Recently I wrote a story about the rise in the number of people who say they earn a living (full or part time) from writing. The stock art with it is ironic, I hope: no one uses a typewriter and most older writers aren’t so fuddy-duddy looking.  For that story, see www.stltoday.com/books

There is also, of course, a huge rise in the number of books being published. Much of that increase is because of the rise in self-publishing. The story didn’t advise that self-publishing is a good way to make a lot of money. Many folks writing books know that, I’m sure. But to help explain that point, a reader from Florissant wrote me.

I do not know Jack R. Simpson and have not seen his book, but he has some interesting points and seems to have a lot of experience in self-publishing and in helping others self-publish. 

Here’s what he has to say:

To make self-publishing profitible, authors must decide whether their venture is commercial or just a folksy/fun project not necessarily for profit. One good exercise for any unpublished writer is to use a firm that publishes 100 books for $500. The book would be in b/w (except for the cover). The writer of a family history might be able to charge $5 to cover costs or more if buyers accepted it. It is also an inexpensive way to test a commercial book for potential market and salability. I don’t do these books but know who does. Marketing is the hardest part.

Subsidy printing offers differ wildly. In each case the author must evaluate the plan and discover how much money will he/she get for each book sold. I do not say it cannot work. But the deal must be absolutely right.One river captain was told that the printer would pay for all of the publishing costs except $6,500. The captain ordered 1,000 books. He got 50. For every one sold by the company he got $4. If he wanted to buy his own books for resale, they cost him $4 a book. If the printer sold all 1,000
books for the $10 price attached, the captain would get $4,000 and still be $2,500 in the hole. If he bought the entire print run at $4 each, he would then have $10,500 in 1,000 books that were to sell for $10,000. Naturally, the price had to be pushed upwards or nothing would work for the captain.

As for print on demand, I understand there are some good arrangements out there.  And some bad ones. One company that a friend of mine uses is Lulu.com.  I have not tried to evaluate
this site, nor any others like it. His profit is not high, but he likes the arrangement.

During more than 50 years in the writing, editing, publishing field, I discovered pitfalls that can make self-publishing unattractive for any writer. It can also be a very lucrative venture providing the author understands it and avoids the booby traps. My book $elf-Publish for Profit can be found on my website www.littleriverbooks.com, where there is also material on self-publishing being updated. I helped publish many of the books found there. I do free seminars for writers groups, libraries, etc. in the Florissant, MO, area and am open to phone calls from those who want to call me at 314-921-4419 or cell 314-341-4419.