Self-publishing is an ugly word in certain circles. Fist fights might break out if you mention it. If for some crazy reason an author does self publish, he is a pariah. Real authors won’t talk to him, notice him, mention him (except in scorn or pity). Agents and publishers will keep their distance. But wait…what’s that sound? Is that the sound of the traditional publishing empire crumbling?

I’ve read arguments on either side of the issue, and I’m on the fence myself. On the side of the traditional publisher:

• You get exposure for your book that you couldn’t get elsewhere. This applies more and more to fiction these days, as almost anyone with a non-fiction book and a platform can get speaking engagements and Oprah spots to promote their book. Still, with brick-and-mortar bookstores in trouble, where does that exposure get you?
• You get the professional services of editing and cover design and marketing. But did I mention the rumors that many publishers are cutting back on some of these services? If they are cutting costs in these areas, or are expecting the author to pick up the slack, then where did the advantage go?
• You get an advance. But just like the candy bars you see in the grocery store, they’re a whole lot smaller than they used to be.
• You get to be a bona fide, industry-recognized author. Not just a wannabe who printed out his own book.

And then there’s the dark side, the lure of electronic publishing, the attraction of ultimate control over your intellectual property! [Insert Machiavellian laugh here.]

• With self publishing you have ultimate control. That’s a good thing if you an ace writer, graphic designer, typographer, and marketer. Not so good if yur a bad speler. Bad product equals poor sales.
• You get a lot of profit for each book sold. The word is, the Amazon Kindle store offers 70% of cover price back to their electronic book authors. Traditional publishing? Not as much, and for the same digital copy, sometimes less than 10%. Ouch.
• Best sellers are much smaller numbers. Let’s do some math: if you sell 5,000 copies of your self-pubbed book, at $10 a piece, and make $7 from that, you get $35,000. Not too bad. How many books would you have to sell to get that same amount through a traditional publisher? Using a generous round figure of 20% royalties, you’d have to sell 17,500 copies through that publisher, if the book sells at $10. (The publisher would probably put the cover price as $15, but through Amazon discounts and other promo pricing, the average is around $10 anyway.)
• Last but not least, you could still be picked up by a traditional publisher. Odd as this sounds, if you e-publish a book, and it sells well, then you have a proven sales history to show a publisher, and they may be more interested in taking a risk on you. Don’t ask me how that works, but it’s a possibility.

A lot of this stuff I’ve learned just reading the blogs of agents and publishers and fellow writers who wrestle with what’s happening in the book industry. There is a lot of speculation about where this is all going, but as for me, I’m going to pursue this crazy idea of e-publishing and see where it takes me. I just hope I don’t get into a fist fight over it.

Joshua 24:15b “But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”