Quote:
Originally Posted by Yves Gorat
Elfwreck, I tried to make a clear distinction between "published" and "self-published" in the introduction. I know this distinction will probably to some extent disappear, but with "published" I meant that you have a publisher (for example Random House) who pays you upfront instead of self-publishing, where you do not have an editor, cover artist etc., working for you, but instead you have to prepare everything yourself and then self-publish. Sorry if that was not totally clear (or still isn't?)
|
Not all publishers offer an advance. Some don't do editing. (The ebook explosion has made this possible.) While I can identify the difference between "author hires the work done" vs "author pays a publisher a percentage of book sales to have publisher do the work"... there are now dozens, maybe hundreds, of tiny publishers that don't pay advances. There are publishers like
WMG Publishing, originally founded by a couple of authors who wanted to republish their backlist. Is that "a publisher" or "self-published?" Is it self-published for the two of them, and "other-published" for other authors as they pick them up?
The difference between them and a larger publisher is that they've already chosen the works they'll produce. But the tiny publishing house still pays for editors, cover art, copyright registrations, marketing, and so on; the authors just happen to be the people who manage those decisions.
If the CEO of Random House writes a book, is it self-published through Random House? (Of course not. I'm pointing at the semantics, not actually claiming there's no difference between Random House and WMG Publishing.)
The issue that's relevant to your survey is: It's impossible to tell what a "self-published" book is in a lot of places. If the author's had the sense to register as a publishing business, that's the name that shows up in the "publisher" spot; there's no way to tell if that's "really" a publisher in the traditional sense.
Examples:
Elusive Destiny By Beatrice Holloway; Published by Bretwalda Books
Morgan's Return By Greta van der Rol Published by PubRight
Poker Boy vs. The Silicon Suckers By Dean Wesley Smith Published by WMG Publishing
Are any of those "self-published?" WMG publishing is mostly run by that author. PubRight looks like a hired-services organization. Bretwalda looks like a standard small indie publisher, with the likely exception of author advances.
Do you expect survey takers to reach the same conclusions you have about which books are self-published and which aren't?
(Caveat: I have read none of those, and only know of the Poker Boy series because I read the author's blog; I have read only 1 or 2 of his stories.)