Self Publishing for Fun, Profit, and Your Scholarly Influence

Bob HolleyHumanities Center Brown Bag October 9, 2013

Summary

More self published books than commercially published books

Reasons for importance of self publishingGeneral advantages and disadvantagesSelf publishing for profitSelf publishing for scholarshipSelf publishing and researchSelf publishing and libraries

My Credentials

Current research interestEdited a special segment on self

publishingI have not yet self published

Importance of Self Publishing

750,000 self published out of 1,000,000 titles according to NPR speaker

More conservative estimate of 600,000 in 2015

Reasons for Importance

Rise of ebooks and other forms of digital publishing plus print on demand

Internet as new efficient marketplacePrinciple of the long tailAuthor control without fear of

rejection letters

Reasons for Importance (continued)

Goal of powerful companies like Amazon.com

Eliminate the middle man—publishers

A bit more money for authorsA lot more money for Amazon

Eliminates many of the risks of traditional publishing

Emergence of support services

General Advantages for Both Popular and Academic Publishing

Anyone can publish at minimal costAuthor is in complete control of the

final productSupport is available though at a cost

General Disadvantages for Both Popular and Academic Publishing

Publishers add valuable services including making the book more sellable

Final product does not need to be but can be inferior

Support services cost moneyAuthor is responsible for marketing

General Disadvantages for Both Popular and Academic Publishing (continued)

More difficult to take advantage of existing distribution channelsLess likely to be distributed by traditional

vendors, even those that sell ebooksFewer if any reviewsNo CIP cataloging from the Library of Congress

—an entry into the distribution network

Self Publishing for Profit--Advantages

Profits are possible50 Shades of Grey began as a self

published workSupport company reported several self

publishing millionairesCan control pricing to maximize

sales No need to deal with publishers

Self Publishing for Profit--Disadvantages

Success depends upon aggressive marketing

Sales most often do not meet expectations

Self Publishing for Academics--Advantages

Control over final product including adding data sets, photographs, extensive documentation, etc.

Some academic publications are not suitable for print publication

Distribution at no cost is possiblePotential for profit even with few salesOutlet for research in less popular areas

Self Publishing for Academics--Disadvantages

Little or new reward in the current tenure and promotion system

Conflict between open access and profitOpen access provides the chance for

more scholarly impact and citationsProfit is a direct reward for the effort

Self Publishing and Research

Some self published items have high potential value for research in certain areas as source materialsMemoires of participation in important

events Local history resources

Self Publishing and Libraries

Libraries do not know how to deal with self published materials

Funding issues even for traditional publications

Issues of discovery and identificationLess likely to be available in the standard

distribution networksSome libraries require favorable reviews for

purchase

Self Publishing and Libraries (continued)

Stigma of self publication and its lack of quality control is important except for the most comprehensive collections

Issues for public librariesLocal authors pressure library to buy

their books and provide publicity

Major shift in publication and perhaps scholarly communication with mostly unexamined implications

Vast increase in number of publications made available without traditional quality control

Issues of tenure, promotion, and merit increases for academics

Conclusions

Your turn

Questions