This week in the world of self-publishing:
Once upon a time, Chris-Rachael Oseland turned to self-publishing for the same reasons as many other authors: she faced a litany of rejections from the world of traditional publishing for creating work that was “too niche” in its content, and decided her work deserved to see the light of day anyway. And what a vindication! Unlike many other authors who find incredible success in self-publishing, Oseland has decided to stick with indie. As Jennifer McCartney writes for Publisher’s Weekly in this April 22nd article, Oseland’s “self-published Dining with the Doctor: The Unauthorized Whovian Cookbook has sold more than 35,000 print copies.” In addition, McCartney writes, Oseland “went on to publish a Hobbit-inspired cookbook (An Unexpected Cookbook) as well as one inspired by the Settlers of Catan board game (Wood for Sheep). Her books have been featured by Paste Magazine, Wired, Nerdist, and the Daily Dot.” That’s a lot of acclaim. But McCartney’s article isn’t just a record of Oseland’s accomplishments: it’s a record from the ever-evolving front lines of publishing, where Kickstarter and niche content is king, where readers can participate in and interact with their favorite authors’ projects from conception through funding through publication and purchase. You might not be interested in cooking Deadpool’s chimichangas, but it’s well worth checking out McCartney’s article for its insight into what’s next for Oseland and innovative self-publishing authors at the link!
“For an aspiring scientist, being published in a creditable journal is a major step towards gaining respect in the field,” writes Jon Card in this April 21st piece for the Guardian. “But for Mark Hahnel, founder and CEO of Figshare, this old system was drastically in need of an update. ‘The internet was built for sharing academic data but the way scientific papers are published had hardly changed since the early days of the printing press,’ he says.” But Hahnel, writes Card, was able to dream up and bring to fruition a plan for mixing things up–and providing an innovative new platform for scientists and college students in the sciences to publish, share, and access scientific documents without having to cowtow to the traditional publishing rigamarole. Inspired by websites like Github and Flickr, Hahnel created Figshare to be a multimodal platform, friendly to various forms of non-written media including videos and audio files, as well as intuitive to use and capable of adapting to the ever-changing landscape of the internet. Broken links? Not a problem, according to Card. Figshare has code that will take care of those so that the article’s author doesn’t have to. “But the most important aspect of Figshare,” writes Card, “is that it has created a model that disrupts the current method, where universities pay publishers to see the work that they have created.” Food for thought, right? And there’s a lot more to chew on in the original article, which you can find here.
“With the recent end of tax season, many self-published authors have likely done some thinking about whether they could be saving more money or better protecting themselves from IRS scrutiny,” begins Alex Palmer’s April 22nd article for Publisher’s Weekly. And according to Palmer, “becoming a limited liability company (LLC) or Subchapter S corporation (S corp) can provide distinct tax benefits, but can carry added costs and potential inconvenience.” Palmer goes on to analyze several pertinent elements of such a decision at length, including tax advantages (and disadvantages) as well as the effect it can have on an author’s “legitimacy” in the eyes of third-party businesses (such as those selling ISBNs) or in a courtroom. Palmer breaks down the three major types of business entities open to self-publishing authors: sole proprietorships, limited liability companies, and subchapter S corporations. His article provides a balanced perspective on both the pros and cons of each, and altogether makes for a great starting point for those interested in taking the plunge but who are looking for a few of the basic facts, carefully considered. You can find the whole of Palmer’s business guide for indie authors at the link.
As a self-publishing author, you may find it helpful to stay up-to-date on the trends and news related to the self-publishing industry.This will help you make informed decisions before, during and after the self-publishing process, which will lead to a greater self-publishing experience. To help you stay current on self-publishing topics, simply visit our blog every Monday to find out the hottest news. If you have other big news to share, please comment below.
ABOUT KELLY SCHUKNECHT: Kelly Schuknecht is the Executive Vice President of Outskirts Press. In addition to her contributions to the Outskirts Press blog at blog.outskirtspress.com, Kelly and a group of talented marketing experts offer book marketing services, support, and products to not only published Outskirts Press authors, but to all authors and professionals who are interested in marketing their books and/or careers. Learn more about Kelly on her blog, kellyschuknecht.com.
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