I've started a new task at my temp job. Today I was opening entries in a self-published book contest.Self-published books have been around for a while, produced by the less flattering title of "vanity presses." In essence, if you crapped on a page, signed it and sent it in, these presses would be more than happy to take your money and "edit" your masterpiece, make 100 or so copies, and "market" it so the masses are informed of your marvelous work. Needless to say, those at traditional publishing houses looked down their long, glasses-pinched noses at vanity presses and authors who published with them. It could actually hurt your career to be self-published more than to have no publishing credits to your name.
But then, the computer and Internet revolution affected even print. Nowadays, places like authorhouse and iUniverse make it easy to put out a self-published book that looks very professional. The printing is of a decent quality and the publishers ensure that the proper copyright info, ISBN bar code, etc. are all there.
But, while self-publishing is now cheaper and easier to do than ever, that certainly does not mean that the writers who are drawn to self-publishing have changed.
I would say that, in general, there's two types of books that get self-published. Ones that would appeal to a very small niche market that it might not seem profitable for publishers to take on. (I can see us producing Grandma's journals like this. Mom—we'll have to talk.) And the others.
The ones that should fit into the mainstream. Either they've been rejected by all the publishing houses big and small and the author thinks the manuscript is perfect, publishers be damned. Or maybe they don't want to deal with the process of editing and revising to actually sell the manuscript, so they just publish it themselves. Whatever the reason it's self-published instead of published by a big company, I'm going to go out on a limb and say it's not very good.
I know, I know—there's always exceptions to any rule. There's a few books I know off the top of my head that were originally self-published and have sold extremely well and been picked up by major publishing houses—Laurie Notaro, What Color Is Your Parachute? and Chicken Soup for the Soul, just to name a few. But these are the exceptions.
In general, if you want to be published, you want to be published through a large publishing house. They have real editors and marketing and distribution. Most self-published books cannot be found in bookstores. If you frequent bookstores, you should be thankful for this.
6 comments:
I thought this post was very insightful as well as funny. Something about the visual image of someone crapping on a page and then signing it made me laugh. For some reason ever since I wrote my first real story for english class, I have always wanted to be published one day. The problem is that I haven't written anything of value yet. ;-)
I still remember most of first story that I wrote back in the sixth grade, but for some reason it has been lost over the years. I don't think a digital copy exists and if any paper copies exist, my mom or dad may have it buried in storage. The more I think about it, the more I want it back. --Andy
I hope you only have to open the entries and not read them. That would suck worse than reading third-grade book reports.
You wouldn't believe how many random people call The Center wanting us to publish their book of poems, short story, "children's" book, or memoirs. These are obviously people who randomly opened the yellow pages and just saw us listed under "publisher" and gave it a shot without bothering to see if we match the market for their books. I'd have to say, however, that if these people write anything like they speak, the world is better off not seeing their words published.
Is it too late to tell the authors of the eight-hundred-page manuscript that has languished on my desk for three years that they should self-publish it?
Maybe I'll suggest that the next time I have to meet with Fairy Pain and give her a project status report.
In the meantime, I'll make plans for celebrating its fourth birthday. I'm thinking chocolate cupcakes.
Andy--It's funny to me that there are people out there who don't want to be writers. I think if you enjoy reading, you want to be able to create something that others will enjoy. And there's always that occasional sucky book that makes you think "I can write better than this!
Good luck with finding your 6th grade story!
Amy & Cathy,
Ummmm, has anyone ever told you that you guys spend wayyyy too much time together?
I've often wondered how you guys get your authors. Do they just sort of find you? Because I have a hard time seeing the nuns out soliciting good writers.
When I was at ELA I inherited a manuscript that had been on the shelf for at least a year. I sat on it for a year and then tried to do something with it, but it was AWFUL. After all that, we sent it back to the author and told her to rewrite it. Extensively. She was very cheerful about the whole thing--I think she must suspect that she can't write.
Mmmmm...Kosher cupcakes.
Oohhh!!! If you're having chocolate cupcakes for the birthday, I'm coming! Make sure they're kosher! (The manuscript is for Jewish-Christian Relations.)
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