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Print on Demand Publishing
Publishing POD was the last thing I wanted to do. I had an agent for my novel, North of Sunset. He sent it to around 20 places and then he was done. I then sent it to some small presses with no luck. Before that, my agent tried to sell another novel and didn’t sell it either. This might not speak too well of the quality of my writing, but take my word for it: I don’t suck.
This little Self-Publishing Guide has it all. Denise Hamilton of Ink Tree Marketing has put all her book marketing and publishing experience into this straightforward and comprehensive guide. The cost is quite reasonable for the amount of information that's packed in to the guide. You'll find it a very helpful addition to your resource list if you are considering self-publishing your book. The author sold 250,000 copies of her book without taking a single workshop or seminar, and with absolutely no training or experience. Learn More about this guide.
POD does have drawbacks. It’s not a paradise. Many reviewers won’t look at self-published books.
Self-publishing was really a last resort and at the time felt like a kind of failure. Pathetic, giving in. But I didn’t want another novel sitting in a desk drawer. I put too much of my life into these novels to just see them gathering dust. The only way to get readers is to get a book out there. Better than nothing. These were my justifications.
I went with Lulu because it’s free. You just pay per book. Lulu is also recognizable and they’re always improving and expanding. I had to design the cover and the guts of the book myself. When the first copy of my novel arrived in the mail, I was ecstatic. The cover art looked like hell and needed work and the formatting was off, but I had an actual book in my hands, the first time since I published my first novel almost 10 years before. It looked like a book: nice pages, well bound, a glossy cover. It felt like getting published by an actual publisher.
My first novel was published with Soft Skull Press. They were just starting out with perfect bound books then. They didn’t have any distribution. I think my book actually helped them get a distribution deal. It didn’t matter to me that my book wasn’t in every bookstore. I had a book in my hands, a book to show people. I felt like a writer. It was the catalyst to write a whole lot more.
I felt the same way about publishing my new novel POD. Finally I had another book to show people. It had been a too-long wait dealing with editors and agents. It felt good to have the power in my own hands rather than have my future determined by other people’s opinions.
POD does have drawbacks. It’s not a paradise. Many reviewers won’t look at self-published books. I don’t exactly blame them, there’re too many books as it is. You can’t get bookstore distribution either, short of dealing with each bookstore directly. It’s very hard to get people to buy at a book without taking a look at it first.
For a few months I got devoutly obsessed with trying to get the book out there. I found every forum, every reviewer, every lit blog, every anything, no matter how small, that might be interested in a self-published book. I’ve sent out around 45 copies. Some nice reviews and interviews have resulted so far.
It probably has been easier for me because I’ve published traditionally in the past. My first novel also came out in the U.K. and France. But there’s a growing community of POD-friendly places. I think people are slowly beginning to take it more seriously, especially because mainstream publishing is so stupidly difficult and market-driven. Small presses have less money so they can only take on so many books. Self-publishing makes sense. It will start to become more legitimate.
All this said, I’d love to not have to do this every time out. It’s a lot of work. Being on a small press, I’d have to hustle to get quotes, reviews, and interviews as well, but it’s difficult being your own advocate. People will to listen to a publisher who says, “Check this guy out, he’s good,” rather than a writer say, “I’m good, really.”
But to just get your foot in the door, to get things rolling, it’s a good idea. If there’s a book people can read, good things can happen. This article itself is an example. There’s no reason to abandon a book just because 20 people didn’t think it was marketable. There are a lot of readers out there who don’t care one thing about what the market likes. It’s a very good development that writers can finally crash the gatekeepers of publishing.
This little Self-Publishing Guide has it all. Denise Hamilton of Ink Tree Marketing has put all her book marketing and publishing experience into this straightforward and comprehensive guide. The cost is quite reasonable for the amount of information that's packed in to the guide. You'll find it a very helpful addition to your resource list if you are considering self-publishing your book. The author sold 250,000 copies of her book without taking a single workshop or seminar, and with absolutely no training or experience. 
