Self-publishing and print-on-demand
Hi Jim et al.
I thought I'd share a few thoughts with you on print-on-demand and self-publishing. Now, I know that it is generally frowned upon, and that it is seen as a second rate way of getting rubbish published that would normally not find its way out of the slush piles even with the help of a good hemorrhoid cream (think about it.), but I would argue that there are exceptions.
I have published a book myself with the help of an internet-based PoD company, because I wanted to give my father a book written by me on his 60th birthday, and there was no way that I was going to get it accepted by an agent, let alone a publisher in the time available to me before his big day (a few months), if ever - the book is approximately a hundred pages of rhymed viking saga in Swedish, in case you were wondering - and so I swallowed my pride and went to them.
The book was published and presented to dad amidst great rejoicing, and that could have been the end of things, but a couple of really good reviews later (there are publications in Sweden reviewing virtually every new book that hits the market, for the benefit of libraries and bookstores. I don't know if this is true elsewhere.) and all of a sudden my sales are well into triple digits.
I know that may not sound like much to most of you, but in a small market like Sweden, and taking into account that nothing is as difficult to market as poetry, this is not bad. Besides, it doesn't really matter to me that I'm never going to make much money out of it - just seeing the book in a library or in a bookstory gives me a buzz like I-dunno-what, and it would never have happend if it weren't for self-publishing!
Sure, if you write something that is more easily digestible for the dread Market, then by all means go to the agents and get them to sell your book for you, all I'm saying is: there are other ways, too.
Cheers,
Chris