There are two modes of publishing.  The traditional publishing house and the more modern “do it yourself” variety.

Some people, like my dad, take “do it yourself” to the extreme and print the book themselves on an actual printer and ship it out per order.  This can work, as my dad has proven to me.

Most self-published books are through vanity publishing houses, print-on-demand, or pay-to-publish services.  You pay them and they give you a nice book all bound up to do with as you will.

The problem with pay-to-publish houses is that they don’t screen what they’re putting in print.  They print it because you pay them to.

This has created a stigma around self-publications that those books aren’t as good as traditionally published works, simply because they aren’t vetted for quality.

While that thought has some truth, the idea that self-published works aren’t as good as traditional media is simply a stereotype based on the medium.  There are, in fact, categories in reputable contests for self-published works, and plenty of self-published works have done remarkably well.

But I’m sorry to say that when a nice lady at my church said her husband wrote a book that “he published himself,” my eyes glazed over a little.  The sad truth is that the majority of self-published works don’t do as well as my dad’s.  My dad hit a niche market with a new idea (alliterated Bible outline), but self-publishing reminds me of blogging.  People put their work out and, yeah, some of them are really great.  But it seems more likely that you’ll find lists of what that person had for breakfast every day in a format only a mother could read.

It’s great for the writer, but it’s hard to get any sort of recognition even if you are good.  It’s a very tough medium.

Personally, I want traditional publishing to handle the mundane details so that I can go into bookstores and squee “Oh look!  I wrote that!”  I don’t want to design, publish, et cetera, because I just want to sit back and do the writing part and get paid for it.  Also, traditional publishing would give my books access to more bookstores, whereas self-published works have to fight tooth and nail for a shelf spot.

So if you want to do self-publishing, more power to you, but you should be aware of the pitfalls you may face by going around and telling people “I did it all by myself.”  Instead of selling someone on your book, toting your self-publication like a badge can turn people off.  Instead, tell them which local bookstores they can find your work and give them the link to your website in case they want to order it directly.  Personally, I wouldn’t mention self-publication in any of the material I offered.  Instead, give people a chance to get interested.  Give them the first few pages or a blurb to read.  Advertise what you’re selling, not how you’re selling it.

Trust me when I say that more people will actually look at your book if you sell them on the product instead of how self-sufficient you are.  Some writers, working to break into the traditional market, actually look down on self-published writers as people who can’t make it in the traditional market.  Thus, statements like “It was so easy!” to someone who’s slaved for a year to get an agent to give him or her the time of day is not the best way to make friends or promote your book.  (It is a good way to get hot coffee dumped in your lap.)

Still, with a dash of prudence and a lot of hard work on your part, you can make a self-published work successful.  It’s entirely possible.  But it is a lot of work.  And it carries a lot of stigma.  If you’re willing to put that work in, to make your project perfect and market it and try to get local bookstores to put it on their shelves . . .

Then my prayers are with you, aspiring-writer-snug.  I wish you all the luck in the world.

Related Resources

• Wikipedia: Self-Publishing
• Should You Self Publish?
• Why People Hate Self-Published Authors
• Self-Published Authors Don’t Have to Look Bad
• The Stigma of Self-Publishing: One, Two, Three, Four, Five, More, Redux

This post inspired by a friend who was approached by a vanity press, which she mistook for a traditional publisher.
A traditional publisher pays the writer (you) without demanding any charges or fees.