Canister X – A.P. Fuchs: Zombie, Paranormal Romance and Superhero Novelist, Blogger, Artist, Publisher

*Note* Though the information below is somewhat dated, and I’ve since adjusted my stance on a couple things, the “meat” of the article remains true in that self-publishing is hardwork and not simply “upload and go” like is being hyped nowadays. The below info is not just for e-publishing, but also self-publishing your material in print as well. I also want to add that I’m not longer interested in landing a traditional publisher for myself unless they can go above and beyond what I can do on my own.

The Truth About Self-publishing
Originally published on-line February 10, 2006

Those who self-publish non-fiction works or information productions will draw a different conclusion compared to what I’m about to say, but for those who put out their own fiction works, the following is guaranteed . . . at least at the beginning.

Self-publishing fiction is hard. If you are going into it with the view that you will become rich and famous, respected and popular, you will be severely disappointed. Because you are putting out your work yourself, you are forced to focus on all aspects of publishing, not just the writing. Right there your mental energy and/or mental well-being will be divided into several parts and the days of worrying about only your latest story or editing your latest yarn will be long gone. You might even find with all these new responsibilities swirling around your head that your creative juices might slow their flow. That’s a shuddering thought for any fiction writer, but it’s also a realistic one.

Self-publishing is no easy challenge. There is a great financial risk involved even if you use print-on-demand, a significant investment of time after your book is in its final edited form, and the looming thought that it might not yield any results—in any capacity—at all. If I had hyped self-publishing as a Godsend in my previous articles, I apologize. If you decide to self-publish your work, I can guarantee you a long, uphill battle in getting your book into bookstores (you will then have to do business on their terms using their discounts and their returns policy), but most importantly, you will have to fight to get your stuff into the hands of readers. You must be willing to hustle your butt every day to make readers aware of your work and, better yet, making sure they wind up with the book in their hands, bought and paid for. If you think setting up a website is all it takes, you’re in for a world of hurt. The sales will not come to you even if you had gone the traditional route and had someone else publish you in an effort to ensure sales as their responsibility (though I will add I believe every author big name or small should get out there and promote their work nonstop until—and this takes a good long while, if at all—their name on the cover alone is enough to sell millions of copies). You will be met by prejudice and rude comments if you begin hanging out with traditionally-published authors. Not only will such remarks come from them, but from bookstores as well. And if a bookstore does not express their distaste for self-publishing from their lips, you will see it in their eyes, in their expression. I’ve been there and other authors have as well. It won’t matter if your book is completely error-free, is the greatest and most intense story ever written, has the most beautiful cover—because you self-published it, the stigma that is primarily the fault of vanity and subsidy presses will haunt you.

I implore you, if you are one to be easily discouraged or if you lack the confidence needed to take a chance and put your work out on your own, your heart will be broken and it might be hard to pick up the pieces afterward. You will need a thick skin and an unshakeable drive to see things through even when things get so hard you want to throw your computer out with the morning trash.

Self-publishing in this industry is basically a declaration that you are doing things your way and are walking your own path toward your final publishing goal. To go back to the first entry in this little series, if you wish to use self-publishing as an entry point as I’m doing, that’s fine and I wish you all the best. But if you expect to self-publish and only self-publish and become as huge success like Stephen King or J.K. Rowling, it’s not going to happen. I wish that wasn’t the case, but that’s just how it is. The publishing world is a huge one, and, at best, self-publishing can act as your small-to-medium-sized press entry point (depending on your success). To go beyond that, you will need that big traditional contract I mentioned back in the first entry. I will always stand by self-publishing as a great way to get started and get your name out there and build your resume (and even then, more often than not, a self-published book on your resume in the eyes of big publishing firms doesn’t count), but if you only wish to write and only wish to worry about your stories, seek a traditional publisher. Please.

The choice is yours.

Continued from 5 Questions and Answers on Self-publishing . . .

From The Macro Mechanic’s Manifesto:

6.) So then what should writers do if they want to pursue self-publishing?

I don’t want to come across with this big need to make things complicated, but the reality is that if you want to surpass the level of “for the luv” with this stuff and want to actually make a career out of it, there’s a lot to consider, especially if you’re new to the game.

One of the big things you need to do is go in with realistic expectations about the success of your book. Now, of course, there are those rare instances where a self-published title will sell thousands right out of the gate—and if that was true, every writer would do it—but more often than not, self-published books sell in the 50-100 range and that’s about it.

I’m not saying that’s what your book is going to do. That’s just more an average figure, give or take a bit.

Face it: unless you’re an established name not only in the publishing industry but also to readers as a whole, your book’s not going to automatically fly off the shelves. You’ve got to make that name for yourself

7.) So what you’re saying is you’re doomed right from the start?

Well . . . not really, but the odds are stacked against you.

You need to get your name out there through every means you can (without spamming or annoying people), make yourself someone of worth in the eyes of the reading public, find your audience and market to them.

Marketing is a huge topic and needs a more step-by-step type of an answer because I can’t just say, “Here’s how you do it” and call it good. Lots to it, more than my answers here will allow.

However, the marketing part is the biggest problem nearly all writers face, new to the game or not, and something that’s even more of a challenge to self-published writers. But there are ways to remedy this and we’ll start going through them soon.

8.) Okay, so a writer goes in with realistic expectations about their title, understands they’ll have to bust their butt to move it—then what?

Assuming you have a completed book, you can get the ball rolling on publishing it. If your book is not completed, finish it first then get the publishing part started. Some might argue to get your publishing company set up while writing it, but if you finish your book first, it shows you that you were serious about getting it done. I mean, no point setting up a company if you’ve got nothing to publish, right?

So that’s the next step. Finish the book. If that step was already done, then create your company.

9.) And how does one go about doing that?

I’m going to point you to a couple of resources that I found helpful. I know what I did, but I’m in Canada and business rules here are different than in the US and I’m not sure from where folks reading this are from. I will assure you, though, that setting up my own company was easy, cost-effective and didn’t take long to get up and running.

Good resources are Fern Reiss’s The Publishing Game: Publish a Book in 30 Days, and Mr. Self-publishing himself, Dan Poynter, whose The Self-publishing Manual: How to Write, Print and Sell Your Own Book (presently in its 16th edition) is the ultimate go-to guide to get your book out there on your own.

10.) And then?

Once you got your publishing company registered with those who need to know (i.e. companies office, Revenue Canada/IRS/whoever controls taxes where you live, etc.), then—because the Internet will be your best friend later—set up a website, if you don’t already have one.

If you are only going to publish your own stuff, you can either set up a site under your company name or personal name, the latter depending on how vocal you choose to be about publishing independently.

If you are going to publish others as well, then most definitely have a website for the company. You can even have one for personal items and one strictly for the publishing business. I’ve done this by having my personal website at www.axiom-man.com/www.canisterx.com (same place) and Coscom Entertainment’s at www.coscomentertainment.com

There are many hosting companies to choose from. I use GoDaddy.com for the Coscom Entertainment stuff. For my personal site, I just got into blogging 5-6 times a week, so use wordpress.com for that and have the www.axiom-man.com URL (which I registered with GoDaddy) point there.

I’ve been self-publishing since 2004 (I subsidy published in 2003–bad move) and in that time I’ve seen pretty much all there is to see in the self-pub biz, everything from wild successes to dismal failures.

I’ve been writing since 2000. It was June of that year that I started writing my first novel, A Stranger Dead. At the time, the publication aspect, well, I didn’t really care about. Sure, I wanted the book to be published, but the how and by whom, I waited till I was done till I figured that out.

In the end I was screwed over by a subsidy company, one, it seemed, that played on my naivety regarding this business.

Regardless, I got the self-publishing bug and most true self-publishers will tell you they suffer from the same ailment as me: the need to do it yourself.

My goal was to always create for a living, at first comics then books. Nowadays I’m doing a bit of both. What I didn’t realize back then was that the publishing business–namely being an author–isn’t all fame and glamor and oodles of cash despite what TV teaches us. Yes, those types of successes and lifestyles do happen, but they are few and far between, which is why there’s a big news story about it when it does happen. Most writers who write full time have a modest income. Other writers still work part time to make ends meet. Others need to work full time and write on the side.

The Self-publisher’s Mindset:

To go into self-publishing thinking it’ll be your ticket to writing/creating full time is like thinking you’re gonna go to the casino and come out with enough dough to buy a house. It could happen, but your odds are ultra slim. That’s how it is.

However, it is possible to go into self-publishing–and I’m talking about self-publishing fiction here; self-publishing non-fiction is much more easier to make a living at–and actually come out with enough money to live on and create for a living.

But here’s the kicker: the “creating for a living” part would only be how you’d spend 10-20% of your time. The other 80-90% is you marketing your creation, networking, making phone calls, sending emails and going nuts in your effort to tell the world about your product.

The self-publisher’s mindset is this: you’re a business. You’re not a full time writer. You’re a full time businessman.

And this is where most self-publishers get tripped up. Too many just want to write and that’s it, which is fine, but if that’s you then don’t self-publish.

The very idea of publishing a book and then waiting for the sales to roll in is ridiculous at worst and self-deceiving at best.

Self-publishing is about investing in yourself, making a business out of your product and name, and doing what it takes to make that business succeed.

It can be a slow process (most likely) or a not-so-slow one (depends on which break you catch; i.e. an article about you in the New York Times complete with purchasing info about your book).

Your mindset needs to be not just on product creation, but product distribution, financial management, the willingness to sacrifice, the willingness to take a risk, the willingness to walk away after a failed sincere effort. Though, I admit, that last one is subjective and perseverance through failure is the better option. The idea is knowing when to call its quits (i.e. after, say, 10 years of trying to self-publish successfully).

You need to understand that you will wear several hats as a self-publisher. The writing one is the one you’ll rarely wear. The marketing, production, networking, designing, and money calculating ones are the hats you’ll have on most of the time.

It’s scary, sure, but it can also be rewarding.

And please–please–whatever you do, know that the first hat you’ll wear if you decide to self-publish is the research hat. You need to understand the different between true self-publishing and what’s being passed off as self-publishing these days.

This is true self-publishing. Anything else is not. Period.

Self-publishing is: