Tag: Opinion

My Experience with Self-Publishing Houses

FeaturedMy Experience with Self-Publishing Houses

Self-publishing is a scary yet exciting prospect. From going straight onto Amazon’s KDP to pursuing a plan with self-publisher houses, making the right decision on your manuscript and where you want to take it can be a bit overwhelming. I wanted to share my experience with self-publishers for my upcoming collection and share with you why I made the decision I made.

For starters, I reached out to three different options, who I will not name for the fire I am about to unleash (just kidding, it’s not so bad). To find these houses, you can search on Google for “publishers of x” (in my case, poetry) and find a few databases that can determine best fits. I heard back nearly immediately from all three that I had reached out to and was quickly thrust into email chains and phone calls. It was a very rushed experience from the jump.

The three options I picked from each seemingly had a multitude of options to also narrow down. One offered 5-6 different plans and most shockingly, all offered quotes immediately. Now, one key difference between traditional publishers and self-publishing houses is the way authors are paid (or rather pay) for services. Instead of a collaboration, it’s more of an investment. Many offered 100% royalties, but upfront costs felt excessive.

The one option I was considering the most was ranged into four digits (as almost every option I received was), but even this had it’s problems. Firstly, as with the other options, all three houses “approved” of my manuscript. Personally, I’m not sure how rigorous this testing was, but I did receive answers fairly quickly, with the exception of one taking around 24-48 hours. You might be thinking approvals are a good thing, right? Well, yes and no. It means that they are willing to post your work…if your willing to pay and shoulder all the risks/losses to come.

My collection is young adult, 18+ and most detrimentally, poetry. These are all signs of an exodus from mass market appeal, and yet all three approved with only minor points (or even no points) of constructive critique at this initial stage. The offers ranged from straight up publishing on Amazon (something very possible as an independent publisher) to luxury marketing/PR offers that were exorbitant in retail (but in the case I’m referring to, discounted heavily).

The main point of advice I’d give to aspiring writers looking to publish is to be careful. Really think about how well your manuscript can appeal to mass audiences and take advantage of the resources houses like this can give. Go into it not looking to bend, but instead looking for the perfect fit or none at all. There’s no reason to push an oval into a circle; if it’s not perfect, back off.

That’s why I decided to roll with purely self-publishing through Amazon for my next book. Sure, it’s more work and time needed for promo, setup and all things needed to ensure the book is publishable to begin with. But, it’s also free or significantly cheaper than houses who have to pay for the folks they have in house, plus profit. I don’t think these houses are scammers or crooks. Far from it, and I think people may disagree with me here. But I do think they oversell their services, and I do think, unless you absolutely need services like this, to avoid them when you can’t take FULL advantage of their offerings AND think breaking-even or profit is likely.

Hope this helps those looking to publish but don’t have the pedigree for an agent to partner you up with more established and collaborative publisher structures. Feel free to reach out to me @florsjkevin on Twitter or comment below with any questions/special cases you may have.

Have a great rest of your day, and stay tuned on my new collection, coming out December 2022.

Subscription Model Mayhem

Subscription Model Mayhem

Written by Kevin Flors

This piece is OPINION based and speculative

I think its quite easy to say that subscription models are invading the way we consume media today. And with the upcoming release of many more subscription services in the coming months — Disney+, Google Stadia, NBC Peacock, and most recently Mario Kart Tour (a SINGLE mobile game played on phones) — it is safe to say that most consumers are starting to feel overwhelmed by monthly payments, not to mention monthly bills for utilities and services. What is the effect these subscription models have now and how will it affect media in the future?

 

The first word that comes to mind with subscription services: “exclusivity.” The power in offering a piece of media everyone talks about only available on your platform is bound to provide great profits. And especially with all the talent and money that goes into creating these “must-see” shows or movies, traditional cable is struggling to compete. Network channels seldom strike gold with limited budget and talent moving to these platforms offering more money and outlets for success. At the same time, however, it is almost impossible nowadays to watch all of these “must-watch” shows in no small part to the many distinct services providing them. Sure, you can jump free trial to free trial just to try and see the shows, but then another show will come up and you’ll be shit out of luck or money.

 

The most telling sign of things to come from subscription service has to be the Peacock, NBC’s own subscription service that is being advertised as “the only place to watch ‘The Office.'” This concerns me because if this subscription service is used mainly to watch one show, then what’s stopping other timeless, extensive shows or media from doing the same, especially if this is successful? And yes, I know the service has other shows and movies on it, but the point still stands in that we might be fast approaching a media world that is blocked by subscription walls and monthly payments.

 

Another telling sign of this, one may be more egregious then most, is the new app Mario Kart Tour, a mobile game that offers a monthly subscription for special features, in-game items, and challenges. All of this might seem harmless, but it’s important to realize that this is for ONE of the thousands of games on the app store (which now also houses its own subscription service). Mobile games have been doing this for years, but the subscriptions themselves have evolved from simply providing ad-free experiences to this, a subscription that blocks features and items in the app that impacts the experience and playability of the app. It is with bated breath I wait for the results of this and how it may transfer to other media forms.

 

Is it too out of left field to see legacy shows like “The Simpsons” or “The Office” hold their own in-house subscription services to watch their shows? The demand surely points to this being an expensive possibility. The thing that brought subscription services in media to the forefront is the curation of content seldom seen from traditional cable service. If this content requires furthered curation, for what would be a lower price individually, then it’s not a leap to say that shows with extensive enough catalogs wouldn’t look into a small monthly fee for their media. And yes, Disney is congregating its content into one platform, but Disney’s content came from a broader distributor of media (cable), so who’s to say major franchises like Marvel and Star Wars won’t birth new subscriptions from Disney’s service?