The history of self-publishing (independent) and how it changed the world.
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Self-publishing (also known as independent publishing) isn't an original concept developed by Amazon. For example, Charles Dickens released A Christmas Carol on his own in 1843 after he expressed dissatisfaction with his existing publishing house. The same with the first editions of The Joy of Cooking and The Tale of Peter Rabbit. While these saw huge successes after a large publisher obtained them, they gained popularity at the independent level.
The theme continued through the late 20th century as it became easier to print books and deliver them to niche sellers. Think of authors with a garage or trunk filled with their books. Oh, you have that now? Well, yours are great books.
There we go. Foot removed from mouth.
Self-Publishing
In 1979, the concept of desktop publishing emerged with the invention of the personal computer. The term self-publishing became synonymous with independent book releases thanks to The Self-Publishing Manual by Dan Poynter. As this format grew through the 1980s, presses decided to implement print-on-demand (POD) processes. Instead of pallets of books, independent authors could order smaller batches for appearances or mail orders.
Going Digital
With the integration of PCs into our lives, traditional and independent publishers realized they would need to go digital with their books. Plain text (.txt) was the first version of the format. As we celebrated the start of the 21st century, the Mobipocket file format, known to those of us with proper code books as .mobi, became a standard for the electronic book (eBook) market.
Let There Be Kindle
Everything changed in the early 00s when Jeff Bezos and his Amazon minions introduced two self-publishing concepts. In 2005, his company acquired CreateSpace as a POD model for independent authors. Two years later, he gave the world Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) to coincide with the release of its first eBook reader. It allowed independent authors to format, publish, and distribute digital books to the website's growing audience.
As usual, with popularity comes imitation. Smashwords entered the self-publishing market in 2008. In 2012, Kobo, the second-largest e-reader distributor in the world, introduced the Kobo Writing Life (KWL) digital publishing platform.
Also in 2012, Draft2Digital came on the market. It's now one of the largest digital publishing aggregates, allowing independent authors to distribute to platforms like Barnes & Noble, Apple, and the library site Hoopla. In 2013, Ingram, one of the largest print book distributors, entered the self-publishing world with the IngramSpark program.
Traditional vs. Self-Publishing
There are several differences between traditional and self-publish presses. Overall, it comes down to the level of author independence. Traditional publishers are like a tightly tied truss. On the other hand, self-publishing houses are more like a light slip.
Not that I know anything about those items. I've just heard things.
Solicitations
You don't need an agent to distribute a self-published book through digital channels. However, you need one if proverbial lightning strikes and your book becomes a huge hit.
Rights
You obtain the rights to your publication. This means you can take it off the market anytime for edits or throw it into the digital dustbin. Conversely, if you see potential in it, you can remove it from the digital platform for acceptance from a traditional press.
Royalties
Here's the largest difference between traditional houses and self-publishing. There are no advances that need to be paid back to the press. You receive royalties per unit sold from the first book purchased onward.
For most platforms, the royalty for print books is around 35%, far more than the standard 10% to 15% offered by traditional houses. Having said this, these profits decrease if readers or bookstores return books. How much this is depends on the online publisher.
Royalties are much higher for eBooks due to lower overhead. There aren't costs for physical printing and binding. For instance, authors on KDP can earn up to 70% in royalties per unit sold.
Distribution
Another positive of digital publishing is distribution. You don't rely on a single press to handle where your books go. You can sell them on Kindle, B&N, Kobo, and Apple. You can distribute them to physical bookstores and libraries. The latest trend, which goes back to earlier times, is to sell your books independently on your website or through an eCommerce site like Shopify.
What Did We Learn Today, Rich?
Self-publishing has a rich history that continues today, thanks to technological advancements. The success you have depends on the work you put into the effort of creating a book. That's what we'll look at next time.
All the best.
Rich Scott Keller
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