Getting Around the Self-Publishing Stigma

It was not the easiest decision in the world to go take self-publishing route with my second novel, “Excelsior,” but it is a decision I do not regret making. I had the experience since I had already purchased a publishing package from iUniverse for my first novel in 2002 ($199 for the basic setup, plus a hardcover upgrade). However, I didn’t know how much I could use the Internet to my advantage when it came to promotion. The result was a decent amount of close friends and family members buying my book but next to nothing in terms of sales in the outside world.

It was in the early 2000s when the self-publishing stigma was still around, which meant people immediately downgraded self-published books by saying “Oh, you had to pay to get your book out there, so it must not be good enough. Your book doesn’t count.” Well, there was a different reason why my first book was self-published, and that was because the world wasn’t crying out for a science-fiction / action / comic book-like take on pro wrestling.

For my second novel, I originally wanted to try for an agent and hopefully sell it to a mainstream publisher. But after going back and forth, I realized that if I took the chance to sell it and the book fails to find its audience, the publisher wouldn’t let me go anywhere else with the series that I have had in mind since I first created the main character in 1992. Even worse, they would own that character. At the end of the day, I couldn’t take that kind of risk with someone I held so close to me for so long. So the final decision was to take the plunge back into the world of self-publishing.

While I was committed to self-publish “Excelsior,” I was leery about once again dealing with the self-publishing stigma. I knew this story had a much better chance of reaching a wider audience than the first book, but I knew there would be people who would automatically disregard it because the author “had to pay to get the book out there.” Fortunately, an idea came to mind that helped me not only get around the self-publishing stigma, but it also brought an extra layer to the book itself.

If you look at the closing credits to any independent film, you’ll see that the “Special Thanks To” credit is much longer than a studio film. Individual people are thanked instead of just corporations or mayors’ offices, and the reason why those individual people are thanked is because they put up money for the independent producer to make the movie. It’s a special perk; people love to see their names on the screen. Knowing that gave me an idea. People enjoy seeing their name on the screen, but they also enjoy seeing their name in print, so I let my friends, family and co-workers (former as well as present) know that

if they pre-ordered their copy of the book for $17.95, they would guarantee their copy, it would be personalized and autographed, it would be shipped from me to them and – here’s the kicker! – their name would be included in the acknowledgement section in the back of the book.

That offer attracted the attention of people who never thought of pre-ordering a science-fiction young adult book. Many of them just wanted to see their names in print, and POD books never go out of print. I posted this offer on my Facebook and Twitter page, and made sure to tell as many co-workers, friends and family members as possible. Within two months, I had accrued enough money to pay the printing costs to the POD company I eventually chose. From the end of November to the beginning of June, while I worked with my editor and proofreader, more orders kept coming in and I built up enough funds to pay for everyone’s copies when the book was eventually published.

By the time my file was mailed out, over 110 people from all walks of my life – some going all the way back to my grade school years – had taken advantage of the pre-order special. I had also gone ahead and put together a series of files, bonus footage to be used as a thank you to everyone who sent in their order. The file folder consisted of the eBook version of “Excelsior” (eternal thanks to Claudia and her team at Telemachus Press for setting that up for me), the book trailer, a couple of interviews I did as the book was in its finishing stages and several movie score selections that inspired my writing. All in all, not a bad pre-order special. Not at all.

If there’s one thing that I want you to take from this story, it’s this. The self-publishing stigma may have faded over the past decade due to the Internet, but it’s still there and it’s something that you have to get around. In my case, I didn’t pay for my book to come out in print. My customers did. And at the end of the day, that’s the only thing that matters.

NOTE FROM NOVELHELP:  George was the first person that reached out to me on twitter.  I was new to this social community and I wasn’t sure what to expect. I couldn’t believe that he had taken the time to test a new website. And, he brought an error to my attention, an error that if left unnoticed, would have been embarrassing.  So, I viewed this young man’s profile to learn a little bit more about him.  I “followed” him back on twitter and saw his tweet about the above book.  I was so impressed by George’s marketing skills, especially his “thinking outside of the box,” that I was one of those people that bought his book in advance.  Ingenuity and marketing creativity at its finest.

Thank you George for sharing your story.