Why self publish? Self published author Mary Hughes printed her book, The Life and Times of the Floathouse Zastrozzi with First Choice Books in 2011. Below is an excerpt from her refreshing account on why and her experience. Note: these are her words not ours.
To read the whole post and find out more about the book, visit her website: http://floathousezastrozzi.blogspot.ca/
Why I Self Published – by Mary Hughes
Why I self published? Cause I’m lazy, I don’t like rejection and I make more money this way.
I knew about publishing on demand, a concept pioneered, some say, in Victoria, by Trafford Publishing. I met with them and for approximately $2,000 they took care of publishing the book and gave me 40 copies and lots of bookmarks, posters, and postcards. This was 2006 and I needed help with getting into search engines, on websites, and with marketing materials.
Fast forward.
When I knew what The Life and Times of the Floathouse Zastrozzi was going to look like, I pitched Harbour Publishing in Pender Harbour who turned it down, and Heritage Press in Victoria. I was optimistic about the latter as the book is very Victoria-specific, and indeed, they did read the whole thing. After 6 months, they told me it wasn’t of wide enough general interest. And I agree with that.
I wasn’t exactly devastated, to be honest, as I thought I would do a better job marketing the book myself. I checked out a few companies that do POD (publishing on demand) and did not pursue a new relationship Trafford, which had been sold to an American company and is now based in Indiana. I found …First Choice Books who were willing and able to produce a mere 50 copies at a time at a very reasonable price, a little under $5.00 per copy. They cost less per unit if you order more, but I wanted to find out if the thing would sell. I started with 50 and they sold in 2 weeks. The second 50 went equally quickly, as did the third batch. I did a couple of minor revisions, added a map, and lashed out with a big order for 75 more copies. All this has happened over a period of about 10 weeks.
I’ve more than paid for these 225 copies and enjoying having a little extra cash in my wallet. I am blessed to have an old friend and neighbour at Fisherman’s Wharf who is willing and able to sell books for me for for a commission. Pauline gets $5, the publisher gets $5 and I get $5. I like the math.
