Scott Berkun on Self-Publishing vs. Traditional Publishing
Scott Berkun has enjoyed fame and fortune as an author working with a traditional publisher (O'Reilly), so why did he venture into the world of self-publishing for his latest book, Mindfire? Is he happy with the results and will he ever work with a traditional publisher again? Those are a few of the questions he answers in this TOC interview. Key points include:
- Self-publishing was a learning opportunity -- Some authors are curious to learn the finer aspects of what goes into making a book and Scott quickly learned a lot with the Mindfire experience. [Discussed at 1:05]
- Blogging and book writing have always gone hand-in-hand for Scott -- His blog is a wonderful sounding board and helps him shape whatever book he's currently working on including the title, cover design and more. [Discussed at 2:10]
- Self-publishing is both easy and hard -- Technology makes it easy to publish almost anything these days; it's all the work that goes into not only the writing but also the editing, cover design, proofreading, indexing, marketing, etc., that make it so challenging. [Discussed at 4:35]
- Self-publishing also requires self-promotion -- Author platforms are more important today than ever before; it's true for traditional publishing too but even more so for self-published products. [Discussed at 8:25]
- The PR effort required was the biggest surprise -- Scott used a giveaway campaign to build momentum and extend his future reach. [Discussed at 9:54]
- How can traditional publishers avoid losing authors to self-publishing? -- Scott turns the question around and asks why this decision is an either/or. [Discussed at 17:14]
- The opportunity to learn from self-published authors -- Editors often abandon their authors who test the self-publishing waters when what they should really be doing is talking more with them to learn what's working and what's not, how lessons learned from self-publishing can be applied in traditional publishing, etc. [Discussed at 20:43]