Comments on: Self-publishing is the new blogging

By: Selfpublishing is the new blogging (1) « if-Blog

Selfpublishing is the new blogging (1) « if-Blog — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 23:16:35 +0000

[...] Selfpublishing is the new blogging – prophezeite Zeldman schon 2008 [...]

By: Far off places « Genevieve's blog

Far off places « Genevieve's blog — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 17:05:45 +0000

[...] way, that’s where I wanna be. Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)Self-publishing is the new bloggingHello People!I want to be [...]

By: Daring Fireball Linked List: January 2008

Daring Fireball Linked List: January 2008 — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 19:36:48 +0000

[...] Self-Publishing Is the New Blogging ★ [...]

By: GW Gresham

GW Gresham — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 18:54:01 +0000

I just self published my new fiction thriller novel, “Perfect Lies” and my goal was to get the book out without delay so I can write more books. I did pay to get the book edited and self published it through CreateSpace which is an Amazon company.

I know how important promotion is and I spend a lot of time doing it every day but does pay off with sales. I’m sure both sides have a valid argument here but for fiction writers who just love to write like I do it self publishing can free up a lot more time for writing.

I also think that if you have a good enough story and promote your book the right way, you can sell thousands of copies. I get way out of my comfort zone every day calling radio and tv stations, newspapers and any other media I can think of to see if they will interview me.

I get rejected about 90% of the time but 10% say yes and that is free promotion. I also call the stations that turn me down again because sometimes they change their mind.

Whether I get a publishing contract or make a lot of money with my writing not will not make any difference in the quality of my books. I’m a writer, and for me it’s all about being able to produce great stories that people enjoy reading. Self publishing allows me to produce more novels and short stories and that’s what makes me and my readers happy.

By: Self-Publishing - Shawn Blanc

Self-Publishing - Shawn Blanc — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 21:13:08 +0000

[...] Zeldman, Self-Publishing is the New Blogging – You don’t need distribution, you’ve got PayPal. You don’t need stores: there’s only two [...]

By: Miklb's Mindless Ramblings

Miklb's Mindless Ramblings — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 05:43:02 +0000

[...] I’ve oft meant to write something about Twitter, specifically since I read Zeldman’s “Self Publishing is the New Blogging”.And ch-ching was heard in the land. And the (not citizen) journalists heard it, and it got them [...]

By: Gianna

Gianna — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 04:02:57 +0000

I will compile ALL of my blogs and turn them into book form. Hows that?

By: Tony

Tony — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 04:34:48 +0000

Traditional publishing is NOT what people think it is. The author’s royalty amounts to less than minimum wage, the author gets no benefits, no bonuses, and the author essentially has to deliver a camera-ready copy. Add to this the instability of the constant turnover of publishing employees. Here’s the reality: Publishers make a fortune off the fear of authors – the fear of self-publishing. Name another occupation where the primary producer gets a meager percentage of the net sales, gets paid once or twice per year, and has to produce the entire product with a publishing team that changes so often that you never meet or know who is working on your product. The “credibility” of being published is a myth. There are a number of self-publishing successes (ie: Celestine Prophecy). There is absolutely nothing wrong with self-publishers. The only critics of self-publishing are publishers.

By: Личен блог

Личен блог — Tue, 06 May 2008 15:21:09 +0000

[...] Още малко по темата, надявам се че не е проблем че слагам URL тук – http://www.zeldman.com/2008/01/03/self-publishing-is-the-new-blogging/ [...]

By: extreme webmaster

extreme webmaster — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 21:19:59 +0000

Dark visions… we are in the middle of the process of dumbing down of the general population. Books are still alive and well and I like to read them in their printed incarnation, even if they are available as e-books. Reading a lot (especially of intelectually engaging material) from a screen hurts, gets one exhausted… Books will be here to stay for a while… The problem is that a lot of people surf the Web to read trivial b.s. and are brainwashing themselves with this stuff. These kind of people wouldn’t read a book anyway, just paparazzi-sleaze magazines anyway. Those who read quality material will continue to do so, even when e-paper becomes a common thing.

By: canadada

canadada — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 03:19:04 +0000

Very interesting discussion…
As a mid-career Canadian artist/author I’ve tried a couple of different approaches to ‘getting my words out.’..My first two titles came out with ‘traditional’ publishing houses in ‘limited’ printed runs of 750 (softcover) and 3000 (hardcover), respectively. In retrospect, the ‘royalty’ percentages were a bit of a scam, (7-10% ), but I was ‘keen’ and ‘wanted to be published’. One simply cannot ‘live’ off ihese revenues unless you are selling hundred’s of thousands of books, and I wasn’t. (Interesting ‘journey’ though.) My next three titles have been self-published. What a difference that has made. I just LOVE complete design control!!! Plus ‘net’ returns were ALL mine AND I finally made some money at this wacky game. That said, the internet has changed the ‘field’ dramatically. It seems increasingly ’silly’ and ‘elitist’ to print on paper these days – I mean, ‘DEAD TREES’ people – THINK OF ALL THAT WASTE of CARBON & OXYGEN etc.! So, currently I am trying ‘blogging’ over at wordpress.com. There, I am posting/publshing ’short stories’ , paintings, photographs and a few poems. I consider the whole thing a ‘major work-in-progress’….I’m not 100% sure yet if this is the way I will continue to go…because even though response has been excellent, there is just no dinero coming in off of it…..So, rock and a hard place. I may attempt the Lulu downloadable pdf route later, but first, I am testing the internet waters with the blog. Check it out, let me know what you think.: canadada.wordpress.com. (People seem to particularly like ‘The Dancing Bear’ and ‘Gone Native’…) .It’s a BRAVE NEW WORLD, we must all be BRAVE.

By: Shelley Lieber

Shelley Lieber — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 21:39:55 +0000

Good suggestions for self-publishers from Denise. However, the Chicken Soup books were never self-published. From the beginning, they were published by Health Communications, a small publisher in Deerfield Beach, FL. The authors, Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen, set the bar for self-promotion and marketing that today’s authors can aspire to if they wish to sell millions of books. One of the things they attribute their success to is doing a minimum of one media interview per day for a year.

By: shane

shane — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 14:08:23 +0000

Yes, got book.
The Website Managers Handbook in fact (via the Lulu.com).

By: kerrianne

kerrianne — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 01:50:42 +0000

I would politely argue that Twittering isn’t effortless, if only because I’ve found it can be difficult (for me) to write anything interesting in 139 characters. It initially reminded me of writing prompts given in college wherein we were supposed to get to the point, already.

By: Denise Shanks

Denise Shanks — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 19:37:35 +0000

Full disclosure: I work at a tradtional publishing company and have for 10 years, so I can’t help but want to chime in to this discussion.

Jeffrey and Lou both hit on this but I’d like to second that selling books is hard work. That is really what good editors bring to the table, in addition to the ability to identify and sculpt a good idea that’s well written. Most editors specialize in very specific disciplines so that they “know their market.” If you’re going to self-publish, you have to become an expert in your market too because when the book comes out, you’ll need those contacts to get it reviewed and noticed by the people you’ve written the book for. That’s why if you’re already an established name in your field or you have a following, self-publishing can work for you.

What do publishing companies also have that a self-publisher doesn’t? Sales people. People whose entire job it is to get that book into those stores and displayed in the right way, and while the market is shifting, people are still buying books at those 2 places, as well as the few independent stores. Even if you’re not trying to get into the stores, you’re still going to have to be selling your book.

I’m all for the revolution and breaking down the barriers to knowledge and information sharing, and there are lots of potentially good books that don’t get published because they aren’t viewed as having a market. Publishing is definitely a business, and it is out to make a profit. It’s particularly tough to break in to the fiction/poetry market because it’s really who you know that can get your book reviewed in the right place, so that it will be noticed and sell. If I were trying to break into this, I’d do my best to develop an online audience and get media of any type to notice me.

I do have a few tips for those who self-publish.
1. Hire a really good copyeditor. They are absolutely worth their weight in gold and they will hopefully keep you from having an embarrassing “oops” moment when you’re holding your printed, permanent book in your hands.
2. Pay attention and study up on book design. There are certain established design practices and if you want to have a professional looking product, you’d best follow them.
3. Writing the book is hard, but producing it and selling it are going to be very tough too, so prepare for a long haul. Even if you just have 1 book to sell, if you want it to reach a larger audience than your friends and family, you’re basically starting your own business, where you (or your small team, if you’re lucky) will be writer/editor/production manager/publicist/sales rep/warehouse manager/CEO and CFO…
4. It can be done successfully. I’m not a big fan of the “Chicken Soup” books, but they’ve been very successful, and they were completely self-published from the start. Their secret apparently was convincing gas stations to display them in order to sell outside of bookstores to reach more people or as one might say, to reach their ideal market who traditionally are not entering bookstores.
5. Know your market. It’s hard to do this as a writer, but it’s essential. And with the internet, getting out there and doing the research is so easy, you can’t afford not to.

Denise