# Jackie Collins: ON MY DECISION TO SELF-PUBLISH…



## BookReader (Apr 26, 2012)

On my decision to self-publish


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## shadowwalker (Apr 26, 2012)

Established authors have a distinct leg up with self-publishing. I can certainly understand her (and other established authors) wanting to give it a shot. I did chuckle a bit at the 'one page ad' thing - kinda like the homeowner who insists the real estate agent hold an open house, not realizing that open houses are ads for the realtor, not the house, and that not a lot of serious home buyers actually go to open houses. As a self-publisher, she'll have to really learn about cost effectiveness.

I'm mainly interested in seeing how established authors like the publishing side versus the author side of things, once they've actually gotten into the self-publishing. Of course, they don't have to do nearly the amount of marketing and promotion that newcomers do. Do they typically do all the work themselves or do they have a staff? I'm seriously curious about the differences between the established author's journey into SP and the newcomer's.


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## Trilby (Apr 27, 2012)

I'm pretty sure she'll have staff and professional staff - to boot.

In her position, I would employ the best that money could buy.

By missing out the middle man, will her books be any cheaper than normal?


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## Gatsby (Apr 30, 2012)

> kinda like the homeowner who insists the real estate agent hold an open house, not realizing that open houses are ads for the realtor, not the house, and that not a lot of serious home buyers actually go to open houses.



Completely agree with this shadowwalker! Seems funny to be embracing self-publishing but then also look for such traditional forms of advertising. 

I hope that this will be the first of many examples of established authors going the self-publishing route, and not just for a single-book publicity grab, but for the long haul. It will take these sort of people to break the strange ideas that surround self-publishing; that it is just because people can't get traditional deals. This isn't the case for indie music or indie film, so why books?!

Trilby is right that she will have all the staff and all the help she can get, and no doubt established authors have it a lot easier than the rest of us trying to get through to a wider audience. Today, I think, we are all our own publicists, unless we have the staff to do it for us!


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## shadowwalker (Apr 30, 2012)

Gatsby said:


> It will take these sort of people to break the strange ideas that surround self-publishing; that it is just because people can't get traditional deals. This isn't the case for indie music or indie film, so why books?!



Well, I wouldn't get overly optimistic about breaking the 'strange ideas'. These are authors who have already "proven themselves" via their trade publishing successes. In other words, they've learned how to be commercially successful writers, and thus have a huge advantage over the newbie just starting out. Not only have they honed their craft, they have name recognition and the ability to hire the best staff to do the 'drudge work' of SP should they choose to.

And I still don't get the connection between 'indie music/film' and self-publishing. They're different mediums, obviously, and completely different methods of getting 'attention' and distribution, even between music and film, let alone books. Apples, oranges, and bananas...


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## Gatsby (Apr 30, 2012)

Obviously you are right that they are different media, but I think with self-publishing they are increasingly like one another. If you are a band starting up you can make your own CD, you do your own publicity (gigs, posters, selling merchandise), and you try and get a following, get 'spotted' and get a record deal. Do you not think that there is a route there that can be followed by self-publishing authors? You are definitely more experienced that me in this area so I would be interested to hear what you think.


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## shadowwalker (Apr 30, 2012)

Gatsby said:


> Obviously you are right that they are different media, but I think with self-publishing they are increasingly like one another. If you are a band starting up you can make your own CD, you do your own publicity (gigs, posters, selling merchandise), and you try and get a following, get 'spotted' and get a record deal. Do you not think that there is a route there that can be followed by self-publishing authors? You are definitely more experienced that me in this area so I would be interested to hear what you think.



I wouldn't say I'm more experienced - just more skeptical and I read a lot  

With music, the 'investment' for the audience is a few minutes. They listen, they like it, they tell their friends. And let's face it - if a band doesn't suck, captures the same sound as a really popular artist, and has a vid that looks half-way decent, they're going to do okay. They put it up on YouTube with the right tags and it'll get noticed.

Indie movies are just sooooo different - much more expensive and complicated, many more people involved, the equipment needed - and the distribution channels are a completely different set up. Despite what some may think, not just anyone can make a decent indie movie. That's about the only real similarity between them and self-publishing.

One thing both these have in common is that those 'in the know' realize how many talented people are out there doing this on their own, and they are looking for them, encouraging them. Look at Sundance. Look at American Idol. You aren't going to find that with self-publishing. 

Books require a lot longer attention span. They don't have a snappy sound to catch the reader's attention, and very few (if any) have a really tantalizing trailer. They have a cover - a small icon on a page full of them. They have a title (which may or may not grab anyone's attention on a page full of print). And with e-publishing, writers of all levels of skill and talent have decided that, because it's easier to get it out there, there's no reason not to. 

The biggest difference I see is that too many self-publishers think they can do it all on their own. Very few will find the people they need to help make their books as good as they can be. They don't want to spend the money needed for editing and covers and publicity. And publishers/agents aren't looking for them because they've already got too many writers clamoring at their doors already.

That's my take on it as a 'civilian' who has done a lot of research, listened to a lot of viewpoints. I'm a yet-unpublished writer. That's the world I know. My son wanted to make movies, so I have his knowledge and experience (and he decided, after many years, to move in another direction, one which he's very happy with, thank God). Music I only know what I've read. So take it with a grain of salt, but I think I've pointed out enough differences to show why they really can't be compared, realistically. The systems may have _basic _similarities, but the players are very different.


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## Gatsby (Apr 30, 2012)

I completely see what you're saying. It's a hard sell isn't it! I was actually thinking about what you are saying about having to put the money in to make it work. I'm not personally at that stage in my writing yet, but one of my friends self-published and soon found that to get the publicity that they wanted they needed to bring someone else on board. They got an author pr company on and it really helped. It is definitely hard work, and you have to know what you're doing.


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