To Self-Publish, Or Not To Self-Publish…Alan Sepinwall’s Inspiring Tale
There is new evidence in the ongoing debate about how to publish a book – whether it’s better to go with a traditional publisher or self-publish.
I was excited a few months ago to see that one of my favorite bloggers, Alan Sepinwall, who is a television critic, had written a book (The Revolution Was Televised). I was also intrigued to see that he had self-published. I emailed him to ask why he had decided to go this route and not the traditional one. I assumed someone with his high profile would not have trouble finding a publisher. He directed me to an interview he did with Indie Reader wherein he explained that while he had initially attempted to go through traditional means, and had received a small offer, he decided he’d do better on his own. And then, apparently to his surprise as well as everyone else’s, Michiko Kakutani, the feared New York Times book reviewer, gave him a rave review (Dec. 6, 2012.)
Most of the time, even published books can’t get attention from her, so for her to review a self-published book was big news. And his comment was telling: “there are tools for self-publishing — in terms of production, distribution and promotion — that didn’t used to exist. (One of the most frequent comments I got from people right after the paperback came out was, ‘It looks like a real book’ — by which they meant, it looked exactly like a book they would find on the shelf at Barnes & Noble.) And I suppose in that way, the rise of the cable networks — who, by the late ’90s, were able to make shows that looked like “real” TV shows — parallels what’s happening here.”
The story could end there, with a happy self-published author. But then, the first week of January, I noticed something on the Publishers Marketplace website—the record of a deal between Sepinwall and Touchstone Publishing. He sold the rights to his book (through an agency by the way)to a mainstream publisher!
The moral? There’s no clear-cut answer. Every situation is unique and you must consider all the variables. In his case, he had a strong following, and lots of connections in the blogosphere to build interest in the beginning, and then he decided to capitalize on the publicity and get out of the book publishing business all at once.
If you want to read it, the new version won’t be out until May 2013, but if you have an e-reader you can buy it from Alan’s site directly: http://www.alansepinwall.com/