Author’s Advocate: Writers beware!

It should come as no surprise that first-time authors often become so caught up in the possibility of their book becoming the next best-seller that they often ignore that little voice of reason and common sense in their head as they take that next step in “publishing” their book. Because most novice writers obviously have little to no experience in the publishing industry, they can often be lured to make very poor decisions as to how to move forward with publishing their work.

Over the last fifteen years, I’ve met with dozens of authors. Many of them have made some very poor decisions based on both inexperience and being swayed by publishers whom I would label as “unsavory.” While not doing anything illegal, they are certainly not providing all of the facts to prospective authors.

The most heartbreaking stories come from authors who have paid a substantial fee (from $5,000 to over $10,000) to a “hybrid” publisher who has promised the author printing, promotion, and distributing. What these authors got was a minimalist advertising campaign, usually a basic listing in a new-title catalogue brochure, fulfilling the publisher’s agreement to “promote.” They got a placing of the book with a distributor, which only makes the book available to retail markets, and a couple dozen “free” books for the author to use at will. (Additional books often cost the author the wholesale cost plus 10 percent by many of these publishers.) In most cases in almost all publishing houses, marketing and promotion rests on the author’s shoulders. In all my travels doing book signings at such venues as the LA Times Book Festival and over twenty Barnes and Noble Booksellers, I’ve never met an author who has even come close to making any money — let alone come close to making back their investment — with these publishers.

This is why I advise most authors to look at self-publishing, which allows the author to purchase books at cost of printing, usually between $2 and $5 per book depending on print run, book size, and other variables. For a modest investment — usually far less than what the hybrid publishers I mentioned earlier demand — authors can print over a thousand books and turn around and sell these through nearly any point of sale: websites, Amazon, social media, personal signings, events, lectures, etc. With a typical book retailing for $15–$25, an author can make a sizeable return on this investment — an investment in him or herself!

If an author is going to have to handle marketing and promotion, he or she might as well make the bulk of the profit, not to mention that he or she will retain all rights: movies, translations, reprints, and sequels. Next month, I’ll talk more on how an author can successfully sell his or her books!