I have multiple self-published short stories. Most of them are related back to my Realm of the Light Series specifically or my Rai Saga in general. Two are a children’s Fantasy Series, The Sykar Series, about a volkrog puppy who explores his world and meets new friends. And a couple is stand alone short stories.
I chose to self-publish The Sykar Series because I wanted to write a couple books to share with my kids. When the series expands, I may or may not choose to sign with a publisher of children’s books.
I chose to self-publish the other stories for different reasons, but the main factor in each was that I felt the best way to share the word about them was to just release them to the world.
There are a quite a few pros to self-publishing with a publisher.
“I want full control over every step of the publishing process.” I have heard this, or if not this phrase specifically, something similar to it from many, many, many self-published authors. They want full control over pricing, marketing, promotional sales, book cover, book descriptions, etc.
What are the CONS to Self-Publishing?
Well, the cons are all the pros we talked about Tuesday with a Traditional Publisher. For me, it is pretty much having do everything that a publishing house does yourself with your own resources.
You are in full control of your pricing.
You have to either create a cover or pay for a cover.
You are in charge of marketing and when to do a promotional sale.
You are in charge of your own book descriptions, or book blurbs.
You have to either create your own audio book or hire someone to do it for you.
CLOSING THOUGHTS
Not all books are meant for every publisher. Some books will do better if self-published. Others will do better with a small press, others with a large press. Every book has its own journey, its own ideal home. I recommend you think about what you want to accomplish with the release of your current WIP (Work In Progress) before deciding how to go about publishing it.
Why Traditionally Publish A Book When I Can Do It Myself?
There are a quite a few pros to publishing with a publisher. First, you have the resources of your publisher to help you market and sell books. That by itself is potentially HUGE, pending on the publisher you sign on with.
Other Pros include:
*Editing services provided by your publisher. I strongly recommend all authors to edit their books to their fullest, either themselves or others, before submitting anything to a publisher. But, a new pair of eyes on a story is always helpful.
*Book Descriptions or Blurbs. One thing that I struggle with the most on my own is crafting intriguing book descriptions for my self-published novels. My titles published through my publisher, Cosby Media Productions, have better, more enticing book descriptions than anything I can craft myself.
*Book Covers. Publishers, pending on your contract of course, have their own resources for creating book covers.
*Formatting. Publishers, here again pending on your contract, take care of the formatting.
There are more Pros, but for me personally, the above are the biggest influences as to why I sought a publisher for “The United, The Realm of the Light Book 1.”
What are the CONS to going with a Traditional Publisher?
Like with the pros, there are quite a few different cons to singing with a traditional publisher, and different authors lists of pros and cons will vary. Here are just a few of my biggest cons.
*Setting Pricing. DISCLAIMER: I have not had this problem with CMP, but a former publisher. I discussed pricing of ebooks with one publisher who desired The United, my only published title at the time, to be priced at something like $15.99 AS AN EBOOK! I don’t know about you, but as for me, I would never buy an ebook at $16, no matter the author.
*You may not like the cover the Publisher gives your book. It happens. Some publishers I have heard of will talk with you about it and change the cover, others, not so much. On this count, I have been lucky. My CMP covers are the best.
*Release Date. DISCLAIMER: THE FOLLOWING STORY IS A COMBINATION OF THREE DIFFERENT AUTHOR FRIENDS WHO TALKED WITH ME ABOUT BOOK RELEASE WHOAS. I WAS NOT ONE OF THE AUTHORS ILLUSTRATED HERE, MY PUBLISHER HAS GIVEN THE MOST SUPPORT OF ANY ON BOOK RELEASES AND COVER RELEASES. My friend, let’s call him Jim, had book 3 of a series that I absolutely loved coming out with a small publisher. Jim was told the book would be released on Jan 1st. (No, not really New Year’s Day, I am using it for this example to illustrate what happened). But his publisher never gave Jim a pre-release link, nor a look at the cover, so he could do a cover reveal or promote pre-release sales. Searching for something else on Amazon the week before Christmas, Jim stumbled upon his Book 3, published and available for sale (not PRE-SALE mind you, but released for sale). That accidental find was the first time Jim saw his new cover, and he had to save the cover from Amazon because his publisher never released that to him personally. Moral of the story: research your publisher before you sign anything. If possible, talk with some other authors who are published with the prospective publishing firm.
*I’m tired of getting rejection letters from Publishers and Agents. On this point, some publishing firms, the BEST publishing firms among them, only accept manuscripts through literary agents. Some don’t. That does not make it a bad publisher. One publisher I would like to sign on with, and who sent me a rejection note on two separate occasions for The United, The Realm of the Light Book 1, was Shadow Mountain. They accept non-solicited manuscripts, and are a very good publisher that has seen success in marketing and selling of fantasy books, Brandon Mull’s best selling series, Fablehaven, is one of theirs. But it can be discouraging for a new author to get so many rejection notes, especially when you have faith in your book and you have the ability to self-publish.
*I want full control over every step of the publishing process. I have heard this, or if not this phrase specifically, something similar to it from many, many, many self-published authors. They want full control over pricing, marketing, promotional sales, book cover, book descriptions, etc.
CLOSING THOUGHTS
Not all books are meant for every publisher. Some books will do better if self-published. Others will do better with a small press, others with a large press. Every book has its own journey, its own ideal home. I recommend you think about what you want to accomplish with the release of your current WIP (Work In Progress) before deciding how to go about publishing it.
So, before I begin I want to say that this is in no way anything more than the personal opinion of JQM. I have nothing against Vanity Presses in the book publishing world. For some people and some projects it is the perfect option. I am not an expert on Vanity Presses, so what I am sharing is just my opinion based on my observations and personal research.
I have been approached by a few Vanity Presses in my day (email, phone calls, FB Messages, Twitter Messages, and letters), especially when The United was no longer represented by Tate Publishing, and before I signed on with Cosby Media Productions. To be honest, the biggest red flag to me that it is a Vanity Press is when they say “For X-amount of Dollars, we will publish your book.” A true traditional publisher will never ask you for money to publish your book. They take their cut out of royalties, but more on that when we talk about traditional publishers.
The disclaimer out of the way, why choose a Vanity Press to publish your book?
As far as I understand it, and as far as I can tell from my research, a Vanity Press is kind of like a one stop shop for self-publishing with less control over the publishing details, such as where your book is published, pricing, cover, and formatting.
As far as I am concerned, you as the author are in full control of the editing. Never submit a manuscript to any publisher that is not as perfectly edited as you can manage on your own. I am not saying edit solely yourself. Barter services with other authors for editing and BETA reading, and/or pay for an editing service or barter editing services BEFORE you submit your first book to any publisher. For your published book to make the best possible impression, have it as perfect as your resources can make it BEFORE submitting it to any publisher or literary agent.
CONS
So, first let’s talk about why a Vanity Press is a bad idea for your project. If you want full control of your cover, ebook distribution, or how your final book is formatted, then a Vanity Press is not for you. If you do not have money to pay for their services, a Vanity Press is not for you. If you want your book in a brick and mortar store, or you want a publisher to be strongly involved in the marketing of your book, then a Vanity Press is likely not the right fit for your project.
PROS
So, with all those cons out of the way, why would you choose a Vanity Press. That’s simple. If you, as the author, want to publish a book, but you do not want:
1) to design the cover.
2) format the various types of books (print, mobi, epub, pdf).
3) Upload the book yourself to Amazon or Draft2Digital or any other ebook distributors.
4) Want to pay someone else to do all the above for you.
Then you might look into a Vanity Press.
My Final Thoughts
Personally, I would rather take on all the hassle of self publishing, or go through the hassle of finding a publisher. But that is just me. Vanity Presses are not inherently bad. It’s just they have never been the right place for me to publish any of my projects.
Not every title deserves to be published with every publisher, nor should every title be self published.
I felt like Cosby Media Productions was the correct home for The United.
But my short stories were not a good fit with any publisher. Some short stories of mine were a good fit with some anthologies, so i submitted them.
That’s why I hybrid publish.
Now, that being said, my decision felt right to me. If you have a different path that works and feels right for, that great. My purpose in sharing this is so you can understand my choice, and hopefully help you talk out what works for you.
So this is a topic that is near and dear to my heart, and brings a tear to my eye every time I think of it.
I love my Author Friends. I am so grateful to them for all their help and support.
I have not had to spend a single penny to publish any of my self-published works.
I have bartered services with friends for editing, teasers, book covers, and formatting. I will be the first to admit that the editing on my self-published titles are not the best. But, I will equally be the first to say my covers are as eye catching as anyone else’s.
One thing I have done on my own every time is create my own book descriptions. That is one failing I will own. I am working on improving my copyrighting, but it is still not that great.
But, my community helps me with that, too. I draw on the strength and prowess and support of my fellow authors almost daily.
