The Joy of Self-Publishing. Mike MD Buchanan
novels. If this thesis is correct, I think it follows that introverts will more naturally be inclined to write literary novels and extraverts commercial novels. I suppose a case may be made that a writer is more likely to enjoy good sales – and as a self-publisher enjoy a good income as a result – by writing commercial rather than literary novels. But I, for one, would rather spend my time writing literary novels, assuming of course that I turn out to have any aptitude for doing so.
James Scott Bell’s book is one in a series of books titled Write Great Fiction, the others being Ron Rozelle’s Description and Setting, Nancy Kress’s Characters, Emotion and Viewpoint, and Gloria Kempton’s Dialogue. I’ve read all four books and plan to do so again before starting on my novel, being careful to reject any advice that doesn’t accord with how my mind works.
Why might you consider self-publishing rather than going down the traditional route of seeking an agent to represent you to major publishers? The most obvious reasons are:
Time
By all means spend some time exploring whether your proposed book might be of interest to literary agents and thereby possibly to publishers. Buy a copy of the latest Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook in which you’ll find contact details for literary agents, some of the writers they represent, and a large number of informative articles as well. Appendix 4 details the contents of this excellent book.
But – and it pains me to say this – unless you have an idea for a book with obvious and substantial sales potential, and you’re clearly a very gifted writer, you’re more likely to have a major win on the National Lottery than find a good agent prepared to represent your work to publishers. There are simply too many good writers seeking too few good agents, and it’s getting more difficult with each year that passes.
So self-publish and save yourself a lot of time. If you do send copies of part or all of your manuscript to literary agents, expect either rejection or to not hear back from them at all. Get on with writing.
Creative control
This is a big one for me, and I suspect for most self-publishers. It was a pleasure working with a major publisher on my first book, a book about cost management in major organisations. But they insisted on a minor change to what I had submitted – the details don’t matter – which I felt might impact negatively on sales, and I believe it has. However they have kindly agreed to return the publishing rights to me when the current stock has sold out, and they have been highly professional at all times.
The lesson I learned? Self-publish and retain full creative control.
Specification control
One of the ways in which you can make your books distinctive is to explore the specification options including:
-format (hardback, paperback, coil bound...)
-cover finish (matt, gloss, foil blocking, raised sections...)
-paper specification and ‘feel’
-page sizes
-colour graphics, photographs
-place-marking ribbons
A reputable printer will take you through the options, which will be more numerous than if you publish through the print-on-demand (POD) route. But POD may still have its place: my own books would currently not be available to order outside the UK without the POD model.
So self-publish and retain full specification control.
Cost control
There are numerous book manufacturing and distribution options available to the self-publisher. While I was working on my first self-published book, Guitar Gods in Beds., I had a meeting with a local publisher that was selling a book I much admired, a book of local interest with high production values. With hindsight the company was what is often termed (with justification) a ‘vanity publisher’. As my book was of local interest too – the biographies of eight guitarists well-known in the local music scene – I met with the company and went through the practical issues and costs.
I was stunned by the high costs the company quoted. I couldn’t possibly make any margin on the book unless it sold at a price which seemed wildly optimistic. I had to abandon the idea of using the company and instead explored the option of dealing directly with companies and freelance professionals to get my book published. The outcome of this exploration forms much of the content of this book.
So self-publish and save yourself a lot of money.
I was considering writing a book about British politics in 2009, but thinking and writing about left-wing politicians including Gordon Brown and Harriet Harman became too depressing and I eventually abandoned the project. A shame because I had some good material, a good title and cover design, and the project had taken up a good deal of my time. Some of the material was later included in my book David and Goliatha: David Cameron – heir to Harman? which was later extended to form the content of The Glass Ceiling Delusion (the real reasons more women don’t reach senior positions).
The abandoned book’s title was Harriet Harman Drove Me to France, the idea being that if Labour won the then forthcoming general election, expected in May 2010, I would emigrate to France by way of protest, and pay my taxes to the French government rather than the British one.
France is frequently rated the country with the highest quality of life in the world, and it’s seldom outside the top three. It’s always placed well ahead of the UK. Many English people emigrate to France, some of them to retire. The only reason French people move to the UK is to earn more than they could in France. I’ve never heard of a French person retiring to the UK.
I’m a lifelong Francophile. But a paradox had always puzzled me until recently. The incidence of depression among French people has long been markedly higher than among British people. What might account for this? The answer dawned on me one day as I was compiling Buchanan’s Dictionary of Quotations for right-minded people. It all goes back to Liberté, egalité, fraternité – Freedom, equality, brotherhood – the motto of the French Revolution. I blame that plonker from Geneva, the philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, myself. With his books he arguably sowed the seeds of socialism and communism which were to ultimately lead to the deaths of more than 80 million people (mainly in China and the Soviet Union) in the 20th century.
My thesis is that a constant search for egalité is bound to induce envy and therefore misery in people, as is the relentless pursuit of its ugly sister ‘fairness’. Because the French are on the whole more left-wing than the British – hell, they’re more left-wing than the Chinese – they are accordingly more prone to being miserable and even depressed. The Welsh tend to be a miserable lot for exactly the same reason – that, and their perennial gnawing hatred of their more successful neighbours, the English. Envy is one of the seven deadly sins, and having been educated in Christian boarding schools I never commit any of them. I’m very proud of that.
I made the mistake of buying (for £120) the rights to a photograph for use on the cover of Harriet Harman Drove Me to France, thereby illustrating a point I shall be developing later: that if you don’t follow a logical process for moving from a book concept to the final book, you’re likely to waste time and possibly money too. I’ve changed the titles of all my books numerous times while engaged in the process of writing them.
The cover image for the book was taken with a camera positioned just above the shoulder of a lady looking out of her open doorway during an election campaign. A smiling Harriet Harman was looking up to, and speaking to, the woman from just outside the house. Behind Harriet Harman was Gordon Brown, wearing the smile which could make small children cry. My idea was to have a speech bubble directed at Harriet Harman and a thought bubble directed at Gordon Brown:
Harman: ‘Good morning, Ms Johnson! I hope we can count on your vote again for the anti-men, anti-family, anti-business, anti-taxpayer, and anti-democracy party?’
Brown: