The Changing Rules of Publishing

'Was talking to the wife about Zach Sobiech, the guy who sang "Clouds" on YouTube and garnered millions of views, tens of thousands of likes, and sold hundreds of thousands of copies of the song on iTunes. The song was not being promoted by any recording studio, he just went up and posted the video and it just took off from there. There's a lesson in that story.

The rules of the game are changing these days. Years back, if you wanted to become a singer, you had to audition and impress somebody enough to take a chance on you. If even one of them liked you, you got a recording contract. If not, you took other options...but not the one you wanted in the first place. Today, you can record a video and post it on YouTube and, if you're really good, you can become a successful singer on your own right. People like Justin Bieber and Alyssa Bernal come to mind.

The rules for authors is changing as well.

In the past, an author would have to type up a manuscript, send it to a publisher or agent, and wait for a message saying his/her manuscript was accepted and could they please come to the office to talk. For most authors, the answer is usually, no. For every author's book you see in a bookstore, there are probably tens, or maybe hundreds, of other authors who have received a rejection letter. Some are brokenhearted and, maybe, never write another book. Others persevere until someone decides to give them a shot. An example would be Kathryn Stockett, who was rejected 60 times before agent Susan Ramer agreed to represent her and her book, The Help. That book became a best seller on The New Times Best Seller List and stayed there for 100 weeks. One wonders how the other agents could have made such a mistake as rejecting her.

But that's only true in print publishing. The internet has been the game changer for the publishing world just as it did for the world of singers. You only need to go to the websites of iTunes, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords, and others, to find books from thousands of authors who decided to self-publish their books. Ebooks, as they are known, are the electronic versions of print books and you can buy them at a cheaper price than the paper version. If you don't want to spend anything, free ebooks are available too!

So, if today's authors are self-publishing, where does that leave the traditional print publishers? They're still here but I don't know for how long. The feeling of having a paper-type book with your name on it is still one of the reasons why authors go for them. After my own book was rejected, I decided to print it on smaller, book-sized paper, just to get that feeling. It was a waste of paper, however. When I saw my book on Smashword's website, I had the same feeling I got when I held that little book in my hands. It wasn't the feeling of touching the book, but the fact that I had a book out there for people to read.

Ebooks may be cheaper and that's good for the readers. For the authors, self-publishing is providing a way to get better deals out of writing a book. A print publisher will give you between 5 to 15% royalty for each book that is sold. On Smashwords, at least, you get about 45 to 80% royalty.

As with anything, you have to be good at what you do. Good singers make it on YouTube. Good writers make it on the internet's bookstores.

Note: I wish to send my condolences to the family and friends of Zach Sobiech, who died last 20 May 2013. You will be missed.

Publish in Print or on the 'Net? Part 2

Publishing via the 'Net

We've touched on the expensive way of getting published so now we'll get into the cheapest or “freeiest” (I know, there's no such word) method of publishing.

The World Wide Web offers budding authors a chance to get their works published and possibly reach more people than is possible with print books and there are several ways of going about it. Let's explore them:

a.) Make your own website - This is probably the most expensive way to get published on the 'net. You purchase a site or pay to obtain the rights to a site and write your books/articles there. One advantage of getting a website is the freedom to design the site as you want it. As with a book's cover, how you design your website may influence if people will visit or pass it by.

You can write your book so that anyone can read them for free or you can offer people a short glimpse into your books and have them buy the whole book if they find it interesting enough. There are also other ways to make money from these sites other than selling. If your site draws in a lot of visitors, you can have businesses advertise on your site and you can earn from either the mere posting of the ad or get a small cut whenever someone clicks on an ad. Some people have earned enough from blogs that they can afford to leave their regular jobs. Be warned, however, these people are usually the exceptions. There are lots of bloggers out there and quite a number are interested in making money out of their postings.

b.) Create a blog - There are lots of blog sites where you can post your stories or whatevers for anyone to read. If you're only interested in sharing your work and not in earning from them, this is probably the best way to go. If you're still interested in earning a little off the side, you can put advertisements on your blog. You can get Google Adsense to put ads in your site and pay you a small (and I mean "small") fee whenever someone clicks on an ad. As the site owner, you dictate where these ads appear. You can put them where they don't interfere with your writings or you can put them where they can easily draw the visitor's attention.

c.) Contribute articles to a webzine - This is a magazine on the web. One advantage of contributing to a webzine is that you have ready access to their readers. This is where I first got published...sort of. An editor asked for people who wanted to provide answers or insights to certain matters and I responded. I did this several times before the editor moved on to other things. Seeing my comments on the web and print version was a very satisfying experience.

eBook Publishing

There's one other method of getting your book to readers that I'd like to share and it's ebook publishing. An ebook publisher is similar to a regular publisher except that they will produce an ebook out of your piece instead of a print book. An ebook can be read on a computer or electronic reader like the Kindle, the Apple iPad or other similar tablet computer. Potentially, an ebook has a larger reach than a print book because millions of people access the internet at any given time whereas maybe a few tens or hundred thousands of people are inside bookstores at the same time.

There are two types of ebook publishers: full service publishers and you, the independent publisher (aka: indie publisher).

A full service publisher will proofread and edit your book, create an electronic cover and format it for reading on a number of readers. They'll also take care of distribution. Since they provide some service, ebook publishers tend to give smaller royalties though it's still more substantial than print book publishers, in the order of about 50%.

Now we're into what I call ebook self-publishing. Similar to self-publishing print books, you do everything or you hire someone to proofread and format the book and design the cover. The only advantage to doing it yourself is that it's free. Lots of authors do this and if you're a good enough English writer, a fair graphic artist and knowledgeable with formatting, this is the preferred way to publish.

A word about formatting. There are several formats out there that are designed to work with specific readers. A .doc file works with MS Word though this is not the preferred reader for ebooks. There's pdf for Adobe Reader (or any other pdf reading software), txt for Notepad, epub for the Apple iPad, and a few more.

Once you've gone through your book with a fine toothed comb, acquired or created a satisfactory cover and formatted your book, you're ready to distribute. This is done by submitting your ebook to a distributor.

Next in the series: http://ericmarcelo-indieauthor.blogspot.com/2011/08/publish-in-print-or-on-net-part-3.html