Would you buy a book if you knew it was self-published?
By Lena Kovadlo
@lovebuglena (43065)
Staten Island, New York
November 22, 2015 3:26pm CST
When it came time to publish my books (I have 9 of them), which include one novel and the rest poetry and lyric books, I decided to publish them all myself. I wanted complete control over everything, which is what I got. There wasn't anyone dictating how the interior and exterior of the book should look like and what the content should be. There wasn't anyone telling me that it will only be done their way or none at all. I also didn't want to go through all the stress and the inevitable rejection authors face trying to get published until they finally are, if at all. I just wanted to publish my books and so I did. And I am proud of all nine of them and feel successful and accomplished even though I did it all on my own.
To me it doesn't matter how a book is published as long as it's published and out there for others to enjoy and hopefully get something out of. The downside is that people have this assumption that if a book is self-published that means no publisher wanted it and therefore it is bad quality, and so they won't take a chance on it. In reality, the book may be an amazing book.
Does it matter to you if a book was self-published? Would you buy a book if you knew it was self-published?
7 people like this
9 responses
@Ponder243 (197)
• United States
22 Nov 15
I am considering self-publishing as well. I have been researching and have found that there are several sites where you can publish "real" books. (not e-books) I think this would be a great option for me. I am working on a couple of price guides as well as a work of fiction that I hope to publish. Good luck to you!
@lovebuglena (43065)
• Staten Island, New York
27 Nov 15
I use Lulu to publish my books and I actually help others publish through them as well.
1 person likes this
@lovebuglena (43065)
• Staten Island, New York
4 Dec 15
@Ponder243 I like the quality of their books.
@Ponder243 (197)
• United States
29 Nov 15
@lovebuglena Lulu is one of the sites I have been looking at as well! I did a friend's daughter's senior pictures and ordered her a little photo book from Lulu and it turned out really well!
@arthurchappell (45002)
• Preston, England
29 Nov 15
I have a few from authors I know as they are good for producing to circulate at poetry readings / writing events - I have done some myself too - I wouldn't buy one from an unknown author though
@arthurchappell (45002)
• Preston, England
4 Dec 15
@lovebuglena yes that would be very much the case but you can find out more about a mainstream author than a self published one
@lovebuglena (43065)
• Staten Island, New York
4 Dec 15
I get the hesitation of buying a book from an unknown author... but it shouldn't be because they might have self-published it. It should be because you are just not familiar with that person's work and don't know whether that person's writing is good or not.
1 person likes this
@slund2041 (3315)
• United States
29 Nov 15
It doesn't bother me that a book is self-published. I buy books all the time that are self published, and enjoy them. My husband wrote a book and self published it.
@lovebuglena (43065)
• Staten Island, New York
4 Dec 15
I am glad that you buy self-published books and are not one of those people who won't buy it just because it has been self-published.
@lovebuglena (43065)
• Staten Island, New York
18 Jan 16
Sometimes even friends won't a book knowing it is self-published :(
@boiboing (13153)
• Northampton, England
22 Nov 15
Honestly? I am wary of self-published books. Which is not to say that publishers don't put out a lot of rubbish, but self-published books tend to also be self-edited and that's where they fall down (in my experience).
@lovebuglena (43065)
• Staten Island, New York
22 Nov 15
What do you mean by "they fall down"? Are you saying it's full of mistakes or are you talking about content itself being bad?
@boiboing (13153)
• Northampton, England
22 Nov 15
@lovebuglena A good editor will prevent a writer from putting out something too terrible and will also ensure that grammatical and factual errors are corrected. So in answer to your question, it can be either or both.
@HazySue (39264)
• Gouverneur, New York
27 Nov 15
@lovebuglena I would buy a self published book if I found it looked interesting. There are sites out there that you could use.
@lovebuglena (43065)
• Staten Island, New York
4 Dec 15
If it seems like an interesting book it shouldn't matter how the book was published. It should be read.
@marguicha (215346)
• Chile
22 Nov 15
Many times publishers want books that will become best sellers because it will mean more money for them. I have seen publishers who are not very much interested in poetry, unless it is written by a well known poet.
THe most important thing is that you are able to get through to some of your readers. They will help if they like what you write.
@lovebuglena (43065)
• Staten Island, New York
4 Dec 15
With poetry the best thing seems to be to self-publish. Big time publishers won't take a chance on your poetry book and the publishers that will will most likely charge an arm and a leg to publish it.
@jaboUK (64361)
• United Kingdom
22 Nov 15
So have you not sold many books? Is it not worth while, apart from your personal satisfaction?
To answer your question - if any one at all can just publish whatever they like, there must be a lot of rubbish out there. At least if it goes through normal channels, the publisher must think that the work has some merit. So yes, I would be doubtful of buying self-published.
@lovebuglena (43065)
• Staten Island, New York
27 Nov 15
As generally poetry books don't sell in huge amounts I've sold more books than I thought I would. My novel - those that bought it and read it gave positive feedback. But it hasn't sold yet in the quantities I expected. My novel is about a girl's life after graduating high school and the things she faces and goes through like finding a job, moving out on her own, finding the right guy, going for her dreams, etc. Perhaps that's not something that many people may want to read and that's why sales are not as high as I expected them to be.
2 people like this
@antonbunot (11091)
• Calgary, Alberta
22 Nov 15
Well, publishing a book just for the fun of it even if no money earned is just crazy. You painstakingly write and edit hundred times . . that is a hell lot of works. I have never thought of assembling my funny stories and my poems to self-publish them in ebook. Are there buyers for this kind of book? Or how do we make money on selling our ebooks?
@lovebuglena (43065)
• Staten Island, New York
22 Nov 15
Well, usually people that publish books do it for the love of the craft, regardless of how much money they earn from it. And I think that is the way it should be. People shouldn't write a book just to make money. They should do it because they have something they want to share with the world and because it makes them happy and makes them feel accomplished and successful.
To answer your question...
There are a lot of people who love poetry, so, potentially you can make money from this kind of book but it may not be a lot of money because even with so many poetry lovers out there a lot of them would rather spend money on something else.
