By Edward Nawotka
Today’s feature story about the popularity of mind, body, spirit and self-help books in India notes that self-help has long been a staple of self-publishing.
As people get older, they are often eager to pass along their hard earned wisdom to future generations. Many individuals see getting their life story — and decades worth of advice — into print as form of self-fulfillment or actualization toward the end of a long life.
The demographics of the self-publishing e-book movement typically skew older and bear this out.
As a book buyer, are you wary of such work? The cliche goes: “The best advice is…Don’t take advice and don’t give advice.” And certainly, when listening to advice it is always important to consider the source.
But what if you don’t know a thing about the source? With traditionally published books you have the reassurance that the work has been vetted to some extent by a team that likely includes an agent, an editor, and others. There is a modicum of reassurance. With self-published books, you have only the author’s word.
Does that put the self-published books at a disadvantage? Or does it no longer matter since the traditional publishing industry a squandered at least some of its own credibility by pumping out money making business tomes, diet books, and spirituality of equally dubious credibility.
Let us know what you think in the comments?
8 Comments
What’s makes the traditional published books more credible? Whether the book is self-published or traditionally published, a person should check the credibility of the author and get at least a second opinion of sorts. The ability to self-publish a book has closed the gap for relatively unknown authors to be published vs. those authors with a clear track record of smash hits. The new author vs. the established author is just volume of sales and not necessarily quality of work. Just in my opinion…
The argument between self-published and traditionally published books for self-help areas should not be an issue since the publishing type isn’t the issue. The source and reliability of the authorship should be the important question.
All books offering advice require the reader to be selective in using the information; verify the source (author), use common sense, check with other professionals in the area, and remember what is good for one person may not be good for another.
Self-publishing and e-books are becoming more common and more acceptable as the age of publishing changes. The big advantage is the speed that the information can be marketed. But with self-publishing especially, marketing is key to getting any book noticed.
I don’t think there should be a distinction. I wrote my self-publishing guidebook based on my own experiences in publishing and authorship. I don’t need someone to tell me that I am less of an expert than someone who churns out self-help books for a living because they think they can just do it and sell to naive individuals who are trying to learn. The process of self-publishing cannot be held to account for the flood of subquality literature floating out there; as there are thousands of nonfiction and fiction books being published in the traditional manner that are just as bad or good. I consider myself an independent author who happens to self-publish. I say, look to the source and consider who is publishing, not the process itself.
I personally will not look at a self-published book as having less credibility than one published by a major publisher. Speaking from experience, I don’t think that an author publishing his or her own book is at a disadvantage. I have had books published by well-known publishers and I have self-published several. If a book is any good, it will generate crucial word-of-mouth advertising whether it is self-published or published by a major publisher.
Ernie J. Zelinski
Innovator, Best-Selling Author, and Unconventional Career Coach
Author of “How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free”
(Over 140,000 copies sold and published in 9 languages)
and “The Joy of Not Working”
(Over 250,000 copies sold and published in 17 languages)
You bring up a great point by questioning the credibility of self-help books. While I have no reason to question the credibility of any one work, the onus is clearly on the buyer to research the background, frankly, of any work prior to buying. This is not unique to self-publishing; the same holds true for anything released by major publishers. Buyer beware… do your homework first!
There are excellent self-published books out there. Self-published books are becoming popular and acceptable by the audience. What matters is the background and experience of the writers in their field. Keep in mind, self-publishers do not like to take dictations from the traditional publishers. Just to let you know, I have read poor quality (content-wise) books published by renowned publishers.
As a hardworking writer who dreams of seeing your book in print, you have the right to a positive publishing experience. Whether your goal is to publish through a traditional house, become your own publisher, or seek the help of a publishing services provider such as iUniverse, take the time to consider your publishing options. Only then can you make an educated decision about which alternative provides the best path to meet your publishing goals. Self publishing your book with the support of iUniverse is a professional, affordable, and fast way to get your book into print. Compared to publishing on your own, you do give up control of some aspects of the publishing process, but only in exchange for less hassle and expense. iUniverse professionals with book-publishing expertise will educate and guide you through the entire process for an affordable price. Supported self publishing also enables you to test your marketing abilities and to learn about the publicity process without emptying your bank account or making it your full-time career. And, because you control the rights to your book, you can get started with supported self publishing but move to a traditional publisher — or choose to self publish on your own — after you have experience and a track record. Traditional publishing can be a great way to get published, but it’s difficult to break into the business. Self publishing on your own can be lucrative, but it requires a significant investment and long-term commitment. While supported self publishing may not be the right long-term solution for all authors, it is the most efficient and affordable way to get started and, ultimately, get published!
What good can happen with self-publishing?
Good questions.
I started as self-published author of motivational books.
Lots of strain i took for distributing my books. I am passionate about writing and books.
Then came a phase, where i began not thinking for myself, but people who are like me.
So i began a publishing firm name CreatiVentures to encourage and support all writers who want self-publish.
Currently, CreatiVentures is really on the top-list of publishers in Indian publishing industry.
Every day, new writers are added to our pursuit.
So if you want to know more about CreatiVentures, feel free to visit our website.