Doing Better the Second Time Around

by T. Isilwath
(Pennsylvania, USA)

Genre: fantasy romance

The Heart of a Fox is my second self-published novel. I guess you could say that I got burned enough on the first try that I'm a little more wary and street-wise now. I hope my experience will help other self-published authors not get scammed like I did.

My first book was a vampire novel that I published through iUniverse. I bought their "package" and their promises, and was nearly $1000 poorer. I believed their fancy tales of store shelf exposure and book signings and the possibility of mainstream publishing house attention. I was very naïve.

When all was said and done, I learned the harsh truth. That iUniverse had no say over what was displayed on bookstore shelves, that all marketing and book signings would be on my head to secure and set-up, and that I would have to justify the outrageous price of $27 for a paperback book from an unknown author. Needless to say, my book did very poorly, I did not recoup even a fraction of my investment, and self-publishing the book had basically made it anathema to the mainstream publishers.

Fast-forward seven years to the present. I have a new book now. It's vastly superior to my first as I have spent the last seven years improving my writing skills. It appeals to a much wider audience and it's good. And I'm not just saying that because I wrote it. Heart runs circles around my first novel, and I am very proud of how far I've come.

So when the time came to make Heart available to the world, I once again turned to self-publishing. Why, if I believe so much in my work, did I not send the manuscript off to an agent or publishing house? Because I think very little of the book publishing business.

I'm sorry. I've read more crap from hack authors who got contracts with major publishing houses because the publisher thought the swill would sell that I have absolutely no confidence in the publishing industry. I know that's harsh, but that's how it is.

If you have a book contract, I should not be finding high school level English mistakes in your work -- and not just every now and then, but over and over and over. Where are the editors? Or was that the best they could do with the crap they were given? I should not be finding plot holes I could drive a bus through. I should not be seeing the same phrases, the same plot devices used on two-dimensional characters with about as much depth as a cardboard box.

I'm an educated, mature reader, and I have high standards. The industry has obviously seriously lowered theirs. Not that I can blame them. In a world of video games, TV and the Internet, getting people to read books is an uphill battle. Publishers have to appeal to the general masses, and, unfortunately, our general masses like soap operas. Enough said.

So, back to Heart. I knew it would be a cold day in Hell before I went back to iUniverse, and none of the other pay-for-publishing outfits looked any better than they did. I'd had good experience with Lulu Press in the past for unrelated projects, so I decided to give them a try.

When I began getting Heart ready for publishing, there were some things I was adamant about. The single biggest issue was that that I insisted on controlling the price. Retail houses add 45-55% price mark-up to items. The exorbitant price was what killed my first book, and I was not going to let that happen again.

Lulu almost got me. I was going to purchase their distribution package, but at the last minute I logged onto a live chat with a lulu consultant to ask a question about their "minimum retail price" requirement attached to the agreement. I found out that Lulu would insist I charge $24 for Heart -- without any profit for me. If I wanted to make any money, I'd have to add it onto the base price, and -- wow, look at that, another book that would cost $26 to buy. Thanks, but no thanks.

A word of wisdom to the aspiring self-published author: self-publishing houses are famous for charging unbelievably high retail prices for their books. Always know how much they are going to retail your book for and make sure the price is market competitive. If it's not, don't waste your money or your time. Believe me, getting your book on Amazon is worthless if no one is willing to buy it.

I purchased my ISBN numbers from a clearinghouse on-line and did everything myself. I liked Lulu because they offered hardback books, paperbacks and e-books. What I enjoyed most about going on my own was that I had absolute, unlimited control over every aspect of my work. If, upon going through the proof copy, I found a mistake, I could fix it in real time, and not have to worry about waiting for someone else to make the changes. As it turns out, I did find a major mistake where somehow parts of a paragraph had been moved into the middle of the paragraph below -- probably a something that happed with the sensitive touchpad on my laptop. Quick, quick I was able to edit the master document, upload the file to Lulu and the problem was fixed in 15 minutes. Whew.

There is something all self-published authors need to understand and ask themselves if they are willing to take on the job. Once you go this route, a number of things will happen: 1) how far you go and how well you do, is completely dependant upon your being able to get your work recognized, 2) mainstream publishers and agents will more than likely look down on you and think your work is crap even though they've never read it, and 3) all of your marketing, tax deductions, etc is on YOU. Everything is on YOU. If you want your book reviewed, you will have to find people willing to review it and post their reviews. If you want a book signing, same deal; you need to go knocking on the door of local bookstores and businesses. Ads? Posters? Flyers? Shelf-space? Same thing.

You have to be willing to accept that responsibility and, most of all, to adjust your expectations. If you think you're going to be the next J. K. Rowling or Steven King, perhaps self-publishing isn't for you. But if you measure success as books sold in the hundreds or thousands instead of tens-of-thousands or millions, then it might be what you are looking for.

I marketed, and continue to market, Heart to a select audience. I choose my ad space carefully because my ad budget is small. I take out ads in conbooks for conventions attended by my target audience. I purchased ad space on social networking sites, targeted towards the same audience. I spoke with local businesses and now Heart is displayed in two stores in Bellefonte. I donate copies to charity auctions and I sent books to Books for Soldiers. I registered myself on Goodreads and I have Heart up there. It's listed on Google Books. I'm on My Space and Facebook. I have a search engine optimized website, and I'm active on certain groups where people who might like my work will find me.

It's not on Amazon, which is unfortunate, but that was the price I paid to keep the price of my books competitive. Currently, the paperback of Heart retails for $16.95, the dustcover hardback is $24.95 and the e-book is $7.00. All are very reasonable prices and the book is selling well. I have already sold more copies of Heart in a year, than my first novel has ever sold.

I doubt I'll ever see Heart on the shelves of my local B&N, but being a famous author isn't something I'm too worried about. If someone of importance happens to stumble upon it somehow, someway, then I'll be happy to talk. I'd like to see it as an animated film. I think it would make a great movie, but I'm not holding my breath. I'm not a very aggressive or competitive person, so how well Heart does isn't that important to me. I am happy that the people who have read it have liked it. Word of mouth is my greatest advertising campaign.

Right now, I am concentrating on the next book in the Fox series, and I hope to debut that in Fall of 2009. There's still a lot more story to tell, and I hope I'll continue to entertain my readers with my fantasy world of magic and demons and romance.

I hope my account of my self-publishing experience was helpful to you. The most I can says is:

1) Understand it will all be on you.
2) Adjust your expectations
3) Know how much the publisher will retail the book for before you buy a package.
4) Define your target audience and market specifically to them.
5) Use social networking sites, local charity auctions and be active in groups frequented by your audience.
6) Don't be upset if someone looks down on you because you self-published, let your work speak for itself.

Be safe and good luck.

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