Publishing via e-books question...

[michaelj]

I've heard of authors who struggled to find a publisher who would publish their work but as soon as they published it via the e-book way, their work shot off.. My work is far from done, 16,500 words and this is my first draft and I still got plot holes to go through and stuff... However:

In ebook -

1) Can you add maps and stuff of your world?
2) How does the payment thing work? (I take it you usually need to sell for like 30p a shot if you want a shot of making money without any reviews).


Thanks.

[Endovert]

Are you looking into e-books because you don't think your work can be good enough to go through the regular publishing process, or is it just because you don't want to take the time to go through the process? I only ask because I don't think you should sell yourself short before you've even written a quarter of the book. Traditional and e-publishing both have their flaws, but whichever you pick, make sure you think it has some worth.

[michaelj]

Are you looking into e-books because you don't think your work can be good enough to go through the regular publishing process, or is it just because you don't want to take the time to go through the process? I only ask because I don't think you should sell yourself short before you've even written a quarter of the book. Traditional and e-publishing both have their flaws, but whichever you pick, make sure you think it has some worth.

I believe it can be published... If my work sucked completely then I'd give up and wouldn't bother with publishing. (as nobody wants to read crap..) I was just looking on all possibilities of publishing, I wasn't selling myself short... My story is devloping really well but I suppose I am nervous that what I perceive as good, others will think it sucks and has no chance. Like I said, I wouldn't bother publishing even on e-book if my work was appaling.

I do 100% intend to try publishing the normal routine first.. Thats my dream to see my work in shops.

[Cogito]

e-book publishing, in which you don't have to pass any kind of editorial acceptance, is a form of vanity publishing. Anything you are willing to pay for, assuming the e-book format makes it possible, will be permitted. It's all about lining the provider's pockets.

Unless you go through a normal acceptance process, it's a vanity press. Anytime the acceptance process consists of "How much are you willing to pay?" it's a vanity press.

If you're fine with that, go for it.

[sprtn0377]

e-book publishing, in which you don't have to pass any kind of editorial acceptance, is a form of vanity publishing. Anything you are willing to pay for, assuming the e-book format makes it possible, will be permitted. It's all about lining the provider's pockets.

Unless you go through a normal acceptance process, it's a vanity press. Anytime the acceptance process consists of "How much are you willing to pay?" it's a vanity press.

If you're fine with that, go for it.

How can you say that e-book publishing is vanity? It offers outstanding royalties and rapid marketization of your book.

[psychotick]

Hi,

As a self pubbed guy I'd say that dreams of your work taking off if you DIY it are mostly just dreams. If you can go the trad route and get an agent and a publisher, I'd say absolutely do that first. It gives you options that us self pubbed guys don't have. Agents have access to marketing resources and publishers who can put books on store shelves. Having said that, self pubbing can be rewarding, financially and emotionally, and for a very few lucky individuals it may even be the pot at the end of the rainbow. But for most of us its just a way of getting our books out there and getting a few bucks back. An option that we didn't have through the trad route.

Sorry to be a downer.

Cheers, Greg.

[Mckk]

How can you say that e-book publishing is vanity? It offers outstanding royalties and rapid marketization of your book.

I have always understood the term "vanity" to mean, well, thinking more highly of yourself than you actually are (or else being concerned with one's beauty, but for this context, stick with the first definition I've come up with)

So based on my understanding of the word "vanity" - self-publishing is vanity because well, you're publishing because you, the author, deem it as very good - as any author would say of his own work, or else they wouldn't write it or try to publish it - but there's been no filter, no standard, nothing to adhere to, no test you gotta pass. You haven't proven yourself and already you're trying to sell a book, trying to convince people that it's really that good and you are your only witness.

Hence, vanity. It's published not because it's really good enough (it might be, but you don't know). It's published only because you paid for it. Nobody picked you for your quality. You picked yourself, like self-love, which is vanity. So while your book might be great and it might take off and it might not be "mere vanity" after all to think your work is great, the concept of self-publishing IS vanity because you must always start off with thinking much more highly of yourself and your work than anyone would care to agree first.

Oh and to the OP - go for the traditional route first. Once it's been self-published, no publisher would touch it again unless it was a huge success (and if it was, you wouldn't want to share the profit with a publisher anyway). But if it fails, your novel is doomed forever. Another thing is, you've got to sell the work yourself and marketing is a pretty hard job - difficult, a lot of work, and very expensive. After all, sticking it on Amazon and Facebook will get you a few clicks, but how're you gonna go about getting exposure? Nobody knows you yet so no one's gonna find you via Google search (and if you show up, you'd probably be on page 23 or else get an IT guy and really optimise your SEO) You'd go bankrupt long before you make all your money back to call it even, let alone make a profit.

[Banzai]

How can you say that e-book publishing is vanity? It offers outstanding royalties and rapid marketization of your book.

Because there's no selection process. There's no editorial process, there's no rejection. Your work will be "accepted" regardless of quality.

That lack of quality control is, to me, the singular element of vanity publishing.

[michaelj]

Thanks for all your comments guys!

[mammamaia]

ditto cog, mckk, and banz on what 'vanity publishing' means...

banz...
imo, mckk's very detailed and accurate dissertation on the term should be made a sticky wherever anyone thinking of 'self'-publishing will see it...

[Edward M. Grant]

I don't think the term 'vanity publishing' really makes much sense anymore. It used to mean you pay a company to print a few thousand copies of your book then you give six copies to your relatives, convince the local indie book store to put a copy on their shelf and the rest sit in your basement forever because no-one wants to buy them. Today anyone can self-publish an e-book onto Amazon and elsewhere and it then competes with Stephen King on the same virtual book shelf. Most likely poorly, but sometimes quite well.

I'd also note that I've read a couple of news stories recently about trade publishers starting new imprints which would appear to be set up to publish any old crap for a fee and take a percentage if it sells. That seems much closer to traditional vanity publishing than a writer uploading their own e-book to Amazon.