by Joe Taylor – why self-publishing became an attractive option, given some drawbacks

The Vision of a Book

Admit it, this has happened to you—a friend reads a couple of your pieces and tells you, “you ought to write a book.” Hmmn, you ponder it, convince yourself, you can see it. Visions of you being interviewed on the “Today” show, a house in the Hamptons, dinner at the Ritz.

Jess Weible “could see a book” in the collection of pieces I sent her nearly three years ago. I’m eternally grateful to her for her support and vision. But, I couldn’t see what was ahead of me. If you are considering writing and publishing a book I’d like to share my experience with you. Not to discourage you, but to help guide through what you may encounter along the way.

I have created a book, “I’m Just Lucky To Own My Own Car“. It’s not exactly the book that Jess “saw” and that I first naively sent out to publishers I found online with no knowledge of their submission requirements or genre preferences. Rapid, uncommented rejection followed. Personal dejection ensued.

Identifying the Audience

I was convinced by members of the writer’s group that a chunk of my book, the part that dealt with my career in radio, was viable and marketable on its own as a book. Thus, the first consideration in publishing—is there a market for what I’ve written?—came into play.

While not fully convinced that a book about a declining medium is something people will want to read about, I banged out more pieces and 62,000 words and it became a book that is currently waiting in line with a publisher. (More on that book later.)

What was left of my original book—the very personal, reflective, observational, and downright delusional became “I’m Just Lucky To Own My Own Car.” I was able to conjure up additional flash and micro pieces to build a 16,000 word book. Now, with some knowledge of the market I realized there realistically was no mass or wide market for a quirky book from a nationally unknown nobody.

The market would have to be people—well, like you—who like to read interesting, offbeat books. It became obvious that self-publishing was the way to go. (You need to make this type of objective market analysis about your book, too.)

Self-Publishing

My aversion to self-publishing, that it was vanity publishing, was overcome by having my work edited and beta read by people in the writer’s group who have the qualifications and experience to be professional editors. These people are available to you, too. Just ask around.

The most difficult part of my KDP-Amazon self-publishing adventure has been the insertion, conversion, and formatting of my manuscript. I am not IT savvy. Even those who are have expressed frustration at the process. I have been very fortunate to have had Ray Bugay and Sarah Rossey to help me.

Even for a book which may have a wider market, self-publishing may be the answer versus a traditional publishing company. But, there are pros and cons—you’ll get your book published quicker, but a publishing company, if they accept it, will handle the technical aspects of converting your manuscript into a book. 

Using KDP-Amazon to publish “I’m Just Lucky To Own My Own Car” was also a test to see if I’d want to use it for publishing “In The Twist Of The Dial”, my radio book, and a book I’m currently writing about my experiences and observations growing up Italian-American in the 50s and 60s.

Pros and Cons of Self-Publishing

As the radio book sits languishing as “received” by a publisher on Submittable since September, self-publishing is becoming a higher probability. One of the wonderful benefits of our writer’s group is that we can learn from those who are ahead of us, who are getting their pieces and books published.

I have learned that those publishing companies, whose approval and acceptance and contracts we all crave are-in a word-cheap. I was astounded to find out that most book publishers pay the author—that’s us, the people who create the product—a mere 10% commission. I, who still tend to apologize for self-publishing, am getting about 40% commission. OK, just now, reading what I’ve written, I have made the decision to publish my radio and Italian books on KDP-Amazon. Do the math.

I have also learned, from those in our group, who have already published using a traditional publishing company, that these companies do not provide the mass marketing support that I think we all assumed. They can give your book some placement and access, but in the end, just like with self-publishing, effectively getting the word out about your book will be up to you.

Self-Promotion; a Necessary Evil

I know that Jess Weible has been very aggressive in getting word out about “Dead Letters” to the point of garnering some national media coverage. She’s also been very helpful to first time authors like me, suggesting ways to promote and sell our books. This is the type of effort that I’ll have to make to publicize my radio book.

Marketing “I’m Just Lucky To Own My Own Car” is a much more localized, personal project, reaching out individually to Facebook friends and their friends, doing readings, contacting local book stores—and yes, mentioning the title 4 times so far in this blog. (hint, hint) I can report that since I put it out in late November, with scant marketing effort I’ve sold 14 copies so far.

But, I’ve laid out money for author’s copies, technical help, and advertising. I am, as they say, “under water.” Hopefully, my marketing efforts will work and I’ll make a few dollars. It may not buy me dinner at the Ritz, maybe the Chinese buffet instead. But a book that I believe in will be out there for people to enjoy.

I very much hope that this has not been discouraging to you, but rather given you a realistic look down the road at the obstacles you’ll face and decisions that you’ll have to make to get that book of yours—that you know is in you—published for all us to read and enjoy.