When it comes to self publishing, authors need to stick together, share resources and knowledge and network. Now, there is one Web site dedicated to connecting authors who want to publish on their own with each other, good publishers and more.
Self-Publishing Review is the brainchild of Henry Baum, author of North of Sunset. It offers reviews of self-pubbed titles, news, interviews, publishing resources and more. Today, Henry sits down for a virtual chat about his new site at Market My Novel.
Henry, tell us about your new site, the Self Publishing Review. Why did you start this site?
I wanted to start the site I wished existed when I self-published my novel, North of Sunset, in 2006. I’m gearing up to finish a novel and I’m really not interested in going through the querying process again. So I started the site to both impart what I’ve learned about self-publishing and learn some new things for when I put out my own book.
It’s a very different world now for self-publishers. In 2006 there were a handful of blogs devoted to self-published reviews, now there are many.
Still, there’s not a central portal that covers book reviews, publisher reviews, how to’s, etc. My hope for the site is to treat self-published writing as another literary review might treat traditionally published books. Self-published writing has gotten a terrible rap – often for good reason – but that bad reputation has overshadowed some of the very great writing that is being self-published.
Do you accept all genres of self pubbed titles?
My goal on the site is to review everything – every genre of fiction, as well as non-fiction. This includes marketing ebooks people sell online.
There’s an unlimited amount of those. The site will not only review the great stuff, but the stuff that needs work as well. As it says on the site, the aim is to improve the culture around self-publishing, to get it out of the cultural gutter, and that means pointing out problems in self-published books. That said, totally ripping into a book or author doesn’t make sense to me. The book is self-published – the author is starting at a loss – so there’s no reason to add any extra insult.
The site aims to review all publishers: subsidy self-publishers, book printers, as well as ebook publishers and houses that use print on demand technology. That’s not technically self-publishing, but it’s not far removed – and if you publish with a POD house, you’re going to have to do your own marketing just as if you published with Lulu or someplace else.
was important to your site?
Because self-published book design is often so terrible and just as often there’s a correlation between the quality of the cover and the quality of the prose. People are still putting out covers with clip-art or very basic templates. That’s not all bad – one of the great values of Lulu is that you can publish a book as easily as registering a blog, but if you want to be taken seriously by reviewers and readers, you’ve got to take the time.
Can self published authors get on your site and talk in forums?
That’s the idea, but the forum is crickets for the moment. I encourage everyone to come – if only to promote a book and leave. We also have a ning community selfpublishingreview.ning.com.
authors through your site?
I hope to generate some book sales, some interest, of course. I hope ultimately to provide a place that people who scoff at self-publishing could take seriously. If you look at the site now, there’s an interview with Kristen Tsetsi, a real writer. I’m proud of the interview – doesn’t seem far off from a review of a traditionally published writer. Good writing is good writing, no matter how it’s been released. There’s another post by Frank Daniels, who just graduated to Harper Perennial. Is
the book better now that it has a mainstream press? No, he’s the same writer he always was. Hopefully agents or editors will take notice of the site.
My novel, which came out on Lulu, was reviewed by the old Poddy Mouth site. From that, the book got listed in Entertainment Weekly. From that I got a literary agency contract with the Literary Group International. So good things can happen for writers with these types of sites.
that? Do you think sites like yours can help improve the image?
The stigma is rough and is based on the assumption that self-published writing is bad. Not the proof, the assumption. For some reason the terrible books have come to represent self-publishing on the whole, which doesn’t make sense. There are bad and great books published traditionally and self-published.
The idea that if a book is great it will find a publisher is false. There are more people writing today than ever before. Mainstream houses can’t publish them all and rely on marketability, not the long-term prospects of a writer. Small presses take more chances but have less money. So a lot
of writers get left out. Somehow even in that climate self-publishing is seen as a form of failure. When you get the book out there, good things can happen. Some of the best relationships I’ve made with readers and writers is through putting out a book myself.
a contributor?
I guess if you’ve read this interview and agree with it, please contact the site. We’ve had several guest posts from self-published writers, great stuff so far. Also: the more reviewers, the better because it is
impossible for a small staff to handle. AuthorHouse published something like 15,000 titles in 2008. That’s a bit much for a few reviewers to handle.
What else would you like to add?
I’m not a person who thinks self-publishing is superior to traditional publishing. It’s a great development – never does a book have to gather dust in a desk drawer. And the profits are better self-publishing. But having another advocate is enormously helpful. It’s a hard road to market
a book yourself and honestly I do see it as a last resort – but a last resort that is totally valid.
Where can we find you on the Web?
Check out:
Self-Publishing Review
The Self-Publishing Review Forum
The Self Publishing Review Ning Community
Links to interview welcome. Reprint only with permission.
Sounds like a great concept. I'll need to keep it in mind if I go the route of self-publishing on any of my books.
Morgan Mandel
http://morganmandel.blogspot.com
I really like this. I think I've seen his blog out there while doing some research and I've often wondered about the guy behind it. Thank you, Angela, this was really informative!