Feb 18 2010
Self-Publishing – Some Common Obstacles
Book publishing is not an easy activity and business. These days, the number of readers who invest in books is significantly declining because of the popularity of the Internet. Expect publishers, therefore, to become stricter when it comes to accepting manuscripts and books for publishing.
It is basically getting harder to impress publishers these days. If you are determined to become an author, you should consider turning to self-publishing.
Self-publishing your book or manuscript successfully, however, is not going to be easy. In fact, it could be as hard, if not much harder, than traditional book publishing. If you aim to become an author through self-publishing, you are bound to require more perseverance, marketing knowledge, skills and effort. It will take much more for you to be able to launch your book, make it sell like hotcakes, and succeed.
Like everything else, the road to self-publishing success will not always be paved for you. Most of the time, expect to face difficult challenges. There are many common obstacles that are often faced by authors who take a shot at self-publishing. Here are just some of those:
Gathering enough money to fund your self-publishing initiative is the first obstacle you will need to address. Because you are publishing your own work, no other entity, business or group of people (outside of family or friends) will be able to subsidize you or shoulder your costs. It is important, therefore, that you plan your budget and have money to support your endeavour.
Although we often hear about the successful authors who risked everything and put all they had on the line before "making it", this is an idealized rare occurrence. Do not spend all you have in self-publishing your own book. You can never be sure whether you will be able to recoup your investment. It is not wise to obtain a loan to fund your book if you have not done an exceptional amount of research and have sufficient proof that there is more than a reasonable demand for your intended product. The financial aspects are always the greatest challenge for self-publishers.
The second obstacle is the stigma about self-published books being amateurish. You can’t blame the critics for generalizing on this point. Most of the time, self-published materials are of inferior quality. This may be because of the fact that the content did not pass through the scrutiny of editors and publishers, who set very high standards for book publishing. Third-party scrutiny and criticism can really help bolster the quality and appeal of books.
Then there are the obstacles and challenges of promotion and marketing. Your book needs to be treated like any other type of commercial product, and should be targeted to a specific audience or readership. How will people learn about your book if you don’t promote it and make a fuss about it? Like everything else competing for attention in an attention-deficit world, you have to establish and raise awareness about your book with others. Doing this can be difficult, especially if you don’t have money to spend on marketing and promotional strategies. When planning your book publicity strategy, you have to develop lists of book reviewers and editors who may champion or critique your content. Most of them won’t do this service for free, regardless of whether they will ultimately say positive or negative things about your work.
Minor obstacles that are not dealt with at the outset, can develop into greater problems later. Bookstores are usually not used to dealing with small publishing firms, so how could you expect them to deal with independent publishers like you? Such stores usually only trust in dealing with major publishers, wholesalers, and distributors. And to be sure, there is intense competition in this area. You have to expect that there will probably be many other authors like you who are also aiming to make it big in your specific niche market, especially if there is good money to be made. An influx of self-published books could make yours just another among the crowd.
If you have the determination, the confidence, and the drive to succeed, then by all means consider self-publishing. Do not let such obstacles prevent you from doing so. But remember to be practical and realistic and don’t ignore feedback from the market.
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