Confessions of a Self-Published Author
By: Obsidian Eagle
Tags: Self Publishing, Writers On Writing, Books And Authors, Indie, Publishing Industry

Confessions of a Self-Published Author

Photo by Shalone Cason on Unsplash

There are many reasons why a writer might choose to take the risky route of self-publishing. Today Yours Truly will open up and share some of the trials and tribulations that he’s experienced throughout ten years going-at-it alone. This is done in the hopes that it might help those debating whether or not to seek out a traditional publisher for their manuscripts. Although some statements here may have a plaintive tone, no accusatory finger will be pointed at any specific self-pub press, seeing as honest authors ought to take responsibility for their choices.

1. Methods

I published my debut book [The Soma Tantra] for free via a few different outlets. It all began with a print-on-demand edition made possible by the CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, which was already owned by Amazon at the time and has more recently been folded into Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP). I’m sure that a lot of authors are familiar with the latter and have probably published their work there too, but for the sake of the less informed I’ll say that this method is very user friendly. I simply converted my Word document to PDF, uploaded it, formatted the layout online, added some royalty-free cover art, wrote a blurb for the back cover, filed the book under its appropriate categories, and set my price point. Bada bing bada boom — published!

Obviously that was just the easy part. I was excited enough at the time to pay a PR firm to do an official press release on my behalf and I campaigned for about six months on social media. I also concurrently published an eBook edition on Barnes & Noble Nook to generate some extra buzz. But even then, the royalties weren’t rolling in. Frankly, they never really did. So you see, that’s when I decided that if I had to choose between one thing and another, I’d rather be read than rich.

What do I mean by that? Well, mainly that during the second phase of my first book’s roll-out, I began giving it away for free, primarily in electronic format. For starters I used the Project Gutenberg Self-Publishing Press; a resource that I wholeheartedly recommend to indie authors who are starting out. I did tour simultaneously across several blogs and websites too, although I won’t suggest every single one. However, because The Soma Tantra is founded on bona-fide Hindu mythos and its message is spiritual in nature, it felt apropos to contact the curator of HolyBooks. HolyBooks specializes in free public domain eBooks that have either a philosophical or religious bent to them. The admin there was exceptionally accommodating to my inaugural novella and he remains a good friend to this day.

Anyway, I’m proud to say that these efforts led to The Soma Tantra being downloaded worldwide tens of thousands of times (not surprisingly its best reception was in India). So at the very least I made a name for myself in the global publishing underground. Some of my fondest memories of fandom and genuine online interactions come from this period. That having been said, my sophomore follow-up would embark upon a rather different path.

A Codex For Gnostics is the second book in my Lunacy Trilogy, yet it’s more thematically related instead of being a chronological sequel. In any case, this time I decided to go for broke by paying a vanity press to design, distribute and print this little novel. I spent in excess of $3,000 for those services. But was it worth it? Um, yes and no. On the one hand, the book’s cover and interior were a lot of fun to put together. It was nice calling the artistic shots and asking for typesetting favors that went above and beyond the ordinary. I’m still quite pleased with the results.

On the other hand, I was led to believe that the publishing house would be somewhat more involved in the publicity department than they actually turned out to be. My marketing package basically consisted of a couple of phone calls in which I was given common advice along the lines of: “Reach out to readers on social media”. Additionally, they provided documentation about conducting Goodreads giveaways and similar practices. Yet again, returns on this investment have been nominal at best. I’ve since learned that these are standard practices within our indie industry. In effect, they’ll dangle the prospect of publicizing you as an author (albeit with subtle wording) but when it comes right down to it, you’re left to do the heavy lifting on your own. Unless of course you want to keep sinking money into their bottomless pit!

2. Madness

Why then would anyone in their right mind spend such sums to gain nearly nothing back? Well, as Albert Einstein worded it:

A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.

Thus, I must confess that I’m one of those foolish people who needs to learn things the hard way. I didn’t want to hear it second hand from anybody else — I had to familiarize myself personally with the inner workings of the self-pub business. Nonetheless, apart from publication becoming an expensive learning experience, there are other elements that have entered my consideration. I’m only beginning to make sense of them now, but here’s what I can tell you with certainty: freedom is intoxicating!

Yes, you read that right. For somebody like me, who shirks convention and rails against traditional tropes, nothing beats always getting your way. Which leads me to my next confession… When it comes to fiction — I’m a terrible writer by industry standards. That’s not to say that I have an inferiority complex; quite the opposite in fact. But while my short game may be stellar, my long game suffers from overblown verbiage and pretentious pomposity. I seriously can’t help myself. This is the main reason I didn’t bother paying an editor to go over my writing — it would have been a waste — Obsidian Eagle’s Æsthetic is utterly uncompromising.

3. Sappy ending

In the spirit of full disclosure, I wouldn’t urge readers to seek out the aforementioned books because they’re a bit embarrassing to me. Part of my ambition is to edit them thoroughly in order to re-release them further down the line. As for self-publishing, will I extol its benefits? Speaking candidly — NO. Presenting at book fairs and approaching vendors for consignment deals is a full time job and its novelty soon wears off. You’re more likely to lose money than make it and you’ll probably be lucky just to break even. My expert opinion of vanity presses is that they’re a racket cashing in on the upsurge of eager new writers. Author beware.

This isn’t to say that other indie authors haven’t fared better than I. The higher royalty rates can potentially be lucrative, but do keep in mind that the independent market nowadays is saturated and therefore highly competitive. If you’ve self-published, I’d love to hear about your experience in the comments section.

Lastly, I’ll add that I’m currently continuing my Lunacy Trilogy exclusive and LIVE on Medium — so come fly away with me!