According to NYT writer, Moyoko Rich, "As printing becomes cheaper, more would-be authors sre willing to gamble."

My own experience with self-publishing my humorous novel, Something's Leaking Upstairs, is one I am happy to expound upon.   But not as happy as one author cited in the NYT article.  She is Lisa Genova who "self-published her novel which she later sold to an imprint of Simon & Schuster." 

Here is a little of my my experience in self-publishing a novel.  It  was printed on a seven year contract with PublishAmerica (Maryland).  They retain the rights for that period, then all revert to me.  The only up-front cost to me was to secure the copyright from the DC copyright office.  At the time I paid $35.  The price has gone up to $45. (This is  an insignificant amount compared with the up-front costs with many Print On Demand (POD) publishers.)  I actually received an "advance" of $1 from Pub.Am. and the promised royalty of 8% per book sold, including from the ones I purchased.

The catch: The book was published in summer 2005.  As of this date, 99% of the sales (approximately 200 copies by now)  are sales I have made.  At last count about a dozen copies have been ordered directly from PubAm.  Where did I sell the books? During presentations made in California, Nevada and Arizona cities at the invitation of writer club program chairmen.

 One of the main problems with my book is the cover.  It looks like a manual on raising small farm animals.  It is really a manual on how to get a husband to see things your way!  Not that PubAm didn't seek my input, but the artist (?) I dealt with was one primarily skilled in assembling stock computer images. My novel cover pictures a chicken at the top with the title printed over her. At the bottom is a  pig whose hind leg is being held by a braceleted hand–presumably mine, as I sought to re-capture the critter.  I don't believe that anybody seeking an entertaining read would be won over by this cover.

More on the "tenuous art" of self-publishing tomorrow.–Willmai