One Valid, Definable Reason NOT to Self Publish

[WeaselFire]

Thinking back on my own publishing experience, and my current dilemma as to whether to self-publish my fiction works, I ran into one, viable, definable and perfectly valid reason NOT to self publish -- Memberships in professional groups.

Most professional writer's groups, Author's Guild, Mystery Writers of America, National Writer's Union, ASJA, Horror Writer's Association and many more, require publishing credits from national publishers. Almost every group specifically excludes self-published and vanity press works from being used for membership.

No judgement on whether it's the correct attitude for the times we're in, but it may be a compelling reason to NOT self publish. Or a compelling reason not to join those types of associations (Most don't provide functional benefits beyond conferences, awards and recognition).

Jeff

[shadowwalker]

Originally Posted by WeaselFire

No judgement on whether it's the correct attitude for the times we're in, but it may be a compelling reason to NOT self publish. Or a compelling reason not to join those types of associations (Most don't provide functional benefits beyond conferences, awards and recognition).

Jeff

I've often wondered if there was any real value to joining such groups - but perhaps that's a derail (or been discussed elsewhere).

[veinglory]

That just means you qualifying book won't be self-published, not that you can't self-publish--assuming membership in one of these groups is important to you.

[Old Hack]

The only real valid reason not to self publish that I can think of is that it isn't the best option for you. What makes that true depends on the book you've written, what you want from your writing career, and what you're good at.

Membership of professional organisations isn't a big issue as far as I can see. Not if self publishing is the best way for you and your book.

[J. Tanner]

Originally Posted by shadowwalker

I've often wondered if there was any real value to joining such groups - but perhaps that's a derail (or been discussed elsewhere).

I'm in SFWA and I've found no real tangible benefit. There are some entertaining elements, but nothing that helped me in a business or writing sense that can't be found outside the organization in the internet age. (I asked Mike Resnick this same question prior to joining and looking back he accurately predicted what my experience has turned out to be.)

[MmeGuillotine]

I was a member of the Romantic Novelists' Association last year as one of my self published books was subsequently picked up by a publisher (who then went bust just before it was due to be released). Although it was nice to be a member of a society and the rebel in me kind of revelled in the fact that I was 'getting one over them' by being a member despite being 100% self published, I didn't actually think that membership conferred any real benefits so I decided to let it slide when it came up for renewal earlier this year.

I might have been more into it though if I lived in London or somewhere with chapter meetings or had been able to go to the annual conference and parties, all of which seemed to clash with my husband's work schedule!

[Shadow_Ferret]

Originally Posted by Old Hack

The only real valid reason not to self publish that I can think of is that it isn't the best option for you.

This. Self-publish because you think it's your best option.

I've never considered it an option for me, but that's my choice.

And I'd like to be a member of the SFWA just so I can say I'm a member of the SFWA.

[WeaselFire]

Maybe I should amend this to not ONLY self publish.

Although, I wonder why there isn't a group for self-published authors. Obviously there are authors who can benefit from such an association, and who would qualify were it not for the self-published credits.

I too am no longer a member of any writing associations. At one time ASJA made sense, MWA might be a nice promotional membership now.

But currently, if you want membership, you have to legitimately (in the eyes of the admissions groups) be published. Being traditionally published by big-name (not just the big 6) commercial publishers is just a solid method of validation.

Jeff

[thothguard51]

Defining Validation is subjective, depending on what an individuals goals are.

If a writer does not care to become a dues-paying member in some organization, then it does not matter what route they take.

For some writers, winning an award, or getting a top review in a national magazine validates their writing. For most though, its the number of sales, the readers, who validate their efforts.

Or so I have been told over and over again...

[Katallina]

I'm not a member of a fancy organization, but I do feel I am fortunate to have made friends though writing and, to me, that would be the point of joining something like that anyway. I spend a lot of time here, I have my book blog and have made friends with other authors -- both self and trade published -- through it, etc.

On one hand, it might be cool if someone formed some awesome organization for self publishers. However, the trouble with organizations are that they are just as exclusive as they are inclusive. If you let 'just anybody' in the thing has no structure. This, to me, defies the nature of self publishing, where anyone can do it (although admittedly, that does not necessarily mean they will do it well).

Certainly food for thought, though.

[thothguard51]

On one hand, it might be cool if someone formed some awesome organization for self publishers...

There are...

[James D. Macdonald]

Good things about SFWA:

The Emergency Medical Fund
The Legal Fund
Writer Beware
Random audits of publishers
The ability to pressure publishers away from predatory practices.

[juniper]

Do any of these organizations offer genuine group health insurance, such as the Writers Guild of America does for its members?

[Minwind]

Originally Posted by WeaselFire

Although, I wonder why there isn't a group for self-published authors. Obviously there are authors who can benefit from such an association, and who would qualify were it not for the self-published credits.

There are:

• Association of Independent Authors
• The Alliance of Independent Authors

The second one has Jane Friedman on the advisory board and her longevity in the traditional publishing world (Used to run Writer's Digest and work at F+W) is a good sign.

[Minwind]

Originally Posted by juniper

Do any of these organizations offer genuine group health insurance, such as the Writers Guild of America does for its members?

Author's Guild only offers insurance for New York (plans start at $501.94 for a single members.) and Massachusetts.

Writer's Guild requires you to earn $34,956 in covered earnings during a period of 4 or fewer quarters in order to receive one year of health insurance coverage.

[Old Hack]

Originally Posted by Minwind

The second one has Jane Friedman on the advisory board and her longevity in the traditional publishing world (Used to run Writer's Digest and work at F+W) is a good sign.

Call it what you like elsewhere, Minwind, but please use "trade publishing" and not "traditional publishing" while you're here. It helps avoid confusion, and is spelled out in the guidelines which you'll find stickied to the top of this room. Thank you.

[JoyceH]

Originally Posted by Minwind

Writer's Guild requires you to earn $34,956 in covered earnings during a period of 4 or fewer quarters in order to receive one year of health insurance coverage.

Does that mean that if your earnings drop below that figure, you lose your health insurance? Yikes!

[shaldna]

As far as I know some groups don't need publishing credits for all members - The RNA has a programme for unpublished writers to join each year, although these places are limited and there's a lot of competition for them.

[Ken]

... conferences can be valuable, from what I've heard. You get to mingle with peeps who write in the same genre as you, making for a potentially supportive environment. You can talk shop, too, and gets some inside info on how to better market your novels, etc. So if you can't join groups that offer them if you self-pub that'd be a disadvantage. Maybe not a crucial one, but still a bit of a one.

[WeaselFire]

Originally Posted by Minwind

There are:

• Association of Independent Authors
• The Alliance of Independent Authors

The second one has Jane Friedman on the advisory board and her longevity in the traditional publishing world (Used to run Writer's Digest and work at F+W) is a good sign.

I'd always passed up the Alliance of Independent Authors as fairly irrelevant, I may need to take another look. From what I recall, there wasn't any recognition factor, awards, etc. and no real benefits you wouldn't find in an online forum.

Thanks,

Jeff

[WeaselFire]

Originally Posted by Ken

... conferences can be valuable, from what I've heard.

They can be very valuable. But you don't need membership in societies, or even to be a writer, to attend most of them. There's probably a dozen in driving distance every summer.

The conferences of the major societies are a little different. They are a bit higher in content, have more prominent agents and publishers and more prominent speakers. And usually better mixers.

There are other avenues that also require trade publishing credit or memberships as well. Many author in residence programs for example. But the end result is that an author has to factor in these options when choosing to self-publish. Are these valid reasons to choose not to self-publish -- For you?

[Barbara R.]

Originally Posted by Minwind

Author's Guild only offers insurance for New York (plans start at $501.94 for a single members.) and Massachusetts.

Writer's Guild requires you to earn $34,956 in covered earnings during a period of 4 or fewer quarters in order to receive one year of health insurance coverage.

I'm a member of Writers Guild and I use some of their coverage--not med. insurance, but dental and vision. I've never heard of such a requirement. Where did you find it?

[Barbara R.]

Originally Posted by WeaselFire

Thinking back on my own publishing experience, and my current dilemma as to whether to self-publish my fiction works, I ran into one, viable, definable and perfectly valid reason NOT to self publish -- Memberships in professional groups.

Most professional writer's groups, Author's Guild, Mystery Writers of America, National Writer's Union, ASJA, Horror Writer's Association and many more, require publishing credits from national publishers. Almost every group specifically excludes self-published and vanity press works from being used for membership.

No judgement on whether it's the correct attitude for the times we're in, but it may be a compelling reason to NOT self publish. Or a compelling reason not to join those types of associations (Most don't provide functional benefits beyond conferences, awards and recognition).

Jeff

I'm a proud member of the Author's Guild, which does provide tangible benefits; I use their dental and vision plans. I also appreciate their advocacy for writers and feel they're working on my behalf.

But there are better reasons to choose publishing over self-publishing. Consider the fact that most fiction writers (except bestsellers) have libraries to thank for a substantial proportion of their sales. Libraries generally don't buy self-published books.

Second reason: reviews. I'm not a bestselling writer, but my books have been reviewed in the NY Times, Wall St. Journal, S.F Chronicle, Washington Post, etc. All kinds of good things can happen when you've got a book out there...but self-published books don't get reviewed in mainstream publications.

There are more reasons. I wrote a post on the topic called "What if JK Rowling had self-published?" Don't get me wrong---there are great, legitimate applications for self-published work. But fiction writers, IMO, are almost always better off selling their work to trade publishers if they can.

[TheHungryFreelancer]

I actually had no idea that writers could get health insurance through writing groups. That's actually pretty cool.

[Barbara R.]

Originally Posted by TheHungryFreelancer

I actually had no idea that writers could get health insurance through writing groups. That's actually pretty cool.

It's true for freelancers, too, Freelancer, in case you didn't know. There's a union of freelancers ---don't recall the name, but I'm sure you could google it--that offers group-rate health insurance.