A good story about self publishing

I spent the past year and a half writing a book. The idea came to me from a dream, grew and then I kept rewriting it until I the ideas stopped.

I wanted to publish the book so I'd have something in print. I knew it would never, ever fly as a romance. I also know stories like how John Grisham had to self publish "A Time To Kill" because he got turned down by 30 agents and 15 publishers. I don't have that type of patience. He believed in himself, though and self published even though they told him there was no market for his books.

So I self published with a POD. This is becoming more common for those who really want to write a book. The purpose of writing a book (or doing anything, for that matter, especially in art) should be to entertain. Never for money. You should do it because you want to do it and not for the money. Then it becomes a job and is no longer fun. It should be fun, creative and something that you like.

The POD was very helpful. It cost me $500 to get my book in print with a customized cover (that I designed but had to be formatted). Plus $35 to copyright it with the Library of Congress.

There are pros and cons to self publishing. The cons are obvious - it costs you money. The pros are that no one tells you that they can't market your book unless you change some things (that is, if they bother to look at your unknown, unsolicited manuscript at all).

The big problem with the self publishing is the price of the book. The POD wants a lot more money for the book and sends it Media Mail. The sites like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Booksamillion and others will charge less. You get less in royalties as well as the site, the distributor and the POD all take a cut. You also don't get any royalties for at least 4 months.

You can send your links to the POD to pick up royalties and really screw over your family and friends who will wait 10 days for Media Mail when they can get it in 3 from Amazon for the same price.

Other cons are that you have to market your book. This is tough, even with a catchy title and an intriguing cover. The POD does not guarantee that any third party like Amazon will pick up your book. You have to market your book if you are unknown, regardless of whether you publish with a small press, large publishing house or self publish.

The pros are that you own the rights to your book. You own the rights to your artwork of your book. You OWN THE RIGHTS TO YOUR CREATIVE WORK. Many people are so desperate to get money for their work, they sell all of their rights. You can change it, play with it, make it shorter or longer, do what you want - it belongs to you. You can't do that if you sell them to someone else. They get to change them, not you.

If you self publish, know that you are not going to "strike it rich." You are not going to retire on your book, you are up against millions of others who are doing the same thing. But you can get your voice heard. You can entertain people, even if it's just a few. Even if it's just one person. Even if it's just you.

If you want to make money, write non fiction self help books or how to books and market them with affiliates on clickbank as ebooks. If you want to be a writer and entertain people, write what you want, be happy with the outcome, and self publish. You can always look for an agent - you own the rights. Anyone who writes something creative that comes out of their head should want to have as much control over their rights as possible.

Case in point:

"That sounds good, Brian, where do I sign?"

- John Lennon, signing over all the rights to the Beatles' music to Capitol Records.

Not that I'm comparing myself to John Lennon, but we never really know who the next "Beatles" are, do we? It can be one of you - any of you who self publish. They didn't know what the future held for them. Their idea of the ultimate success was "a hit record."