e-self-publishing?

From what I've been reading, a publishing house will not invest much to promote
the work of a first time author. So what does a publisher provide? Just some
investment to produce the book, which is not much. So what is the disadvantage
of self-publishing, which gives the author much more freedom? If there's too
much financial risk, why not publish it as an ebook and only do paperbook
through preorder? I'm considering the writers' collective. They look like the
best deal to me. Does anyone has any experience with them?

In article <20031030171300.04463.00000017 RemoveThis @mb-m06.aol.com>,
zzz137 RemoveThis @aol.com.rt (zzz) wrote:

 > From what I've been reading, a publishing house will not invest much to
 > promote
 > the work of a first time author. So what does a publisher provide? Just
 > some
 > investment to produce the book, which is not much. So what is the
 > disadvantage
 > of self-publishing, which gives the author much more freedom? If there's too
 > much financial risk, why not publish it as an ebook and only do paperbook
 > through preorder? I'm considering the writers' collective. They look like
 > the
 > best deal to me. Does anyone has any experience with them?

The large traditional publisher offers distribution. There's zero
question that Ingram, the major wholesaler, will carry the book. The
chains will almost all have a copy or two in their stores. That's worth
something... but the big publishers will also not do much to promote the
book. (You can figure that the PR budget is about 10% of the advance. So
a writer who receives an advance of $5000 (and that's pretty good for a
first time author) will have $500 budgeted for PR for the book. While
the PR cost inside a big publisher isn't charged at the rate of PR folks
outside (about 250 per hour), even so, $500 doesn't buy much publicity
at all. Most first time authors should expect to spend a fair amount of
time and even some money promoting their book if it is to be successful.

The big publishers will get the book into the stores .... but the author
will have to create the demand for the book.

After about 90 days, if the book hasn't "taken off" the big publishers
are likely to pull the title, remainder the unsold stock, and put the
book "out of print."

Actually, this is not that unreasonable for a work of fiction.

Most successful self publishers produce non-fiction works that are
likely to have a long shelf life -- or allow for modest updates from
time to time to keep the book fresh. Because non-fiction books often
generate significant "pull" demand, even Ingram will contact the
publisher to open an account -- even with a single book publisher -- if
the sales justify the interest.

The non fiction work allows the self publisher to build publicity for
the book over a long time period. (With fiction, a "buzz" around the
time of release in necessary to get the book off to enough of a start to
gain additional publicity.) Depending on the topic, a nonfiction work
may readily be sold in non-bookstores e.g. a book on auto repair is sold
in an auto parts store... I bought an obviously self-published book on
electrical repairs that was hanging on a display by the home electrical
parts in a hardware store... These are the kinds of books that have
started the success of many self publishers who have gone on to form
small publishing companies.

If you're doing a work of fiction, then the self-publishing route is
much more difficult --- you won't be able to get the kind of exposure
that a large publisher gets. Ingram won't deal with a one book
publisher, so you'll have to use an alternative distributor (who won't
do much to promote the book, but it will cost you another 10-15% off
list price for the "privilidge" of having a distributor. (The "standard"
discount to the wholesaler (Ingram, Baker & Taylor, and a few others) is
55%, so you end up offering 65 to 70% off list to a distributor.

Don't get me wrong. I am a _strong_ supporter of self-publishing. But
you really have to evaluate your market and understand how you can
efficiently reach that market without the distribution support offered
by a large publisher. For the typical first time fiction author, it's
probably worthwhile to spend a year or two seeking a larger publisher.
Only after you've exhausted that approach (assuming non success) -- and
after you have made a reasonable assessment of your book's market
potential without significant distribution should you pursue the
self-publishing route.<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->