Self-Publishing Success, and Then a Contract
by Juli Cragg Hilliard, Religion BookLine -- Publishers Weekly, 12/20/2006
Bret Nicholaus almost always counsels writers to self-publish first. They should do it, he says, to prove their guts, their tenacity, and that the book has a viable market. "From an author's standpoint, I think it's very rewarding to do it on your own," Nicholaus told RBL.
He should know. In 2000, he wrote The Christmas Letters, self-published it with business and writing partner Paul Lowrie, and sold nearly 60,000 copies before a publisher bought the book. In October, Hachette Group USA's Center Street imprint released it, with a first run of 75,000 copies.
The book, Nicholaus's first alone and first fiction, centers on a grandfather who reminds his family of Christmas's true meaning. Nicholaus said he started writing about six one July evening and, with a four-hour break for sleep, finished by 11:30 the next morning. Nicholaus chose to self-publish, though he and Lowrie had already had mainstream success with nonfiction bestseller The Conversation Piece: Creative Questions to Tickle the Mind (Ballantine, 1996). They also first self-published that, in 1992.
But the two were better equipped to self-publish than most authors. Nicholaus has a public relations degree, and Lowrie has one in marketing. They relish using those skills—doing "as much as two humans working out of a basement can do," said Nicholaus—before taking a book to a literary agent. With The Christmas Letters, Nicholaus said he showed the manuscript around and was told it could be the next Christmas classic.
 Bret Nicholaus. Credit: Christina Nicholaus |
Barnes & Noble was the strongest chain retailer for the title. But the best customers were traditional gift shops and—though Nicholaus envisioned a Middle America audience–affluent families.
Center Street won the book at auction. Senior editor Chris Parks said agents Joe Durepos and Alan Youngren told her Nicholaus was "a marketing machine and a publishing miracle." Said Parks, "He has boundless energy and enthusiasm for his book, and he has a very good grasp on the marketplace and what is out there." She wanted to work with him on more books, but could understand his preference for autonomy. Nicholaus and Lowrie now have a six-figure deal with St. Martin's children's imprint Roaring Brook Press for a seven-book nonfiction series.
Parks doubts most writers can self-publish with similar results. "I don't think there are that many Brets out there," she said. "It's hard for even huge companies like us to get attention for our books."
What does Nicholaus tell authors who don't have PR and marketing backgrounds? Work in a bookstore, or at least research what goes on there. "Get out in the trenches.Understand what happens at ground zero," he said.
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