Poisonous frogs? Lost tribes? Mosquitoes the size of helicopters?
Well, no. Publishing a book through Amazon's KDP facility is really very easy and not nearly as scary or daunting as exploring our dwindling rainforests (I imagine).
No, it's not the mechanics of self-publishing an ebook that present the problems but the business of marketing your offering once it's available for download. So, this post (and perhaps parts 2, 3, 4,..) is about my experiences of the 'dark side' of getting your book out there.
A few months ago here in the UK, one of our best known TV personalities did a short item on a teatime magazine programme about the challenges of writing a book and getting it published. Now I should say up front that this is someone I respect and even admire - in fact I'm currently reading his published diaries - but his summary of the prospects of any budding first time novelist getting published was utterly bleak and damning.
It may have been a coincidence that the following evening a second article was aired that put 'the other side' of the debate (citing examples of those who have been successful), but I can't help wondering how publishing companies would have reacted to the first night's broadcast, dependent as they are upon a constant stream of hopefuls for the handful of promising new writers to assure their future economic security.
The truth is though (as common sense would suggest, even if you haven't had first hand experience), that publishers have to make money, and they aren't going to take a chance on your book if in their considerable experience and judgement it's not going to set the cash registers ringing (or the ebook equivalent). But thankfully, there are other reasons why publishers don't pounce on your creative output - perhaps their business model only allows them to publish a certain number of new books each year, and they've filled their quota, or perhaps they've just got it wrong! It does happen...
So it seems that an ever increasing number of us are by-passing the mainstream publishers (if that term can still be used in this context) and instead choosing to self-publish our literary pride and joy as ebooks.
That's what I've just done.
As I've said, the mechanics, the button pressing, isn't too difficult, and even if you get it wrong, you can change most of it until you get it right. If like me you are publishing for the first time then I expect you'll experience a mixture of anxiety and excitement - excitement that your book has grown up and is being sent out into the big wide world to seek adventure, but anxiety that you might discover it a week later, still sat on your doorstep. (Perhaps that wasn't the best analogy, but you get the idea...)
This is the point where this post started. It's the point at which it becomes clear that deciding that you can succeed without a publisher is not the easy option it might sometimes seem. It's where I am right now.
Let's assume that you've written your book, redrafted it, redrafted it again (and again, and again...), formatted it, designed your cover, and done all of the other things you have to do before you publish your ebook. Let's also assume that you've logged onto the appropriate publishing site (I've only used the Amazon KDP one, but of course there are others) and pressed all the right buttons in the right order. You've experienced the anxiety and the excitement, and a few hours later you get that emailed confirmation that your book has been published and is available for download...
Then what? Are there people who do all this and then just sit back and watch the money roll in? I doubt it - at least not first time authors.
You see, there are lots of factors that determine whether or not your ebook sells:
Is it a good idea for a book?
Is the plot structure good?
Is it well written?
Is the cover eye-catching?
Does the blurb capture the imagination?
...but none of these are going to matter if no one can actually find your book in the listings!
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