Let me share the independent publication story of my first book, What Became of Them. It is a collection of short stories that I had written over a number of years in the 1980s. In 1987, I decided it was time to send the collection out into the world, but I was not ready yet to do independent publishing.

Taking stock of myself, I knew I had no need to be approved by someone, to have my writing found to be worthy.  I know many writers want to have a “real book,” and by this, they probably mean they want their book to be canonized by someone—the larger the reputation and the more famous, the better.

This sort of approval was not important to me. I was looking for a way to reach my audience which I knew both existed and would want my book.

I also wanted to earn some income from my writing. I understood that my income would come both from sales of the book and from speaking and teaching from the podium my book would allow me to step up on.

Where to send my manuscript?

I gleaned names and addresses I researched in the library and bookstore. After selecting a few of the more promising—they championed topics which I thought would attract my audience and encompassed a territory where my audience lived.

I sent the book out—and then I waited and waited.

I totally understood how a book has to fit into a publisher’s catalog. (A fruit distributor doesn’t, after all, take on a chicken farmer as a client!) A new book must support the company’s mission and complement books that have already been successful.

In addition, a book must promise to earn the company some income (preferably a large one) from its audience.

A losing proposition

As my manuscript was making the rounds in 1987 and 1988—gone from my desk, I happened to read an article that revealed how an average collection of short stories published by a New York publisher (the canonical angels) sells about 2,000 copies. (Remember this was in 1987-8. I have no idea what the figure is today.) It did not take me long to multiply the probable selling price (at that time about $10/copy) by 10% which is the usual author royalty and multiply that by 2,000 copies for a grand total of $2,000.

I wasn’t going to get rich.

My conclusion was that I was reaching for a losing proposition financially.

My thinking went into gear: independent publishing

If I could sell 2,000 copies at $10, I would reap $20,000—much better than $2,000! Of course, I did not have a Ph. D. in economics, but just the same, it seemed to me that going the traditional publisher route would not support me well financially—not with a collection of short stories geared to a particular audience. So, I did the unheard-of thing in 1988: I decided to withdraw my manuscript from the commercial publishers I had sent it to. I opted for publishing independently.

As it turned out, my print run was 2,200 (the printer used a roll of paper and it is difficult, and perhaps impossible, to judge the number of sheets that can be cut from it. The writer was committed to buying any excess of a high print run—as s/he was to accepting the lesser numbers of any low run—without complaint.)

I sold the 2,200 copies—a large percentage at full price. Some I gave away as review copies and others I sold via distributors to whom I had to give a discount—around 50%. Even so, you can see that I did much better financially with independent publishing than I would have had I gone the traditional route.

This also set me p to be ambitious about garnering speaking engagements at which I sold books.

The experience was a very good and subsequently, my Turning Memories Into Memoirs was also published independently and has since sold over 35,000 copies.

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