I’m seriously considering self-publishing Tales of the Macabre West this coming year. Because of this, I’ve read more self-published books this year than ever before. I’m trying to get a feel for the market, level of quality, and what I’m up against in my genre.
I’ve found there are quite a few good books getting self-published. In fact, many are borderline great and a rare few are absolutely outstanding. I wrote a few weeks ago about the overwhelming number of books being published today. With the tidal wave of content being released, good doesn’t seem to be good enough anymore.
Reading Self-Published Books Differently
One thing I’ve noticed is that I read self-published books differently. You never know what you’re getting. The author might really care about their work, have paid for editing and copywriting services, revised many drafts, and had a great idea to begin with. Unfortunately, many times that’s not the case. The book contains many grammatical errors, the story confusing, and the plot poorly constructed or derivative.
When the book is from an established author, I take off my editor hat and read with more enjoyment. When the author is unknown and the book is self-published, I’m on the lookout for errors, I question sentence choices, and I even hold the author more responsible for perceived style weaknesses.
You Have to Prove Yourself as an Author
Whether it’s fair or not, there’s a lack of trust in self-publishing. Someone like Stephen King can get away with all kinds of risky story structures and sentence choices but an unknown author has to follow most of the rules. Readers hold self-published authors to a higher standard.
“You have to follow the rules now to break the rules later.”
Comparing your work to a famous author isn’t good enough. You don’t just have to write at their level, you need to surpass it to really set yourself apart. Right or wrong, self-published authors are held to a higher standard, scrutinized more, and receive greater criticism towards their work. My feeling is, don’t self-publish until you’re as sure as possible that your work will exceed expectations.