Shh. Don’t tell anyone. Here at Screw Iowa! we’ve started publishing books. That’s right, we’re actually putting our books into print and finding readers for them, without the help of an agent, a publicist, or even a commercial press. We’re doing it . . .all on our own.
Wait a minute, you say. Isn’t there a stigma associated with self-publishing? Isn’t self-publication for writers who aren’t good enough to make the grade? And isn’t it just a one-way ticket to a dead-end?
Interesting question. It’s something that, up until a few months ago, we were asking ourselves. But now that we’re actually (shh . . .don’t tell anyone) doing it, we have some answers, too.
Is there a stigma associated with self-publishing? You bet there is—at least as far as many agents, editors, distributors, and booksellers are concerned. Some of them grant a self-published writer as much respect as well, let’s just say, the stuff they scrape off their shoes on their way in the door. But among readers—the actual living, flesh and blood people who like to read books? Not at all. They’re just delighted to meet you. An author with a book? Do tell. They can’t wait to hear more.
What about the quality of self-published books, you protest. Aren’t they just awful? Well, it’s true there’s a lot of fluff in the self-published world, but there are a lot of hidden gems, too. Just like the shelves of Barnes and Noble. If the major publishers put out nothing but quality books, they’d have the right to look down their noses on people who choose to go their own way. Otherwise, as the saying goes, people in glass houses . . .
Did we mention that in some publishing circles writers aren’t even called authors anymore? They’re content-fillers.
But surely all those self-published books end up in the dustbin, you say. You mean just like all those new books on the shelves of major bookstores that end up being returned or remaindered because their publishers won’t spend the time or money to back and promote them? At least when you publish your own book, you can take as much time as you like to build your audience. And your book will never go out of print, unless you want it to.
Who will read your book if you publish it on your own? The same people who will read it if you publish it through a commercial press: people who know you, people you reach out to, and people who like books like the one you have written.
It’s almost enough to make you wonder if the self-publishing stigma isn’t perpetuated by commercial publishers for a very good reason: to keep down the competition, and to ensure their monopoly—deserved or not—of the people who read.
