Publishing versus Self-Publishing: Be Honest

This week I attended what was titled an "Author's Workshop." To be as clear as possible without identifying specific people/ places, this was not through a writer's conference or event, it was one event among many during a 2-day arts/ humanities festival at a high school. The events were attended by students and I was there as a supervisor. At this particular event the author discussed many things about his background that were of interest to students and writing was just one of them.

Being someone who is interested in both self-publishing and publishing, I was interested in what I might learn. Early in the portion of the talk that had to do with writing, a red flag went off in my mind when I heard the author talk about being in talks with Barnes and Noble over getting the book stocked. The author had made no mention of the book being self-published, but I've never heard of traditional publishers having to convince B&N or other major chains to stock their books. I immediately looked the book up online and saw that it had been published over a year ago through a major self-publishing company.

As the talk continued, the writer made general references to the input one gets on the book cover, the editing process, etc., all with NO mention of the book being self-published. When self-publishing was finally referenced in the final 2 minutes of the talk, the writer intimated that having a self-published copy of the book was something one could send to publishing houses to give them an idea of what the book would look like (technically true, though this tidbit neglects the fact that in 99% of the cases, self-publishing and THEN trying to traditionally publish the same book is actually a strike against it in terms of an agent or publishing house taking it on).

There are prolific writings online regarding the pros and cons of self-publishing versus traditional publishing. Either choice can be a good one depending on what your personal goals for your writing are. However, whichever route you choose, you should be transparent about it, especially when speaking to young people or prospective writers about your choice. Do you need to announce that you're self-published versus traditionally published to everyone you speak to? Not necessarily. But if you're in a position to educate people about the publishing process, then transparency is a necessity. To not be transparent in such a case does a disservice to those seeking information on both the traditional and self-publishing processes.

The Backword Book Contest- My Entry

For those of you who haven't heard of this through other writer-publisher Twitters, The Backword Books Blog, a collective of self-published authors, is throwing a contest in order to create more buzz/ dialogue on the very, very broad topic of self-publishing. The rules:

The rules: We want to hear your thoughts about self-publishing – a blog post about the merits of self-publishing and how it might change the face of publishing in the future. What will self-publishing look like 25 years from now, 50 years from now? How has self-publishing made strides in recent years? That sort of thing. The drawbacks of self-publishing are welcome as well, but a scathing attack on self-publishing probably isn’t going to do it for us. Basically, we want to know: What’s your opinion about self-publishing?
(Rule #2 includes making them aware of your posting- visit the original post for details.)

SOOO, here goes. There is so much I have read about self-publishing and so much to say, so I am going to limit myself to addressing how self-publishing has made strides and the drawbacks of self-publishing.

Years ago, self-publishing was viewed as a fall back for people who weren't skilled enough to be traditionally published. If you don't know how tough it is for any writer to get published, this would be a natural assumption. In addition, the fact that anyone can self-publish means that many sloppy or unskilled writers do self-publish, which reinforces the stigma of self-publishing.

The drawback to self-publishing is that the stigma has not entirely died. However, it has most definitely lessened. There are a number of authors, even if they are a minority,who have used self-publishing to gain recognition and eventually had their self-published books or subsequent books traditionally published. In my s.o.'s experience, self-publishing has helped him to gain recognition as a serious author and led to a book award that agents have said will go a long way in a query letter to influence them to look at future work.

On the downside, a self-published writer still has to do all his own marketing, which is both time-consuming and costly. Yet, many traditionally published writers who are published through smaller presses are put in the same boat. Newer authors in this situation may initially be under the illusion that all the marketing will be done for them, and struggle when the book does not get much press. For a self-published author, there is no illusion. Again, based on personal experience, what I and the s.o. have learned about marketing and networking through our self-publishing experience is not only helping now, but will continue to be a resource we will tap into when he has a future book (fingers crossed) traditionally published.

Also, as a final thought, there are plenty of writers who would like to get their ideas out there, leave stories for their families, etc., who genuinely don't care about going through the work, and ups and downs, that it would take to *possibly* become the next big seller. For people in this situation, self-publishing is exactly what they need.

I'm what I like to all a recreational poet. I don't have the time or discipline to make poetry my life. Maybe one day I will, but for now I value my teaching career; I like to fence in my spare time; and I love traveling, watching movies and good TV and spending time with family and friends. If down the road I eventually had a book of poems, but not the time or inclination to send them out again and again to journals and agents, I would definitely consider self-publishing for the joy of seeing them in print and gleaning even a handful of sales.

As for the future of self-publishing, it's not going away, but I have no idea exactly where it will go! I guess we'll just have to wait and see. :)

Midwest Writers Workshop- Publishing Your Novel

The Midwest Writers Workshop ended today and it was definitely a worthwhile experience. Today's day was filled with how to write a winning query (with Diane Freed), facing the dreaded synopsis (with Joanna Stampfel-Volpe), how to do wounds and physical damage correctly with John Gilstrap, and more.

The most helpful advice I received, repeatedly, regarded the marketing of a writer who is self-published to a published agent. For those of you in this situation, here was the basic run-down I received:

1) Querying about your self-published book is probably a waste of time. It's already published. Unless it rapidly sold 8-10,000 copies, publishers won't want to look at it now, which means that agents won't want to look at it.

2) Awards count, and the success of your self-published book DOES count. If your self-published book has won awards, or you have vigorously marketed it, that is something you can add to the query letter for your next book that gives you credibility.

3) Work on the next book. Write a query for the next book. If you land an agent, sell the book successfully, you may then be able to approach your agent about re-publishing your self-published book.

Guys Lit Wire and Library Talks

In the infinite search to expand my own knowledge (and help others) about literature and/or the publishing industry, I came across a fantastic new blog that I will now be following. It is called Guys Lit Wire, and it focuses primarily on YA (young adult) literature geared towards boys, a niche that is often hard to fill. Check out this site for some great book reviews, links, and insight into literature for boys- great for those writing for that population or for high school/ junior high teachers.

On a personal note, John just completed a small New Hampshire tour. While he sold well at a signing at a Borders, this appearance proved a little uncomfortable for him. As an author who is not yet widely known, he couldn't draw people in merely on his name. Although some advertising was done, he found himself sitting in the Borders having to play the salesman to customers, which is not a position in which he is comfortable. Far more profitable and comfortable were the book talks at libraries, where he was able to both sell books and talk to interested parties about both his writing work and self-publishing. So, for my POD or self-publishing followers, or even those who have done traditional publishing through smaller publishing, try to tap out your local or regional libraries to host book talks and promote your work in the process. You can bring copies of your books with to sign and sell after the talk.

The New Podler

Once again, for those of you who have self-published, there are many great resources available for getting your book reviewed. It can be difficult to get a self-published book reviewed. Many reviewers are overwhelmed with standard published books already and will not want to take a chance on a self-published book. In addition, many reviewers want to review books before they are released to the public; another dilemma for the self-publisher. I have written before about PODBRAM, but today Steven Reynolds wrote a review for John's book for The New Podler Review of Books. You can check out their website and book reviews at http://thenewpodler.blogspot.com. Unfortunately, The New Podler will now be charging self-published writers to review their books. Steven Reynolds has chosen to longer write for them since that is the case, although he is also cutting back on his reviews in order to have time for his own reading-for-pleasure list! You can read many of his reviews on Amazon as well, where he is a ranked reviewers.

For those of you who have done some sort of self-publishing, I would encourage you to look into the various organizations dedicated to reviewing self-published books so that you can get some objective book reviews.

Writers, Conferences, and other fun stuff

The other day John and I had the opportunity to meet with a famous young adult (YA) writer, who was kind enough to have lunch with us and offer advice about writing, getting published, marketing, etc. She greatly encouraged John to quit looking toward self-publishing and look to get an agent. The bottom line distinction between the choice to self-publish and the choice to do the hard work of trying to get standard published still seems to be this: if you simply want to see yourself in print, and sell a few books, self-publish. If you want to make a career out of writing, go through the hard work, and failures, and rejections, until you can get standard published, because that is where you will earn money, and respect for your book. So for now, that is the future direction we are looking toward. She also recommended subscribing to the site www.publishersmarketplace.com, for a really great resource for finding agents, knowing how much writers are getting paid for books, etc.

On a related note, however, John's self-published novel peaked again at 32,000 for its sales ranking on Amazon, and at this point we're not sure why, other than by word-of-mouth success, which is great! We have been doing minimal advertising, nothing paid, only mailings (and none in the last 2 weeks), and then the usual: maintaining a Facebook Fan page, a Good Reads page, and a blog on Amazon. He does have a number of book talks/ signings in the next 2 weeks that we have advertised. Whatever the true cause, we're glad that the book has caught on and is still going strong. Hopefully this data will help us when he looks to show agents (for his next book) that he has fans and has been successful on an independent scale, and therefore would be a promising writer to take on.

Also, we are still scheduled to go to the Midwest Writers Workshop, and I am looking forward to any networking opportunities and writing inspiration that this might bring. If it gives even a bit of the inspiration that speaking with the YA author did, I will be very happy. As I have read in many places before, conferences are great places to make connections, meet agents, and bond with other writers.

Library mailings!

So! The library mailings are on again! John's book received a boost in sales after being listed as bestseller on his publishing company's website for the 2nd month in a row.

This weekend, on the strength of this new information, we are going to stuff envelopes for libraries, asking them to purchase the book for their collections. This is something we meant to do weeks ago, but which got derailed after other commitments prevented us, and I also had a crisis of faith in the whole self-publishing/traditional publishing industries.

So, the journey continues. We'll see what effects the mailings do. Then, on to more query letters, contests, conferences, etc. :)

Hope

Today I'm home from work. John is writing his sequel. This morning he wrote back to a young writer who had written to inquire about venturing forth into the world of writing after college. I wrote back to a literary publicist I had contacted. I also reviewed an estimate that Book Masters had sent me and continued to mull over the costs and benefits of using Book Masters over other self-publishing houses. Later I received another polite rejection letter from an agent.

Doing this work without seeing any immediate payoff, always thinking about costs, and wondering if an agent will ever consider his work can be a massive headache. I feel the muscles in my face taut with tension. But I keep telling myself to be patient. There isn't a deadline for success looming over us. I've always known that success (I should say 'Big Success' since we already have had quite a bit of success) in writing is a long, long process, but it's easy to forget when you're putting so much work into it on a daily basis. I'm glad that John has me to work on the marketing and querying, etc. for the book, while he writes his books, because I can see how having to handle all of it on one's own would be a killer for the creative work of writing- the actual work that a writer wants to be doing. Kudos to all of you writers who are doing all of it or almost all of it on your own.

Self-Publishing vs. Traditional Publishing

I'm a little more relaxed about the issue of self-publishing vs. traditional publishing than I was a few days ago, though I still have a number of questions floating around in my mind. My S.O.'s self-published book hit a record high again on Amazon.com's sales rankings with a rank of 39,000. My only frustration with these rankings is that we never know why the book rises and falls. Was it a result of certain marketing efforts on our part? If so, which ones? Is it word-of-mouth? If so, how do we take advantage of that?

In the meantime, I found some helpful articles on Helium.com about self-publishing vs. traditional publishing. Below is the link, for those interested:

http://www.helium.com/items/1338021-self-publishingself-publishing

Venturing Forth . . .

This is my first blog. Ever. I've read other people's blogs before, thought about the idea of blogging, but never had an inclination to blog in the past. What suddenly motivated me to start was a new experience that proves to be a long, long journey. The newness of the experience, including my lack of complete knowledge about this realm, and my desire to learn from others and connect to others going through similar experiences was the impetus for creating this blog. So here I go.

My Significant Other is a new writer. 'New' in the sense that he has not yet published through traditional publishing houses or literary magazines. He wants to make a career out commercial fiction writing. He has self-published his first novel, is working on his sequel, and I am trying to learn and do everything possible to help him succeed.

So far I have taught myself about query letters, proposals and am learning about self-publishing, POD, and other types of publishing. My S.O. self-published his first novel through AuthorHouse in order to see it in print and keep himself motivated to keep writing. We've been fairly successful with feedback on the book, and, I say this trying my best to put any bias aside, I have been an avid reader all my life (even majored in English), and it is a good book. I know that there are very different opinions about self-publishing, and I still question whether or not doing so with this first novel was the best decision. However, it's done now and I see my job as doing what I can to help promote the novel and help my S.O. to eventually transition into traditional publishing. We've done mailings, set up a blog on Amazon, set up a Facebook Fan Page, and hopefully will have a website soon. Things are going well, but I'm always looking for the next step.

Recently, I was advised to look into switching our distributor from AuthorHouse to Book Masters, Inc., which is not a print-on-demand distributor. If anyone has any advice to offer, please post.

I look forward to learning from others and responding to dialogue of any kind.