The Dirty Little Secrets of Self-Publishing

Book authors are hearing more and more voices telling them to self-publish and “reap the profits that traditional publishers are stealing from you.”

Okay, not every promoter of self-publishing puts it that way, but some do. And it should make you curious as to why these people are giving you so much pressure to self-publish. The answer boils down to the first dirty little secret of self-publishing:

There is no such thing as self-publishing.

In the process we call self-publishing, authors are portrayed as doing all the necessary steps in publishing a book—writing, editing, typesetting/interior design, proofreading, designing the cover, arranging for printing and/or e-book production, distributing, marketing and promotion. But in reality, authors do not do all those things by themselves, because no one person could possibly have all those tools and skills. Instead, the “self-publishing” author pays someone else to do most of these jobs.

And there is the motivation for the push to self-publish: most of those who push an author to self-publish are hoping to get hired to do the work the author cannot do. No matter what publishing method you use, publishing is a team effort. The only difference is in who invests the money—the publisher (traditional publishing) or the author (subsidy publishing, or so-called self-publishing).

The self-publishing promoters often argue that since the author is paying the bills, the author has complete control over the entire publishing process. And this brings us to the second dirty little secret of  (so-called) self-publishing:

No single person has complete control over the entire publishing process.

Of course, that goes back to the fact that publishing a book is a group effort. Authors, even those who pay to have their book published, cannot control all aspects of publishing their book—and they should not want to. Authors who try to have total control over their own publishing process will find that they cannot control those who have the publishing expertise they lack. They either learn to trust others with their creative baby, or they find others who will let them be “in control,” but who, like them, lack the publishing expertise needed for success.

The moral of this story, then, is that success in publishing is dependent upon finding a team you can trust. Are you confident that the publisher you work with, whether subsidy or traditional, has professional expertise and knows the audience you are aiming at? Certainly you have your own ideas about your book, but are you willing to take advice from someone with experience and a track record in publishing? If so, your book has ten times the chance of success than if you find someone who gets paid to follow your instructions blindly.

David E. Fessenden
Literary Agent, WordWise Media Services
Publisher and Proprietor, Honeycomb House Publishing LLC

Dave has degrees in journalism and theology, and over 30 years of experience in writing and editing. He has served in editorial management positions for Christian book publishers and was regional editor for the largest Protestant weekly newspaper in the country.

Dave has published seven books, written hundreds of newspaper and magazine articles, and edited numerous books. He is a frequent speaker at writers’ conferences. Two of his books, Writing the Christian Nonfiction Book: Concept to Contract and  A Christian Writer’s Guide to the Book Proposal, are based on his experience in Christian publishing. The Case of the Exploding Speakeasy, Dave’s first novel, reflects his love for history and for the Sherlock Holmes stories of Arthur Conan-Doyle.

Dave and his wife, Jacque, live in south-central Pennsylvania and have two adult sons.

As a literary agent for WordWise Media Services, I am interested in historical fiction (not romance) and speculative fiction (sci-fi/fantasy); nonfiction titles on Christian living, spiritual growth and biblical studies. I am not interested in devotionals or memoirs. dave@wordwisemedia.com

Honeycomb House Publishing LLC is a subsidy publishing house, assisting Christian authors to publish their books at their expense, and reaping the full profit on the sale of their books. We believe there really is no such thing as self-publishing, because no one can publish a book completely on their own. Standing on Proverbs 16:24, “Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones,” we are looking for gracious words that bring spiritual sweetness and healing. dave@fessendens.net

Websites/Blogs:
www.fromconcepttocontract.com
www.davefessenden.com
www.thebookstore.info