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Another scare story about self-publishing
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-28268014
'Orna Ross, director of The Alliance of Independent Authors, says every author needs a good editor, which comes at a minimum cost of £1,000. Add the cost of a designer for an eye-catching cover, and someone to oversee the marketing and the costs can mount up.
She estimates that the total cost of a professionally produced book, either digital or on paper, is between £2,500 and £5,000.'
Is this intended to deter us?
'Orna Ross, director of The Alliance of Independent Authors, says every author needs a good editor, which comes at a minimum cost of £1,000. Add the cost of a designer for an eye-catching cover, and someone to oversee the marketing and the costs can mount up.
She estimates that the total cost of a professionally produced book, either digital or on paper, is between £2,500 and £5,000.'
Is this intended to deter us?
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Self-publishing, meanwhile, is becoming an increasingly attractive option for writers, according to the survey, which found that just over 25% of writers had published something themselves. Writers were investing a mean of £2,470 in publishing their own work, with the median investment at £500, and typically recouping their investment plus 40%. Eighty-six per cent of those who had self-published said they would do so again.'
Different source, different figures.
And is that ebook or normal book?
Vanity publishing? It would be a shame to ignore self-publishing - embrace the challenge and publish something to the best of your ability. If you need to pay for some of the services within the process, that's your choice.
I fully intend (well, almost fully!) to self publish something myself.
I too have read fab stuff.
And one book very recently which is FAB but the publisher has not it seems punctuated it - an extreme lack of full stops, and rather strange use of semi-colons, i think s it has been edited and not checked.
It was done quickly as the author died. But still.
Bit of a sloppy article that - which suggests JKR has made £millions from books that cost £5,000 to produce.
It didn't cost me £2,000. My total outlay was £150 for the excellent cover. Many of my friends have also self-published (one an already traditionally published author of seven books.) I don't know where these people get their figure from.
It's almost getting to the point where writers are expected to use self-publishing as a proving ground, leading to a traditional deal if they can convince enough people to buy their wares. A means to an end, perhaps.
Yes, I think you may be right, danfango. The publishers sees the writer can tell a good story, has a ready built audience to buy the book, so they are happy to sign them up and take a big cut of the profit.
Just wanted to.know how someone could get a runaway success story, without having a publisher(i'd settle for a fraction of those sales, if only...!
Believe mine is a better one, from what I heard about that book. Did anyone go see the film of that? Whose minds are that degenerated that they would wish to see /read such degrading images, assuming...?
The only reason it sold as many was because it was different, there were a lot of readers who were willing to buy into the hype, and the publisher didn't seem to have done much work so they could rush it out and guarantee big sales like celeb bios.
I am always suspicious of it so, for me, it has the opposite effect.
The 'look inside' feature on Amazon is good for checking if we'll like the writing style, so that helps reduce the chances of buying something we won't enjoy.
Imagine the bank notes he must be wallowing in? Right now, where I live, I'd forgo any scrap of scruples I had, with regard to writing techniques, style, to grab me some of that liquid gold.. Who would turn up their nose at that, in reality?
Watched the film too, but again,not sure it is the type I would waste money on these days..
Pace was good and it was very easy to read and follow what was happening. I'm sure those things help his popularity. (I'm assuming his other books are equally pacy and readable in that way)
It's coming up with a story that is so universal in its telling, that lots of people can see something of themselves within it to grab their interest. Enough to sign up as a loyal fan upon reading the initial story, to want to devour more, of different tales to be told, in addition..
Write and see whether it works.
If you have been on the fringes of mainstream society for so long, you have a burning hunger to succeed. To gain the fruits that others can take for granted.
Thinking somewhere like Wattpad might be a good idea, to try and win over some followers. Quite a number of them have come from a similar background to mine and are just as eager as hungry for recognition of their worth.
That's what I need. Those who are starving for real connections, that are genuine in their attempts. To offer out some praise etc to those who would really appreciate it and need that.
Having come from a deprived background, I understand that, and would be willing to be some sort of mentor, in exchange for loyalty to my ideas.. That's a necessary plan if I am to achieve what I want in life. Basically, to achieve...
You can now do everything with it that you want to:
send it to agents;
send it to publishers;
self-publish as an ebook/as a paperback;
put it on feedback sites;
mention it on social media.
If you do some, or all of those things, you will get responses. Those responses will determine your next course of action. But unless you get it out there, you will never know.
It's time for action!!
Next to go for proof reading and copy editing, and perhaps a critique. Then, if I get through all that, see where to aim it next.
Still have the American writer's details, who seemed curious to read some of my story. And then as you said try some publishers, digital ones too. So still lots to do. Learning as I go along..