Saturday, September 4, 2010

I'd love a traditional publisher, but self-publishing has advantages too.

Traditional publishers produce lots of books, have editorial, and production, and design, and marketing staffs, and big budgets. They can do a lot for writers...make bestsellers out of 'em. If you're a brand name author, that's the way to go.
  Most of the time, if a writer can land a book contract at all, the book lands on the publisher's list, might or might not get placed in book stores...and if all those things happen, the book will land on a shelf among thousands of other books.
  Someday I'll get there.
  But...and it's a big but... Self-publishing (once dubbed by The Big Boys as "Vanity Press"), has come leaps and bounds. You know what the #1 advantage I have right now with my self-published books is?
  I still own all the rights. I have 2 Kindle books, and Amazon owns the Kindle platform...but not the books. Lulu is my publisher of record for the paperback and hardcover versions of my books...but only because they own the ISBN. I signed no contract with them, and can yank my books from Lulu with a few day's notice. It's a big advantage, especially because as Vice-President of Marketing (in addition to doing everything else for my mythical company I call Sexton Enterprises), I plan to publish Sexton books in every available format I can figure out how to use.
  Still... I make no bones about it, I'd rather be published by someone else than published by--you know--me.
...Now that's vanity! 

1 comment:

Jeffrey Miller said...

Very informative, Dave. You've got all your self-publishing bases covered as they were and I like the notion of Sexton Enterprises.

Have you sent a complimentary copy to EC's library?

Maybe have someone from the Lambda Chi Alpha chapter write a blurb about it.

Have a meet and greet with the author at your library. Bring some of that bread you like to make.

Update your EC alum status.

Start a Facebook Fan page Sexton Chronicles (you can even buy an ad to sell it on Facebook).

I am ordering my Lulu copies on the 20th--can I send them to you for you to sign and then have you put them in the mail for me? We'll work out the postage later.