Till about five years ago, when one talked about self-publishing, it was mocked at as a place struggling writers, who couldn?t get their works published, would opt for. Today, that stigma has almost diminished. Of the top 100 bestsellers of e-commerce giant Amazon, close to 30% are self-published. In India, about 20 e-books of the top 100 in the online store would fall in that category, as per reports.
In the autumn of 2012, Bowker, the exclusive US agent for issuing International Standard Book Numbers (ISBNs)?a universal method of identifying books in print?revealed that self-published titles had grown by nearly 60% that year, and showed no signs of slowing in 2013. And while the industry continues to grow, experts feel 2014 may be the year of ?maturing?.
Self-publishing has become an alternative tool for authors, providing them an easy way to make their dream a reality while retaining control, building global credibility and receiving royalties of up to 70%?an amount that was almost unthinkable till a few years ago. In India, lately, the platform has gained momentum with some leading authors making it big.
?It?s really interesting to see the growth of self-publishing around the world and I am seeing its beginning in India as well. I come from a traditional publishing background. I used to head the legal division of Random House in Canada, among other assignments, before I joined Amazon. So for me to see this massive growth itself is amazing,? says Jon P Fine, director, author and publishing relations, Amazon.com.
Amazon launched its Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) for independent authors and publishers in India in August last year. The fast and easy platform allows authors and publishers to make their books available to Kindle customers in India and around the world on both Kindle devices and free Kindle reading apps.
Last year, Penguin, too, announced the launch of its self-publishing channel, Partridge, that gave Indian authors access to professional, editorial, publishing and marketing services. The imprint was launched in partnership with US-based Author Solutions, which was acquired by Penguin in 2012.
After its launch, Andrew Phillips, CEO of Author Solutions, had said: ?We get a lot of manuscripts every month. So we know there is a huge writing community out there. However, all the authors do not necessarily have the opportunity to get published through traditional publishing houses.?
Upper case
As per estimates, a reputed publishing house receives up to 20% more manuscripts than the titles it brings out. It may receive up to 3,500 manuscripts a year, but publishes only about 300, leaving enough space for self-publishing. ?As a struggling author, your chances of getting to the agent or the publisher are minimal. A lot of books never even get to the point that people would be able to read them,? says Fine of Amazon.
Then there is the issue of coming out with a ?complete? product. Amazon?s KDP, for instance, allows anyone to upload his or her manuscript, create his or her own book cover and distribute it through the Kindle store. Authors can publish their books in less than a day, a lot faster by traditional standards.
?You can upload your book in less than five minutes if you have all the details, and it gets published in less than 12 hours. If your book goes up in rankings, you get noticed by the world,? says Sri Vishwanath, a self-published author of titles like Acres of Diamonds Within, The Power of Visualization and Give Up Your Excess Baggage.
?Despite the company being American, I could set up an account with Amazon?s KDP and have it running in minutes from India. Approvals for new titles and updates also come very fast, says Ajay Jain, a self-published author, who has released several titles on the KDP platform such as Peep Peep Don?t Sleep and Don?t Feel Stupid at 60, among others.
Authors also stand to get up to 70% of the royalties their books make, which, in a traditional publishing platform, would otherwise be in the range of 10% or so. In Amazon?s KDP, authors and publishers have the ability to set prices specific for India, receive royalty payments in Indian rupees, and earn up to 70% royalties when enrolled in the KDP Select programme, adds Fine.
Digital ink
Bestselling author Amish Tripathi was rejected by around 20 publishing houses before he opted to self-publish his first book, The Immortals of Meluha. The book became such a hit online that publishers chased him, resulting in a $1-million contract with Westland India for his Shiva trilogy. Londoner EL James also began with self-publishing Fifty Shades of Grey? paperback versions of the book only hit the shelves in April 2012, after the Fifty Shades trilogy was the subject of a bidding war and James signed a seven-figure deal with Vintage books, part of Random House.
Globally, we have seen a lot of bestsellers among self-published books like Hugh Howey, the American author known for his popular series Wool, which he independently published through Amazon?s KDP platform. He notably turned down seven-figure offers in favour of a mid-six-figure sum in return for maintaining e-book rights. Then there is Bella Andre, known for the Sullivan series, which she signed for a groundbreaking seven-figure, print-only deal with Harlequin. The trend is picking up in India as well.
Hyderabad-based Rasana Atreya chose self-publishing because she wanted to see what she could achieve on her own. ?I did have a publishing contract, so this was a very conscious decision. It was a little scary because I didn?t know what I was getting into, so I did a lot of research before I jumped in. Turns out, it was the best thing I ever did,? she says.
Atreya wrote a novel called Tell A Thousand Lies. Within a week of its release, the book was downloaded 17,000 times. The manuscript of the novel was also shortlisted for the 2012 Tibor Jones South Asia Prize, an award open to unrepresented south Asian writers with a completed draft of an unpublished novel. ?The novel came about because Indian television is overrun by advertisements from manufacturers of fairness creams that promise everything from good grades to nirvana if only you use their particular brand of product. This got me thinking. In India, we don?t see the person, we see only the colour of their skin. What a shallow nation we have become,? says the mother of two.
The rise of self-publishing and e-books, with their more simplified distribution, has made it possible for authors to find international audiences that would have been unreachable a few years ago. Up to 60% of Atreya?s sales, for instance, have come from the UK. ?The US market, too, is big for me. I have over 300 reviews across various Amazon portals and Goodreads, among others,? she adds.
Similar was the response received by Vishwanath. In less than two years after he uploaded 13 titles to Amazon?s KDP, they witnessed over 2.5 lakh downloads. His ?spiritual? books were constantly ranked among the top 100 most popular authors in the ?Mind, body and spirit? category of Amazon. ?Like everyone else, I approached traditional publishers, but at the same time, I also explored self-publishing. I kept writing books and got close to securing big deals with a New York publisher, but for some reason or the other, the deal would fall off. After over eight persevering years, I completed 13 titles, all of which I uploaded on Kindle,? says the 41-year-old author based in Mumbai.
Print-ready
The increasing demand has spawned a number of ?smaller? self-publishing companies in the country that cater to those who want to become published authors but are unable to attract the attention of traditional publishers. ?We saw the growing popularity of e-publishing and decided it was time the Indian audience was given this opportunity too. Hence, we decided to give this facility to the public to publish not only print books but also e-books,? says Geetu Goel, co-founder and director, Zorba Publishers.
Zorba was started by Goel and and Shalini Gupta, who wanted to turn their passion for books and zeal for hard work into something that would help struggling authors. ?We have been in this market for the past two years and have had a steady growth. In the coming year, we are looking at 100% growth with plans to extend our services in the international market,? adds Goel.
For the founders of Chennai-based NotionPress, it was to cater to their own needs that drove them to start a self-publishing company. ?In 2011, we were planning to publish a book that catered to a niche audience. All the publishers that we approached did not find value in publishing a book with a small target audience. In our endeavour to self-publish, we realised that, unlike in the US, we did not have a good self-publishing model in India,? says Naveen Valsakumar, 27, who co-founded NotionPress, which allows authors to write, format and design a book for free. NotionPress? revenue model is primarily based on 30% net profits that it receives from sales. It also generates revenue on professional services.
The market is growing, says Jaya Jha, co-founder of Bangalore-based Pothi. ?It happens in all fields. When the tools become easily available, more people are able to do what was earlier available only to the experts,? adds the IIM-Lucknow and IIT-Kanpur alumna. Pothi?s revenue model is simple?it shares royalty with authors on the books sold; if authors print copies for themselves, the company makes money on it; some authors also take paid services from the company.
In the end, self-publishing is like an entrepreneurial venture, says Jha. ?If you are looking to do well, you must first think of your market and audience, and how you are going to reach them. Too many first-time authors get into it without giving any thought to that part and are later disappointed. Other than that, if you are publishing for self-fulfillment, self-publishing is an excellent route to take,? she adds.
Kunal Doley
