Having been through this route “up close and personal” recently with several clients’ books, I have a real good idea of what’s involved with self-publishing–the positives and negatives.

So I wrote a new article for you, and it’s here on the Publishing Coach Weekly site. (Like my new look?)

As usual, there are suggested action steps and resources to check out.

Basically, what is happening is “publishers” (really they are publishing services companies) such as Author Solutions are offering traditional publishers a way to profit from the authors they don’t deem worthy of taking a risk on and publishing in the traditional way. Author Solutions is the parent company of self-publishing imprints AuthorHouse, iUniverse, Trafford Publishing and Xlibris. All of these are listed in the “Publishers to Avoid” chapter of Mark Levine’s excellent book, The Fine Print of Self-Publishing: The Contracts & Services of 45 Self-Publishing Companies–Analyzed, Ranked and Exposed.

I’m not necessarily against this new “partnership publishing” model. It’s probably inevitable, because the “old era publishing” model is becoming less and less viable. Retail outlets are closing right and left, publishers’ profit margins are getting thinner and thinner. As Mark Weiss stated,  this new partnership model allows publishers to use this new approach  as a “proving ground” for authors.”They get the opportunity to, in essence, create a farm system. … [Traditional publishers] get the opportunity to watch these writers and see how they do in the marketplace before they give them an advance.”

But, do the authors really benefit? They pay for the privilege of getting published … the media know what’s going on, and very rarely take books by subsidy publishers seriously, no matter what these “publishers” say. Distribution (in retail outlets) and coverage by the media have always been the issues subsidy publishers adroitly avoid addressing.

I thought it puzzling that Weiss said, “Because we do so much volume, costs are much lower than [traditional publishers']. It gives traditional publishing the opportunity to look at a different form of production of the physical book and start to experiment, and see how other people do things and get a much closer look at it. … It gives the publisher the opportunity to get involved in a new form of publishing without building all the infrastructure and expending all the time and energy that it takes to build something new.” Is he saying that traditional publishers don’t know how to edit, promote, and get books into the distribution channels?

Seems to me there IS something traditional publishers don’t know how to do, that many  subsidy publishers are very good at. That is profiting from authors’ work, while giving very little service. Author Solutions published 21,000 books last year. Can any company that services that many authors truly provide service? In the past, “old era” model, the publisher did take a big risk. The publisher only profited when they were right about a book, that it would sell well and make up for the 97% of books that didn’t sell out their advances. Yes, it’s been a risky thing, now more than ever, which is why that model is crumbling.

However, authors must be very wary of the new options being put forth. Always ask, “Who is really profiting here?” Make sure there truly is a win-win opportunity, and it’s fair. It’s fair for an author to pay for publishing services, if they are fairly structured and priced. It’s fair for the publisher to make some profit on their services, but not to mark up, say, the printing so much that the author must price the book higher than the market can bear in order to make a profit.

Author beware! Contact me for a consult before you sign on any dotted line. I have no interest in any company (which is why I refuse to allow ads on this site), and will give you my best, unbiased advice, based on your situation and my “publishing insider” knowledge.

I hinted that this might happen months ago on this blog, because I had heard of another publisher considering this very option. More than a year ago I predicted that publishers would eventually move toward more of a self-publishing model.

It’s really inevitable. The other day someone revealed to me something a traditional publisher told a prospective author:  the author needed to  guarantee they could  sell 10,000 books from speaking in order to be published by them.  That author would have to buy 10,000 of his  own book (usually at a 50-60% discount only), in order to get published!

(I couldn’t help but wonder how the author advance, if any, would stack up against the investment the author would have to make.)

Increasingly, author platform (i.e. a large, loyal following) is a necessary prerequisite for being published by a traditional publisher.

So what’s an author to do who doesn’t yet have that following?

Self-publish seems to be the answer.

I can’t help but wonder if traditional publishers will (perhaps already are) look at the self-publishing route as the “proving ground” for authors before they will consider publishing them in the traditional way.

Here’s the danger, for them.

If an author does well as a “self-published” author, why would they ever need or want a traditional publisher? I just ran figures with one of my clients, who chose to publish with Intermedia. The profit per book (if it’s a $24.95 hardcover) would be $7.62, using the least profitable way of selling it (i.e. amazon).

Compare that to the royalty of 80 cents per book that would be typical. The most the author would get under a typical royalty agreement would be $2.12  (assuming they get 10% royalty on the retail, which is rare. More typical royalties are 7.5% of net, meaning after the retailer discount, and then you subtract from that, the typical 15% agent fee).

So which would you rather do: Get paid an author advance, which you might have to turn around and reinvest in books to sell yourself, and get your $.80-2.12 per book … or pay for all the costs of your book and make a profit of $7.34–13.62 (depending on how you sell it)?

The major factors will be, of course, initial capital, and marketing. You need that capital outlay to finance the initial print run, and you need to be able to sell the books to make your profit.

Which is what makes it truly  “self-publishing.” You now know the factors publishers must look at when they look to publish a book. The answers to the key questions you have to provide a publisher are the same ones you need for yourself as well.

Those questions are covered in my “Write Your Book Right: 12 Questions Successful Authors Always Answer” coaching session, by the way. For more on that, check this out. You can also get my personal coaching along with it if you choose.

As I mentioned in one of my Publishing Coach Weekly teleseminars, there are three paths of publishing one can take.

1. You publish just because your life dream is to have a published book. The book is really all you care about.

You can go either the self-publishing route (faster, possible to get published if you have the money), or you can take the longer, more uncertain route of trying to get a publisher to publish you. If you do go the traditional publishing route, you will need

Read the rest of this new Publishing Coach Weekly article

Each Publishing Coach Weekly teleseminar is held at 1 p.m. Eastern, 10 a.m. Pacific, for 30-45 minutes. Here you can ask your question, before or during the call. You can also get your Action/Resource Guide the day of the call. (Replays available within 48 hours at www.publishingcoachweekly.com/teleseminarreplays.html.)

The questions I plan to answer include:

• “Are there any ways to test the idea(s) one would have for a book? No sense working hard on a manuscript if it wouldn’t have market appeal.”-Barb
• “What are some good strategies for determining market interest as well as gaps in the existing book market?”–Lynne
• “If you were to write a book, how would you rank the most important things to spend time and money on? (Topic would sell or not, market, title, cover, content, etc.–not marketing, website, etc.–just the book…)”–Johnny

Plus I’ll tell you what I think is the most important quality you need to become a successful author.

It’s all here.

(To get to the teleseminar replay, scroll past the article–which is related, so please read if you are considering publishing at all.)

Questions answered on this call:

• “What do you think of Virtual Book Tours? Do you have a recommendation as to whom to hire to help promote?” (Debbie)
• “I need a refresher on how to make outlines. Although I like the freedom of straying from the outline, to have something organized on paper helps me focus, yet I run into difficulty making that outline.” (Margaret)
  (I revealed the mind-mapping technique that I use for virtually everything I plan. It will give you an outline for your book–or anything, even a vacation–in minutes! Also guaranteed to beat writer’s block.)
• “I have sent submissions to 6 publishers, got turned down by 4 and accepted by 1- Tate Publishing. But they want $3,400 up front to do ‘everything.’ Is it normal for publishers to want money up front? I need understanding on the best route to take with publishers by knowing what is the norm and what is more of a scam.”–Cindy

The Tip covered 5 questions to ask yourself to determine whether self-publishing or mainstream publishing is the best publishing path for you. (Only you can decide!)

The call is just under 45 minutes. Make sure you print the Resource Guide to get the most out of the class, okay?

You can ask your question and sign up here.

One of the most-asked questions was, “What are the biggest mistakes authors make when self-publishing?”

I answered that in my recent article. (There are five to avoid.)

Some of the other questions we will answer tomorrow night include:

• What exactly is self-publishing, and what can I expect from a self-publishing company?
• How much does it cost to self-publish (and how can I be sure I won’t get ripped off)?
• What kind of distribution does a self-published book get? (I.e., will the book show up on a Barnes & Noble bookshelf?)
• How do you distinguish the best self publishing companies

If these are your questions, sign up for the call!

If you have another question you would like to see Mark Levine answer, now is the time to ask it.

You’ll get all the details, plus “The Author’s Bill of Rights” and Mark’s PowerPoint on “Why Self-Publish?” when you sign up.

If you can’t make the live call, you will get the replay link–if you sign up!