Week 3, Virtual Book Tour
Last week our four-week virtual book tour made a stop at the internet home of David Robertson, who not only has a presence at e-webincome, but at his artisan blacksmithing site, which is very much worth a visit. The tour launched at Paul Lima’s blog August 3, 2008.
This week we’re pleased to have Lorina’s virtual book tour stop at Ferret Fabricates, home of Ferret, a remarkably talented textile artist who continually pushes the boundaries of quilting and quilt-design. Thanks to Ferret for being part of the tour.
Q: It used to be that a self-published author fought a stigma – only those who couldn’t make it in the conventional publishing world forked out funds for a basement full of books and a heart full of frustration. Do you feel this stigma persists?
A: To some extent, yes, the stigma persists, and with some justification when you look at much of what’s available out there in the self-published market: poorly written books, poorly edited, poorly presented. Just because you’re self-published is no excuse to abandon the pursuit of excellence.
Having said that, there is also some remarkable work being self-published that has gone on to make best-seller lists and even win awards.
Q: Do you see the publishing world reacting to the explosion of self-publishing?
The publishing world has been a little slower, as always, matching the pace of technology and trends, being steeped in tradition and no small amount of elitism. What happened during the past 20 years in the publishing world is that publishers closed ranks so that new authors simply didn’t have an avenue of access. Agents closed the doors on their comfortable stable of writers, so that, again, new authors didn’t have access unless you knew someone who knew someone.
Books available on the shelves of bookstores increasingly range to the best-seller and 10-week wonder, with an increase in initial sales, but a decrease in variety and lasting readership. What started out as a mildly interesting sales experiment with online book catalogues, taking only 10% of the market at the turn of the Millennium, now garners 25%, according to recent information. And that trend is likely on the increase.
For the consumer this means not only ease of shopping, but greater variety, in that all 130,000+ books in the Chapters online catalogue, or Amazon, W.H. Smith or any number of other massive chains, is as close as your mouse and a click.
Now add the quickly evolving revolution in Print on Demand technology, and the world is set for a social phenomenon we haven’t seen since the advent of the Gutenberg press. Gone are the days a self-published author has to turn over thousands in hard-earned savings for a basement full of books and no way to distribute them other than the trunk of the car. Ingram, one of the world’s largest distribution firms, opened the doors of their print on demand service, Lightning Source, to individuals, so that one copy of a book can be printed at a time, with distribution of that book feeding into not only Ingram’s massive network – which means all the major online chains worldwide, as well as thousands of independent bookstores, and libraries throughout North America – but to one of the other enormous global distributors, Baker and Taylor.
Put quite simply, a self-published author’s work can appear in the online catalogues of the heavy-weight chains along-side award-winning authors and known best-sellers. In fact, here in Canada, the 2008 winner of the Leacock Medal for Humour is Terry Fallis, author of The Best Laid Plans, who self-published his satirical novel. Terry’s novel has now been picked up by McClelland & Stewart, and he is represented by Beverly Slopen.
Q: Any advice to an author thinking of self-publishing?
A: Lots. First of all be sure you turn out a quality manuscript. As I mentioned earlier, just because you’re going to self-publish doesn’t excuse you from striving for excellence. Check your facts and details for accuracy.
Hire an editor if you can, and check out the editor’s qualifications, being sure to be clear about what, exactly, you expect from the editor. Do you want a simple proof-reader or copy-editor? Are you looking for style and grammar changes?
And in choosing the printer, make sure you understand what you’re getting into, the attendant costs, what the printer will deliver. In order to ascertain what your expectations are, you need to determine if you wish to publish simply for yourself, family and friends, or if you’re looking at launching a career.
If it’s the former, PODs like Lulu and their ilk are likely perfectly suitable for your needs, without purchasing any distribution such a service might offer.
If you’re seriously looking at building a career, you’re likely better off creating your own imprint, obtaining your own block of ISBNs – these are free in Canada from Library and Archives Canada – and using a major POD like Lightning Source. By doing so that will get your data to major distributors internationally; that data will then be picked up by online retailers such as Amazon, Chapters, W.H. Smith and others.
From there you have to become your own marketing machine, and devote a portion of your writing time to getting the word out that you have a terrific new book that everyone needs to buy. That may mean blogging, discussion groups both virtual and physical, book signings, conventions and the like. You should contact local media and arrange interviews. Set aside a number of copies to be sent out for review and follow up.
Q: Where do you see self-publishing and the publishing world in general heading?
A: I see self-publishing becoming more and more common, because there’s more leavening added to the mix, in that a new technology has been announced. Through the magic of a little print-on-demand printer, worth about $50,000, a bookstore, author, library or anyone with an interest in publishing, can print a complete book, in colour, under three minutes for about $3.00. It’s known as the Espresso Book Machine.
I have heard cries of the demise of bookstores, of social gatherings around coffee and books, of book signings and author appearances. All I can respond to that reactionary response is nonsense.
Imagine a bookstore evolved into something like an Internet cafe, where you can go with friends for a good cuppa, meet an author in a casual and intimate setting while waiting for your own, personalized copy of the author’s latest book to print. Imagine the revenues libraries can generate by evolving as not only repositories of knowledge, but printers. Imagine being able to shop online and find any literature you can imagine, just as you can now find music and film. Imagine a world where the consumers and the creators are the legislators of art, and not the middleman publisher interested only in the bottom line.
It strikes me that today it’s necessary to be a dynamic thinker, to not only think outside the box, but recycle the box. Dynamic thinking most especially applies to publishing, which is directly affected by the rapidly evolving world of communication.
There’s some fascinating reading about the Espresso and what’s happening right now in publishing in a reproduced speech Mike Shatzkin, savvy publishing visionary, gave to the Danish Book Trade conference in Copenhagen.
In a nutshell Shatzkin illustrates very real proof the publishing world as we know it is rapidly changing to accommodate not only demand, but cost, and along with publishers changing tactics, the entire marketing and promotion industry is shifting its thinking, as are innovative book-sellers.
Here in Canada the University of Alberta book store purchased an Espresso in the fall of 2007 and within six months the Espresso has already half paid for itself.
Dynamic thinking like that also seems to have caught on at Chapters/Indigo with the creation of their Community network. Like Facebook or MySpace, Chapters’ Community allows you to create your own profile and communicate with others; however, the entire discussion in that community is about books and publishing and every facet related to that. The community is growing explosively, with the most recent members being representatives from not only Chapters/Indigo itself, but legacy publishers like Harper-Collins and Simon and Schuster Canada.
Now I won’t for a moment attempt to persuade you these publishing giants and Chapters itself are part of Chapters’ Community for anything but a marketing strategy. However, it also puts small, independent authors like me in the same room as these giants, something that could only previously possibly happen at a book convention. It’s creating a very interesting forum.
If you love books as I do, and enjoy lively and varied discussion, I highly recommend you join Chapter’s Community. If you do, look me up and add me to your friends list.
Next week Lorina Stephens’ virtual tour concludes at The Mantua-Maker, where the theme of the interview will be Works in Progress.