Category: Books

Maybe it’s time for you to self-publish your book.

I know, I know. You want the affirmation of a professional third party (an agent, a publisher, or at least someone besides your mom or spouse). You’re worried about putting something out there that no one will read. You’re concerned about the marketing and promotional side to releasing a book.

Well, fear not. (That seems to be the theme this year: fear not. Do not be afraid.)

Don’t get me wrong. I’ve worked with three wonderful publishing houses and some incredible editors, and there are some huge advantages to working with an established publisher. Huge. Maybe that will be my next post.

But today I’m encouraging you to self-publish. Get your book out there. Create something, and give yourself the satisfaction of seeing it through to completion.

Here are eight benefits you’ll see should you decide to self-publish your book this year:

1)   Any story can be put into book form. It doesn’t matter how many people are interested in your story or your topic or your writing. You can write a book about your family, or a guide to recreating human organs out of spare Legos. You can write the story of your great-uncle Marv or a novel about ants (not that I have anything against novels about ants) – if you’re self-publishing, it can become a book. Books are still cool.

2)   You can title your book whatever you want. Because you don’t have to worry about marketing teams and third parties and, well, anyone else, you can choose any title you want. There’s a fair amount of freedom when it comes to self-publishing, and this is one of those areas.

3)   You can create any kind of cover you want. Would you like your great-aunt Martha to be on the cover? Your dog Grover? Or maybe you’re a minimalist looking for a black title on a white cover. Go for it.

4)   Access to inexpensive copies of your book. Most self-publishing services will give you a good deal when it comes to getting your hands on copies of your own book. If I want copies of books I’ve self-published, I can usually buy them for about $3.75 (with no minimum order). If I want copies of my books that have been printed through traditional publishers, I’m looking at paying anywhere from $6 – $9 (ouch).

5)   One of the great things about self-publishing is that you operate under no misconceptions that anyone else is responsible for the marketing of your book. Sure, with traditionally published books, the publisher will do its part for a little while, but there’s no substitute for creating your own PR and marketing plan, and then acting on it. When you have a publisher it’s easy to assume that ball is in their court, but when you’re self-publishing you have no one else to rely on. If you’re not talking about your book, no one is.

6)   Release the book whenever you want. I have friends who have written books and then it’s taken 18 months to 2 years for the publisher to release the book. I’ve had other friends who wrote the book and then the publisher changed their mind, or the acquisition editor got fired or moved on and left their title under-represented. I’ve been fortunate in that the published books that I’ve written were on a quick-release time frame, and all have moved along smoothly.  But if you self-publish, you could have that book in your hands as soon as you’d like, and no unexpected change in a huge conglomerate will alter that.

7)   Make more profit per book. Self-published paperback books will make you around 40% when sold on Amazon, self-published e-book’s will make you 70%, paperbacks you sell yourself will net around 70%, and you’ll make around 35% on books sold through local bookstores (although that takes a lot of work, getting a self-published book into a bookstore). For books that are traditionally published, the royalty for all of those, in any form, is closer to 15%.

But by far the most important benefit to self-publishing your book?

8)   You get to finish it and move on. I know too many writers who are sitting on that manuscript, just waiting for an agent or publisher to pick it up. And as the years pass, they don’t create anything new. They simply can’t get beyond that first book until it’s published. And this is where self-publishing is such a great tool, because you can publish it, learn from your mistakes, try to market it and learn from that, then write something new.

Of course, most of these could also be seen as negatives…make my own cover? Create my own marketing plan? Come up with the perfect title? Are you kidding me?

I never said self-publishing was perfect for everyone, or for every project.

What do you think about self-publishing versus traditional publishing?

Just over six years ago, a high school student and his parents were killed by an unknown assailant. This happened right here in Lancaster County. What made the case unique was that weeks passed without the police receiving any solid leads.

Then, one month later, another high school student confessed to the crimes. But he did so in the confines of a counseling session, and the psychiatric hospital where he was staying turned to the boy’s father, also in the room when the confession was made.

“You need to do the right thing, sir,” the counselor told the father, Tim Kreider, inferring that it was up to him to turn in his son.

What would you have done, if your son looked like he might be getting away with murder? What would you have done, if your son faced three life sentences?

* * * * *

Three years ago, I received an email from a man named Walt Mueller. He said that he knew of someone who had a story to tell, and he wondered if I would be okay with him giving them my details.

Sure, I said.

Soon after that I received an email from a man named Tim Kreider. He said he had written a story about what he had been through recently when his son confessed to murdering his best friend and his best friend’s parents.

He wondered if we could meet.

* * * * *

For some reason I think it was in the fall. I remember standing outside the front door, waiting, wondering what Tim and his wife Lynn would be like. I’d never met the parents of a murderer before.

Tim answered the door and shook my hand. Lynn gave me a hug. Tim has changed a lot since that day when I first met him, and on that early evening, in 2010, he had very sad eyes. While he was eager to tell his story, there was a subconscious reluctance, a hesitancy. He knew that if he was serious about telling his story, he’d have to revisit emotional spaces he preferred not to visit again.

At the end of the evening he asked if I would take a look at what he had written.

I nodded.

He reached down and brought up a folder filled with over 300 pages. He asked me if I would read it. It was a very rough draft, he said, something he wrote in a heavy, dark place, but the writing of it had been one of the keys to helping him find his way after what his son had done.

Over the last three years we have rewritten it, polished it up a little, added sections previously forgotten. There were large chunks of time where the story lay dormant – things resurfaced, made the writing too difficult for Tim. Times when he needed a break, or when the business of life took over. But it is finished now, the story of a man whose son admitted to a terrible crime, and the decisions Tim was forced to make. It’s a powerful story, one full of redemption and hope.

If you’d like to find out more about it, please go and “Like” our Facebook page, Refuse To Drown. Or you can check out our website and sign up to be notified when the book releases, on or around February 1st of next year.

Thanks for supporting this, my latest venture. You folks have been such loyal readers through the years, and I’m really proud to bring you this incredible story.

* * * * *

If you would like Tim to share his story at your church, please let me know.

If you are a blogger and would like an advanced copy of the book to review on your blog during the week of February 1st, 2014, please let me know.