If, for various reasons you’re having problems attracting publishers, agents, or that your work doesn’t seem to fit the right niche, maybe it’s best to go indie and do it yourself. Why not? You still might only attract about three readers but it’s what musicians and artists do. Turn it into a virtue, being ‘limited’ is more attractive than being ‘commercial’ or even ‘a sad bastard writer that can’t even find a publisher’. Make an effort though with the work. You still need to do a decent editing job, get trusted people to check your MS for typos.

There’ll be snooty types who will have the following logic ‘Oh no! You’re not a writer! Only proper writers should be published by proper publishers.’ They will deliver this with a huff and a puff. You have to remember that these people are often journalists who have failed to make a career out of their debut novels and resent everyman having a chance. These fuck ups, are the type of people who also might say ‘Bloggers are evil! We can’t be doing with everyone having an opinion. Where will that leave the learned people with valid viewpoints who write coloums in the Sunday broadsheets?’ Really, these people should be shot in the fingers.

Let’s get the distinction right here. Vanity publishing is a form of publishing that rips off people into thinking that they can have careers as professional authors. Often these authors will have to pay lots of money to have their work published and will fail to recoup the costs. The vanity publishing houses will always get something. Only go down this route if you are retarded, incredibly stoopid or your ego is so huge and you’re the type of person who loves throwing your money out of the windows in your house for years on end. No legit publisher wants money from you to publish your work.

Self-publishing or publishing on demand, which via the internet and recent technology makes it easier to publish your own work, still has its pitfalls but these quality oversights are down to the individual author. Such oversights can be avoided. Firstly, you can register on free websites that will allow you to upload your content which then can be formatted and printed. You won’t have to pay anything unless you want your own copies. But via the internet and social networking you can promote your books and sign post people/prospective readers to your content where they can buy the hard copy or digital version, often at a price you have set yourself. Occasionally your work may even be hosted on other book sellers lists. Sounds great, right? Depends. On one hand, you can cut out the middle man and get your work out there. But unless you’re unable to get it proof read or edited by a trusted source or you lack whatever skills, or imagination, or vision, or flair, and, importantly, the promotional tools, the product won’t get the attention the bigger publishing house could offer. This POD market is open (in theory). However those with money could effectively promote their work, no matter how shit it is. If you have a big family or circle of friends you’ll probably sell more copies. If you know how to promote or are willing to pay for extra services you may shift even more copies.

The POD market is filled to the brim with very poor works. Because of this, it doesn’t have a good reputation and could reflect badly on your own publication. Not only can these websites house poor quality, and poorly written and pitched stuff but with loony authors who, because they can set their own prices, will expect Joe Public to pay about £15 -£30 for a book from an unproven author about Cookie Making For Christ or something, all because they want to bump up their royalties. Then they’ll have the audacity to whinge and complain on the POD forums when they aren’t selling anything. Hmm…gee…lemme think! Ironically you’ll find ‘authors’ of guides about how to get published, designed to appeal to the insecure author. Never bought one of these. No point. Not only do they state the obvious I’ve pretty much been discussing on this blog, but they don’t have the answers. How do I know? I read one of these guides in the local library, and by page 14 I decided that not only was it full of shit but I hadn’t actually heard of this so-called successful author of the book. So I would certainly not recommend any bullshit guides like that, and I wouldn’t expect you to buy any guides for real money, and neither, for that matter, would any major writer.

So don’t go the POD route of you’re expecting a career or that the big publishing houses will pick you up. They won’t. I’d use it for the experience and maybe as an inexpensive way of filing your own works on your bookshelf, in the hope that a friend may want to read you work or that you have a couple of spare copies for any networking opportunities. Other than that, forget it. Best thing to do is, if you aren’t precious about money, is to make up an ebook, design a lovely digital cover and give them away to your friends for nowt. That’s what I might do for my mini project next.

The problem I have with POD with this is that you have to do the promotion. So even if you have a title on Amazon it doesn’t automatically translate that 1. everyone will buy your book and 2. everyone will know how to find your book 3. anyone actually knows its on Amazon.com. So from experience this area is OK if you want to get a feel for the novel as a product, as hard copy but if you want to actually sell any copies you have to whore it around and bore people rigid by reminding them that its out, and they might like it. Effectively you have to turn your friends into fans and readers. Which is not on.

My own view is that I’m philosophical about it. I have had some experience with this. One POD (Print-on-demand) publisher didn’t and were under no obligation to market my work, just as shopping sites were under no obligation to list it. I then sent the work to an ebook publisher who was able to have it listed on more or less every major shopping site. Still, I have to market it essentially. Unfortunately I can’t set the price with this publisher, and no doubt, will the shopping sites make the work free or offer it as part of a deal with other products. So how’s it doing? Perhaps it’s a slow burner.