You know how we always say, “Just when I thought I’d heard it all”? Well, I read a blog post by Dean W. Smith about authors actually giving cover artists 15% of their sales forever in exchange for a cover. Picture me slapping my forehead and crying out, “Huh? A cover artist???” Seriously folks, there is no need to give anyone a cut of your indie sales. No. Reason. If you don’t know where to start ask me. I only bite on Mondays.
Maybe I should have titled this post “Fear”. That’s a common theme I hear from traditionally published authors when I talk about indie publishing. Fear of technology; fear of having to learn a new set of skills; even fear of talking to other writers and looking stupid because of what they don’t about this new publishing landscape.
I understand to some extent. Traditionally published authors are used to writing the book, handing it to a publisher and everything is done (cover, blurbs, proofreading,etc.) One writer who wants to sell her first book said, “I want to get a traditional deal, because I don’t want to mess with all that stuff. I just want to write.”
Even if writers only want to go the traditional route, please know you must handle your business. Especially learn about contract clauses and what they mean, and how to read royalty statements. Otherwise you’re saying, “I’m closing my eyes and signing because I trust you guys.” As I told one writer, that’s like handing a stranger a set of keys to your house, your credit cards and check card and saying, “Here you go; handle all this for me. I just want to write.” Would you do that?
People are standing by to profit from this fear of indie publishing. I’ve heard of writers spending thousands to pay for things you can do for free; paying big bucks for cover designs. I paid $40 for my first indie cover. Does it look professional?
Network with writers who are indie publishing. Be like Captain Kirk and crew; be bold, but do your homework. So far I’ve indie published thirteen books and two boxed sets. I had zero clues when I started – had to ask “What’s a mobi? Epub, what’s that?”
What are your fears about indie publishing? I’ll be glad to share what I know.
15 comments:
Oh, wow! That was news to me about giving artists a percentage! Speaks to the importance of doing your research, hanging out on boards, talking to other writers, etc. BEFORE you publish or sign a contract with anybody. I use the team at HOT DAMN Designs! and am very happy.
On another note, I did consider hiring somebody to format my books but then I saw a great video on YouTube by Paul Salvette and I did it myself. I keep waiting for someone to pat me on the back and tell me what a great job I did with the formatting but so far, nobody has. sigh. :-( (Of course, this probably means I've done such a good job nobody noticed. lol!)
Eugenia, if it was bad, you definitely would have heard about it so go ahead and pat yourself on the back :-).
Useful post, Lynn. I have a friend who recently published a book and ignored my offers to assist. If the astronomical price of the book is any indication, it must have cost him an arm and a leg to publish. It has all been done before, so the best advice is as you say, to do the research and ask for help!
The '15% for the artist' spin is new to me too. And I really thought I'd heard everything.
I also have a friend who did not listen to me a few years ago and went ahead and paid a company which I refuse to name thousands of dollars to 'publish' an overpriced book that has sold a grand total of 3 copies after 3 years. This same friend was so overjoyed to receive an offer from someone who would 'manage' his screenplays awhile ago that he signed the contract and returned it immediately. The first Google check I did revealed the 'manager' was a scam artist and fraudster.
I'll gladly help anyone who asks as far as I can. But I remember getting the 'Why are you trying to rain on my parade?' look from my friend. Some people prefer their fantasies of publishing and thus prefer to find out the realities the hard way.
Most of my indie publishing fears initially involved writing a book that nobody would read. It would just sit there. Getting over that fear entailed coming to terms with the fact that the book is only going to sit there if I let it. Books are sold one at a time, and I'm going to talk about my books for the rest of my life. So sooner or later, people are going to read them. That's not an opportunity you have with a traditional publisher who may pull the book after three months if it's not performing.
Yes, Eugenia; no news is good news when it comes to errors in books! So here is your official pat on the back from me :o)
Carol and Liane - I've been through the same thing; people who see your help as hateration and busy-body interference. This never ceases to amaze me. A few started to avoid me because I kept shoving reality at them LOL Now I've learned to stop talking, smile and say, "Good luck", and move on. When people don't want to hear, you only face hostility if you keep trying to tell them. As the old saying goes, "A hard head makes for a soft behind."
William, being traditionally published we're used to what DW Smith calls the notion of books as produce. The books has to sell fast because their "shelf life" was seen as short. Then there is the notion that you must make a bestseller list to be seen as a worthy and successful author. With indie publishing your book is available for sale until YOU pull them. Therefore you have months and months to work on building your audience. Also readers don't care that the book came out last year (or last decade). They just want a good read. Notice how in the traditional world in some venues you can only promote books released in a certain current time span - such as "We're doing our fall magazine issue, so send us your October/November releases only". Now you can keep promoting your books whenever. I think traditionally published authors have to unlearn some stuff that doesn't apply to indie publishing. And hey, nobody has read a lot of traditionally published books, so the risk of not being read hasn't changed!
That's a great point, Lynne. I have to say, your post really cheered me up this morning. I'm off to try to get people to read my books. Wish me luck!
Glad I could help, William. I've found that more books sell books. I'm doing promotions, but I'm also going to spend most of my time writing. Here are some other things I've done: I have a cover design already for the next book that I'm going to write in my paranormal series - so readers of the previous books can visually see another one is on the way. DWhy not go ahead and get your cover designed ahead of the release? That's how traditional publishers do it. That way you can put it on your website, FB author page, and other places. Books linked to holidays can be promoted every year in the indie world. Happy New Year, Baby sold well in the Christmas/New Year's season 2011. Going to do it again with a new Christmas novella. Yep, started working on that cover now. I try to do promotions that don't take up much time (from writing!). So I linked my Facebook author posts to Twitter; when I post, a tweets goes out automatically. Facebook has a cheap set of ads, and you can easily write a post about your book, set up an ad at the same time, and that's it. FB will send out the ad to reach a set number of pages/views depending on the cost; e.g. $5 will reach between 630-1,000 FB members. Easy peasy.
Thanks for the tools of the indie trade. Very useful post. Now if I can get past the fear, do the homework and get going....
great post!
the current ebook boom reminds me of the gold rush. Lots of folks mining for gold and only a few found any riches. But there were plenty of people making good money off of the miners.
Thanks, Jewel. I took my time and just learned for months.
Hi Charles. Yes, but that's the same with traditional publishing. I've always had emails from PR consultants, people who create promo items, freelance editors, etc. Same offers, but now it's ebook conversion and formatting, cover design, etc. I'm not getting rich, but I'm getting money every month. And these books will be on sale for as long as I want to earn back the money I've spent. Forever even, or at least for years.
An article was just posted with step-by-step directions on how to format for e-books. Check it out:
http://www.kevinrau.com/i/SusanFurlongBolliger.asp
I also included it in my Posse Posts over at my website. Lots of valuable links to marketing articles there as well.
Thanks, Sunny. Also Indies Unlimited has quite helpful tutorials on a variety of subjects http://www.indiesunlimited.com/2012/09/04/tuesday-tutorial-tweeting-from-facebook/
I find that having my cover designed ahead of time (usually no more than a month or two, while I'm in the closing stages of eBook preparation) helps spur me on toward the finish line!
Lynn, the cover for A Darker Shad of Midnight is fabulous! One of our colleagues remarked to me that she isn't making any money with the titles she's indie published. I suggested that she have her covers, which are homemade and clunky looking, redone. This met with a stony silence. I didn't mean to hurt her feelings, but there's a lot of competition out there, and as readers become more discriminating, professional presentations like yours will be the last eBooks standing!
Thanks Bettye! Like you, I've seen some bad covers and wanted to tell the authors that those don't help sales. I hope said author pouted, and then took a hard look at those covers.
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