Why Self-Publish

WHY SELF-PUBLISH?

Most people who want to self-publish their books have already decided and know why they choose this approach. On one hand, it can seem a daunting prospect. “Oh, my God. What have I got myself into?” On the other had, given today’s tech advances, you’re reasonably sure that you’d not be required to invest in a hammer and chisel and carve your story on a stone block. But you’re still not sure.

THE SCENARIO

You've finished a book! And you think you have a killer manuscript. What do you do?
You spend years looking for agents, who do not even want to look at your manuscript unless you're previously published. You’re much too small a fry.
No big publishing house will look your manuscript if you don't have an agent or if you’re world-famous. They are not interested in anything new or different.
Then, you try small indie publishing houses. They are friendly, sympathetic even, but it's difficult. They don't have the resources of the big boys. Also they are more selective and focused on their own niche, even if their decisions are not entirely market or profit driven.
Ultimately, traditional publishing houses choose authors; not the other way.

THE BOOK INDUSTRY

Whatever happened to all the mega bookstores all over the Klang Valley? Most have closed. Survivors are slowly shrinking. Fiction is almost dead. Non-fiction (lifestyle, history and politics), academic and school text titles keep them afloat.
Perhaps it’s all for the best that they have. More than 60 years after independence, our bookstores were still under the control of distributors founded by the colonials in Singapore. I suppose the demise of the Anglo-American book industry and their inherent hegemony should be cause for celebration. Local publishing now has more oxygen to breathe, although we are pretty much still in the colonial period, not in post-col.
Until about 10 years ago, books by Penguins, Random Houses, Harper Collins, etc. dominated almost all shelf space in Malaysia and Singapore. They might as well have had signs: no dogs and local books allowed. It was almost impossible for local literature to penetrate the big bookshops.
Then, when their rules relaxed a little (when sales of local books went up), local books were allowed in but relegated to the bottom of shelves at the back of the stores.
With the near collapse of the Anglo-American book industry, more local books are finding their way onto the shelves. Not dominating yet, but better than before.
Big-name publishing houses don’t like change. They constantly want best-selling authors just like the last one. (Note: Salman Rushdie and Margaret Atwood were nominated for the Booker recently. I love them both, but could they not find anyone else in the last 40 years?)
Then there was the problem of the remainders trade that totally devalued books; a self-inflicted wound by the big publishers that would prove fatal. It’s bad enough that local publishers don’t have the economy of scale to compete on price with the big boys; remainders became the double whammy.
Despite their finger-pointing at Amazon, Borders, e-books, online selling, etc., the Anglo-American book industry is dying because big publishers do not want to face facts that they’re primarily responsible for the current state of the book industry. They made huge mistakes for short term profits; they no longer had interesting content. They were only recycling mediocrity. (Even Netflix is doing a better job of storytelling.) It’s as though they think they’re in the grocery store business; selling rice and sugar, not culture.

SOME STORIES

The British Net Book Agreement, a fixed book price agreement in the United Kingdom and Ireland between The Publishers Association and booksellers on prices at which books could be sold to the public. That is, books were objects with value (like in Europe today). BNBA was was dissolved in 1997.
For a period after that, there was still honour amongst some publishing houses that avoided dumping and devalue their books. Example: when Silverfish opened shop in mid-1999, the Penguin distributor in Malaysia was STP. When I visited their store, somewhere in PJ then, I saw shelves and shelves of Penguin titles I wanted. When I asked, the salesman told me that they were not for sale because they had been marked for pulping. I was disappointed but respected Penguin’s integrity for not wanting to devalue their books in the market.
Some years ago, we noticed a Singapore based distributor dumping their books in Malaysia, selling them are remaindered prices. When asked why they’d bother to transport the books all the way to Kuala Lumpur to dump, I was told it was illegal to remainder them in Singapore due to anti-dumping laws. Apparently, Malaysia was more manageable.
When I first opened in Desa Seri Hartamas, I saw some staff of a popular distributor going through my shelves, taking notes and rearranging my books. “What are you doing?” I asked. “Stocktaking for replenishment and rearranging for better display.” I was shocked. I told them that it was my shop, and I decided what books I stocked and how I displayed them. “Industry practice,” they defended themselves. When asked if the did that in all bookshops, they nodded. That’s how the Anglo-American publishers guarded their shelf space.
Then I realised the truth of the matter. None of them read. Most bookshop people don’t read; most distributor’s people don’t read; and most publishing people don’t read. Bottom line: most people in the book business in Malaysia don’t read! Books are the only commodity sold with no absolutely no product knowledge.

BOTTOM LINE

In many cases, traditional publishing doesn't even make sense. There is a good chance that the publisher (especially from a big house) does not read (or even pretend). From the quality of their output, I don’t believe the staff of larger self-publishing houses do either.
Smaller traditional publishing houses are a different matter.
Even then, seldom do the expectations of both the publisher and author meet.
So, one has only one option: self-publish. (Perhaps, that should have been your first option, all along.)
Anyway, you don't need a bookshop to sell books; there are few left in Klang valley, not serious ones at least.

MARKETING STRATEGY

Use social media to the fullest. Get discussions going on your favourite subject. Get as large a following as you can before publishing your book. Give away snippets of your arguments.
Target groups, communities, clubs, patients, care-givers, students, family and friends.
Don't bury your book in large shops under mountains of similar titles. Choose specialist, boutique, stores.
Sell them at seminars, conferences, meetings, book clubs ... Anywhere, and keep all your sales revenue; not just 10% royalty.

IN CONCLUSION

Famous, authors who self-published include Stephen King, Edgar Allan Poe, Mark Twain, John Grisham, Tom Clancy … the list is long You’re in good company.
Beware of sharks. There are many excellent self-publishing houses (usually the smaller ones), but watch out for the man-eaters. They will make you part with thousands of ringgit (I've heard a figure of eighty thousand ringgit) for just 5 free POD copies of a book, and a listing on Amazon. Please do your research. Read reviews.
What about Amazon, then? Yes, what about them? Many companies will promise you a listing on Amazon just to entice you. But do you really need that? First, you can do it yourself at a tiny fraction of the cost. Second, how many copies do you think you'll sell on Amazon? Besides, Amazon stopped being a dedicated bookstore years ago, I wonder why?
The DIY solution is the lowest-cost option, if you have the know-how. Sadly, most people don't.
The PAKKA assisted DIY would be its best description of what we offer. We will handle all the admin bits, publish the book and send you the copies you've ordered, which you can sell and keep all the money.
Email, WhatsApp or telephone us for a meeting, or take a chance and walk into Pakka English at 63 Lorong Maarof Bangsar to talk about it. Compare our prices and services with others; you'll be surprised.
Strike a balance between cost per book, quantity and quality, and fix a marketable retail price.

Email: pakkaenglish@gmail.com,
WhatsApp: +60-17-7546973,
Tel: +60-228 448 37

LINKS

Pakka publishing solutions

Why-self-publish

A guide to book publishing

Pro-con-traditional publishing

Pro-con-self-pub online publishing providers

Pro-con-diy publishing

Pro-con-Pakka Assited DIY

Pakka editing services

Pakka ghostwriting

Glossary of publishing terms