Comments on: To E or Not to E: An Update

By: John Wasko

John Wasko — Sun, 06 May 2012 07:06:01 +0000

Thanks for the heads up. I had just enough Grand Marnier left to make sense of that.
JW
Author of,
“The Handy Couple’s Guide to Bush Sex in American Samoa”

By: M Louise Kelly

M Louise Kelly — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 18:50:30 +0000

It’s great to have your opinion. I guess the story that’s coming across is that if you go the self-publishing route, you need to produce something as professionally as a trad publisher would and act as professionally as a traditionally published author would and you’ll not come to too much harm. Thanks again.

By: LibbyFischerHellmann

LibbyFischerHellmann — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 12:57:33 +0000

I’m not an agent or a publisher, so take this for what it’s worth. I have heard stories about writers being picked up by traditional publishers after self-publishing their work. It’s a known fact that they are trolling Amazon and if they hear about you through your marketing efforts, see that your work is professionally done, and your sales are high, then yes, it;s possible. I do think the “stigma” about self-publishing as a route to traditional publishing has largely lifted.

By: M Louise Kelly

M Louise Kelly — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 08:24:12 +0000

What a great summary Libby. Nicola Morgan pointed to it from her Help I need a publisher blog and i’m so glad she did. I’m still looking for representation and publishing deals and still hoping to go the traditional route but with the self-publishing scene changing so fast it’s great to have something like this to keep on top of the pros and cons. One thing i wonder though: is there any wisdom on whether starting out by self-publishing harms your standing in the eyes of the traditional publishers, per se? Clearly if it’s error filled and generally wonky, it will. I’d not do it without some independent encouragement from people i thought knew what they were talking about, but is the act of doing so enough to put another barrier between me and eventual trad publishing (which i still think of as the gold standard – rightly or wrongly!) Two years ago i’d have argued it would, but what about now?

By: Bob Mayer

Bob Mayer — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 20:20:58 +0000

While traditional publishers controlled distribution, with eBooks they don’t. However, I do disagree with both Konrath and Dean about how as the pie gets bigger everyone’s slice gets bigger. The bottleneck now is placement for eBooks. No matter how you cut the slice, there are only going to be 100 titles in the bestseller list for a genre. If readers can’t find your eBooks, they can’t buy them.

By: Monday Mentions: Lightening Strikes, Transplanting Pork & Puppet-icity « Amy Shojai's Blog

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 15:37:26 +0000

[...] TO “E” OR NOT TO “E” from Libby Fischer Hellman’s excellent blog [...]

By: Julia Phillips Smith

Julia Phillips Smith — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 15:37:17 +0000

Thanks for sharing such great info – as someone self-pubbing my first novel next month, I’ve already bumped into the giant qualifier in Book Blog Reviewer Land re quality and gatekeepers. Most book reviewers who do so as their passion state flatly in their policies that they’re no longer accepting self-pubbed. I guess they didn’t appreciate being asked to fill the role of slush-pile reader. On the other hand, in the cream-rises-to-the-top category, I’ve already seen a few self-pubbed novels appearing on these same sites with wildly enthusiastic recommendations. So the market is currently working as it should with regard to self-pubbed e-books.

By: LibbyFischerHellmann

LibbyFischerHellmann — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 15:08:17 +0000

You’re right Donna. I intentionally blurred the category, and I am talking about self-publishing, mainly because I can’t see why any author would encumber themselves with yet another publisher for their ebooks. Kind of defeats the entire premise. At least in my mind.

By: Donna Alward

Donna Alward — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 14:13:47 +0000

Libby, I may open a whole can of worms here. This blog is GREAT for talking about the pros and cons but what you’re talking about – for the most part – is self publishing and not e-publishing.

There are still a number of e-publishers out there where they handle the same things as a traditional publisher (editing, formatting, cover art, etc). Being both traditionally and e-published, I know that sometimes with epubbing you have more input but not the same control as you do with self pubbing.

I kind of see e-pubbing in the middle between self pubbing and traditional pubbing. More input into the process, generally speaking a higher royalty rate, and a whole other set of pros and cons.

That doesn’t take away in the least from the information you shared – it’s very informative, and perhaps I’m arguing semantics. But I personally think it’s an important distinction.

By: Lisa Grace

Lisa Grace — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 00:24:20 +0000

I have one book published through a small press, and two I self-published soon to be followed by two more.
I have a major publisher sending me a contract for my angel series. I think the best thing authors can do now is keep all options open, sign with traditional houses (if offered) on some works, and self-publish the rest.
Cross promotion can increase sales on both ends.