Why self publishing is attracting established authors

In 2009, five employees and I hauled 10,000 copies of a self-published book to an air-conditioned U-HAUL storage container.

We were publishing my boss's book. A human factors engineer, he was intrigued by the idea of becoming a publisher, so he hired a team to produce a book about human error (of all things). 

It felt like we learned everything the hard way. Once we had already printed 1,000 copies of a finished product, we discovered that newspapers wouldn't review your book unless it was a pre-release edition. So we printed special edition "pre-release" covers. Then we discovered that newspapers, in general, weren't going to review you no matter what you had to say. They also didn't care if all of your influential friends were recommending the book. 

Despite him being a well-established speaker and consultant, self-publishing wasn't in the cards for this guy. Maybe it was because the masses weren't ready for him. But most likely it was because five years ago everything about self publishing had to be done manually and in the dark with a shovel. But today, it's attracting established authors for a few simple reasons:

1. Printing and order fulfillment has been simplified, thanks to folks at Amazon and Ingram. There's no need to risk printing 1,000 copies of a book (after already sinking $10,000 in design and editorial). If someone orders your book on Amazon, they print a book and ship it. It's that simple.
2. Established authors know that being signed to a publishing house isn't a bed of roses. You may be in the club, but you've still got to earn your keep by keeping a steady stream of attention heading toward your book. With self-publishing, the marketing is still your entire responsibility, but the margins are much more generous.
3. Self-publishing empowers established authors to promote a message, not simply fulfill a contract. When you self-publish, you own the material and there's no one telling you what to say and how to say it. (Though a good self publishing firm should work as an advocate to keep you from unnecessarily embarrassing yourself.)

In my next blog, I'll talk about secrets -- and two of the main ones traditional publishers don't want you to know.