Writing a book is the easy part, getting it published is the hard part. One has about the same odds as playing the Powerball lottery. Most publishers do not accept unsolicited manuscripts from a writer without an agent they know. Most agents are just as picky. You can’t get either one until you have the other. It is like: You can’t get loan unless you can show you don’t need the money. Most books, nine out of ten, by established authors do not sell enough copies to profit, but the tenth one is a blockbuster that covers all the losses. If the author is already famous, or infamous, they have a better chance
There are lots of vanity press operations. They make a lot of promises, but guarantee little. Many will get a book printed for you, thanks to on-demand printing (so will Kinkos). They will post it on Amazon, and Barns and Noble. You can do that yourself. Then all the other fee-for-service agencies start calling, offering the same service one has already paid for, with a slightly different MO. They all want money up front to promise the same. There is an industry devoted to fleecing authors, much like the one that fleeces inventors, but that’s another show in another tent.
I got lucky, my business partner, thanks to his reputation, was invited to write a book. He invited me to collaborate on it. My name was also on the cover. We sold a few hundred copies. The book generated some extra consulting work. The consulting made the effort profitable. Our publisher even put out a second edition. I don’t remember any royalty checks, but Amazon lists a copy for $250.
The next book was more successful, I found a niche market with a specialty publisher and sold out the first printing in a month. The fastest they had ever sold out, but it was a small run under10,000 copies. There have been five editions so far. Publishing in my field was good for my consulting practice. My practice gave me more material for subsequent editions.
Then I decided to try for a broader market, a somewhat humorous expose of the industry that had supported mine. My publishers were not interested in that sort of thing. I tried vanity press publication. It did not do well, sold a few copies but attracted two other vanity press agencies that made greater promises. One delivered what they could do, printed a few copies and got my adventure book listed on Amazon, but that’s all. It sold a few copies, that I bought for gifts. Those jackals constantly barrage the author with upselling of services that cost them little and probably are worth even less. The third vanity agent folded up before they finished editing and disappeared, can’t even sue to get my money back. Should have known better than to deal with any business in Florida, which has the worst consumer protection laws.
Letters to the editor are fun, but I had so many published I was banned in San Diego. A sarcastic letter got me banned in Kona too. Then I met with the editor of WHT and this somewhat popular column is the result. Now there is a new challenge: a book named The War On The Poor, explores the countless ways the system is biased against those who have less.
Most poor people are poor due to the original sin of being born poor. A few escape that track, sometimes with hard work, sometimes with unusual talent, sometimes with good luck, sometimes with a helpful mentor, usually it takes all of the above. Others barely get by, or start to get ahead only to be set back by what should in all fairness be trivial, but is not if you are living payday to payday. If those who are capable of generating wealth, consume a little less than they create there can ultimately be more total wealth for themselves and others. Not reinvesting in the less fortunate leads to stagnation not growth.
This message needs to be widely published whether or not I benefit. The book needs a real publisher though. Your input is welcome and encouraged.
Ken Obenski is a forensic engineer, now safety and freedom advocate in South Kona. He writes a biweekly column for West Hawaii Today. Send feedback to obenskik@gmail.com.