Remember when self-published authors were shunned by the marketplace? That wasn’t so long ago! And yet, all the recent changes in book publishing have put self-published authors pretty much on a par with those published by major publishing houses.
About five years ago, I was working as the webmaster for Publishers Weekly. And PW’s had a policy — their book reviewers would not even consider self-published books. Traditional publishers would send their books to PW for review consideration. Anything that came from another source was pretty much ignored. If you were a self-published author, your chance of getting any press in PW was nil.
But even Publishers Weekly seems to be coming around. PW announced this week that is now adding a quarterly self-publishing supplement, beginning this December, where self-published authors can get their books listed. A listing would be free for PW subscribers, but cost $149 for non-members. This supplement will also include news about the self-publishing field and interviews with authors.
“PW does regular announcement issues and supplements that cover a wide variety of publishing segments,” said PW president George Slowik Jr. “We believe the self-publishing supplement will bring self-published authors more attention from our subscriber base of publishers, agents, booksellers and distributors.”
Finally! They’re coming around! It won’t be long before choosing to go through a publishing house or to self-publish will be like choosing between Coke and Pepsi.
If you’re a self published author, make sure to contact us for a free consultation about what we can do to promote you and your book!