On Writing : Self Publishing Q&A by Tessa Shaffer

I'll share the mag link once it's published =D A hybrid author is a writer who both self-publishes and traditionally publishes to take advantage of the pros each bring =)

Tessa Shaffer with global proliferation of material via self-publishing directed at various sales-and-profit non-fiction categories in addition to fiction,

is self-publishing now largely a hobby for writers or do people still envision a profitable writing career through this channel,

and if so what are the main innovations in marketing strategies now to cut through the volume of material being advertised to a dwindling demographic audience of readers?

I have self published a few books but the curiosity about and desire remains being traditionally published. How do trad publishing houses view authors who have self published (and don't necessarily have an explosive following or sales?)

All my work is self-published. Mainly because I've had little/no response from publishing houses I've contacted. It's all in the marketing. And attention to your audience so you're pushing it in the right spheres. It's hard work and a steep learning curve. Formatting is the hardest part to get absolutely right.

Meg Stone but I don't think it's supposed to be moderated, where did you get that idea?

And if the originators of a thread could delete comments, it would end up being boring because we wouldn't get the thrill of seeing your righteous indignation catch fire!!

Tessa, I am both a published and a self-published author, but the trouble in both cases was the publisher was better at publishing than marketing, so only a few hundred copies were sold. I'd love to make money out of self-publishing, as you suggest, but fear I would have to concentrate on that to the exclusion of all else -with still no guarantee of success. Would be happy to hear otherwise!

Sorry for the late reply everyone, it's been a crazy week! I'll try to answer all the questions here:

As far as publishers looking "down" on self-published work, being self-published is much different than it used to be say 10 years ago, and MANY authors are hybrid authors who both self-publish and traditionally publish. The main reason publishers and agents would not be interested in a self-published author is if they are pitching the same book that has already been self-published. THEN it matters that the specific work has already been published. It's also very difficult to self-publish say book 1 or 2 in a series and then try to traditionally publish the third book in a trilogy.

This leads to the next group of questions and the common misconception about publishing houses marketing differently than a self-published author. Publishers--even the big ones--don't have huge marketing budgets for authors like they used to and although a PR contact and team may be assigned to the author upon signing, much of the marketing efforts fall on the author themselves. This can look like anything from speaking gigs to social media involvement.

Remember that being an author is a business, if you expect to make money you must also expect to continue to work.... and the real work begins after the book is written. =)

Daniel Stuelpnagel To answer your question: whether writing is a hobby or a business is entirely up to the author and how much work they put into their efforts. I know many successful self-published authors who make a solid paycheck each month via kindle unlimited pages read. This isn't organic it involves investing money into marketing ads and Ebooks and consistency (having an Ebook, signing up for Kindle Unlimited, using sites like BookBub and more), but it can be done. Even writing in the most saturated market, like selling romance novels on Amazon can be profitable and there are actually Ebook marketers now that help authors navigate the process toward a profit. =)

What about self-publishing an audio version of a book? Is that possible?

You get 100% of the proceeds as a self-publisher and 5 to 10% royalties as an author with a trad -- who owns the copyright and you may or may not ever see royalties after the first year, and have to pay a hostage fee or fight to get the rights reverted back to you. Self-publishing doesn't mean it's bad -- only if you don't do the work to make it a professional product.

@Debbie Elicksen - you don't get 100% unless you're distributing direct from your webpage in the appropriate formats. Amazon take 30-65% based on the options you choose with them. Other sites take different percentages.