The book is out now, by the way. I didn’t blog about it, but it was officially released October 29, 2007 and I’m already having second thoughts about my decision to self-publish. A few things that led me to that decision were:
- Faster time to market
- Complete control
- Eliminate the middle man
- Prove to the world what an idiot I am
Numbers 1 and 2 are given. Once I completed the book I had finished copies in my hand only weeks later. And it was exactly what I wanted, right down to the last detail. Number 3 is a bit stupid. I have no idea exactly what “middle man” I was trying to eliminate. The entire publishing industry is nothing but middle men. I mean, how many authors write a book then directly hand it to their customers? As far as Number 4, I’m well on my way there.
I have to admit I had a naive hope that I might make a few more pennies per book if I did everything myself. (See Number 4.) But it doesn’t matter who publishes the book, the rest of the rules of the game are exactly the same. And the rules make sure the sale price of each and every book breaks down like so:
So last night I figured, well, if I’m going to get 0% of every book sale, then I might as well have someone else do all the work. So I began my search for a literary agent. I’ll let you know how that turns out. Meanwhile, I have to get back to the fridge.
