The Self-Publishing Maze

I haven’t anything new to share with you regarding the publishing side of things.  I’m still waiting… and waiting… and waiting.

Because of that, I’m a little apprehensive that I might run out of things to write about in this blog, so forgive me if some of the posts become off topic… well, more off topic than they already are.

Since we’ve decided to look into the self-publishing arena for our first book, I’ve been comparing various self-publishing companies.  Trying to compare these companies with their array of packages, options, and prices is like comparing rotten apples to green oranges.  The various printing costs and royalties are just as confusing.  Add too all of this, the complaints and “scam alerts” listed for each one of these.

BOY!  There are some very angry and unhappy authors out there, let me tell you!

Where’s My Royalty Check?!

The biggest complaint that is shared by all of them is the authors are not getting their royalty payments quick enough, nor is the royalty check big enough.  The authors feel that they have sold more books than they are being credited for; therefore, the companies are scamming them out of their money.

This is where you really need to read the contracts and understand what you’re getting into when going with a self-publishing press.  Many state in their contracts that you need to make a certain amount of money before the funds are directly deposited into your account.  If you choose the funds to be mailed to you instead, then a fee for that process will be charged. 

It’s understandable that the self-publishing companies support their own distribution channel and give higher royalty percentages to books sold through their company, as oppose to sold through external distribution channels (such as bookstores, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc.).  They’ll give you 50% royalties on books sold within their channel, but knock the royalty percentage down to 10%-12% for books sold through an external distribution channel.

Also, realize that your royalty percentage could be based on the net sales of the book (i.e., book price minus printing costs minus whatever discount (36%- 55% discount) the publisher gave bookstore distributors to sell your book) — instead of percentage of retail price less discount to distributors. 

When you deal with Amazon’s CreateSpace, also realize that they only pay you the first time your book is sold.  If the book is returned, refunded, and then resold, even though it may look like you sold two books, you really only sold one book.

There Must Be More Sales!

Another shared complaint is that if an author’s book is being distributed through thousands of distribution channels, as the self-publishing company claims, then there should be more sales of my book! 

This phenomenon is similar to a falling tree in the forest… if the book is out there but no one knows that it’s there… does it ever get read?

It’s hard for authors to realize but a book just doesn’t get sold on its own.  People have to know it’s out there, and they have to want to buy it.  There has to be marketing and promoting done for the book to get people interested in the book.  In the self-publishing world, this duty falls on the author’s shoulders. 

Another thing:  A lot of times, books are simply overpriced.  To get a respectable return on the book, authors may push the retail price of their books higher than the market will accept.  Unfortunately, once a book is printed with a retail price, the retail price is set.  There's no changing it.  The only way to lower the price is through giving more discounts... which lowers the author's royalty amount even more.

Also, with the new technology of the e-book options, many are no longer purchasing paperback or hardcover books.  E-books are cheaper.  The cheaper the price, the less the royalty check will be. 

And there is another — more sensitive — reason that the book is not selling.  Just because a book is printed and out there, that doesn’t mean there’s an audience for that particular book. 

So, What Are We Going to Do?

To sum it all up… by the end of my research, I’m as confused and lost as I was before I started.

So, I’m still trying to sort things out.  First, we have to sit down and determine what our main distribution plan is to be.  That will narrow the field for us. 

From there… who knows?    Because I surely don’t!


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