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Those responding to the survey
know what they are talking about. Three-quarters had published at least one
book. One third of the respondents had either used self-publishing or were
thinking about it. |
| The strongest opposition to
self-publishing came from those who had already found a publisher. There was
also an identifiable group which had many manuscripts awaiting publication, but
which would
only go with a recognised publisher. It is easy to understand that those
with a publication deal frown on self-published works, but perhaps those with
a pile of unpublished material need to do a reality check before ruling out
self-publishing. There was a question which attempted to explore whether
self-publishing was becoming more respectable. Unfortunately the question
was rather badly worded. The results are difficult to quantify but convey an
impression that you think the world of self-publication will remain apart
from ‘mainstream’ publication for now. This interpretation is reinforced by
the comments supplied by the respondents.
However two-thirds can see a place for self-publishing which tallies with
the number in the previous question.
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View some comments
that the respondents added to their answers |
The next question asked people
to identify the key factor that would stop them self-publishing. Given the
publicity that some firms have managed to attract by offering ‘free’
publication, it is perhaps surprising that cost was picked more than any
other factor as an obstacle. Perhaps writers have realised that there is
no
free lunch out there and all the editorial, design and marketing work has to
be paid for. Simply offering to print your book is not much of a deal. The
hard-core opponents of self-publishing generally picked ‘lack of
credibility’ as the reason for their opposition.
The respondents were realistic in identifying the drawbacks of acting as
your own publisher. Lack of sales and distribution support ranked alongside
the fact that most organisations offering to assist self-publishers do not
offer editorial support.
The other key drawback noted in the replies was the perception by
bookshops and the public that a self-published book is not seen as on a par
with one that has been taken on by a publisher. It is worth remembering that
the term ‘publisher’ does not have a precise definition. The publisher is
just the person who makes most of the financial commitment and also the
person or organisation who can be held legally responsible for the
publication.
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| Perception of the quality of the
books produced for self-publication appears to be one reason why people are
reluctant to go along this route. Nearly a third thought that self-published
books were inferior products. It is evident that another third can be
described as ‘don’t knows’. Over half of the respondents said they did not
know if they could identify a self-published edition. In fact the quality produced by the best print-on-demand production lines
is indistinguishable from other books.
Print-on-demand is popular with
self-publishers as they do not have to pay for expensive stock. They can
order in small batches.
Book-buyers might be surprised to learn just how many of the backlist titles from
the big publishers use POD, the technology which is popular with
self-publishers. The economics make so much sense for big and small
publishers alike. The print plant used for most of the
WritersPrintShop
titles produces our books alongside books from half of the world’s top
publishers.
Perhaps it is the design and editorial values of books which are
self-published which lets them down? That might be a subject we will
investigate in a future survey.
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A bit about you
View some comments that the
respondents added to their answers |
We always like to know a bit
about the people responding to our surveys, as it has some relevance to the responses
provided. Not a single record is kept that would allow the person completing
our surveys to be contacted. Your privacy when completing our surveys is
absolute. If this was a serious academic study we would want some means of
tracing a few of those replying to audit the accuracy of the survey, but we do not do this.
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The results of previous surveys
The Writing habit
Reading habits
Motivation to write
What new writers need
Getting a publishing deal
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More women than men responded to
the survey. The number of men responding was
slightly lower in this survey at 43% compared with the norm of 47%. The
number of replies was a disappointing 94. This suggests that only 1 in 3000
site visitors are persuaded to fill in the survey. We will endeavour to be
more persuasive! This survey was conducted during the last quarter of 2005.
Feb 2006 |
