On Saturday, veteran Wiley executive editor Alan Rinzler
kicked off the second annual pre-BEA Do-It-Yourself Conference and Market Place
by telling the approximately 300 writers in attendance that this is the best
time in the history of publishing for authors.
Rinzler, who also works one-on-one with self-publishing authors (many of whom go on to land traditional book deals), tackled a few myths in his keynote. First up: big publishing is over. "The book business is scratching its head and wringing its hands, but it is not dead," Rinzler said, noting that in 2010 overall book sales were up 14%, and Random House had its largest sales increase since 2006. Of course, the rise in e-books, he noted, contributed to increased sales.
Self publishing myth #2: authors who go the DIY route should "forget about" signing with a larger publisher. His response: "If you can sell 4,000-5,000 copies of your book, it proves to publishers that you know your market and you can reach it."
Myth #3: agents will not consider the self-published. To the contrary, he said, agents are increasingly working with their stable of clients to self-publish backlist titles and are looking to sign up authors making it in the DIY world.
Myth #4: it is easy to succeed as a self-published author. The powerful but relatively rare examples of DIY superstars Amanda Hocking, Joe Konrath, Jim Locke and others hover over any discussion of self-publishing, and Saturday was no exception.
Self-publishing, Rinzler emphasized, can be a "device for test marketing your book" or it can be a way to make even more money with higher royalties than a traditional publisher--but only if the book sells.
Most sessions covered the nuts and bolts of marketing, pricing and choosing the right partner--whether Amazon's CreateSpace, B&N's PubIt!, Lulu, Smashwords or others--to navigate the DIY publishing landscape.
During lunch, the Book Doctors--Arielle Eckstut and David Henry Sterry, authors of The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published (Workman)--told the writer attendees to think of themselves as "authorpreneurs." They explained that within publishing houses, there are editors, copy editors, designers and publicists who all contribute to the success of a book by doing distinctive jobs. "Authorpreneurs," said Sterry, "need to take all these jobs seriously and hire accordingly."
As for other places to seek help, Eckstut said, "Everyone here needs to make their neighborhood bookstore their best friends and become regular patrons of the bookstore." She borrowed a line from a colleague who called independent bookstores "the last three feet of the publishing business."
In a later session, Richard Nash, co-founder of the publishing portal Cursor and its first community on it, Red Lemonade, emphasized this point, saying, "There is still power in putting books in bookstores."
Throughout the day two themes emerged: no matter who publishes a book, if readers cannot find it, it cannot sell; and in order to sell, it has to be a good book. Sounds like good, "old-fashioned" publishing, doesn't it?--Bridget Kinsella