http://www.writers-online.co.uk AUGUST 2018^43FICTION FOCUS
AUGUST 2017 43with Helena Fairfax
I wish
I’d known...
‘M
y first novel was published
in 2013 by a small
independent commercial
publisher in North America.
This publisher went on to
publish the next, and my third novel was published
by another small independent commercial
publisher in the UK.
‘I was lucky enough to have an excellent editor in
my first publisher. She taught me a great deal. I also
made some genuine friends across the pond, later
meeting up with them in real life. So there were many
benefits to being commercially published. However,
although it was exciting to have my books accepted
for publication, my income was minimal and, with
my third commercial publisher, I also signed away all
my rights, something I’ve lived to regret.
‘I wish that back then I’d had the confidence and
knowledge to self-publish. Since getting my rights
back from my first publisher, I’ve re-released my
first two books and self-published two more. I’ve
sold the large print rights myself and my books are
being considered for audio. At the time of writing,
two of my books are Amazon UK bestsellers. I earn
more from self-publishing than I did when I was
commercially published, and I’m hoping my income
will increase as I write more books. When my novels
were being commercially published I found the
whole process extremely stressful. But now I’m really
enjoying reaching readers. I
actually enjoy the business
side of self-publishing, and
these days my only problem
is finding enough time to do
everything I’d like to do.
‘Writing is a business, and
today even commercially-
published authors are often
expected to be present on
social media and to
do a lot of the work
of marketing their
books. I wish I’d had
confidence in my
own writing much
earlier than I did, that
I’d understood the
possibilities offered by
self-publishing, and
that I’d believed in my
own ability to find a
readership.’http://www.writers-online.co.uk NOVEMBER 2019^43for the cover, editing, proofing and
marketing. But commercial publishers
are not charities, and most authors
of print novels earn just 10% of the
price received by the publisher – the
amount the publisher is paid by
bookshops, online sales outlets and
wholesalers, not the cover price of
the book – although this percentage
might increase in the author’s favour
if the book does well As for digital
downloads, most commercially-
published novelists are paid 25% of
the amount received by the publisher,
although these days some digital-first
publishers are rather more generous.
You might feel that having a publisher
retain 90% of the receipts for your
printed novels and 75% of the receipts
for your digital downloads is outrageous,
and a great many commercially-
published novelists would agree with
you. This is probably why many
go-getting novelists aren’t even trying to
get commercial publishing deals today.
They see other self-publishers storming
the heights of the Amazon bestseller
charts and ask themselves: why shouldn’t
my books storm them, too?
Aspiring novelists who have done
some research know that if they should
be offered and accept a traditional
publishing contract, they will probably
have to wait months or even years to see
their book on sale. Then, depending on
when the publisher’s accounting period
ends, and when an individual book is
actually sold, they’ll have to wait up to a
year or even more to be paid their own
share of the resultant royalties.
Obviously, self-publishers don’t get
advances against royalties. But nor do
some commercially-published novelists,
especially those writing for smaller,
independent houses. Self-publishers get
to keep a much higher percentage of
their earnings, and they are usually paid
at monthly intervals, rather than at six-
monthly or even annual ones.
As a teacher of creative writing, I
always advise any students considering
self-publishing to have their work
professionally edited, to make it look
good on the printed or digital page,
and – unless the author is also a talented
designer, artist and/or photographer – to
pay a professional to come up with a
striking and appropriate cover image.
I’m sure most readers don’t care who
publishes a book – a major publishing
house or the author – but these
readers do care about quality. Over
the past decade it’s been my pleasure
to read many beautifully-written self-
published novels whose production
values have been as high as those of any
commercially published books. But I’ve
also come across some terrible examples
full of spelling, grammar and formatting
glitches, with embarrassingly amateurish
cover art, too.
These days, plenty of people grumble
about the predominance of Amazon
in the literary marketplace, and it’s
a fact that online retailers are partly
responsible for the ongoing demise
of high street booksellers. But some
of these booksellers, both chains and
independents, are fighting back. They
are often willing to engage with self-
published novelists, and to organise
book signings and other events for them,
which would have been unthinkable
even ten years ago.
So, as a novelist who wants to get your
work out there, it’s your call. When my
first novel was commercially published
back in 1988, the choice for novelists was
to chase literary agents until one finally
agreed to take a risk on an unknown
author, and then to wait for months or
even years while the agent tried to interest
a commercial publisher in the book.
The alternative was vanity publishing,
which saw authors being ripped off by
unscrupulous charlatans, and left with
garages or spare bedrooms full of badly-
produced, unsaleable books.
Nowadays, no one need complain
that they can’t get their work published
because, if no commercial publisher is
willing to give you a chance, you can
publish your work yourself for free via
Amazon in both digital format and print.
One day, you might become a
self-publishing superstar. It’s not an
impossible dream. You don’t have to
look far within Writing Magazine to
find a self-publisher who has beaten the
commercial giants at their own game.NOW Try thisIf you’re still confused and
undecided about what
to do with your novel, let
novelist Helena Fairfax tell
you about her experiences
of both commercial and
self-publishing.enjoying reaching readers. I
actually enjoy the business
side of self-publishing, and
these days my only problem
is finding enough time to do
everything I’d like to do.today even commercially-
published authors are often
expected to be present on