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It always seems like when I tell someone I'm looking to self-publish a book, or set-it up for print on demand, they always assume you're just not good enough to get picked up by a major publisher. Sometimes it seems to me like those people are right. They could be right in my case, but if you don't believe in yourself, there's really not much point to striving for anything.
The novel I'm working on now has been rejected a few times from major publishers. When that happens, you're forced to re-evaluate what you've done. They don't exactly include a detailed critique along with the short rejection letter, so you're usually left to try to figure out why they didn't like it.
To be fair to traditional publishers, the editors must be subjected to a lot of bad writing on a daily basis. It could be possible that what you think is an original idea has already been done and is old hat and tiresome to the editor. Most times there's no way to tell.
I was reading some of the articles featuring interviews with editors from major publishers and magazine editors in this years Novel & Short Story Writer's Market. Some of it seemed snarky and mean-spirited toward aspiring writers.
I think when you get into a job like that, you might forget at some point how much people want this, and it's easy for them to sit on the other side of the fence and laugh at people who are trying to get in. When you read some of the interviews and the listings themselves, many are somewhat brusque and condescending. I found it to be a very interesting read for that reason.
Some of the listings will say things like "Do not send if your work is filled with boring, trite dialogue."
Okay, I can understand that. Who wants to read boring, trite writing? But what author is reading that listing and thinking to themselves "Oh, I had better not send MY work then, because mine is the epitome of boring and trite!"?
Why even write that sort of thing? It was very interesting to me. I saw a listing where the editor had written something to the effect of "If your work is filled with violent images, don't send it to us, seek therapy." Wow. Harsh, but entertaining nonetheless. I guess these guys do know their stuff, but would they say that to George R.R. Martin?
I wonder what their jobs are like if they have that much venom toward aspiring writers? I hope I never find out, that's for sure.
A lot of times your chances of getting published are only as good as the person who reads it -unless you know someone, which I don't. Who knows if your work is at a professional level, but the person is having a bad week and is in a bad mood? Maybe something bad happened in their personal life while they were reading your submission and now they associate your manuscript with negative feelings? Is it possible that this person is just not able to recognize good work?
Or it could be that your work is just bad. I'm sure it's most likely that they didn't feel the work was interesting enough or at the level they require to give it a chance. I don't know the answer to that, but I do know that I have read some really horrible stories that obviously some editor decided were good enough to put into print.
I've read books from major publishers where the editing was absolutely atrocious, where the story was just obviously ripped off from another writer. Some authors run out of ideas and keep regurgitating junk every couple of years and the publishers print it to keep printing up the money.
Sometimes when your work is rejected, it doesn't mean it's not good, it may just mean that your work might not sell.
That said, I've seen some works in the self-published world that were badly in need of editing, and sometimes the author might need work on basic grammar.
Normally, when I thought of "self-publishing", I was thinking that you take your story to printer (Vanity presses, usually), they get it typeset, they do all the pre-press work, they print you the smallest run that they can (at what price you can afford), and they deliver the product.
In this case you might be left sitting on an inventory of 300-500 or so books that you now have to store while you pound the pavement trying to get them some shelf-space in the local bookstores. When I used to work in a Barnes & Noble, we never really gave any good space. You might get some shelf space in the back on the bottom shelf, spine-out, but no upfront table space and no help promoting it.
That was over 10 years ago though, so they might have changed their policies regarding local authors to be a bit more friendly.
In any case, it was hard work, and without a network in place like the traditional publishers already had, it might be hard to find success that way. Most of the time you'd be lucky to break even and not find yourself in a financial hole with a garage full of unsold books.
These days with the public embrace of the internet, you can at least spare yourself financial ruin.
When I set up my sister's book The Cupid Factor at Lulu, we only paid for a couple of revisions to the book and it was ready to go.
To be fair though, I have worked in prepress and graphic design/web design for almost 15 years, so to me it was really no problem to figure out how to set up the book in InDesign and get a pdf ready for publishing. Also, since I'm an artist I created the cover for her. If you are not familiar with page-layout software or not artistically inclined, then you may have some significant up-front expenses to get your manuscript prepared for Lulu or other Print on Demand services.
However, even though you have the physical copy of your book in your hands, for relatively little money, you still have to market the thing.
Actually, let me back up. It really depends on what you're looking to do. If you want a well made family photojournal of a family reunion that members can go online and buy, then you could hook one up at Blurb and be done with it, no marketing necessary.
Sometimes you might just want to see your work in print just for your own ego's sake. It may not truly matter to you if it really never sells. At this point you're not out that much of anything but your own time and a little money.
Some people are not really looking to support themselves with this, they just wouldn't mind a little extra income here or there. It's not going to make or break them if it doesn't sell.
It's really the people that are trying to make a real go of this, if this is your business and you support yourself off of it, then the marketing is really going to matter. You're really only going to sell as much as your labor has allowed you to sell, unless you just get really lucky somehow.
Instead of pounding the pavement, you have to pound the keyboard and find the best way to get eyes on your work. Yeah, you should have some physical cards and materials for local venues, but obviously there's more eyes on the web. Much more competition there, too.
I really don't have any golden nuggets of marketing. I sure wish I did. Some people throw money at the problem and buy paid ads. Others are tenacious and relentless with promoting their works so they eventually start attracting links and notice.
I think everyone would love to hit J.K. Rowling status or Terry Brooks or George R.R. Martin status, but can you realistically do it without a major publisher getting you advertising and tablespace at major book chains?
I was out on the web looking for some success stories in the Print on Demand world. I came across an interesting, but negative-toned page at this site:
http://www.best-childrens-books.com/selfpublishing.html
Be sure to read his link to what he (Steve) "used to say" about self-publishing.
Mind you, when I typed in "print on demand success stories" this was the VERY FIRST LINK that came up in Google. And it's negative. Hmm.
So you have to ask yourself what you really want. I think a lot of what he's saying assumes that you are looking to get your books in the bookstore.
As far as I myself am concerned, Print on Demand is the way to go for me. It would be great to reach Robert Jordan-level fanbase, but do I need that? No.
I have absolutely no plans to put my work in bookstores. Everything I do will be online. I already have a job so I'm not desperate for or depending on the income. As I said before, I don't have a problem setting up the files and I do my own art, so I don't really have to recoup those costs.
When Steve discusses the quality of the books, well, I've seen some of the books look a little inconsistent from time to time, but a buyer who's just buying one will most likely never notice that.
Also, I used to work at a bookstore, plus I'm an avid reader, so I've handled my fair share of books and then some. When I got the first book from Lulu I was pretty impressed. They don't look or feel any different from what you might find on the shelf in the bookstore.
Not to mention that I can go back and offer different versions of the same book without having to order another print run of 500 books. It's well and good to tell people that they should go to a major publisher, but I really don't feel like waiting around for months at a time just for a thin rejection letter.
For a more positive tale, check out this blog from Lulu.com, featuring an interview with Wil Wheaton, of Star Trek: The Next Generation fame.
Always keep in mind though, that at his level of fame it's just not as difficult to garner a following as it will be for most people. He had a semi built-in audience already that he could capitalize on, so that worked to his advantage.
It may be that you (and I) will NEVER get published by a traditional outlet. I really don't plan on wasting years while my work just sits on my computer. Maybe someone else will enjoy it? Heck, it might make me some money, and I'll feel good about doing it, so in my situation it's a no-brainer.
I know this might seem like something of a rant against traditional publishers, but it's not really. I don't bear these people any ill will, after all they DID bring me Raymond Feist, George R.R. Martin, Tad Williams and others.
But how many authors didn't they bring me? It's likely some good stuff that I would have really liked never got through the gauntlet. I guess we'll never know.
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Print on Demand 
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