It’s the question I get asked most often. The short answer is, you probably don’t. A slightly longer version is, if you have plenty of money you don’t mind spending and never seeing again, you can.
The rule here is, If the percentages don’t get you, the con artists will.
I’ll break that down for you in a second. First, though, let’s consider what’s left that IS possible. Because, as I said above, if you have money, you can get published.
- Do It Yourself: Anyone can go to a print shop and have them print off a few thousand books. If you want to make it official, you can even buy an ISBN number for your particular magnum opus and send a volume or ten to the Library of Congress, so it’s on file forever. Congratulations! You are now a published author with ten thousand copies of your very own book taking up space in your garage. (A doctoral thesis goes through this process too, but usually with only three or four copies. It costs about the same for 10 as 100 as 1000, oddly enough.)
- Slightly less painful is the Print On Demand model. A couple of large companies, specifically Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Ingram, will, for a large percentage of the profits, let you pay them to publish through them. Shops who want to buy copies of your book send in the orders, the company prints fresh copies, ships them out, and collects the money. You get to keep anywhere from 10% of the profit (if any) to 25%. The down side here is that nobody will advertise for you unless you pay for the privilege.
- I should mention scam artists, also known as Vanity Publishers. Mind you, there are a very few honest people in this field, but the vast overwhelming majority will charge you more than the Print On Demand people to perform the same service (usually hiring the Print On Demand people), and then refuse to ever pay you a dime for any copies that happen to sell. The only good news here is that they do pay to advertise. The bad news is, they use your money to do it, and you get nothing in exchange.
- Traditional Publishing is last on my list for a very good reason: you can’t do it. For every million books that get written, a couple of hundred get published traditionally. To be fair, most of the rejected manuscripts are at best very badly written, and a publisher would lose money trying to get one released.
I’m going to expand a bit on Traditional Publishing, because there’s a lot to it. If you happen to know an agent who owes you a big favor, for instance, and if your own book is astoundingly excellent, you may, just may, be allowed to hire them. A good agent will take 10-15% of every dollar you earn, and in exchange will talk to traditional publishers for you, actively working to sell your book.
Agents are important because traditional publishers usually refuse to talk directly with writers. That’s for safety reasons, incidentally; frustrated writers can often get unstable, even violent.
The reason I told you this up front is that scam artists are the ones who don’t require you to have an agent. That’s how you can tell the difference. Scam artists are friendly, helpful, and generous with their time and attention until they have your money and your book, and usually for a couple of weeks afterward. Then they steal everything.
The above is why I recommend a mix of Options 1 and 2.
How To Make a Small Fortune by Self-Publishing:
Start with a large fortune. Spend it. Eventually, if your book is amazing and the public loves it, you’ll make some of that money back through print-on-demand.
You can improve your odds, and your return on investment, by taking a few simple steps.
- Make sure your book is good. This will sound obvious, but it’s the one thing most writers never do. They refuse to hire proofreaders and a professional editor. If someone criticizes their work, they take it personally and refuse to make recommended changes. Alternately, if the chosen editor is wrong, listening to bad advice can make a mediocre book much worse, so it’s important to get a variety of opinions — and listen to them. Be prepared to pay; professionals charge money for a reason.
- Hire an artist. A good one. Sure, your cousin may have plenty of natural talent, but have they ever done a book cover before? You may understand basic layout and fonts, but a pro will do a better job. The reason they keep telling you not to judge a book by its cover is because everyone always does.
- Charge the right price. A dollar too much and nobody will carry it; a dollar too low and nobody will take you seriously. You find out how much by going to Barnes and Noble, finding a book like yours, and checking the price. Better still, check a dozen books and take the average. Yours should cost a dollar or two more, on the theory that it’ll take a year for yours to come out.
- NEVER pay for social media reviews or clicks. Did I mention scam artists? Similarly, ads on social media either cost the Earth or are ineffective. Mind you, if your book is a popular genre, targeted ads in the right online magazines are worth their weight in gold. (For science fiction or fantasy, advertise in Clarkesworld or Asimov’s; for mystery, Ellery Queen, Hitchcock, et cetera. I’m sure there are romance mags, but I can’t help you with names.) And, if the magazine offers to review your work, that’s a delightful bonus — even if there’s a fee, which there shouldn’t be.
- Pay to print a lot of extra copies for yourself. Some of these will be expended during initial marketing; you’re going to want to send them to independent bookstores along with an order form. Don’t bother calling to ask. Just send the book. Incidentally, there are bookseller associations that can help with this.
Some of the other copies, you’ll want with you when you go to your first author event. You’ll autograph them for customers in exchange for money. Stores will happily host a successful writer, but when you’re still getting there, it may be tricky to convince them, especially if you’re bringing some copies of your own (stores love to sell copies THEY stock). Yours are for when the store runs out. You can have them put up a poster well in advance of your arrival if you like.
I also recommend conventions, if you can manage it. Make a deal with the con’s bookseller and set up in their area if they’ll let you. Remember, you’re an Important Commodity, so you’ll only be available for an hour or two, now and then.
FAQ — The most frequently asked question I anticipate is the following:
John, you’ve never published a book yourself. Why should I listen to a thing you have to say?
It’s a good question, and if you haven’t asked it, you should have. The answer is, I’m using the above recommended formula myself. If it works, well and good; if it doesn’t, at least you know I believe in the advice enough to put my money where my mouth is. In this world, you can’t ask more.
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