It wasn’t all that long ago that a good book proposal could lead to finding a literary agent who just might land you a potential deal from a publisher. Books were judged by content and how well they might do on the shelves of the bookstores. Sure, we wanted to get our non-fiction books from credible experts but we were also intrigued by new ideas, unorthodox styles and what might be considered more alternative, edgy, or even taboo. Today, however, despite a soft core S & M novel and it’s three follow-ups that have surprisingly turned the fiction world on its side, most non-fiction must pass a litany of tests to make sure enough people will be reading it. It’s all about how many followers, fans or buyers you will have regardless of whether or not you have any thing to say. Celebrities, and more significantly pseudo celebrities, like the Kardashians can get six or seven figure book deals simply because they have a following.

The question is, do you have a following or a platform? If I hear the word platform once more I’m going to literally put someone up on a platform and literally kick them off. How many Facebook followers must a writer have today to be considered worthy of publishing? How many tweets must one do per day to be book worthy? I’m sorry Mr. Shakespeare, but you simply don’t Tweet enough to generate the online momentum for this Romeo and Juliet book to work. Perhaps you should start blogging about the couple…about their likes, dislikes and maybe set up separate fan pages for both of them? You could even change their profiles occasionally. If they have at least 200,000 “likes” you might have something.

Yes, we are living in an age where everything must “fit the mold” and editors are trained to look for how many followers and online influencers an author has and then homogenize whatever passes for content. How about if we make it, “Quote the Raven LOL”? For reasons like this, authors have turned to self-publishing, which has exploded.

The Metamorphosis of Self-Publishing

Once upon a time self-publishing was a last resort and looked upon as inferior. Today, however, much like indy films, many of which win awards and make a splash at film festivals (and even at the box office), self-published books are making the grade.

Thanks to modern technology, Amazon.com and other online book sellers, it is easy to produce and even sell a book that looks just as good as those put out by the top publishing houses, and some may even have more to offer. After all, would you prefer read a book by a talented young writer exploring a well-researched topic or presenting a riveting novel or Nicole Richie’s story because she’s the well-known daughter of a former R & B / pop singer who’s gone country?

While some of the major publishing houses will continue to throw money at People Magazine’s favorites or anyone in the news who has a following, the audience is increasing for the self-published titles from authors using the new trend to their advantage.

According to Bowker’s annual book production report (they’re the people that provide the ISBN numbers so your book is legitimate) The non-traditional sector including numerous on-demand titles continues what Bowker described as “explosive growth” that increased 169% from 1,033,065 titles in 2009 to 2,776,260 in 2010. The numbers topped 3,000,000 in 2011 and very likely did the same this past year.

Why the Explosion?

Many people are determined to sell their own books and have decided that the gatekeepers are making the criteria too narrow. No, not everyone has 100,000 followers on Facebook, but they have enough to sell 5,000 copies of a book, potentially a good one and make $10 per book, which is much more than they would see in royalties from a traditional publishing house. After all, if you do have a following, why not use it to sell your own books?

I must admit that just as there are big budget books that should never be published, there are also numerous self-published titles that are not worth the paper they may or may not be printed on (since many are e-books). But, like many people, I’m willing to accept the bad because there are also a lot of very good books and even some gems being self-published that otherwise might not have seen the light of day, simply because the author had not built a big enough following.

For those who are considering self-publishing, you will need to do your own marketing and be pretty good at it, or hire someone else who is. The social media can bring you great success, but along with a good product (your book) you’ll need the time and patience to learn the lay of the land.

Fair Warning

It is important to look before you leap into self-publishing. There are many self-publishing companies out there and some are simply better than others. What you want is to have someone do the preliminary work, meaning layout, proofreading, cover design and all of the basics. You then want to have the book printed on demand or in bulk if you wish to sell it at speaking engagements, conferences or even at your place of business. You will pay for the actual printing and probably a little more since the publisher wants to make a profit per book.

BUT, do not start giving away your profits. Once a company sets up the book and prints it for you, that is where their responsibility and income should end. You should not be paying a high fee to have copies of your own book or giving away royalties to the self-publishers based on how well the book sells. Your only cost might be shipping or fulfillment, if that’s something they offer, but not a cut of your book sales. One journalist investigating the industry warned self-published authors about scams, and likens the idea of royalties to having a mechanic who fixes your car and then charges you a dollar for every mile you drive. This is not what you want. The mechanic should do his job and the publishing company should do theirs – handle the preliminary set up for a cost and print the book for an additional cost. In fact, some authors have found independent book designers, cover authors and gotten their own IBSN numbers from the folks at Bowkers. They then went with their books to printing companies such as Lightning Source and printed their books. It’s more work to do it all yourself, but it can be done…and is the essence of true self-publishing

In the end, simply compare costs and make sure you are not paying all sorts of extra fees for copies of your own book. You should be in control, not the self-publishing house that you are hiring to do a job for you. If you do want to pay for some extras, the most important ones would be for distribution and marketing, both of which can be helpful. Do your homework before approaching self-publishing companies.

And finally Blogging

There are some great blogs out there and many mediocre ones. I have no idea where my blogs, or ramblings (as I call it) fall in that category. BUT, if you do want to get a book out there, through traditional means or self-publishing, it’s a good idea to start a blog somewhere. It will help you build a following and enhance the website that you will also use to help sell your book. Blog about what you know, what you like and what you feel will interest your readers. And no, you certainly need not go on as long as I did with this blog.

And by the way, I enjoy helping people with their blogs, be it editing or ghostwriting, or even critiquing, so feel free to call and discuss it.

In the meantime, happy writing.