I was so inexperienced in the beginning. I had no idea what I was doing and I ended up going with a vanity press. A vanity press is a company that takes your manuscript, regardless of editing or anything, they publish it and they give you very little guidance unless you pay them an extreme amount of money. You PAY them to publish your work, the misconception is that they “sign” you, they don’t. Every service that a vanity press provides to you is a paid service. The cover selection was very poor and they really don’t help do anything but get you on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. I learned my lesson and pulled my first book. — Rue Volley, Indie Author
David Carnoy, the digital publishing and e-reader guru of Cnet and author of the novels Knife Musicand The Big Exit, notes that the turn-key solutions for new authors seeking to self-publish their first book can be a pricey experience. Many companies are available to “help” new authors and offer easy publishing packages to relieve new authors of the work needed to get their books published. Carnoy notes “those ‘packages’ range anywhere from a few thousand dollars to upward of $25,000.”
Many authors today are turning to indie-publishing their works by taking on the chores of publishing on their own without a contract from a major publishing house. This indie-publishing model, usually connected to a platform such as Amazon’s Kindle or Apple’s iBooks platforms, has drastically lowered the barriers to entry for new authors and sparked an indie-publishing wave.
“The growth of indie publishing in the U.S. has been huge over the last couple of years,” Carnoy notes in his 25 Things essay. “While that growth has started to level off as fewer writers have unpublished novels in their closets to publish, you can still expect to go up against thousands of other motivated indie authors.”
Carnoy has three key suggestions for those looking to self-publish (from his essay: How to self-publish an ebook)
Create an arresting cover
Price your e-book cheaply
Marketing is all about creating awareness for your ebook
Publishing one’s work — whether it’s a non-fiction graduate school project, or a novella written in a coffee shop by a stay-at-home parent juggling daycare and school schedules with a desire to write and create — is easy today. Succeeding at getting paid for their work, either with side-hustle money or serious income, however, is the real goal of any author.
“Self-publishing a print book is easy. Self-publishing an ebook is even easier,” Carnoy points out. He notes that digital-first is the model most new authors should consider. “The first thing I tell authors who tell me they want to publish a print book is that print should be their secondary focus. … It’s much easier to produce an ebook, particularly when it comes to formatting and cover design.”
Rue Volley, the indie author I quoted above is one such author. She has embraced the digital-first publishing model for her work. I asked her to fill in the details about her own success and struggles to get there.
I focus on ebook and I am exclusive to amazon. The Kindle Unlimited program has actually been extremely profitable for me. I sell [500 ebooks for every one print book]. The truth about print is this. It is good to have your work in print BUT, it’s used for giveaways, book signings and placing in libraries. Unless you have a huge distribution deal with a large chain, you will not profit from print.
Carnoy echoes Rue’s figures. “The average print self-published book sells about 100-150 copies,” Carnoy adds in his 25 Things essay. He attributes those sales to: “ two-thirds to three-quarters of your friends and family combined,” purchasing an indie author’s print copies.
“I have almost all of my work in print but the only time I see a spike in the numbers on print is when I order it for shows,” Volley relates about her own print sales. “I know that a lot of diehard print lovers were saying that ebook and electronic readers were a trend, but it isn’t.”
“The growth of indie publishing in the U.S. has been huge over the last couple of years,” Carnoy relates about the state of the ebook publishing industry. “While that growth has started to level off as fewer writers have unpublished novels in their closets to publish, you can still expect to go up against thousands of other motivated indie authors.”
Blood and Light, by Rue Volley
Volley agrees. “Even though it looks like print is rising as far as its share in the publishing market, print still only represents 30% of total sales in books. Ebooks make up 70% of the sales now. Print is for collectors now.”
She adds: “I recently built a library in my home but those books never leave my home. If I go on any business trips I take my Kindle Fire with me because it has hundreds of books in it and I can get online with it so it doubles as a tablet.” Ebooks, according to Volley, are not a trend. Their continued dominance, she says, is due to “the convenience and instant gratification because you can buy whatever you book you like whenever you want without having to leave the house.”
Two of Carnoy’s three key suggestions for new authors focus on marketing. The first impression of “an arresting cover” for the piece is true for both print and for electronic copies. Carnoy adds that the cover design has to look good for print, but also, especially, in small format because of the thumbnail images used in online sales platforms like Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
Volley agrees:
A Witch’s Tale by Rue Volley
The importance of having a professionally made cover is essential in this market. It’s like Prom, you wouldn’t want to wear a dirty Tux or torn dress to the dance. Your cover can be the difference between potential fans stopping to check out your work or passing you by.
I can tell you that using cheap programs online is not the way to go and not everyone can be a cover artist, just like not everyone can be an author. I use Photoshop ONLY. I also avoid major layering on covers too. My motto is LESS if definitely MORE.
She speaks from experience. Volley is not only an author but is the head of graphic design for Vivid Book Designs.
The company I signed to actually gives the authors the ability to pick their own stock art, or they can hire someone to shoot for them. I am the head of graphic design so I handle a majority of the covers within the company but authors are allowed to hire outside graphic artists to make their covers. We have a few artists who are cleared to make covers for the authors because of their high standards, professionalism and ability to size the covers correctly for ebook and print.
Volley is one of a handful of indie authors who has found success through digital-first publishing and paid attention to how she markets herself.
My experience in publishing is not typical. I did not send out submissions to any publishing companies. I did not hire an agent. Because my career took off I was able to quit my day job in 2012. I also hired a Personal Assistant and I now have a Publicist who handles my audiobooks and foreign rights on film and translated versions of my books.
“Self-publishing is a contact sport,” says Carnoy. I’ve found his advice echoed on numerous other blogs and essays on self-publishing. Volley backs up this idea with her own experience. “You also need to know that the buzz and build start way before you even have the book done,” She adds. “ Authors are no longer hermits who can only be seen two times a year on the full moon.”
You have to participate in signings, blog tours and events online. Have
Hell Hound, Dogs of War, by Rue Volley
professional pictures taken and build a brand that revolves around you and your message as an author. Know that you have to spend money to make it. You can’t just release a book, share the link and expect to hit top 100 in anything. It takes planning, building your buzz, making promotional posters, writing dynamic taglines and more. Study the biggest selling authors in the genres you write in. Traditional and Indie. Watch them and how they conduct their business. Nothing will teach you more than studying people who are actually successful at it.
I asked Volley about she built her success in the indie publishing industry. “Fortunately I was signed by a publishing company after they read a short that I did in a free anthology,” she explained. “I would suggest that new authors do at least a couple of free anthologies, in the beginning, just to get exposure, but make sure you get involved with one from a reputable company and with promotional backing. You want as many eyes on that free work as possible so it will benefit you in the end.”
“Writing the book is the easiest part about this process.” I have seen her words echoed across many blogs on the topic of success. Doing the basic job (of writing, or whatever profession you’re trying to establish yourself in) is just the beginning of a publishing journey according to Volley.
You have to treat this as a business. Build your brand, have a promotional plan and budget set, understand trends, genre listings and timing when you publish. EDIT your work to death. Trust me. One badly edited book can really slow you down and damage your career. You have to learn to self-edit and only use editors with good reputations and proven records. Like anything else in life you need to read up on everything about publishing book and profiting from it BEFORE you even start.
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You can find Rue Volley and her works at these links:
