Can these two pillars of publishing just choose to ignore each other or forever become ‘frenemies’? There are ways that traditional and self-published authors can learn to ‘make beautiful music together’ — all in the name of writing and literature.
“A person is a fool to become a writer. His only compensation is absolute freedom. He has no master except his own soul, and that, I am sure, is why he does it.”
The quote from renowned author Roald Dahl seems to be coming from the perspective of an indie author (a writer who self-publishes). Over the years, self-publishing has become synonymous with “full control,” “absolute creative freedom,” and “freedom from enterprising entities” – reasons why more and more people are choosing to try their luck at publishing books on their own.
Truly, there’s a lot to benefit from doing this. An indie author who has learned to publish quality-competitive books like professionals have the ability to underprice, outsell and out-compete the ebook from traditional publishers, said Mark Coker, founder of self-publishing platform Smashwords, in a 2014 blog “10 Reasons Indie Authors Will Capture 50% of the Ebook Market by 2020”.
He believes authors have started to wield more power because they have stopped seeing traditional publishing as the end game. They have found a way to connect with their audience in their own way by owning their number one asset: their writing.
Nowadays, we see more and more retired people writing, basically people who have time in their hands and a decent story to tell inside their brains. Also, the quality of self-published books have dramatically increased in the last few years. At Stampa, more and more writers approach us for proofreading or editing services. We see more effort exerted by writers to earn the respect of readers by delivering quality publication – a solid, well-written story backed up by respectable cover design and layout.
There are times, too, that making real money from their books is less of a concern for the writer. They publish for pleasure, for the ability to say ‘This is my voice, hear it through my writing’.
Coker’s 2015 forecast mostly favor those who are self-publishing (see the whole article here: http://blog.smashwords.com/2014/12/2015-book-publishing-industry.html). However, the other side of the fence – published authors and traditional publishers – are not very pleased with the way the self-pub sector has stolen the limelight from them.
In a December 2017 article published in HuffPost titled “Self-Publishing: An Insult To The Written Word?”, Laurie Gough has some spicy take on why getting a book published in the traditional way is still the logical option: “…For people to actually respect it and want to read it — you have to go through the gatekeepers of agents, publishers, editors, national and international reviewers. These gatekeepers are assessing whether or not your work is any good…The problem with self-publishing is that it requires zero gatekeepers.”
For Gough, a writer’s years of apprenticeship — which she said usually lasts a decade — shape them into becoming an expert in their craft. Their first works’ rejections are growing pains which earn them the respect of their readers and people in the industry.
Author Sue Grafton agreed, “To me, it seems disrespectful…that a ‘wannabe’ assumes it’s all so easy and s/he can put out a ‘published novel’ without bothering to read, study, or do the research. … Self-publishing is a short cut and I don’t believe in short cuts when it comes to the arts.”
They make the right point, obviously, when the argument focuses on the quality of the published book. Being a good writer doesn’t happen overnight. Come to think of it, even a school paper must be subjected to a much-needed assessment to ensure that the work is good enough!
Two more points win the same argument for Joseph McLean. In September 2019, he wrote the article “Do Traditional Publishers Hate Self-Published Authors?” on The Independent Publishing Magazine, where he pointed out that money and passion are two more reasons why these two camps do not see eye to eye.
Quick Fact: In 2017, self-publishing of print books rose by 38 percent for a total number of 879,587 signaling a shift in direction and emphasis on traditional publishing.
“The fact is it does or at least, has a marginal advantage over traditional publishing, hence the hatred. Self-publishing undercuts profits, with authors getting to keep the majority of the profits, distribute content as they deem fit and make major decisions,” McLean wrote in the article. He clarifies, however, that everything depends the distribution channel.
As for passion, a sense of superiority drives traditional publishers to look down on their indie counterparts. For them, publishing a book ‘just because you want to and you can’ is rather a selfish, arrogant, error-laden deed.
McLean added, if the decision to become an author is borne out of passion for the art of writing, then traditional publishers believe ‘passionless’ self-pub authors will be the death of literature, often citing grammatical errors, lack of research and poor writing are the things that make the industry cheap on standards.
Everyone’s reason is different, and both sides bring up acceptable, well-built arguments. Yet, writers remain divided when discussing which is better — traditional publishing or self-publishing. The eternal debate may not be ending soon, but whatever way you publish, remember that writing lies somewhere between torture and fun. No side is perfect as there will always be challenges whether you’re publishing on your own or getting support from traditional publishing houses.
In the end, success boils down to not betraying your reader’s trust. After all, it’s reader first, last and always.