I hope this post doesn't get me into trouble. I have had some really good experiences with authors who were self-publishing their book. And others...not so good. Logic would seem to indicate that one-man-band approach to publishing would make for a good client. No editors, no marketing directors, no Publisher, no v.p.s of anything. Just one person: the author. But, eleven years of experience has taught me that this just isn't so—for several reasons.
1. Self-publishers are generally looking for a "deal". Just the nature of self-publishing dictates that this is so—that's one of the reasons they are publishing the book themselves in the first place. But for me, a deal is a bad word. It means I will end up doing twice the amount of work for about 1/3 of my normal rate.
2. Self-publishers need a baby-sitter.This is one of my biggest realizations. When I work for an established publishing house, there is a routine. There are certain protocols and procedures that are tacitly understood between us. But, s.p.'s need to be explained the ins-and-outs of the entire process, i.e. what comps are, how long it takes to do a cover, why can't I use "pictures" off of the internet, where bar codes come from, etc. Which leads me to point no.3...
3. Self-publisher suck the life out of you. Since a self-publisher is an author, that means they spend 20.5 hours a day thinking about one thing: their book. And it is totally understandable. The book is their baby. Many publishers spend years planning, conceiving, and giving birth to their baby. And they want everything, including the cover, to be just-so. So, I end up in an inordinate amount of time spent in 20 minute phone calls, emails, and IMs, defending my type choices or shades of green.
4. Self-publishers are some of the nicest people you could ever want to meet. Which is why it is so hard to say no to designing their covers. They are genuinely excited about you, your work, their book, working together. And that, in any walk of life, is very unusal. And very hard to say no to.
I understand exactly what you're saying and speaking for self-publishing authors (s-pa's), it's likewise very frustrating and bewildering to step into the unknown and negotiate business deals. So I had the idea of helping them since from my career experience, I already know the vendors and services typically needed for producing a book. The smartest thing an s-pa can do is hire a full-service book production company (NOT to be confused with a subsidy publisher! Don't get me started.) to help them and not try to go it alone. A full-service book production company will not steal the author's thunder or inhibit his creative ideas, and will NOT share in the profits to be made. An f-sbpc will give an s-pa wise counsel and communicate his wishes to the publishing world in language it understands.
Posted by: Susan Perez | January 12, 2007 at 08:59 AM