Self-Publishing is
the Future
Two separate small publishers offered me contracts to
publish The Convenience of Lies. I
turned both of them down because I didn’t like the terms they were offering.
For both contracts I would receive minimal royalties (less than $0.25/copy
sold), would be required to do all of my own publicity, and I would have to
sign away the rights to my book. One publisher even required me to pay my own
editor! At that point, it seemed like all the publishers were really providing
for me was cover art and prestige, and for a very high price.
To be honest, I didn’t want to sell myself out like this. The Convenience of Lies is a project I
started 10 years ago and I have truly invested my heart, time, money, and sole.
While I was shopping my book around the traditional publishing world, it fell
into the hands of a editorial reviewer, who gave me a glowing review of my work.
Not only that, but my mom is a high school English teacher and she’s had boys
in her class who don’t like to read complete it in one night, by choice. I was not about to let a
traditional publisher take advantage of my creation.
At the same time as I was querying publishers, I was also
researching self-publishing. I discovered that I could self-publish through
Amazon’s CreateSpace and receive royalties of over $5.00/copy, which is more
than a 20x increase from traditional publishing. Also, CreateSpace has a cover
creator tool that I could use to generate the cover, and has a print on demand
option. Meaning, when someone orders my book from Amazon, CreateSpace prints it,
takes their cut of the profit, and sends me the royalties. There is no up-front
cost for either party.
Not only is self-publishing arguably a better business
decision, due to the internet it is now the choice of the future. We are in an
era where we don’t need a publisher to reach our audience. The internet has cut
out the middle man and made it so that artists can reach their audience
directly. This applies not only to publishing your book, but also to promoting
your book. Between tumblr, twitter, facebook, reddit, and the blogosphere, you
can reach out directly to readers as I am doing now. Keep in mind that many
traditional publishers require authors to do this promotional work. So, let me
ask you, what is that traditional publisher really doing for its authors?
As ironic as it is for me to say as an author, the world of traditional publishing is ending. Artists
can now affordably create professional works and also reach their audience as
never before. Not only that (and a real cincher) the author can also keep
possession of the rights to their works through self-publishing. The world of
traditional publishing is simply taking too much from authors and not giving
them enough in return. The internet has cut out the middle man with the
connections and has given you direct access to those connections. As they say,
it is simply up to you to seize this opportunity.
The Convenience of Lies Synopsis:
“It doesn't matter if it's right or wrong. All that matters is if you can. If you can do something, what difference does it make?"Based on a true story, The Convenience of Lies is a novel that keeps readers up past midnight with its story of friendship, mystery, crime, sex, and betrayal. Set in a suburban town, this story is told through the eyes of a high school junior, Mackenzie, who describes her crush on a "bad boy," Ramon and her relationship with her best friend, Kira. During the course of the story, Mackenzie does her best to attract the affections of Ramon while her friendship with Kira evolves. Eventually, the different characters' property starts getting vandalized and a mystery develops as Mackenzie and Kira try to get to the bottom of who is behind the vandalism.
About the Author:
"Kimberly Castillo wrote the first version of The Convenience of Lies when she was a teenager. After studying the process of storytelling at California State University Northridge, where she earned her Bachelor’s degree in film production, she revisited this project to complete the story. The Convenience of Lies is her debut novel.
Kimberly is currently a graduate students and lives in Southern California with her husband and three cats."
Book's website (signed copy orders available on this website)
Congratulations, Kimberly, on your decision to "do it yourself!" I did the same a few years ago with my books. I am not able to make a living from my royalties alone, not by a long shot, but that's not what my intention was to begin with. I wanted to share my work with readers and have control over the production. For me it worked out. So, I wish you the best of luck!
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more Kimberly. After working so hard to create literary art, these traditional publishers expect to have the right to change anything as they see fit. In the end, our work may not have a single piece of us in the story. I too could not compromise that possibility.
ReplyDeleteGreat arguments! I'm on board, too, having self-published my first novel back in March. I'm not buying yachts or castles in Bavaria with the money I'm making, but I'm enjoying the autonomy! I would love to have the cheerleading team that a publisher might provide, as the problem is that you end up feeling alone quite a bit of the time.
ReplyDelete