What are the dangers of self publishing?
I’m not sure if this has been answered yet, but I always have people tell me that self publishing might not be safe. What are the dangers of self publishing? Also, a question to the published writers: what do you think is better? Self publishing or traditional publishing?
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1 answer
Although I have heard a few success stories, I think self-publishing is a mistake.
The obvious benefits of a professional editor are lost, that includes your work not straying into copyright infringement, slander or libel, or falling afoul of pornography laws (which one might do if portraying explicit sexual acts with characters beneath the age of consent, or advocating for such acts).
Amongst other benefits, professional editors and readers often catch dumb mistakes for you, in punctuation, bad word choice, unnecessarily racist or sexist analogy, etc. You don't have to fix them, but it is good to know if you have done it unintentionally. They can point out story problems, or character inconsistencies. An editor caught a line in my book where I attributed a statement to the wrong character. A minor mistake but confusing, and it would have been immortalized in a self-published book, because I had read that line myself at least five times.
Many of these things are also delivered by agents if you can get one to take on your work (and IMO it is worth the commission, but don't ever pay for an agent or sign your work over to one. Research not getting ripped off by an unethical agent, they should work for commission only and you need a way out if they go a long time without selling your work).
Finally, the traditional route offers you professional market analysis. There are plenty of honest people out there seeking new talent for books or screenplays, that are focused on making money for both themselves and for you. Most of them would love to discover a new author they think can write blockbusters, and they aren't interested in stealing your first work and breaking such a relationship from the start. A fair deal with a new author can establish a strong relationship that will make both of you millions.
That is not to say you should trust them: get their contracts reviewed before signing them, don't ever be coerced into a signing by an ultimatum (a near sure sign of a rip-off).
But that said, if you cannot get the traditional publishing route to work, the chances of self-publishing working for you is much reduced. If professionals trained in the market and making money publishing do not think your work is marketable or salable, it may cost you many thousands of dollars in your own (and likely naive and amateur) marketing efforts learn what they already told you.
I suspect most of the wild self-publishing success stories could well have been traditionally published; but I can't say that for sure. There are always a few unicorns that nobody in the industry would have touched but still strike it rich, like "The Blair Witch Project".
My advice would be to try very hard for a year to go the traditional publishing route as many times as you can. If what you have can be sold, I think somebody will recognize it. If your motivation for considering self-publishing is resentment over somebody else getting rich on your work, get over it: They sell their contacts, their judgment, the trust other professionals have in their judgment, and their expertise. All stuff you don't have!
In the end a fair piece of some real actual money is better than all the money you imagine but never get on your own. And finally, if you DO self-publish and fail, it may preclude you from ever getting the work traditionally published, because you have both poisoned the well and proven your work doesn't sell.
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