How to get the most from Self Publishing
Never has there been a better environment that encourages and promotes writing than NOW.
Why do I say so?
The answer is simple. Now you have the EASE to publish your book. It implies that now you can, without any restraints, freely publish your book. You/your work would not bear any rejection.
Not being rejected can have its pros and cons.
Pros
If your work is well researched, precise, has a ready market, with lesser competition (fewer books in the domain of your work), you are here to gain. Ease of publishing would enable you to reach the target audience who need to read your book. Since your book becomes one of the few written on a particular topic, its demand would pick up. More books sold would mean more profit to the author. It is a known fact that the profit earned per book sold in self publishing is higher than one would get in traditional publishing. Fewer intermediaries in the supply chain mean less commission cuts and higher profit for the seller. The transparency in the self publishing model adds to the value a self published author avails.
Cons
If you are an amateur writer who doesn’t have the knack of writing nor the content that anyone would want to read, still you can go ahead and get your work published. Such books in the market dilute the essence of writing. This indirectly harms the self publishing sector as the claim goes that self published books are those that could not make it to the traditional publishers’ list.
This claim is baseless. One must not consider the model of facilitating the authors wrong. How can you say Kindle is not worthy enough as it provides an easy platform for anyone to publish his work. It is the work which is not up to the mark and not the platform. Certain books might be bad, but there would be many which are a worthy read.
How to stop oneself from taking the plunge as an author until one is ready. Here are a few pointers to review –
Do I have good command over the language in which my book is written? One needs to do a reality-check. Friends and family can help in the first place. No one can improve a poorly written book where the writer is not comfortable with the language. Rather try writing is your native language, native content also sells well. An editor can help improve the language, suggest enhancements but cannot re-write or create something on his own.
Have I researched enough to provide a thorough analysis for my readers to gain? (for non-ficiton, academic books) You wish to write on a particular topic and you have the expertise and know how. In that case, you must take the plunge and bring out your book at the earliest. But books written with shallow knowledge or content copied from the internet must be avoided. It won’t lead to anything. And if such a book is published and does not sell, it is not the self publishing model that is at fault.
Do I have creative writing as my stronghold? (for fiction, poetry) Creative thoughts and the power of imagination are a rare gift. Not everyone is capable of weaving magic with her words. But there are a few who do and everyone knows about them. One can attend classes on creative writing to hone one’s skills but no one can teach you how to think creatively. It comes from within. Given that you have that rare gift, spending huge sums of money on publicising your book would definitely reap benefits. But the investment involved in marketing will be enormous. Because here you are competing with the bigwigs who already have a name and the market is flooded with poorly written books through the self publishing model.
On the other hand, a below average written novel, even after spending lakhs on marketing, would not help.
Very few self publishing houses review your work and provide a genuine feedback. Why would they? They are here to facilitate writers to become authors. Rejecting a work rarely happens. But we at White Falcon Publishing, though not very stringent on rejection, do reject poorly written works where even an editor cannot help.
So in such a scenario, it is important for the writer to be aware, be clear and true to himself about his writing. You can take the help of pre publishing reviewers who would go through your book to guide you whether to tread the path of publishing - self publishing or traditional publishing does not matter.
From the Director's desk
Navsangeet Kaur