http://wilwheaton.typepad.com/wwdnbackup/2009/03/…

To address one of the points above, he links to this site: http://www.selfpublishingreview.com/

And for shameless self-promotion on a blog post tangential to this, I posted my thoughts on digital distribution from a musician's perspective and a writer's perspective a few days back:
http://mc-novel-blog.blogspot.com/2009/12/digital…

Royalty arithmetic is cloudy at best. There are many formulas, and different percentages applied to a publisher's gross or net sales. An author is pretty much defenseless, and merely deposits whatever check arrives with no verification of sales or costs.

In Hollywood, naive actors or screenwriters with inexperienced agents may sign a deal to receive a percentage of the profits on a movie, and later find there are no profits — despite millions in ticket sales. Whoever taps the keyboard, controls the royalties.

A "real" self-publisher (owner of her or his own micro-publishing company, not a customer of an author services company like iUniverse or Outskirts Press) does not get royalties, but collects the profit on each book sold.

For example, a 300-page paperback can be printed by Lightning Source for $5.40, and have a $19.95 cover price. Amazon.com will work on a discount of as little as 20%, or even less when they sell below cover price. Amazon pays Lightning about $16. The self-pubber keeps the difference between $5.40 and $16 — a juicy 66.25% — much better than the royalties from a vanity press or a traditional publisher.

Michael N. Marcus

author of "Become a Real Self-Publisher," http://www.amazon.com/dp/0981661742

author of "Stories I'd Tell My Children (but maybe not until they're adults)," coming 4/1/10. http://silversandsbooks.com/storiesbookinfo.html

http://BookMakingBlog.blogspot.com
http://www.SilverSandsBooks.com

Aditi – great to hear a self-publishing success story. I don't know how it compares to publishing a novel or memoir, but it's good to know there are other avenues besides traditional publishing.

Michael – thanks for your comments. I agree with Sierra that I did address many of the points you mention. And thanks for letting us know about theselfpublishingreview.blogspot.com. I'd love to learn about more of these sites.

Sierra – Thanks so much for your detailed and insightful comments. I completely agree.

Claudia – Thanks for letting us know about your website, and thanks for letting us know that you CAN order self-published books at stores like B&N (I'd still be surprised to see them stocked on the shelves, but according to Aditi, this IS possible.)

1. If you POD through http://www.LightningSource.com you WILL be available to brick and block bookstores (Barnes and Noble) and have the option to distribute not only in the US, but internationally as well. Readers will be able to walk in a bookstore and order your book. The negative on the bookstore route is that they can return the book to you if unsold, and you will make less profit as they set the price. They are owned by Ingram Books which is why the distribution is available.

2. MOST IMPORTANT – If YOU are not making 100% of the royalties, something is wrong. Additionally, you should have all the rights to all the decisions about your book. Because…it's YOUR book. Read the fine print. There are "self-publishers" out there that may put restrictions on eBook distribution, for example.

I am an advocate for the writer and and the underdog. It is my goal to demystify the industry. I have started a website, "http://www.novelhelp.com where I will be providing free templates, helpful links and advice to writers (I have just started this site). Writers easily lose track of costs (i.e., lose money on the book) I'm also Twitter @NovelHelp, which is how I found your blog.

I think what Meghan implied here is that doing all your own editing and formatting and designing means that you're responsible for it, whether you actually do it or not yourself. You say that you've hired editors–good! But you were still responsible for it. I got that.

Michael also said, "You said that “Self-published books are a rip-off for the author.” That’s not so if the author is really the publisher, not the customer or victim of a vanity press."

I think Meghan again hit the nail on the head where she points out, in several places, how authors can be ripped off. Obviously, not everyone will fall prey. I know someone who very successfully self-published, and did well with his book. Michael Marcus is obviously doing something well, too, with the time and effort invested in editing and marketing. Good! I love to hear people doing this well.

But just as most people don't have a clue how to approach agents and editors in traditional publishing, most won't have a clue how to approach self publishing.

Michael also said that "You listed four reasons to self-publish. Your list is incomplete. You did not list the reasons that are most important to me, and to others: COMPLETE CONTROL of the book, and MORE INCOME from each book."

Again, Meghan did say this–she mentioned in several places that more income would be had from self-publishing and that you'd be empowered. I heard this loud and clear.

Finally, the discussion about self-publishing is definitely a heated one, as evidenced by the slightly testy comments of Michael Marcus here, and there is no steadfast right or wrong answer. Being flexible and knowledgeable about what it entails—and recognizing the obvious pitfalls–is the key to navigating self-publishing. I think it would be a mistake to be adamant one way or another. Thanks, Meghan, for being open to the pros AND cons in this post. THAT is what is most valuable here.

That's because of people like you who combine and confuse the two. A writer who pays a vanity publishing company like iUniverse is NOT self-publishing. She is paying a publisher, and therefore is NOT the publisher.

If you are not the publisher, you can't be a self-publisher.

Just as no one can eat lunch for you or go to school for you, no other person or company can self-publish for you. The words just don't make sense.

You are also causing trouble when you say that a self-publisher "has to do all her own editing, formatting, and cover designing as well.' Only an ignorant fool would self-edit, and few writers are qualified to design covers. (However, interior formatting is not difficult — I've done it for six books.)

After being dissatisfied with the quality and earnings of books published by "traditional" publishers, I formed my own company to publish my books. I hire editors and designers and buy photography. I concentrate on writing and marketing.

You said that "Self-published books are a rip-off for the author." That's not so if the author is really the publisher, not the customer or victim of a vanity press.

You listed four reasons to self-publish. Your list is incomplete. You did not list the reasons that are most important to me, and to others: COMPLETE CONTROL of the book, and MORE INCOME from each book.

You said, "Maybe even a blogger who reviews ONLY self-published books. Imagine that!" There's no need to imagine. If you did a few seconds of research you would have found theselfpublishingreview.blogspot.com and others.

Michael N. Marcus

author of "Become a Real Self-Publisher," http://www.amazon.com/dp/0981661742

author of "Stories I'd Tell My Children (but maybe not until they're adults)," coming 4/1/10. http://silversandsbooks.com/storiesbookinfo.html

http://BookMakingBlog.blogspot.com http://www.SilverSandsBooks.com