You can decide on the retail price and the royalty you would like to receive on each sale.
7. The book, including a lot of details, will be displayed on the Amazon website as well as on the publisher’s own website.
8. Cover design was included if a picture was supplied.
9. Books can be purchased personally at a reduced cost price.
10. A wide range of marketing options are available which will facilitate the book being marketed throughout the world.

From my research, I discovered that some Self-Publishing companies were UK-based, but a lot of them were American.

Self-Publishing has its advantages which you can see from the above, but it also has its disadvantages (all of which I will go into in more detail in my next post).