Comments on: Why not self-publish?

By: Maggie Robinson/Margaret Rowe

Maggie Robinson/Margaret Rowe — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 11:31:59 +0000

(And I’m a Libra, too. Aren’t we well-balanced? )

By: Maggie Robinson/Margaret Rowe

Maggie Robinson/Margaret Rowe — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 11:30:44 +0000

Bev, thanks for the link and throwing me in so close to Lisa Kleypas, LOL!

I have a friend who has self-published poetry, but that’s different, I think. In all the years I wrote before I got my New York contracts, it never once occured to me to go the self-publishing route (for one thing, the $ issue would deter me). I know exactly how competitive and “odds-against” publishing is, and I’m sure there are millions of excellent writers who haven’t caught their break yet—but I would probably not buy a self-published book. I have too many things I want to read already that I can’t make time for.

By: Helen

Helen — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 09:28:51 +0000

I am with Elizabeth I order my books from an on line romance bookstore here in NSW where I live and pay $15-95 each for them and that adds up when I order up to 12 a month then pay the postage as well. I can find them often in Target K-Mart of Big W for around $9-00 but they come out a long long time usually after their release date in the States. You can pick the trade paper backs up in these stores for around $19 and I am happy to pay that if it is a book I really want.
Books are my extravagance and I work hard so as I can buy them.

Have Fun
Helen

By: elizabeth

elizabeth — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 02:48:14 +0000

For me i live in Australia and when i go and purchase a book it would be from $15 and upward. is that a reasonable price? would anyone spend $15 and upward for a book? In target they would hardly have historical romance but once in a while they would have some but impatience of me i go purchasing the same book for more than $10.

By: Monday Morning Stepback: Auto vs. Buddy Blogging, and a few more Pics « Racy Romance Reviews

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 00:35:11 +0000

[...] Beverly at The Season Blog has published one of the few blog posts critical of self-publishing that I have seen of late. She explains why she no longer tales a chance on self-published writers. [...]

By: Beverley

Beverley — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 23:12:39 +0000

@maered I’m like you with hard cover. Johanna Lindsey used to be my favourite author. When she went to hard cover, I would wait until the mmpb came out then next year. I buy too many books to spend that kind of money on just one book.

By: Beverley

Beverley — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 23:10:50 +0000

My big thing is definitely the price. One of the reasons that Kensington created the debut line was to introduce new authors at a price point most readers wouldn’t balk at. Their debuts until Sept 2009 were $3.99. That’s cheap. So cheap that if you bought the book and it sucked, you wouldn’t throw your hands in the air and say, well that was a waste of money. It’s the cost of a cup of coffee at some fancy coffee shop. Even now, at $4.99, I think the books are a bargain. But ask me to pay $20 and up for a book, regardless of the ‘buzz’ and I’d say, I’ll wait till it comes out in mmpb and that’s if it ever does. Or maybe, I’d try to find it in the library. There are so many things going against self-published novels being successful, I’m surprised the self-publishing companies stay in business. But the truth is they make money off authors not from readers buying the book.

By: maered

maered — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 23:10:22 +0000

I wouldn’t pay the high price for a book whose quality is questionable. I don’t buy hardbacks of authors I love because of the high price, so I don’t think I would ever do the same for self-published.

By: Brynna James

Brynna James — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 23:04:20 +0000

I have so many I want to read/buy that aren’t self-published that the time factor for me pushes self-pubs to the very bottom of my list. I don’t think I’d refuse to purchase one because it’s self-pubbed; it’s just not a priority for me. Very few self-pubs make that transition to the big market and, unfortunately, there’s probably a reason for that. That said, though, Brunonia Barry’s The Lace Reader was self-pubbed at first and now it’s a NYT bestseller because of the fervor book clubs built about it. Because of that “one in a million” possibility I might miss the best book ever, I’d never scratch a self-pubbed book off my reading list.

By: Karyn Gerrard

Karyn Gerrard — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 18:22:34 +0000

I don’t think I would buy self-published. The price being the big factor. I am sure there are good ones out there, as you say, good MS are turned down all the time. But I am sure there is a lot of sub-par self-published works out there, more so than published ones.
If someone has money to toss down the drain, I guess this is one way to go. I see why it is also called ‘Vanity Publishing’.