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In this first episode of The Eritail Show, King Benson shares his opinion on who can be, and what it takes to be a self-publisher. King reveals why so many self-publishers fail and what you need to focus on if you want to win.
King is utterly convinced that self-publishing is the future. He makes an appealing case with his bold, passionate statements, unveiling powerful and rare insights into why he believes freedom and control are the ultimate goals of self-publishing.
The six (6) stages of book publishing mentioned in this episode are as follows:
Writing — author, co-authors;
Editing — editor, co-editors;
Design — cover art, interior design;
Printing — materials, energy, labor;
Publishing — distribution, launch;
Marketing — branding, advertising.
The Publishing Work Flow Chart (Who’s responsible for what?) & Why Self-publishers Are Nuts!
Author — Writing, rewriting.
Publisher — Editing, design, publishing, printing, marketing.
Self-publisher — Writing, rewriting, editing, design, publishing, printing, marketing.
TRANSCRIPT
[Transcript]
Welcome to The Eritail Show where we bring you the good news and bad news of self-publishing and authorship. I’m your host, King Benson…
Hello, hello… Good morning! This is King Benson, host of The Eritail Show. Less than 100 years ago, if you want to publish a book, your only option was to locate a book publisher outside yourself and your team. They will scrutinize your manuscript, and then decide for themselves if they are going to publish your book or not. That was the industrial age.
Today we’re in the information age and anybody can start a publishing business. If you want to publish a book right now, you don’t need anybody’s validation because we have a new model that puts more controls into the hands of authors and creators. That new publishing model is called Self-publishing.
And how we went from that to this is part of what we’re going to cover in this show. If you ever wondered what it takes for one to succeed as a self-published author in the internet age, this is your program.
We have two questions on our desk this morning:
Question 1. Who is a self-publisher? That’s like asking, what is self-publishing versus traditional publishing? We’ll get to that.
Question 2. Should you be a self-published author? Another way of asking that question is, what does it matter if you’re self-published or traditionally published? So, we will cover both questions in this episode.
Currently, authors and publishers are the two major powers behind every book. Authors and publishers. After the editing, design, printing, and marketing people have all gone, the author and publisher both remain responsible for the book.
Authors and publishers are both creators, so what differentiates them? The difference between authors and publishers is that authors are artists and rely on their creativity, while publishers are entrepreneurs and rely on their business systems. So while an author will use their imagination and knowledge to create a script, the publisher, on the other hand, will use their people and systems to achieve their publishing goals.
So back to Question 1, who is a self-publisher? To keep it simple, a self-publisher is an author that assumes the role of a publisher. That is a huge lot of responsibility. But since the goal of authorship is publication, and since the internet has put faster publishing tools into the hands of just about anybody who can operate a smartphone, so why can’t every author just publish themselves?
It is difficult enough to be a book publisher. And I can tell you from my own personal experience that managing people from different professional backgrounds is one of the hardest work there is. In addition, building a successful business system takes time; you need time, knowledge, expertise and willpower.
Authors know how tough it is to produce a manuscript from an idea. So why will somebody in their right mind want both jobs? Why would anybody desire the roles of the author and publisher? Listen, there is only one answer to that, and it’s that self-publishers are nuts! Yes!
On top of that, self-publishers expect to be more successful than their traditional counterparts. O my heavens! Talk about being delusional! But that’s simply what it means to be a self-publisher. More vital than knowledge, more crucial than skill, and long before your experiences accumulate and your team comes together, what is needed is pure blind faith that you can win as a self-published author. Do you have that much blind faith?
In order to understand what a self-publisher is really up against, let’s review the publishing workflow once again.
So you go from Writing, to Editing, Design, Printing, Publishing, and Marketing. And of the six stages, the traditional author is responsible for only one: the Writing stage. While the traditional publisher is responsible for the remaining five stages: Editing, Design, Printing, Publishing and Marketing.
After working with the author in the Writing stage, the publisher still has to work with professionals and specialists in the other stages to produce the desired results.
People such as editors, designers, printers, publicists, marketers and branding experts are important to a publisher in addition to having good lawyers, accountants and bookkeepers. A book publisher must know what good editing looks like, and should know a good cover or interior design when they see one.
Traditional book publishers don’t need to participate in any of the roles; they just need to build the best team. Because… And usually they have been in the business long enough, and so they have an enormous network of people and systems at their command.
Traditional authors, on the other hand, lack both the network and systems, as well as the training to operate them successfully. They are coming out of colleges and universities to write their books, and they have no idea what goes on behind the scenes.
Prior to the 80’s, authors who self-published did so because all the publishers they met they didn’t want to publish them. But after Amazon’s launching, successful launching of the KDP platform in 2007, authors all over the world have become “woke.” And Today the majority of authors are no longer meeting with traditional publishers because they want to self-publish.
Publishers used to reject authors upon contact. Now many authors are rejecting publishers without even contacting them first. When I ask many self-publishers, do you realize that self-publishing means you’re responsible for everything? You know what they say? Yes, yes, of course! Of course, King! I know that already.
So I say, great! And then I show them the publishing workflow chart that is on the cover of this program, so they have an idea what they are up against. And I do all that because usually they have no clue. All they have are visions of grandeur.
It pays to listen! Thank you for tuning in to The Eritail Show. If you like what you hear, please go to Spotify, iTunes, YouTube, etc. and give us a review and rating to help other like-minded people find this show. Thank you for tuning in, and keep on learning!
Break
Music…
This is The Eritail Show with King Benson. Thank you for tuning in. Now back to King Benson.
If you just tuned in, this is King Benson your host, and you are listening to The Eritail Show where we pull down the curtains and take you behind the scenes of authorship and self-publishing.
All our programs are archived at our website. And The only reason we archive them is so that you can easily find, download and listen to them on your favorite devices.
This is the second segment of today’s episode, The Age of Authorship. I’ve been talking about what it means to be self-published. Now the question is, Should you be a self-published author?
Authors tend to veer towards self-publishing for two reasons; 1) Either they think the publisher’s job is redundant or 2) They think they can do a better job. And if you agree along those lines, maybe you should be a self-published author because I think you may have just what it takes. And we know that what it takes is pure blind faith.
Some people believe it takes a lot of education to write a book. But that is not true. Really all what it takes is imagination and good literacy skills. For example, I was born into a lower middle-class family and we only discussed academics when we did our homework.
Both my parents were dropouts. Yet today both are home-owners, thriving as self-employed people, trading time, products, and services for money. It does not take a lot of education to be a trader; just the ability to read and write plus basic arithmetic.
Likewise, I had only a secondary school education when I wrote my first two books in 2012. So it does not take a lot of education to write a book. But it does take a lot of reading, a love of books, a good dose of imagination and pure blind faith.
So should you be a self-published author? Do you truly belong in that category? If you don’t know what it takes to be a self-publisher yet, or if you’re just tuning in, please listen to this program again from the beginning.
If you asked me, I would say it depends on your goal and level of preparation, including how much blind faith you have.
The two questions to ask when you are ready to face the truth about self-publishing and if you should be a self-published author. “Can you count on it?” Or, “Will it count on you?”
If you’re self-publishing because you have something to say, you can count on it.
If you’ve got knowledge and experience that you want to share, you can count on it.
If you’re eloquent with words, you can count on it. If you don’t need external validation, and you’re not afraid of what people will say about you, you can count on it.
But if your goal is to make some fast money, it will count on you. If you’re seeking fame or popularity, it will count on you.
If you lack knowledge, imagination, expertise or experience, and you still want to be a self-published author, it will count on you.
If your goal is financial independence, it will count on you.
Now on the other hand. If you can count on it, it means that you can duplicate other people’s results by following their processes. If you can count on it, it means the popular narrative can be yours.
But if it will count on you, then it means what others have achieved is not relevant to your situation; it means that you will have to create or invent your path. If it will count on you, in other words, it means that you are on your own as far as what you’ve seen or heard about self-publishing.
Personally, I self-publish for the freedom and control it gives me. Self-publishing allows me to live and express myself as a truly free human being. So for me, it’s my choice of lifestyle more so than anything the mainstream media portrays.
I choose self-publishing because it frees me fully from the drudgery and traps of a traditional author path.
I’m not trying to push religion but I learn from my Bible that knowing the truth will set you free. Self-publishing is my truth because, like the Truth, it sets me free from the slavery of having a traditional job.
I plan my working days and set my working hours because I’m a self-publisher. And I choose my battles and rewards simply because I’m a self-publisher.
Self-publishing affects my life in two ways; firstly, it helps me grow as an entrepreneur and secondly, it helps me to develop as a creative artist.
I’m a self-publisher in every sense of the word because I write, create, edit, design, and publish, print, and sell my own books.
Majority of self-published authors have a second occupation. That’s not me. I self-published my first two books barely two years after graduating from high school. And I have no other career, I am proud to say this, to fall back on. So Self-publishing is all I’ve got.
Majority of self-published authors sell their books on Amazon and other platforms. Not me. I want to know who’s buying my books, so I sell my books directly from my own website and marketing platforms.
Self-publishing is what has helped to usher in this new age. I believe we are in the cusp or beginning of what is to be called the age of authorship.
Self-publishing gurus tend to say that the fastest way to become an authority is to become an author.
Authority and freedom may not be the same concepts but they share the same core feature, and that feature is: control.
To give its members more control, I believe, is the reason self-publishing is such a pervasive force today, and it can’t be stopped.
If you asked a self-published author for self-publishing advice and they advise you to upload your manuscript to Amazon and such, then that person likely has no clue what self-publishing is all about really.
Self-publishing is all about freedom, whether creative or financial, and freedom starts when you have complete control over whatever it is that sets you free.
Ladies and gentlemen! Thank you for listening to this episode of The Eritail Show. You can subscribe or follow The Eritail Show on Spotify, YouTube, and more. Also give us a review and a rating to help other like-minded people to find this show. Goodbye, and God bless you.
