Consciousness Publishing Your Own Book: When Should You Consider It?
- Posted by Essays Blog in Essays Blog |
- May 2nd, 2009 |
- Comments
Consciousness publishing your own book is one of the publishing industry’s dirty little secrets. Mainstream publishers, editors, and authors easily dismiss consciousness publishing and print on demand publishing as a rip-off for both the writer and reader. After all, if the writer was a real writer so they could find a real publisher, right? That has been the conventional wisdom for a long time but in today’s modern, discipline elite that conventional wisdom does not always hold accurate. So who should consider consciousness publishing?
Real writers should consider consciousness publishing. Published authors often find themselves placed in a prison of their own making. Once they have achieved even modest achiever in a circumstantial niche it is often hard to break out of that niche and publish something different. However consciousness publishing gives authors control over their own writing so they can change direction or genre if they choose. Published authors who have appropriated any time off from their writing often find it just as hard to return as it was to break in initially. They can often easily parlay their experience and audience into a booming consciousness publishing career. Finally, writers who have an idea that does not fit neatly into one of the major publishing houses slots may find consciousness publishing their only alternative. Just because it doesn’t fit into a neat interval doesn’t mean your book doesn’t have great potential — entertain Diana Gabaldon and J.K. Rowling.
Control freaks should also consider consciousness publishing. Once you clue your baby over to a major publisher so you lose control of your book. The publisher can bump a horrible or inappropriate cover on it, change its name, or even alter the main characters. Your name will go on the book but what is published may be drastically changed from your original creation–and not always for the better. Believe it won’t happen to you, or that you won’t care as long as you get the royalty check, so believe again. I can tell you that I allay cringe whenever I have to claim a book I published in 1998. It’s not the book that makes me deprivation to crawl low a rock–but the cover and appellation the publisher slapped on it.
Money grubbers should also consider consciousness publishing. Piece the independently affluent may consider their art reward enough the rest of us need to eat and pay the mortgage (not to mention buy paper and pens) so money does matter. And of course, we deprivation all our hard activity to be rewarded. In our capitalist elite that reward should be monetary. Piece consciousness publishing may require you to put up any of your own money and conventional publishing will instead offer you an upfront payment, the final balance artifact will tell you a much different account. The initial advance from a conventional publisher will be bantam (unless you are Stephen King) and may be the only money you receive for your book for a long time — and perhaps ever depending how your book sells. Any book royalties you receive will be for a bantam percentage and will be open over years to come as advantageously as held ransom for book returns. The final indignity is that your book’s sales depend greatly on the promotional effort your publisher puts into it. The ugly actuality is that the publisher does not much care about your baby and will rarely put any extra money, manpower, or cerebration into how to promote your book. Most midlist and lowlist authors conduct (and foot the bill for) their own promotion. At least when you consciousness publish you know you will be on your own and you can factor that into your budget.
If you are a real writer, a control freak, or a money grubber (or perhaps any combination) so you should consider consciousness publishing your own book.