It’s become painfully obvious that I must take matters into my own hands and stop my friends from continuing to traditionally publish their books.
Yes, I need to have an author intervention. This letter (below) is for you, my well-respected friends and associates who have at least one traditionally published book out, and are continuing on with another one instead of going the self-publishing route.
I will not name names, but you know who you are.
Dear Author,
I’ve gathered you here among your friends, associates, and readers to express some concerns we all have about your future. It’s become aware to us that you have decided to continue to work with a legacy publisher for your next book, as opposed to pursing a self-publishing option.
We feel that this is very destructive behavior and we wanted to get you here to tell you about it so that we might be able to help you change your path and not suffer the long-term consequences you will face down the road.
For instance, you do realize that by continuing to sign contracts with a traditional publishing house you are signing away the rights to your book for years and years, right? That means that you have no control over your content. You can’t change the book content or cover without their approval. You can’t adjust pricing. You can’t play around with new forms of digital distribution. You can’t do anything unless they say you can. This is truly destructive to your future as an author, we hope you can see that.
You have read your contract, right? How many years do they own it? Please think about the future. Do you really believe that the landscape will be the same in a three-years, or even one-year?
What about the commission structure for your book? The average traditionally published author is taking home 17.5% of their book sales. When the bookstores go out of business for good, and your book is being peddled digitally and the vast majority of sales are coming in that way, will you still be ok with only earning 17.5% on each book sold? Amazon offers 70% to you now. What will it be in a few years? Why will a publisher still need to make so much money on your blood, sweat and tears? For what? You could have easily put it online digitally without them. You could easily create a cover and get it edited and proofed yourself.
We know, we know, you choose to legacy publish because you use your books for speaking or training or consulting. Yes, that all makes sense for you, the .0000001% of authors in the non-fiction space who make money that way. But think about the future consequences of not owning your brand. Think about the future of your sales. Think about how those are bad business decisions. Take the emotion out of it. Take the vanity out of it. And really think about how your future will look if you continue down this destructive path to doom!
We love you, and we’re here for you. We just want you to get better.
Sincerely,
Everyone
P.S. Quit signing contracts that give the first right of refusal for your next book to the publisher. Just “don’t do it. Have it removed.
All that being said, I hope you took this post in the fun it was intended to be in. But I hope it made you think a bit too.
If you haven’t read my post on my experiences with a legacy publisher, check out my Broken Promises post.
It's clever that you wrote this as an intervention, but you do need to be careful in how you phrase this sort of thing.
Nothing is going to be right for everyone. Some people truly prefer being traditionally published, while others (like me) prefer to go the indie route and own our rights. I didn't even query agents or publishers because after all of the research I did, there didn't seem to be much of a point in spending my time doing on that sort of thing…but again, that's just me. You can read my pseudo-thesis here: http://blog.smboyce.com/2011/08/18/changes-in-the…
On the whole, I agree that the indie market is a great opportunity for fiction and non-fiction writers alike to really take control over their work, brand, and name. However, that's not going to fly with everyone, and it's important to remember to keep an open mind on what's best for each person when you approach this topic.
-S.M. Boyce
Author of The Grimoire: Lichgates
“Once you open the Grimoire, there is no going back. You will be hunted. You have been warned.”
If you don't piss some people off, you're not doing it right.
I stand by my opinions. I think legacy publishing makes sense, for a small percentage of people. Yes, people should choose, I agree. I'm just trying to help them not make a mistake.
Self Publishing and Book Marketing Dreams Easily (Kindle Edition) I bought this, lliooshfy. It’s nothing but an infomercial for the services of the self publishing company the author runs. When I got ready to publish my fourth and fifth books, I researched this topic decided NOT to do business with the author’s company. If you want to self publish, do it with a company that does not charge you to set your book up. Go with a company, such as the Amazon subsidiary, CreateSpace. They helped me get my two recent publications set up and charged me nothing until I actually ordered copies at very competitive prices. In general, it is my belief that companies offering to publish your book for only $199 to $2000 are exploiters of the gullible. DO YOUR RESEARCH! By the way, I called Amazon Kindle support and asked them to refund my money. The did it without question. I’ve found that Amazon and Amazon subsidiary companies are dependable and honest. I’ll give them the five stars, not the digital babble that I downloaded when I spent my buck on this one.