Market savvy authors can take a nontraditional way to audience

By Reg Behe
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
May 31, 2009

Ray Goss was told throughout his 40-plus years in radio that he should write a book. The longtime play-by-play announcer for Duquesne University basketball certainly accumulated enough stories about crazy road trips and his broadcast partners to fashion a narrative of his career.

Writing the book was relatively easy. Getting it published proved to be problematic.

When a friend -- and Duquesne grad -- who owns a small publishing house turned the book down, Goss realized his options were limited. Rather than let his work go to waste, Goss chose to self-publish, shelling out about $5,000 of his own money to print 1,000 copies of "Misadventures in Broadcasting."

"I didn't even know how to get an agent," Goss says. "And if you think about it, who would be interested? Only people who have heard of me."

Goss is one of an increasing number of writers who have shunned the traditional model of acquiring an agent and striking a deal with a publishing house. Companies such as Author Solutions, which includes the imprints iUniverse, Trafford, Xlibris, Inkubook and Wordclay, have helped grandparents, teachers, veterans, housewives and anyone else who has a story to tell get published -- for a price.

"We are doing for publishing what has already happened in film and music," says Keith Ogoreck, director of marketing for Author Solutions. "We're creating an indie book publishing opportunity."

Like MySpace or YouTube for musicians and filmmakers, self-publishing enables writers to make their work available without filters. There are no agents or editors required -- just a finished manuscript and the willingness to pay a fee: Author Solutions charges between $450 to a little more than $2,000 -- to get a book in print.

"We allow authors to get their books to the market and into the hands of readers in a matter of months," Ogoreck says.

Still, a stigma remains for the gatekeepers -- booksellers, critics and even readers -- who regard self-published books as literary pariahs.

"I get solicited endlessly about them," says John Towle, owner of the Aspinwall Bookshop. "Unless there's some local reason to do it, and I know I can sell them to family, I don't carry them, because that's basically the audience."

Sarah Weinman, a book critic who operates the influential Web site Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind, generally ignores self-published books.

"For now, I tend not to look at self-published books mostly because it's like finding a needle in a haystack -- the chance of finding quality is slim," Weinman says. "And since bookstores don't generally stock them because of various difficulties, not to mention there are so many books published anyway, there has to be a demarcation line.

"That said, I think there are instances where I would read a self-published book, say if it's a figure of authority, large Web presence, someone I know or trust who has practical reasons for getting the book out to readers in a nontraditional manner."

Some readers do find merit in self-published books. Chuck Kinder, a writer and novelist who is director of the creative writing program at the University of Pittsburgh, doesn't recommend his students self-publish their work, mainly because "they are too poor to do so." But he doesn't dismiss self-published authors out of hand.

"I don't stick up my literary nose at anything, except maybe a lot of that crap the New York, New York, publishers are putting out there these days," Kinder says, "But certainly not at self-published books just because they are self-published. Sometimes, you just have to do what you have to do."

That's what Lisa Genova did.

Success story

After giving birth to her first child, Genova decided to write a novel instead of returning to her career in neuroscience and biotechnology. She penned "Still Alice," a novel about a 50-year-old woman with Alzheimer's disease that was inspired by her grandmother's struggles with the disease.

Because of her expertise and understanding of Alzheimer's disease, Genova was certain she'd written a good book that could help people confront Alzheimer's. Getting the gatekeepers to agree with her was problematic.

Agent after agent turned her down, one telling Genova that self-publishing the book would kill her career. Reluctantly, the Belmont, Mass., resident paid $450 to iUniverse in 2007 and started to hawk her book, speaking at bookstores and before seniors groups. She submitted excerpts and information to Internet message boards and forums devoted to Alzheimers.

"Ten years ago, it would have been a different story," Genova says. "How do you reach beyond your neighborhood? But with the Internet, you can purchase a self-published book at Amazon.com. It makes you bigger than one person."

Then came Genova's eureka moment: a glowing review in the Boston Globe. She and her husband watched in amazement as her book's rank rose from in the 500,000s to No. 300 in a single day.

"We knew that people were reading this column and were out buying the book and now reading that," she says. "We knew that this was a moment where people beyond my family and friends were reading the book."

Genova eventually earned a contract with Pocket Books. She joins Brunonia Barry ("The Lace Reader," a family saga set in Salem, Mass.), Daniel Suarez ("Daemon," a techno-thriller) and William P. Young ("The Shack," an inspiration fable) who have broken out of the self-publishing ranks.

Book critic Weinman believes that they are part of a first wave of similar success stories.

"I do think we're going to see more of the Lisa Genovas and Daniel Suarezes, people who identify readership, market to them directly, and then get picked up by major houses," Weinman says.

Diverging paths

Barbara Burstin, who teaches history at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh, self-published her most recent book, "Steel City Jews: A History of Pittsburgh and its Jewish Community, 1840-1915." She knew that national publishers would not be interested in a book that was heavily vested in one region. She had some interest from a few small local presses, but didn't want to relinquish editorial control of the manuscript.

"They said it would take some time, and I wanted it published sooner than later," says Burstin, who paid a printing company to produce copies of her book. "I thought, why not self-publish it. I could write what I wanted and control it and have a good time with it."

Burstin, who takes every opportunity to speak to groups interested in Jewish history, has broken even on her investment of "a few thousand dollars," selling approximately 1,000 copies of "Steel City Jews."

In contrast, Philip Beard is glad he didn't take that same path. In 2004, he was close to self-publishing his first novel, "Dear Zoe." A last-minute e-mail from the president of Viking/Penguin Books earned the Aspinwall resident and lawyer a publishing contract.

"I think to a great extent I was incredibly naive about my chances for success in self-publishing," Beard says, admitting that he did have some advantages over other first-time writers. "I had an agent who believed in me and some very nice rejection letters from a lot of major publishers that helped me believe I had something to say."

"Dear Zoe" was named one of the Top 10 first novels by the American Library Association's Booklist in 2005. Beard has since published a second novel, "Lost in the Garden," and is trying to place a third book with a publisher.

But he still resists the idea of self-publishing.

"I liken it to 'American Idol,'" Beard says. "You see how many people show up for the auditions. There are some who just act goofy just to get on television. There are others who believe they are talented and are good, and the vast majority who are not. And that's like the people who write self-published books. Most of them are William Hung, not Chris Daughtry."

But sometimes the goal isn't to sell millions of copies, or to reach readers around the globe.

"I have seven grandchildren," Goss says. "('Misadventures in Broadcasting') is something they'll have long after I'm dead."

Even Genova believes writers should first try the traditional route of getting an agent and seeking a deal with a major publisher.

"If you can't find a traditional publisher to believe in your story, then self-publish it and give it a chance."

Tips for writers

Lisa Genova is a successful self-published novelist, whose debut, "Still Alice," became an Internet sensation and led to a publishing contract with Pocket Books. Here are her tips for writers who want to self-publish books.

• Create a Web site, such as yourbooktitle.com or yourname.com. You can pay someone to create this, or you can do it yourself (quite easily, if you have a Mac), but you have to have a Web site. As a self-published author, having an online presence is crucial. What should be on your Web site? Go to the Web sites of authors that you love (they all have one), and learn from the kind of content they include.

• Get social -- virtually. Start making friends on Facebook, MySpace, Goodreads, Twitter, Flickr, AuthorZoom. Comment on blogs, review other books like yours at Amazon.com. Post a video (book trailer or author interview) at YouTube.com. And everywhere you go, leave a clickable link to your book's Web site (or a link to where your book can be bought online).

• Give your book away. And not just to the press. Give your book to people who are likely to love your story, who are loud and extroverted, who write blogs, who are in big book clubs -- in other words, give it to people who are sure to spread the word and help create your buzz.

• Be tenacious. This is likely to be a marathon, not a sprint.

• Be sincerely grateful to everyone who helps you on your journey, because it will take a village to raise a self-published book.