Tuesday, April 16, 2013

The New Publishing

How many of you are self-publishing your work? If so, are you only publishing the e-version of the book? Or are you also doing print copies?

Have you given up on getting an agent?

If you're getting it printed yourself, how are you doing it? Using a local printing company? Using Lightning Source? Going Print On Demand?

So much has changed, just in the years that I've been  writing. For example, I've been writing my newsletter, Doing It Write, for 14 years now. When I began, no one had heard of e-books. They hadn't come into being. If you wanted your book published, you queried agents and checked your mail constantly to see if any had responded. (A lot of us still do that today.)

But we're into a new era of publishing. More and more authors are "doing it themselves". This is especially true when it comes to e-books. A lot of authors do their own e-books because it's fairly easy to do.

Even putting your book into print is not all that difficult to do anymore. Admittedly, it takes time and the formatting can be a bit arduous.

If you do it yourself, either in e-form or print, then you also have to do the promoting. Writers who have agents and publishers also find that the bulk of the promoting is on their shoulders, too.

We're now in a new era of publishing. Some of us are adapting and participating. Some are kicking and screaming. Either way, we're now in a new world of publishing. 

Publishing is not static. It's a world that is still changing.

4 comments:

  1. The writing is now the easy part. The actual format and publishing is not difficult. The marketing is killer - trying to rise above the piles of good books. I have trouble even asking friends if they want to buy my book, and then ask again for a review. It's not for the faint of heart or for those trying to make a living at it.

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  2. I learn something new everyday about publishing and promoting. It's exciting and a little overhwhelming.

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  3. I still haven't wanted to tackle Lightning Source. Createspace is so easy I'm sticking with it for print - especially now that they have an agreement for expanded distribution with Ingram and NACSCORP.

    I'm signed up for Do It Write but just realized I haven't seen a recent newsletter. Did I get dropped from the email list?

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  4. I publish my books through Create Space, and Kindle and Smashwords for e-books. I wasn't overly impressed with the agents I met and after a year, I decided to go it alone. I haven't been disappointed. Let's face it you have to do all your own promoting anyway and also have to deal with waiting a year or two before your work is published. I do take printed books with me for book signings but I would say 98% of my income comes from e-books.
    Ann

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