High Hope for the Freelance
Writer (reprinted from the May 28, 2006 Funds for Writers Newsletter)
High Hope for the Freelance
Writer
C. Hope Clark, Editor
Volume 7, Issue 22 - May 28, 2006
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FUNDS FOR WRITERS
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THE ULTIMATE SOURCE OF FUNDS FOR WRITERS
Editor: C. Hope Clark
Mailto: HopeClark1@aol.com -or-
Hope@fundsforwriters.com
Website: http://www.fundsforwriters.com
Newsletter: ISSN: 1533-1326
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2. ARTICLE -
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A New Option for Finding a Publisher: Do It Yourself
by Diane Lau
Imagine if you found yourself the best-selling author of a
great publishing company, happily planning on releasing your
fifth title, when suddenly you learned your publisher was
closing its doors.
This was my situation earlier in 2006. It was the second time
in my career I had lost a publisher. The first time, back in
1998, I responded by forming a little sole proprietorship, so
I could publish my two books. I found a printer that could do
very short runs for a decent price. I’m still waiting to fully
recoup my $2,000 investment, but I kept my little company
operational. I even used it to produce a few ebooks for free
distribution.
When I lost my publisher this year, publishing myself became
even more appealing. The changes in technology in the
intervening years had completely transformed the publishing
industry. The advent of ebooks and print-on-demand (POD) means
a publisher can release new books with extremely low up-front
costs. Internet distribution, particularly Amazon, make it
possible for readers around the world to find small press books
and buy them. The web also provides countless free or
inexpensive marketing opportunities that didn’t exist in 1998.
I asked myself if there was anything another independent
publisher could do for me that I couldn’t do on my own, and I
could think of very little. As a publisher, I could lower the
prices of my titles and still make more profit than my royalties
had provided via a traditional press.
So I took the plunge. I recreated my two print books and six
ebooks, as well as print and ebook versions of the new book I
planned to release. I worked directly with Lightning Source,
Inc. to publish my books; LSI is the company many “self-
publishing” companies use for ebook and POD production. While
holding down a full-time day job, I completed this project in
less than five weeks and published the new book right on
schedule. I spent under $750 to publish all these books. By
contrast, the other day I calculated what the “self-publishing”
company AuthorHouse would have charged in fees for what I did
on my own, and the total was over $3,000!
I’m happy to say the new books are even better quality than the
previous versions. (Not that my old publisher wasn’t good; they
were simply not as obsessed with perfection as the author!) My
income is even better than before. But best of all, I have
peace of mind: I know everything is in my control, and no one
but me will make the decision to remove my titles from availability.
Let me explain the other reason I am so excited about the
opportunities afforded authors today by technology. Let’s face
it: big publishers become less and less interested in new
authors every year. Independent bookstores close, and the big
chains carry fewer small press titles. The trend in Big
Publishing is to neglect new authors as well as the non-
mainstream needs of readers. Meanwhile, there is a revolution
among writers and readers to bypass this system. The new wave
is small electronic presses, “self-publishing” companies, and
authors like me who directly publish themselves. Authors and
readers connect every day without any involvement by Big
Publishing.
It’s a very exciting time to be an author. If you’ve been
discouraged at the lack of progress in your career, hop on the
Internet and check out some of the opportunities available to
you that you may have overlooked. Consider your own capabilities
beyond just writing, and look for the tools you could use to get
your words out to readers. And if you have even basic skills in
business management, marketing, graphic design, and web design,
I encourage you to consider the option of starting your own
publishing company.
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Diane Lau writes romance fiction as Diana Laurence. Her book
Do-It-YourSelf-Publishing ( www.dianalaurence.com/diyp.html )
details her blueprint for being your own publisher. It is
available for $2.99 from Amazon or 15% off from Living Beyond
Reality Press ( www.livingbeyondreality.com ).