thoughts on self-publishing a completed work?

[John_Owl]

As the title says, I'm looking for everyone's thoughts on self-publishing a finished work. That is, if I finish updating a story here and mark it as completed, what would your thoughts be on adding it as an Epub (and/or PDF) on a subscription site (like patreon, subscribestar, etc), or publishing it to a Print on Demand site?

Primarily want to be cautious with it seeming like a dirty tactic, as it's free here and paid there. Primarily, it'd be for people who want to read the full story offline, or that want to own it as a printed copy rather than an E-book, or who want to contribute to the author.

 

[Lloyd]

Self publishing on amazon is a good way to make money.

 

[John_Owl]

Self publishing on amazon is a good way to make money.

I thought hating amazon was basically required online nowadays. huh.

But yeah, I considered KDP and the amazon POD services. Also looked into others, but most of the others seem to be more akin to vanity publishers. you pay them just to have your book on their site, then it's print on demand from that onward. So far I haven't heard of anything like that from amazon.

but in a similar vein, what's amazon like with smut, if you know? I know they allow romance and "Mature", but i basically straddle the line between porn and basic fantasy fiction. decent plot with detailed sex scenes occasionally.

 

[georgelee5786]

If we are talking physical publishing, not worth the risk. Better to use an agent since they provide quality control.

 

[Paul_Tromba]

I've done it and I have to say that learning the process of self-publication and acting on it are the worst things I've ever opted to do of my own free will. That said, I have a gained a lot from doing it so 10/10 would do it again.

If you are doing it through Amazon though, there are a few requirements. If you take their 30% royalties contract then you don't have to deal with any of the requirements but you'll get paid less. If you accept a 70% royalties contract then you can't have the story on any other website unless if it was an early draft with no relation to the final released draft. It can't exceed 570 pages for a paperback and 555 for a hardback. EPUB can be any size but there is also Vella, which allows you to sell your story by chapter, like webnovel. If you do accept the 70% royalties contract then Amazon will do a fair amount of marketing and grunt work to make your first few weeks of sales easier and more likely to be seen.

Because of quality control, I would suggest running any completed works you wish to publish through an editor first. They are very snooty about quality, especially with covers and grammar. However, you don't have to if you don't want to. It's just a personal suggestion.

I hope this helps.

If we are talking physical publishing, not worth the risk. Better to use an agent since they provide quality control.

Most agents are scams. Though you are right about the ones that aren't. They will take a large cut of the profits though.

 

[John_Owl]

I'm still a ways off from ready to release as a completed novel. I hate "release -> prequel -> sequel" (looking at star wars there), and my first needs a rewrite desperately (It was a one shot, converted to a novel, so the whole thing was hasty and rushed and not put together well). but I was thinking about a 3rd party Print-on-demand shop. primarily print on demand, as I'd rather not be stuck with 97 copies after only 3 sell, as e-book would be my primary.

And I'm not overly worried about sales. I write because I enjoy it. As is the case with most artists, you don't get into it for the money. you get into it for the enjoyment, and hope that eventually the money comes regardless.

 

[Paul_Tromba]

I'm still a ways off from ready to release as a completed novel. I hate "release -> prequel -> sequel" (looking at star wars there), and my first needs a rewrite desperately (It was a one shot, converted to a novel, so the whole thing was hasty and rushed and not put together well). but I was thinking about a 3rd party Print-on-demand shop. primarily print on demand, as I'd rather not be stuck with 97 copies after only 3 sell, as e-book would be my primary.

And I'm not overly worried about sales. I write because I enjoy it. As is the case with most artists, you don't get into it for the money. you get into it for the enjoyment, and hope that eventually the money comes regardless.

So Amazon is a print on demand format of sale. Though other options include Bookbaby, Ingram sparks, acucutter, blurb, contrado, and lulu Xpress. I recommend Ingram sparks as the best alternative to Amazon. Though you would probably be selling through Amazon anyways because it's the highest market for ebooks and physical book sales. Ingram sparks does allow a lot more customization options than KDP so it can allow you to make it more to your own liking.

For formatting, I would suggest Vellum on an Apple computer or Atticus for Microsoft or Linux. Though there are others you can choose from, I have had the best experiences with these.

As for an editor, I can suggest @DarkGodEM for the job. They did wonderful work for myself and are currently looking for more editing jobs. Also, maybe ask some of your readers to be advising editors on give advice on what they think needs to be changed. There are usually willing people among those that have read and enjoyed the story.

I hope this can give you a head start if you do desire to go down this route. Even as just a saved memo for you to possibly reference in the future.

 

[John_Owl]

So Amazon is a print on demand format of sale. Though other options include Bookbaby, Ingram sparks, acucutter, blurb, contrado, and lulu Xpress. I recommend Ingram sparks as the best alternative to Amazon. Though you would probably be selling through Amazon anyways because it's the highest market for ebooks and physical book sales. Ingram sparks does allow a lot more customization options than KDP so it can allow you to make it more to your own liking.

For formatting, I would suggest Vellum on an Apple computer or Atticus for Microsoft or Linux. Though there are others you can choose from, I have had the best experiences with these.

As for an editor, I can suggest @DarkGodEM for the job. They did wonderful work for myself and are currently looking for more editing jobs. Also, maybe ask some of your readers to be advising editors on give advice on what they think needs to be changed. There are usually willing people among those that have read and enjoyed the story.

I hope this can give you a head start if you do desire to go down this route. Even as just a saved memo for you to possibly reference in the future.

Some fantastic advice! I'll definitely mention it to my readers once I get closer to ready, and I'll definitely be looking for an editor and other options.

For selling, regardless of who I get to print, Amazon will likely be involved. Though I do have a local book shop that specializes in old/used books, but they're open to new authors on commissions. not that they get a lot of business that way (small city, smaller shop), but a couple of local authors found a stride there. and they do allow smut, so my books would still be welcome there.

As for formatting, I haven't looked into it too much, but I use yWriter for organizing, notes, etc, so I'll likely stick with that as much as viable. But I'll look to Atticus for anything yWriter can't do.