Self-published authors are shit and not worth reading.
Says some ass holes on Twitter.
In response to some stupid comments some people made over on Twitter, Jodie (over on W&SBOOKCLUB) pitched the idea of creating some content around why we love self published authors. Of course, a bunch of us loved the idea and jumped at the chance of being able to offer some support to self-published authors.
While I’d be the first to admit that I don’t really know what authors I read are self-published or not. That doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate them and give them support. Over the next couple of days I’m going to be sharing some stuff with you, all focused on authors who’ve published their books themselves.
Today, I’m going to give my take on why I think the people saying self-published authors are idiots.
- Publishing houses are a dying breed. With more and more content being created that aren’t books, and with more and more books now sold in digital form than paperbacks, you don’t need the powerhouse support of a publisher to be able to reach readers.
- Part of a books revenue is given to the publisher to cover the costs of advertising, cover art etc etc etc. Some publishers even take a humongous cut leaving the authors with almost nothing being made from their books even if we’re paying upwards of AUD$20.
- The amount of work self-published authors put in to get their works out into the world is ridiculous. Part of my work is to write, edit and release learning materials for learners. I can tell you, the amount of time, concentration and attention to detail required to make sure those flow, don’t contradict each other etc is pain staking. And authors need to do this with a variety of characters, worlds and so many other little details. Hats off to them!
If you think it’s easy, then I challenge you to:
- Come up with an idea people will want to read
- Write the story out
- Edit it (like 5 times, because that’s just what is needed)
- Proof read it
- Get cover art made
- Get it up on GoodReads and/or other platforms
- Get it out into the world (including ISBN, licensing, formatted, released)
- Get people to read it (it’s harder than you’d think).
If you manage all that and think it’s easy, or think anyone who goes through all that effort release shit books, then I don’t think you should have an opinion on books.
If you can’t recognise the effort every single author puts into every single book, then I honestly don’t think you should be sharing any opinions about them. Every author puts in a huge effort and they should ALL be recognised and celebrated for that.
Self-published authors have an even harder time because they need to do everything. Often, they’re also working full or part time jobs to help fund their dreams of being an author. They don’t deserve hate for doing the best they can do.
I also find that usually (not always of course, but in my personal experience) they’re more friendly, open to feedback and I often end up with a great working relationship with them. To me, this is one of the best things about working with self-published authors.
2 Replies to “Self-Published Authors Appreciation Week”
This is a very well articulated post and I can provide a little bit of inside information on how much a traditionally published author makes from a book. My brother-in-law published a children’s book with a big publishing house in Romania (I realize that this might differ from country to country) and, as the author he only gets 8% from each book sold. Besides that, the publisher owns the rights to his work, not the author. Also, he had no say in choosing the cover or illustration art. If you self-publish on Amazon you own the rights to your book, have creative control, and earn 35-70% in terms of royalties. When your book is like your baby you don’t want others to control how you raise it.
Thank you for sharing that! I knew the numbers were low for published authors, I didn’t realise it was so low! Not to mention they get put into contracts where they’re required to write a certain amount of books per year. Such a shame to not be in control of your own baby’s.