Can You Sell Books As a Self-published Author?

I was on Facebook blathering on about something unrelated to books, and saw this little publisher ad off to the right. I clicked on it.

It was for a hybrid publisher. Not sure about it, I poked around on their site. It made me cranky.

Self-publishing authors need to be wary of publishers who promise their project will be respected like the "old guard" imprints and scare you with phrases like "debilitating stigma of self-published books."

Yes, it is more difficult to sell books as a self-published author. It is difficult to sell books as a traditionally published author. It is difficult to sell books. Period. Doesn't matter if you publish with Random House or through Lulu. It can be an uphill battle if you aren't already famous. And even if you are famous ... it is still work.

From our many authors, we have a lot of titles that we consider successful.

The keys to the self-publishing success bus? A professional-caliber book and marketing.

Wheatmark offers all the services you need (and want, we don't force you to have copyediting if you don't want it ... but trust me, you need it) to have a quality book. Proofreading, copyediting, developmental edits, even book doctoring are all things we can do for you. We also offer custom cover design (you can see some of our best on flickr) and publicity kits to help you get the word out.

Our motto is: The independent author's most powerful ally.

We work everyday to give our authors the best possible experience. On our site we have several author resources links that include tips on all parts of the writing and publishing process and they are open to anyone to check out.

One of our greatest resources is our free book marketing workbook, Book Marketecture, which is a thorough look into how to plan a marketing campaign so you can reach your goals.

Beware of publishers that make it sound like publishing is a cake walk. It isn't. It requires dedication and enthusiasm throughout the process and the intended shelf life of your book.

Wheatmark is here to help. If you have a book you want to publish and you are ready to do the work, don't get duped by companies that aren't up front about their business practices.

There are lots of companies to choose from. Obviously, we would like to work with you--but do your research to make sure you find the right place for you and your work!

Angry Booksellers, Angrier Bookmakers, and the Indie Art of War

Book industry trade publications are not generally known for their attention-grabbing headlines, and booksellers are not generally known as war-mongering hot-heads, but this morning’s PW email greeted me with one of the most intriguing subject headings this book marketing chick has seen in quite a while: "Angry Bookseller’ Speaks Out at GLIBA."

Read the article and you’ll learn that Publisher’s Weekly isn’t above sensationalizing an email subject heading in order to increase their open rate.

Read the comments following the article and you’ll find that there appears to be a growing disconnect between indie booksellers and indie publishers/authors.

While I don't think so-called "Angry Bookseller" Carol Besse (co-owner of Carmichael's Books and outgoing GLIBA President) could rightly be labeled as anything more than perhaps mildly perturbed (at least not based on anything revealed in this little article. I mean come on, there were no chairs thrown, no hair pulled – I've seen angry – this is not angry; this is maybe miffed), her "call to arms" (in preparation for war against Amazon.com) did manage to catch the ear, as well as the ire of some indie publishers and indie (ie: self-published) authors who feel they’ve been too long ignored by their bookselling brethren.

Rather than argue as to which literary indie group has the most to be angry about, let's just assume that these days there are plenty of problems to go around in the independent literary community, and it sounds like everyone has more than their fair share.

What was it SunTzu said in (what could be considered his best book on the subject ever) The Art of War? Ah, that's right (thanks Google): "Victory comes from finding opportunities in problems."

Or something like that.

Point being -- maybe the problems that indie publishers, indie authors, indie distributors, and indie booksellers are facing individually, might collectively present a big fat opportunity.

Maybe, if we all put our indie heads together, indie publishers and authors could work with indie distributors and booksellers to form mutually beneficial relationships.

Maybe we could even involve the likes of the indie book and publishing associations such as Independent Book Publishers’ Association and SPAN; and indie print reviewers like Foreword Magazine and Midwest Book Review; and while we're at it we could include the indie book blog-o-sphere, etc. to bring readers' attention to those lesser-known, but deserving, self-published & indie-pubbed titles.

Maybe in this war of indies and locals versus big-boxes and online giants, the best defense for all of us indies is a collective, customer-focused and value-rich offense.

I'll take my comments off the air…