Hey, published authors

[miss-a]

I'd appreciate your opinions, knowledge and experience. My question is: What are the incentives and advantages to publishing with a publisher now that there are alternatives, like Createspace. On their site they promote the stories of an author or two who began by publishing on Createspace and then were picked up by publishers. I question the advantage to this, because I know what publisher pay for royalties, much less than pubishing on Createspace.

I realize publisher do some book promotion, but they also, from what I understand, leave a great deal of that responsibility on the author. In the case of the authors Createspace mentioned on their site, one author had already attained a following, which is what got the publisher interested. She went with the publisher. Any insights as to why that might be?

Thanks in advance,
a

 

[roman2819]

I published with a publisher, they distributed the books for 6 months, then I cancelled with them, revamp the book for about a year +, and in Dec 2014, I place it on Createspace.

First of all I assume you are not paying a publisher to publish your book. If you are not, and a publisher found you, then I guess you might want to consider their terms. But the challenge for any writer is to have their books noticed by a publisher.

Advantage of a publisher is they distribute your books to various stores. However, that does not mean the sales will move as fast as you want. To promote the book, author has to give talks, set up own website, and create own following etc etc. Its step by step, do a little a day kind of work. I must also say the royalties from publishers are little

Royalties from Createspace is more but to get those royalties, you have to promote the book. I guess couple of books sold from Createspace generates more royalties than 10 books from publishers.

Before my book went up on Createspace, it was LOTS OF WORK. Writing a book with 68500 words (in my case) is .... word by word, really, as I write and edit. It really need dedication and focus for months .... actually years. I can't say it enough.

Are you publishing a christian book? If so , there are couple of websites where publishers and writers go to. The writer do NOT have to finish writing the whole book, he only need to put a couple of chapters up there, plus table of contents and synopsis. Publishers will look at these 3 items and decide if they want to contact the writer.

 

[parsley]

With print-on-demand, you can upload a file in an afternoon, and get a book in the mail in a few days. Applying to publishers could take years. You also get more control. If you saw a typo or wanted to change the cover, you can make a second edition the next day.

I heard a bestselling author speak, who was frustrated that publishers wanted sure-thing stories. Guy gets girl, action, happy ending. He tried writing books he believed were higher quality, and the publisher wouldn't take them.

Finally he self-published, after being on NYTimes bestseller list.

You brought up the marketing, and that's a big deal. It's not just the legwork they offer, but the membership fees. To get a book into School Library Journal or other places-to-be, a publisher pays thousands in annual dues that an individual couldn't afford.

But the beauty of doing it yourself -- if you don't care about money, you can take a break from marketing at your own discretion.

It's worth having proofreaders and content editors look at it. If you don't have writers' group friends, find a few people on fiverr who will do it reasonably, and compare their notes.

 

[miss-a]

Thanks, Parsley, good info. I've chosen to self-pub, but I wondered if there would be any advantage if a publisher ever wanted the book. To me it seems like there is not. You're right that having proofers and editors is a plus. Doing my own has been a booger, but I find that volunteers don't always follow through.

BTW, my book is on nutrition. Guessing you're aware of how good parsley is for you? But if it's dried you need to make sure it's processed properly.

 

[SCronk]

I should preface my comments by saying that my books are all self-published. From what I've both learned from writers of traditionally-published books and self-publishers, the main difference is in royalties. Either way the author has to do most of the work in promoting the book. Most traditional publishers don't even pay out advances any longer. Also, from one author I spoke with, the info was later confirmed by other traditionally-published authors, the authors don't even have control over their own book covers or in some cases even the final title of their books.

Since I'm going to have to do the marketing and promoting of the book, I'll stick with CreateSpace. Use Vista Print to help with the promotional materials, and contract out what other few services might be needed, only as needed. Much less overhead that way.

As far as earning a following as a self-published author and then going into a contract with a traditional publisher, there doesn't seem to be any point.

 

[miss-a]

I should preface my comments by saying that my books are all self-published. From what I've both learned from writers of traditionally-published books and self-publishers, the main difference is in royalties. Either way the author has to do most of the work in promoting the book. Most traditional publishers don't even pay out advances any longer. Also, from one author I spoke with, the info was later confirmed by other traditionally-published authors, the authors don't even have control over their own book covers or in some cases even the final title of their books.

Since I'm going to have to do the marketing and promoting of the book, I'll stick with CreateSpace. Use Vista Print to help with the promotional materials, and contract out what other few services might be needed, only as needed. Much less overhead that way.

As far as earning a following as a self-published author and then going into a contract with a traditional publisher, there doesn't seem to be any point.

Thanks for sharing your experience. I agree, there seems to be no point to seeking one of the big guys anymore. And to me, that comes as a relief.

 

[miss-a]

I published with a publisher, they distributed the books for 6 months, then I cancelled with them, revamp the book for about a year +, and in Dec 2014, I place it on Createspace.

First of all I assume you are not paying a publisher to publish your book. If you are not, and a publisher found you, then I guess you might want to consider their terms. But the challenge for any writer is to have their books noticed by a publisher.

Advantage of a publisher is they distribute your books to various stores. However, that does not mean the sales will move as fast as you want. To promote the book, author has to give talks, set up own website, and create own following etc etc. Its step by step, do a little a day kind of work. I must also say the royalties from publishers are little

Royalties from Createspace is more but to get those royalties, you have to promote the book. I guess couple of books sold from Createspace generates more royalties than 10 books from publishers.

Before my book went up on Createspace, it was LOTS OF WORK. Writing a book with 68500 words (in my case) is .... word by word, really, as I write and edit. It really need dedication and focus for months .... actually years. I can't say it enough.

Are you publishing a christian book? If so , there are couple of websites where publishers and writers go to. The writer do NOT have to finish writing the whole book, he only need to put a couple of chapters up there, plus table of contents and synopsis. Publishers will look at these 3 items and decide if they want to contact the writer.

Yes, I chose Createspace also. No, not a Christian book this time. It's on health and nutrition.

 

[JESUSKiDtommy]

I published with a publisher, they distributed the books for 6 months, then I cancelled with them, revamp the book for about a year +, and in Dec 2014, I place it on Createspace.

First of all I assume you are not paying a publisher to publish your book. If you are not, and a publisher found you, then I guess you might want to consider their terms. But the challenge for any writer is to have their books noticed by a publisher.

Advantage of a publisher is they distribute your books to various stores. However, that does not mean the sales will move as fast as you want. To promote the book, author has to give talks, set up own website, and create own following etc etc. Its step by step, do a little a day kind of work. I must also say the royalties from publishers are little

Royalties from Createspace is more but to get those royalties, you have to promote the book. I guess couple of books sold from Createspace generates more royalties than 10 books from publishers.

Before my book went up on Createspace, it was LOTS OF WORK. Writing a book with 68500 words (in my case) is .... word by word, really, as I write and edit. It really need dedication and focus for months .... actually years. I can't say it enough.

Are you publishing a christian book? If so , there are couple of websites where publishers and writers go to. The writer do NOT have to finish writing the whole book, he only need to put a couple of chapters up there, plus table of contents and synopsis. Publishers will look at these 3 items and decide if they want to contact the writer.

Can you give me the links you were talking about for writers to post portions of their manuscript where publishers can read them? I also (if you are willing) and no not send you my writings... but would want to ask your opinion about the following description of my book...

The Title is "THY WORD IS MY TESTIMONY" ... subtitle " A Ride Down The River Of Life With A Bipolar Mind"

The book contains stories from my own life (yeah so what a lot of people write such stuff)... well the book is a bit different because of this brain GOD gave me... The reader is pulled in by interesting stories... and the way they unfold is a bit odd in that the book reads like one of those old movies where you are compelled to watch each scene carefully, but you really don't know where it is all headed, but by the end everything is tied together and the result is a panoramic view of how GOD has been forming me over the years.

People read so many books talking about a personal relationship with Christ, this book depicts the process as it has taken place in my own life. There are chapters that will tear your heart out telling about the pain of my childhood. Other chapters will make you wonder why my family hasn't been on Jerry Springer. I give detailed accounts of a man who backslid away from GOD and knew it was happening and was powerless to prevent it... and then tie it back in later to show not only the lessons I learned, but HOW they were taught. The chapters sometimes flow from fist to third person and back, and in some places address the reader as if I were in the room with them. In a nutshell it is a LOT of testimonies of good works GOD has allowed me to be a part of, along with impacting stories from my life. There is also a deep lifelong secret that lead to self hate. It begins in early adolescence, and is finally brought out in the open at age 50. Releasing me from the shame and anger that had lived in the darkness of my heart, and caused so much pain not only to myself, but to people I LOVE.

The secret involves beastiality and homosexuality. (no details of the acts performed in the book)

Early chapters give very small references to things readers will learn more about 10 chapters later. The book was started in 2013 when I found myself divorced and without employment. I sat down and within two weeks had spilled out over 55,000 words. Nothing at that time about the divorce because that chapter of my life was unable to be written at that time. I have been doing review and edit, on a small scale this past month, and will be writing out things that still need to be told.

I passed it to a high school friend who is a nurse that now lives far away from here. I didn't want word to get out about some things I had written in the book. She wrote back telling me it impacted her to look at her own Christian life and consider her level of devotion to CHRIST. She then passed it to a co worker who I do not know and reported back that the fellow nurse had started reading and did not stop until she had finished the whole thing. They both proclaim me as gifted and assured me that the book would do well.

Trying to be a realist when you have bipolar is difficult, but hey.... I can do all things through CHRIST who strengthens me.

There are a couple of places in the book where I tell how GOD has allowed me to feel what HIS heart feels through the telling of the stories. If you have time I would like to send just one chapter that gives account of how GOD imparts to a man the feelings that are in HIS HEART.

and yes I used to be a salesman.


CHRIST CARING,
Tommy Crawford

 

[OzSpen]

Can you give me the links you were talking about for writers to post portions of their manuscript where publishers can read them? I also (if you are willing) and no not send you my writings... but would want to ask your opinion about the following description of my book...

The Title is "THY WORD IS MY TESTIMONY" ... subtitle " A Ride Down The River Of Life With A Bipolar Mind"

CHRIST CARING,
Tommy Crawford

Tommy,

Have you pursued this option?

Here you provide the details of an overview (outline) of the book and the first chapter to ChristianManuscriptSubmissions.com

I'm in the process of converting my PhD dissertation into 1 or 2 books and will use this link as a beginning point.

Oz

Oz