The other day a radio producer complimented me on a book I was publicising. I agreed; it’s a great book on a fascinating subject. She then asked who the publisher was.
I realised she was presuming it was a big release by a major publishing house. And it had the kind of cover and content that might lead you to think that. I told her the author had published it himself and then gave her the unique name of his publishing company.
She was a bit quiet.
I then told her that most of my book publicity clients were self-published non-fiction authors. And then I told her why I love it, “They’re usually completely independent people, running their own businesses doing something they love and they have strong opinions.”
It’s true…and what more could a publicist ask for! She then asked if the book had been knocked back by a major publishing house. This author has two other books, one published by a multinational.
I told her it was very unlikely he had even offered this one to them. He can write it, have it edited, pay for it to be printed; print a few or print a lot, pay a distributor and engage his own publicist; who will give it heart and soul.
He feels absolutely in control. It’s an old world view that a self-published author has any less authority and credibility than one signed to a publishing house. I run into it all the time. Is it time to run a media campaign about it?