I am in the process of surveying independent booksellers to learn what they have to say about self-published books and authors. The early returns are very enlightening. Self-published books as a rule don’t sell well primarily because they are poorly illustrated (in the case of children’s books) or are in need of professional editing. Often the quality of the printing is amateurish and whoever lays out the book neglects to put the title, and author on the spine.

Does content make a difference? Yes, it does. The most likely self-published books to sell concern themselves with themes of local or regional interest. Sometimes a folksy, handmade quality improves sales on those titles, but don’t count on it.

Will bookstores buy self-published books? Not usually. Sometimes not at all. There are those who might consider a consignment if it fits their demographic and product mix. They may provide limited shelf exposure and if the book does well they could decide to buy that title in the future, but don’t hold your breath. Independent booksellers are aware of the plight of self-publishers because they too are often self-employed. They would be happy to see a S.P. author succeed, but they will not, nor should not, risk their businesses on the untried and unproven. I don’t blame them, do you?

Let’s examine some of those complaints further.

1. Poorly Illustrated. Just because Cousin Jimmy can draw pretty well, doesn’t make him a professional illustrator. There is a reason that illustrators, graphic designers, and layout artists are paid a lot of money. What they do adds value to the book. You may buy into the saying, don’t judge a book by its cover, but when considering a book purchase where do you start? Do you even pickup a book that doesn’t catch your eye? Have you wondered why traditional publishers are willing to spend so much money on expensive printing flourishes like foil stamping, embossing, and film lamination? Eye candy. Do you have to incur these expenses for your book? Of course not, not unless you are expecting diminished sales.
2. Lack of or Unprofessional Editing. Your third grade English teacher was right, how you say it is at least as important as what you say. In the book business grammar and spelling don’t count for part of the grade, they are the grade. Present a book to a bookseller filled with mistakes and it won’t take a minute for you to be turned down flat. And don’t say that colloquial authors like Mark Twain got away with it. First of all, you are probably not Mark Twain. Second, if you read beyond the dialogue you will see meticulous attention to spelling and grammar. And PLEASE don’t hire someone you know, or someone in the family to be your editor. You want the editor to take a hard-eyed look at your work and not be afraid to tell you where the bear went in the woods. The focus of a professional editor is strictly on the work and whether you are embarrassed by a suggestion does not come into play.
3. Book Layout. Are your even page numbers on the left-hand page and your odd numbers on the right? Do you start new chapters on a new page, and is it an odd numbered page? Do you end a chapter with a blank page when the copy ends on the previous odd page? Are you counting any blank pages as part of your total when seeking a printing bid? If your book is soft cover, did you make sure the title and author appear on the spine? If your book is hardcover with a dust jacket do you have the title and author name on both the hardcover and the dust jacket?
4. Content. If the book is fictional does the story hold up? Does the plot unveil itself logically? If there’s a surprise ending, did you build a case for it throughout the book? Even some bestselling authors forget that rule. It is almost as if they get tired of the manuscript or their editor is pushing for more pages and they just wrap it all up with an illogical conclusion. One of my favorite contemporary authors, Stephen King, has been guilty of introducing a monster out of nowhere to conclude a novel. If your book is non-fiction, did you do your research, or hire someone to do it. You should be ready to substantiate every fact. If you are ever caught just-making-stuff-up you can say goodbye to your writing career, and do I have to say anything at all about plagiarism? Three words don’t do it! If you quote someone, make sure you have their permission. The same goes for using trademarked properties, or lyrics, or anything proprietorial.
5. Ho-Hum Book or Premise. Let’s face it; a self-publishing author can’t succeed with a product that is as good as a traditionally published book. You will have to find some way to be superior to the other material on the bookshelf. I realize that is a heavy responsibility, but if you think about it you will know that it is the truth. There are other ways to market your book, but if you want to go through traditional distribution channels, be prepared to have your excellent book rejected. Make it unique. Make it stand out. Always keep in mind that the traditional publishers are very knowledgeable about all of the tricks. and anything you think of has probably been done before.

The Red Hen Association of Self-Publishing Authors, Inc. intends to assist self-publishers find ways into traditional distribution channels, but if the book is not good enough (see the 5 areas above) there is no way on heaven or earth that anyone can make it happen for you. You as a self-publishing author are your own Red Hen. You have to plant the wheat, care for it, harvest it, mill it, and bake it into bread, but don’t confuse that with editing, art, and layout. I plead with you to hire the right people for those things. It will cost more upfront, but will be well worth the expense if it opens doors for you.

I’ve been having a friendly discussions with a traditionally published author on Linked-In. He maintains that self-publishing is bad because it floods the market with poor quality products. The traditional publishing system is designed, in his opinion, to weed out the inferior work because a manuscript has to go through many vetting steps before it becomes a published book. To ignore those steps and let just anyone who thinks they are an author publish a book is harmful to the industry.

What do you think? Do you agree or disagree?

I’ve thought a great deal about what he had to say and I can see where he is coming from, but after all is said and done, I have to disagree.

1. Self-publishers, especially in the current business climate, are incapable of flooding the market. Big book sellers like Barnes & Noble, and Borders have plenty of inventory to fill up their shelves from traditional publishers. They don’t have to consider self-publishers, and they don’t. You couldn’t crack into that lock with a crowbar and dynamite. It wouldn’t happen now–but it could in the future. If The Red Hen Association of Self-Publishing Authors grew big enough, and powerful enough we could change things. But for now traditionally published authors are safe.
2. I would also like to address the vetting system. Come on now–when faced with the choice of publishing a masterful work by a new author and the next annual piece of junk from a popular author, who wins? My money is on the popular author because like Deep Throat said in the movie All the President’s Men, “Follow the money.” Publishing is first and foremost a business. If the business isn’t profitable it won’t stay in business. My argument is not about the choice, but with the assumption that a traditionally published book is somehow superior to a self-published one.
3. If Mr. or Mrs. Tiny Book Publisher has an idea that they want to put into book form, tell me again how that is harmful. Maybe they’ve written a 250 page treatise to their hair follicles, how many copies will they sell? The real vetting process is the marketplace. The readers will buy what they want to read, and publishers sensitive to the will of the people will find products that they hope will appeal to the marketplace. You can’t force someone to buy a book, any more than you can force them to read it. They have to be enticed, otherwise why even have a dust jacket? An unappealing book on an unappealing subject will never get through the gauntlet of readers. There is no reason to fear. They aren’t a threat.

Is there anything to be done about this stand-off between the self-publishing upstarts and the traditionally published? I think there is. I believe that The Red Hen Association of Self-Publishing Authors is a good place to begin. Self-publishers need to learn the ropes. They have to have support and encouragement to seek good editing, art, and printing. A professional looking product doesn’t appear by accident. Then they have to be shown how to sell the book, and run a publishing business.

Furthermore, if enough self-publishing authors join the cause there is power in numbers. Our voice gets magnified. Perhaps that power will be useful in cracking open those previously closed doors. In the meantime we can explore many other marketing paths and find other ways to promote our books. The intention of the association is to help every market-worthy self-publisher earn a decent living so they can continue to write and not have to keep their day jobs.

If the traditional publishers looked at it like a baseball metaphor, and saw the self-publishers as a huge minor league, or farm team, whose players could be called up to the bigs when they’ve proven themselves, then they wouldn’t have any reason to be critical or derisive. Can’t we all just get along? Our goals are the same. We all believe that the world is a better place because of books. Where would we be without them?

I’m not sure that authors reading my blog entry titled Are Self-Publishing Authors Saps? really caught what I was trying to say.  So I’m going to take another crack at driving the point home. Unless you are science textbook writer you probably aren’t into mathematics, but I will have to use a little 3rd grade math here, so stay with me. If you are considering self-publishing, you probably have a day job. According to the census the average American earns around $40 K per year. Suppose you paid less than five bucks each for a nice trade soft-cover book and could sell it for around twenty dollars? That would give you $15 profit per book. To replace your salaried income would require that you sell a tad over 51 books per week.

Let’s be honest here. No major publisher will be interested in a book that  sells only 51 copies per week, but if 51 books a week replaced your salary wouldn’t that be great? What would happen if you sold 100 books, or 200? Again, these aren’t numbers that will impress a big time publisher. They wouldn’t consider it longer than the time it takes to flick a fly off their foreheads, but what could it mean to you? Think about it.

This is the hidden secret: you don’t have to be a best selling author to make a decent living as a writer, but:

1. You do have to put in the time. You will soon learn that writing the book was the easy part. Marketing and promoting the book will consume all you have to give.
2. You have to be willing to take the risk. You will incur costs getting your book ready to print, not to mention the printing costs themselves.
3. You have to learn the ropes. You probably aren’t going to sell your 51 books a week standing on a street corner hawking them like newspapers. You have to learn from the real pros, and therein is a rub. I hate to tell you this, but the Internet is crawling with wolves and knaves. Anyone with a tincture of information and some copy writing skill is trying to pass themselves off as your savior, the answer to all of your problems. If you follow their advice, the promised great riches will indeed appear–they’ll appear in their pockets–and disappear out of yours. Knowledge is the shield you need to protect you.
4. You have to have a marketable product. It doesn’t matter what route you take. If the public isn’t interested in your book it won’t sell well no matter what you do. Take a good hard look at your book. Try to stand away from the emotion of your work and look at it for what it truly is. Everyone thinks that their’s is the most beautiful baby in the room, but love blinds. Listen to your critics. Weigh their advice carefully, but always remember that critics are often wrong. Their opinion is just an opinion. Ultimately the choice is yours to proceed or not.

Writers write because they have to. Did you get that? They have to. But a writer without readers is a cow without an udder. Producing the milk is one thing, but if there isn’t a way to dispense it, the readers go thirsty, and the cow bloats and dies. I don’t necessarily mean a literal death, but the death of the writer’s talent, a potentially promising career, and a unique voice.

You, the author, have something to say. You have some information to impart, or a story to tell, or maybe some humorous material. Whatever it is, you wouldn’t have started writing if you didn’t feel that people needed to hear from you. It could be that your particular audience isn’t very large, but are they large enough to sustain steady sales of your book? You may never interest a traditional publisher, but you could, and should aim at creating an adequate income to support your writing career. Who knows, if you are financially able to keep writing, and keep publishing, that illusive best seller might just come popping out sometime. Wouldn’t that be great?

Oh, by the way, don’t forget to keep up with The Red Hen Association of Self-Publishing Authors. With mutual cooperation we will soon know which of the services available have merit and which to avoid.