There has been a lot of chatter in the world of publishing over the course of the last year about ebooks, traditional publishing, non-traditional publishing and self-publishing. JA Konrath very loudly stuck his nose up at traditional publishing and went his own self-published way and he’s been very successful. I’ve seen him quoted as someone who will never go back to NY. Other successful authors who have struck out on their own are LJ Sellers and Kait Nolan.

When we first started WDWPUB there seemed to be two camps in publishing. NY is the only way to go. OR. Screw NY, its dead. What we’re seeing now is there are still two camps amongst authors, though its shifted some. One being eBooks are a reality and publishers need to get with the program. Brick and Mortar is struggling and the channels of distribution ARE changing. OR. NY is during a U-Turn. They will catch up and eBooks won’t be that big of the market share. That when you add it all up, print still rules and will always rule. Print is never going to die and readers are demanding books be in print because they don’t like eReaders. When all is said and done, the majority of books sold are print.

What amuses me is that Bob recently shared an email he got from a fan about a couple of his traditionally published books not being available in eBook format and how much that kind of sucked. How much the reader really wanted the entire series in eBook format.

Both camps are sort of right. Digital is a reality and more and more people are using reading devices. Publishers do need to make some major adjustments. Dorchester is proof of that. Traditional distribution doesn’t work. The traditional way of publishing is beyond flawed. AND NY is doing somewhat of a U-Turn. They are producing eBooks. They do acknowledge the need to embrace the digital age.

We started out at WDWPUB with this notion that we wanted to straddle both worlds. We can clearly see both sides of the coin. We understand each side and can relate to where each camp is coming from. However, we also have to face facts. These times they are a changing and like Kenny Rogers song, “you’ve got to know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em, know when to walk away and know when to run.”

I posed two questions in the title of this blog post and I’m going to answer them honestly based on my experience as the person who pretty much got all the Who Dares Wins Publishing books out there in the world for our readers to enjoy.

Can any writer self-publish?

The answer is a big fat YES. Technology has made this a relatively simple process. I say relatively because there is a steep learning curve and even after you’ve “learned” the basics, if you want to do it right and maximize your efforts in order to increase your sales, you’re going to have to make this your full time job. It’s not a get rich quick scheme, but you can turn a pretty profit.

There are a lot of options out there for the author who wants to self-publish. You can use a vanity press (though you’ve already heard mine and Bob’s caveat on those and why we think they are bad news for the writer). You can go with something like Smashwords and let them be your publisher and distributor to various ebookstores. LuLu is another option for both ebooks and POD. You can just publish on Kindle. Or B&N. Both stores have made the process pretty painless. In future blog posts, I will discuss some of the things we’ve learned at WDWPUB about using these platforms.

Which brings me to the element of time again. Yes, anyone can self-publish. But in order to be successful, you have to invest a huge amount of time and energy into finding what will be the best option for you. It is not one-size fits all. What works for one, might not work for another. And, all I’ve discussed so far is getting your book ready for publication. And just the book. Not the cover, etc. But the bottom line is, anyone who puts their mind to it, can self-publish their book.

However, here is a question for the skeptics out there who are screaming. If you went with traditional publishing, the publisher would do all this for you, right? OK. They will format, make cover, print and upload books. But what else are they doing for you? Giving you an advance? Unless you are getting a really, really big advance, so what? You could possibly make just as much as the average advance for a mid-list author self-publishing. OK. Distribution in physical bookstores. For now that is still a good thing, but what happens when Borders closes its doors?

What happens when B&N every month sells more via their on-line store and realizes they can make more money in the long-run if they put their energies there? They are already closing stores where they don’t own the property. What happens when digital becomes the standard form for books? I hear lots of yelling that print will never die. Who thought CD’s would die? Before we know it, cars won’t have CD players, just a jack to plug in your iPod. Just an aside, my 17 year-old son doesn’t give a crap that his beat up clunker doesn’t have a working radio, or a CD player. He just installed his iPod thingy.

I know, there are the other outlets. The Targets, Wal-Marts, Sam’s club, etc. But who gets racked in there? Lets face it, if you’re not the top 10 you’re not going to be in those stores anyway.

Should anyone self-publishing their book?

The answer to this question is a big fat DEPENDS. Why? When we first started with Who Dares Wins Publishing, we believed the most successful self-published authors came from two backgrounds. The first being previously published authors with backlist. We found this to be true as Bob’s Atlantis series is our number one selling eBook on all platforms. The second would be a non-fiction author with a platform. We found this to be true with four of our authors. Bob, along with Amy Shojai, Kristen Lamb, and Joy E. Held have strong platforms with quality non-fiction books that sell well.

However, we used to believe that if you don’t fit into those two categories you might as well pack up and go home. That isn’t necessarily the case anymore. The key is King, or content. Do you have quality content? Is your material, whether it be fiction or non-fiction well written, edited and is it something readers want? The other key is Queen, or promotion. If you plan on simply putting your stuff out there and think the readers are just going to flock to you, well good luck with that. You have to be willing to promote, and promote hard.

But again, to those of you screaming that traditionally publishing is the only way to go. How much promotion does your publisher do for you? I mean really do. Are they setting up book and blog tours? Are they contacting your readers? Tweeting tidbits about you and your book? Giving you money to make a website? Blogging for you? Funding you writer conferences? Getting you a media consultant so you can get on the radio, TV, or any other place to promote your book? So, they get you in the bookstore. You is actually selling your book to the reader? You are.

It’s a wonderful time to be an author because the author has a lot more control if he or she wants it and with that control comes a greater chance of success.

Write It Forward