Self-Publishing Paths: Week 6, Marketing & Promotion

Greetings and salutations, Blogoramans! Welcome to the final post in this guest series on self-publishing at mystery author and contracts lawyer Susan Spann's Spann of Time blog. In this final installment, I offer what words of advice I can about the marketing and promotion side of being a self-published author. I hope you glean some valuable information, and I wish you the utmost success in your writing and publishing endeavors!

You’ve done it. You have achieved a dream—maybe one that was lifelong, or perhaps more spur-of-the-moment, but an achievement to be commended for. Take a minute and think about that. Thousands of people want to write a novel. Of those, only hundreds begin, and of those, fewer still ever get beyond crafting a very long, wordy file that pulses in electronic bits on their computer or fades from ink to obscurity in a notebook. But not you—to paraphrase T. S. Elliot, you have turned blood into ink, and now you are ready to hurl it at the ravenous hordes of voracious and inkthirsty readers. Or, you know, sell it. Continue here.

Full Series Posts:Week 1: Research. An overview and comparison of the self- vs. traditional-publishing paradigms.Week 2: Business Plans. What an author needs to know to create and adhere to business plans and deadlines.Week 3: Distributing Your Novel. The general considerations regarding distribution sites.Week 4: Creating eBooks. Details to consider in regard to ebook creation, and why and how to do it.Week 5: Plan ahead to hire an editor, proofreader, and cover designer. At minimum, start looking six months before you plan to publish.

Self-Publishing Paths: Week 5, Editing & Cover Design

G'morning Blogitons! Please join Susan Spann and I on Spann of Time for the continuation of the self-publishing series. This week we look at the second most essential component of publishing a novel, the presentation. This includes editing, proofreading, and cover design. Thanks to all who've commented how much you've enjoyed this series so far. Next week will be the final post and discusses the juggernaut of marketing. Take care!

Sometimes, most of the time even, new authors are consumed by and utterly immersed in their first few writing projects, often to the point of having absolutely no brain cells left over for any other creative or “businessy” endeavors. I’ve been there; I understand it. Nothing is more exciting to a writer than the story you are bringing to life.Somewhere along this creative journey, however, new authors generally come to a decision about whether they will publish or simply allow their novel to be extant. It’s a question of public attention and acknowledgment vs. personal satisfaction and self-acknowledgment. (Here’s a little something I wrote on the subject of why we write that talks more about this public vs. personal dialectic). Once an author makes their choice, it’s time to get serious about carving out the time to include all those ancillary steps to the actual writing that will lead to your finished—and publishable, if that’s your goal—novel. Continue here.

Full Series Posts:Week 1: Research. An overview and comparison of the self- vs. traditional-publishing paradigms.Week 2: Business Plans. What an author needs to know to create and adhere to business plans and deadlines.Week 3: Distributing Your Novel. The general considerations regarding distribution sites.Week 4: Creating eBooks. Details to consider in regard to ebook creation, and why and how to do it.Week 6: Marketing & Promotion.

Self-Publishing Paths: Week 4, Creating eBooks

G'day Blogolicioussians. Please join me today at mystery author Susan Spann's blog where the series on self-publishing continues with week 4. This post goes into more detail about things to consider in regard to ebook creation, and why and how to do it. Enjoy!

For someone unfamiliar with HTML or CSS, creating an ebook may seem like black magic. But that doesn’t have to stop you from making ebooks your main self-published medium. Hundreds and hundreds of ebook creators have their shingle up, and a quick web search will find them for you. Better yet, if you’re part of a group of likeminded writers who’ve already gone through the process of having their novels formatted as ebooks, ask them who they used and if they would or wouldn’t recommend this service. Continue here.

Full Series Posts:Week 1: Research. An overview and comparison of the self- vs. traditional-publishing paradigms.Week 2: Business Plans. What an author needs to know to create and adhere to business plans and deadlines.Week 3: Distributing Your Novel. The general considerations regarding distribution sites.Week 5: Plan ahead to hire an editor, proofreader, and cover designer. At minimum, start looking six months before you plan to publish.Week 6: Marketing and Promotion.

Self-Publishing Paths: Week 3, Distribution

Hello Blogdrodites! Welcome to the third week of my guest post series on the many considerations of self-publishing. Please join me at (world's coolest) mystery author Susan Spann's blog, Spann of Time, to learn about the things to consider when choosing your distribution sites. You may also want to visit this older post of mine that has a more concrete (though dated) look at the many options. Thanks to the many who have stopped by to peruse these posts. I hope you're enjoying them and getting some good tips. Cheers!

There are two kinds of people in the world (outside of those who write and those who don’t), and they are those who obsess about the details and those who think of details as esoteric thought experiments that have little bearing on the obviously more important process of writing the next novel. But here’s the thing, and it bears repeating once again: Treat your writing like a passion, but treat your novel like a business. In a successful business model, the details are what matter the most. Continue here.

Full Series Posts:Week 1: Research. An overview and comparison of the self- vs. traditional-publishing paradigms.Week 2: Business Plans. What an author needs to know to create and adhere to business plans and deadlines.Week 4: Creating eBooks. Details to consider in regard to ebook creation, and why and how to do it.Week 5: Plan ahead to hire an editor, proofreader, and cover designer. At minimum, start looking six months before you plan to publish.Week 6: Marketing and Promotion.

Self-Publishing Paths: Week 2, Business Plans

G'day Bloggorites. Please join me and mystery author Susan Spann at Spann of Time today where I discuss the ins and outs and steps to take for creating a self-published author's business plan. This post is the second in a series on all of the facets of self-publishing. Visit week 1's post on research and identifying your goals and intents here. Here's a short preview:

Being in independently published author is extremely time intensive. Knowing that going in is the first consideration you need to include when evaluating your trajectory and goals. Much as you may outline your novel—with plot arcs, story goals, and finale outcomes—think of your business plan as the outline to your writing career. The following are the three universal steps (as I see them) to accomplish this.1. Set realistic goals.The fact is, brand new unknown authors cannot expect to hit the publish button and sell hundreds of books overnight, even if they hire a publicist. The number one way people sell books is through word of mouth, and if your book hasn't yet been read by anyone, there's no one to spread the word on how fabulous it is. But that's okay, as indie fantasy author K. Scott Lewis describes it, becoming a success is a marathon, not a sprint. Continue.

Full Series Posts:Week 1: Research. An overview and comparison of the self- vs. traditional-publishing paradigms.Week 3: Distributing Your Novel. The general considerations regarding distribution sites.Week 4: Creating eBooks. Details to consider in regard to ebook creation, and why and how to do it.Week 5: Plan ahead to hire an editor, proofreader, and cover designer. At minimum, start looking six months before you plan to publish.Week 6: Marketing and Promotion.

Self-Publishing Paths: Week 1, Research

G'day Blogtasticans. Join myself and fellow author Susan Spann at Spann of Time today where I'm discussing the many nuances of self-publishing. This is a six-week long series, and week one covers the wheretofors and whathaveyous of choosing the self-pubbing path. Thanks, Susan, for having me!A sneak peek:

Isaac Asimov said, “Self-education is, I firmly believe, the only kind of education there is.” And that is the first thing you must do in order to fly your indie flag at its grandest height. Researching and learning the business from both the traditional and the independent or self-publishing perspective is the essential ingredient to making the best choices for your own writing career. Each person must decide for themself what fork in the path they want to take in regard to going trad or indie, but to make a good decision, you must be as informed as possible about what you’re gaining and/or losing in either choice. Continued here.

Full Series Posts:Week 2: Business Plans. What an author needs to know to create and adhere to business plans and deadlines.Week 3: Distributing Your Novel. The general considerations regarding distribution sites.Week 4: Creating eBooks. Details to consider in regard to ebook creation, and why and how to do it.Week 5: Plan ahead to hire an editor, proofreader, and cover designer. At minimum, start looking six months before you plan to publish.Week 6: Marketing and Promotion.

Author Spotlight: Erik Wecks

Blogomites, it is my pleasure to have as a guest today Erik Wecks, author of the Pax Imperium novels and frequent contributor to GeekDad and LitReactor to share his wisdom on being a full-time writer, father, and self-publishing cognoscente.***First things first: tell us about you, why you write, and if it you regard writing generally to be a symptom of genius or insanity.Ha! Definitely insanity. Think about it, we spend all day in our heads imagining and pretending in worlds where we can make things just the way we want them. Worse, we are at our best when torturing the people we created in those worlds. Is it any wonder many writers struggle to deal with the reality? Seriously though, I have definitely come to be a more introverted person since taking up writing. I'm content with that, but it has been an interesting change. I think I would now describe myself as an outgoing introvert. In the past, I would have thought of myself as an extrovert.You have several novels and stories set in the PAX Imperium universe. That name is so intriguing! The layers of conflict within the title and the dichotomy between something that is peaceful and something that is imperious and has absolute dominion is juicy. Can you share what your vision for PAX is, why you’ve created it, and what kinds of stories readers can expect to find set there?I'm glad you like the name. The Pax really developed from the old historian in me. At one time, I was on my way toward a Ph.D. in European history. I didn't finish. This was back in the late nineties when things like the Balkan war and Kosovo were hot topics for discussion. One of the things I learned from a mentor was that dictators aren't always a bad thing. In a multi-ethnic empire, they have a way of sitting on conflict and keeping it from erupting into violence. In European history, the greatest empire was the Holy Roman Empire, which did a lot to keep conflict to a low simmer in Europe for hundreds of years, at least until the thirty years war in the seventeenth century. The Pax developed when I had the idea of taking the HRE and transporting it to a space opera universe.That said, I try to keep the politics in my books to a minimum. So far I've managed to avoid long-winded speeches about trade embargoes and boring diplomatic discussions in throne rooms. It's a concern for me. I don't want to read about Padme sitting around a throne room talking to people, and I assume my audience doesn't either. In my story, you don't even meet the Empress. I'd rather have you out there looking at the universe from the point of view of people within it, some of them important and some of them just average people trying to get by while it all falls apart around them. My tagline as an author is "character-rich science fiction for your Kindle with 'splosions—lots of explosions." I try to stick to that and leave out all the other boring bits.In my series of novels the Pax is definitely falling apart. Even an empire can only keep certain tensions on simmer for so long. There are four novels planned, Aetna Adrift is written and available, On the Far Bank of the Rubicon will come out later this winter or early in the spring. Currently, I am in the midst of writing the first of three big wars, one of which will take place in each book.You and I had a couple exchanges regarding your novel Aetna Adrift’s main character, Jack Halloway, being a womanizing antihero type. One of the things that’s been so interesting in regard to your decision to write this type of character, who some readers have mentioned was hard to connect with because of his somewhat negative ideas on femininity in general, is that you are actually quite an advocate for women’s social and economic parity. Tell us more about why you chose to create this character and what kind of message you hope readers take from your novels.Yeah, I knew that there was a risk that what I wrote would be misunderstood. I'm OK with that, as long as the reviewer doesn't get personal. When they start conflating Jack's views with my own, it gets under the skin. Also, when they assume that I wasn't being thoughtful in my choices and think that I just wrote things this way because I didn't know better, that bothers me. It shows the reviewer hasn't read anything that I wrote for GeekDad, where I have sometimes been called a feminist dad. Its a label, I will take, although I prefer humanist dad. I don't like the idea of equating a strong belief in parity with the feminine. I think its a tactical error in that it forever lets men off the hook from having to do their part to advocate for parity.As far as Jack goes, I guess I would start by saying, I like to write about broken people because I can relate to them. I think we're all imperfect, and I like putting that human imperfection into my stories. In Aetna Adrift, I wanted to write a story in which a misogynist grows up a little, and I wanted to make that character realistic. I didn't want him to have some sort of instant awakening which makes him better all at once, although there are moments which propel him forward. I wanted him to start by letting one woman past his defenses.I think I was only partly successful. One of the things I don't like is that it feels too much like romantic love is what changes Jack, and I am not a big fan of the "woman's sexuality will save a man" narrative. In my head, it's friendship which changes Jack, but I am not sure the came through clearly enough for my tastes. In Aetna Adrift, Jack finds himself looking at a woman as a partner and a person, instead of as a resource to be tapped in some way. To be fair to Jack, at the start of the book, he views everyone as a resource to be used. That's his journey, so it isn't just women, but he certainly reserves a special kind of disregard for women when the book begins.I don't think he's healthy by the end of the book either. If you listen to him carefully, you can see that he's still tends to see women as a means to an end. Jack still has some big blind spots when it comes to relationships in general and intimate relationships in particular. Those will come back to haunt him in book two in a big way. They will also take him a few more steps down the road, but that will take years. I don't think you get over misogyny overnight. I think looking at how do you help a misogynist grow up is an important question, particularly for men who are strong advocates for parity.You’re heavily ensconced in the parenting culture and have written numerous articles for GeekDad and LitReactor, an online writer’s water cooler. As a parent of three daughters, how do you make time to do all this writing?Two years ago I decided that I was never going to write unless I took the leap and started in full time. So writing is my job. I've always been a pretty self-motivated person. I try to write every day. Some days are better than others. I don't enjoy having someone looking over my shoulder and cracking the whip. I do that enough on my own, thank you very much.My wife works outside the home. I play the stay at home dad, and I wouldn't have it any other way. I enjoy raising my three daughters too much to give it up. I incorporate them into my writing as much as I can. I need to write a story for my seven year old yet, but my fourteen year old reads almost everything. She is one of my first line editors. She's pretty good at saying, "That sucks dad." It helps to hear it from someone you know cares.In the last month, I have been really excited to introduce my kids to Pathfinder (a Dungeons-and-Dragons-like game), which I see as a cooperative storytelling game. I started writing a YA-style adventure for them, and it has become a real joy to create simply for the enjoyment of my family. We play together each Friday night.What is your writing process? Are you a dedicated everyday writer, or catch-as-catch can? Do you have any special rituals or activities you do that help you prepare to write?As I said, I try to write every day. As far as rituals, I do have an interesting one. I have found that I write best without the internet available. I get too easily distracted messing with the music on Spotify or checking out how many people followed me on Twitter today. So I have my wife take the cable modem to work with her every day... I know it sounds ridiculous but it works. No internet=No distractions. It does make me a little slow at answering emails, however.Can you give us some insight on why you chose to go the indie publishing route, and what you’d do the same and differently if you were going to start again at the beginning of your writing career?For me being an indie has been purely a business decision. There is a much better opportunity to earn a small sustainable income as an indie than there is in the traditional world. In traditional world you either hit the lottery or make peanuts. I don't need to win the lottery. What I need is an income for my kids. I think the ebook ecosystem, and particularly Amazon, offers me a much better opportunity to earn that income. If the day comes that I am popular enough to command respect from one of the big six, I will listen, but only if I can truly negotiate on some of the more onerous parts of their contracts. Frankly, I don't expect that to happen, and I am content with that. I just want to make a modest living and bring a modest group of people real enjoyment from my work.What’s next on your writing agenda? Any new releases on the near horizon?As I said, I have a novel coming out later this winter, On the Far Bank of the Rubicon. I also have a short story or two in the works and a novella is rumbling around in my head. The novella is cathartic in nature, and I don't know if I am in the emotional place to tackle it right now, but I am thinking about it enough to know that it will come out someday. I also have a non-fiction project, I am cowriting with a couple of experts in the field on managing your HOA well. It's called Getting Beyond Paint Chips. It should be out in a few months.It seems as if you're heavily involved in organizing local writing conferences around your 'hood near Vancouver/Portland. What are your thoughts in general for other authors when it comes to attending writing conferences. Are they worth it? If so, why; and if not, why not?I think you can always learn something at a conference, but take everything you hear with a huge grain of salt. Much of the advice is just plain bad, so you have to sift through and find the truth for yourself. Also, don't use attending conferences as an excuse never to put your stuff out in front of an audience. Sometimes I think writers cling to the traditional publishing model simply because getting rejected means they never have to find out if an audience will like their work. Don't be that writer! With ebook publishing, you don't have an excuse any longer. Put your stuff out there and find your audience. If it's well edited and interesting, you will find readers.Anything else you want to mention or elaborate on?Hmmm... nothing comes to mind, except to tell readers that if they join my friends list, they will often get first crack at reading what I write. Last week I gave them all a copy of my short story "He Dug the Grave Himself," and right now if you sign up, you get a free copy of my Pax novella Brody: Hope Unconquered. You can find a sign up in the upper right corner of my website, www.erikwecks.com***Erik is a full time writer and blogger living in Vancouver, Washington. He writes both nonfiction and fiction and blogs and enjoys writing on a wide range of topics. When not waxing poetic on various aspects of fiscal responsibility, he tends toward the geeky.In the moments he is not poised over the keyboard, he loves to spend time with his family. He is married to an angel, Jaylene, who has taught him more than anyone else about true mercy and compassion. They are the parents of three wonderful girls. As a group they like swimming at the local pool, gardening, reading aloud, playing piano, and beating each other soundly at whatever table top game is handy.***Thank you so much for being here, Erik, and sharing your wide-scale industry knowledge and writerly wisdom. I am particularly inspired by your description of rolling your writing into your family life, and I look forward to reading Aetna Adrift, as well as the release of On the Far Bank of the Rubicon.

10 Tips for Fiction Writers: Editor Spotlight with Liz Broomfield

Hello dear readers! Please welcome my guest poster, Liz Broomfield: editor, writer, and wonderful resource for getting your book done write (er, right).An editor's advice: ten tips for fiction writersAs a busy editor (among other roles), I work with fiction writers, many of whom are considering self-publishing. I've seen the same issues time and again, both with their work and with their wider endeavours in getting their work out there, and I'd like to share with you ten tips that canhelp you to write a good book and get it out to its audience.

1. Join a writing groupEveryone needs peers, and writing can be a lonely game. At a writing group, whether it's online or face-to-face, you'll learn a lot about how to write and how other writers write, and have your work critiqued if you wish.

2. Be professionalI've blogged about this elsewhere, but if you're serious about your writing, you need to treat it as a professional job, allocate time and resources to it, and take yourself seriously. If you don't do that, how can you expect other people to?

3. Spelling and grammar do matterMany people seem to think that just sticking down your words anyhow and sending them out into the world is all you need to do. OK, I'm an editor, but how many times have you seen amusing signs and menus with typos shared on the internet, or read criticisms of books that are riddled with errors at the expense of getting the story across? Don't be that person. Be the person whose reviews mention the good writing!

4. Continuity mattersKeep tabs on your characters, timelines, locations, everything. You can use software to help you, or an Excel spreadsheet or even index cards. A good editor will pick up when your character's eyes change from blue to green, they age one year while 20 years pass in the world (and it's not sci fi) or they break their arm in one scene, get all plastered up and then wave their arms around in happy abandon the very next day (all true examples!), but if you keep control of it all, your book will just hang together better.

5. Get a team on boardAs you might have gathered, I'm suggesting using an editor here. There are different kinds of editing, but having someone else, a professional, look over your words is vital. I do it when I write, and I'm an editor myself! It's also worth getting a book cover designer. I know that makes all the difference, as sales of both my books jumped when I got the covers designed and matching.

6. Use beta readersIn addition to editors, have a few people who are familiar with your genre read your book to give feedback from a reader's point of view. You can ask them a set of questions or leave it to them. Check if they're OK with you quoting their (good) opinions in your publicity material; prospective buyers will want to see reviews to check the quality of what they're intending to purchase.

7. E-books and print on demandI strongly recommend publishing your book as an e-book first. You can upload the files yourself to Amazon, Smashwords, etc., so there's little expense or technical knowledge needed. My rule: my book must pay for its own print version, so I won't do one until online sales have made enough for me. If you do want to go into print, go for print on demand rather than having boxes and boxes printed in advance that you'll never sell. Many publishers, as well as designing the text and setting up the printing, can set up the fulfillment for you, so they take the orders, print the book and send it out. Be careful and compare prices, but this is still better value than paying upfront for printing.

8. Learn about marketingEducate yourself about marketing your book. Just because you have written it, it doesn't mean people will buy it! I recommend the Creative Penn website for masses of information and guidance.

9. Social media is your friendGet on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn. Build groups of friends, join communities, share other people's content and blog posts and book links and they'll share yours, too. Which brings me on to—

10. Guest post, send review copies and build karmaConsider harnessing the power of book bloggers and other writers' online platforms. Write guest posts full of useful content. Send a free copy of your book to a book blogger and ask them if they'll review it for you (many of these have guidelines, so do take note of those). If you have a book review blog or a Goodreads account, or your own writing blog, allow others to guest post for you. Do it reciprocally, as Tammy and I have. Good karma leads to more recognition leads to book sales and opportunities!

Good luck in your endeavours. Be professional, work hard for that overnight success, and share your good fortune with others.Biography:Liz Broomfield is an editor, proofreader, transcriber, localiser and writer. She's passionate about helping her clients and about helping people to transition to self-employment the safe way. Her e-book, Going It Alone at 40: How I Survived my First Year of Full-Time Self-Employment is out now, and you can visit her at www.libroediting.com for business, writing and Word tips and www.librofulltime.wordpress.com for her own personal journey plus book news and book reviews.

Writing Advice from Paolo Bacigalupi

Had a pretty awesome experience this week when I logged into Twitter just to see what was happening in my twitterfriendverse. Turns out, it was moments until a live chat with the one, the only Paolo Bacigalupi, hosted by Little, Brown School, part of Hatchette Publishing. There may or may not have been embarrassing squee's of joy and excitement emitting from my office.For those who don't know, Bacigalupi is amazingly cool for two reasons: he's a Coloradan, and he also happened to win both the Nebula and the Hugo awards for his breakout novel the Windup Girl in 2010.From Amazon.com, about the Windup Girl:

Anderson Lake is a company man, AgriGen's Calorie Man in Thailand. Under cover as a factory manager, Anderson combs Bangkok's street markets in search of foodstuffs thought to be extinct, hoping to reap the bounty of history's lost calories. There, he encounters Emiko. Emiko is the Windup Girl, a strange and beautiful creature. One of the New People, Emiko is not human; instead, she is an engineered being, creche-grown and programmed to satisfy the decadent whims of a Kyoto businessman, but now abandoned to the streets of Bangkok. Regarded as soulless beings by some, devils by others, New People are slaves, soldiers, and toys of the rich in a chilling near future in which calorie companies rule the world, the oil age has passed, and the side effects of bio-engineered plagues run rampant across the globe. What happens when calories become currency? What happens when bio-terrorism becomes a tool for corporate profits, when said bio-terrorism's genetic drift forces mankind to the cusp of post-human evolution? In The Windup Girl, award-winning author Paolo Bacigalupi returns to the world of The Calorie Man; (Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award-winner, Hugo Award nominee, 2006) and Yellow Card Man (Hugo Award nominee, 2007) in order to address these poignant questions.

Side note: Don't read this novel if you really like elephants. However, to find out why you shouldn't, you'll have to read it. *shrug*Needless to say, his writing style is gritty; it's dark; it's daring; it's complex; and it's rich. He's been compared to early William Gibson and Ian McDonald with the intensity of his vision. The Windup Girl was one of those rare books that captures you on the first page by eliciting a mixture of fascinated horror and eager curiosity. Am I gushing? If you're a fan of dystopian fiction and you give Windup a chance, you'll soon see why.So, back to last week. Paolo is on tour promoting his newest novel the Drowned Cities and graciously made himself available for questions about the novel and writing in general. After getting over my bashful hero-worship (bashful? me? haha!), I posed the following question: You mentioned in a Westword interview a couple of years ago that you'd struggled for awhile to become successful as a writer. Do you have any advice on how to make that struggle easier for new writers?Take heed fellow writers, the master hath spoken.Paolo: For me, being able to writer boils down to recognizing what's important to me, and then being brave enough to do it. And to completely let go of worries about whether something will sell or whether other people will like it. It's hard. Also, finish what you start, no matter how stupid it seems in the moment. Everyone goes through lost faith moments. Relentlessness pays off if you're learning along the way. Tenaciousness matters for writers. It took me thirteen years to break in, and four failed novels. It's hard work. You have to enjoy the act of writing. It's the one thing you really have control over. Everything else, you just have to work at it and hope.In a nutshell: bravery, letting go of fear and worries, being willing to work hard, relentlessness, tenaciousness, loving what you do, and not losing hope. That's it! So easy! I just can't imagine why everyone doesn't write! After all, it's about as easy as becoming a samurai or an exorcist.And, of course, the beauty of being a writer, and secret as to why so many of us continue doing it, is that you really can become a samurai or an exorcist (or any damn thing you want) on the page. In other words, the satisfaction of well-written words makes the struggle worth it. If you find yourself facing any of the obstacles Paolo mentioned, just think of him as a shining, brilliant example. Thirteen years of struggle doesn't make you a failure; it can make you a success.For more tips on becoming a successful writer, I also recommend Lindsay Buroker's recent post Three Tips for Self-Publishing Success.

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All content copyright unless otherwise specified © 2008-2013 by Tammy Salyer, writer. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to use short quotes provided proper attribution is given.

Publishing Pains: Part Three, the Final Word

If you read the other two posts in this series, particularly this one, you're aware of the many avenues and bits of software I explored in order to create my first ebook. After considerable trial and error since--I've put out a couple of shorter stories as standalones and my debut novel, Contract of Defiance--I can safely say that I've narrowed down the process to three specific tools. If you have these, you will be able to create your own ebook relatively easily (I'll mention again, I've created all my ebooks on a Mac).

1. Adobe InDesign ~ traditionally used to design printable materials such as books, newsletters, brochures, etc. InDesign works beautifully and mostly seamlessly with other Adobe products (such as Photoshop if you're working with cover design or interior graphics). Adobe CS5 has an newly integrated .epub creation function that outputs the entire .epub file structure provided you correctly format your document within InDesign.
2. TextWrangler ~ a supremely sweet text editor for Mac. Allows multiple file editing and loaded with features that assist in code development.
3. KindleGen (with the Kindle Previewer) ~ Free program from Amazon that does a good job of converting your .epubs to .mobis.

The last post contained a bit of railing against Adobe InDesign as an over-robust tool for a ebook file generation, and that is true. You don't really need it once you are familiar with the required files that an .epub is comprised of. However, since I have it, I find it a useful and quick option for generating my .epub folder structure.The real gem here is KindleGen (er, maybe that's what they should have called it?). There may be wide variance in public opinion about the megalith that is Amazon depending on who you ask, but one thing they can claim nearly all credit for is almost single-handedly laying the foundation of epublishing--at least in the sense of making it available and accessible to us wordophile masses. Their KindleGen .epub converter is easily the most user-friendly and explanatory tool I've seen.I have only used KindleGen in connection with the Kindle Previewer, which I prefer over the Adobe Digital Editions viewer for two reasons: often, I'll find that graphics do not display in ADE correctly, whereas I have not had that problem with the Kindle Previewer. The other reason is simply that the Kindle Previewer is a better, more intuitive user interface. The best news of all, is that once you have both the Kindle Viewer and KindleGen properly installed, when you open your .epub in the Kindle Previewer, it automatically creates a separate converted file as a .mobi. However, if there is anything wrong with the .epub, the application generates a lengthy and explicit detail of what exactly went wrong (down to the line number of whichever file threw your error). You can then fix that in your .epub, and re-convert. It really is an excellent tool for creating both versions of your ebook.For the sake of brevity, I'll just summarize the biggest takeaway for .epub creation, and that is, there are many ways to do it, but take it from someone who's tried a proportionately large number of them, the three tools above are all you need to get you where you want to go the fastest, and hopefully with the least amount of headaches. If anyone has questions about tools, or conversion steps, I'm happy to help. Feel free to send me a tweet @TammySalyer or comment below.

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All content copyright unless otherwise specified © 2008-2013 by Tammy Salyer, writer. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to use short quotes provided proper attribution is given.

Debut Novel Announcement: Contract of Defiance

Wow, I don't really know what else to say, except that my novel, Contract of Defiance, is finally out. This little labor of love has been a work in progress since December 12th, 2005 (yep, I remember the day I started working on it), and has gone from a red-faced screaming infant, to a well-mannered (sorta), groomed, and presentable adult. Please visit my blog page to read more about it. For an insider peek at what the process of writing this novel has been like, my very good friend and mystery author, Susan Spann, has posted a conversation/interview between us on her amazingly informative blog. We study the ideas that form and differences between science fiction and speculative fiction, and take a deeper look into genres and how to make them fit.It's a great day! Hope everyone enjoys it and has the time to sink your teeth into whatever it is you love to read!

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Publishing Pains: Part Two

As mentioned in my last post, this post will be a discussion of the steps, software, and distribution sources I used to epublish my first ebook, On Hearts on Scorpions. Isn’t that egreat?Note, everything I’m going to talk about is based on the features and functionality of a Mac computer, but mostly it’ll be the same on a PC. This article also assumes you’re already familiar with the types of files used in ereaders (i.e., .epub, .mobi, etc.), and have a vague idea of their structure. If not, I recommend reading more on that here.The biggest takeaway is that, with a reasonable grasp of HTML and CSS, anyone can design and create their own ebook. This is a great option for someone who doesn’t want to, a) pay someone else to do it, b) lose the flexibility of having control over your own words and art; and who does want, a) to keep the maximum amount of royalties offered through distribution sources like Amazon and Barnes & Noble, and b) to save money and simply know what the heck it’s all about.First, a list of the different types of software I’ve used. Adobe InDesign ~ traditionally used to design printable materials such as books, newsletters, brochures, etc. InDesign works beautifully and mostly seamlessly with other Adobe products and can be the creation tool for extraordinary printed materials. However, as I’ll discuss, using it to create an ebook is a little like using a bulldozer to repot a houseplant.Sigil ~ my new favorite open source software. Sigil works like a text file application and will open everything in an .epub file (except the .ncx and .opf) to allow you to edit. The on-high-awesomeness of it is that it gives you three view options: the actual appearance of your final output file, a code view, and a split view. It updates in real time so you can see if your formatting is working. It’s a beautiful thing.Calibre ~ another handy open source tool that can convert your .epub or .mobi file into another format. It’s also useful for just serving as a free ereader for your computer. I primarily thought it would come in handy for converting my .epub to .mobi, but with the new Kindle 8 formatting requirements, I’m not sure it’s still an option.KindleGen ~ fortunately, this free program from Amazon does a good job of converting your .epubs to .mobis.Kindle Previewer ~ also from Amazon and integrated with the KindleGen application for viewing your .mobis. It's nicest feature is that it shows you what your ebook will look like on the different generations of the Kindle platform, including the new Fire.Adobe Digital Editions ~ the most recommended viewer for testing your .epub files. Free from Adobe.com.TextWrangler ~ a supremely sweet text editor for Mac. Allows multiple file editing and loaded with features that assist in code development.MS Word ~ for the epubbing biz, the most widely accepted word processing application.The ProcessI’d heard InDesign CS5.5 could output a book directly in .epub format and naively believed that its *cough* ease of use would make the entire process a breeze. In all seriousness, anyone who knows Adobe products knows that there is a steep learning curve to really grasping how to use all of their infinite features. Once you have a relatively solid understanding, however, things become much more intuitive. And this stayed true...until I saw the .epub output. Yikes!While it is true that, depending on how you format your InDesign document, you’re output is the precise file structure needed for an .epub file, the downside is that the more work you do on styling your document before exporting to .epub, the dirtier and more obscenely overwritten the HTML is. The software writes new HTML for every small stylistic tweak you implement and doesn’t unwrite it if you choose to back out of something. As a consequence, the CSS is loaded with so many generically named classes that it’s like a bowl of badly deformed Skittles. An example of their sloppy HTML is, instead of using block < h1 > type tags, it gives headers a < p  > tag and a “Heading” class. o_O As ereading technology is still relatively young, you can imagine the errors and issues this messiness would introduce across the many platforms.I was able to buy the Adobe Creative Suite CS5.5 (with InDesign and Photoshop, plus a couple of other Adobe products) using a generous educational discount, but the average purchaser would have to shell out around $300 bucks for it. It’s not worth it.Biggest Takeaways: Use InDesign, if you have it, to output a very basic, unstyled .epub file, then use Sigil to make changes to and format it with specific focus on bringing the HTML to industry standard. InDesign also outputs to .rtf, which is handy if you’re planning on using Smashwords as a distributor. More on them later. Also, most ereaders do not support drop caps, so don’t waste time creating these.After many trials and errors with the InDesign output, I got a file I could live with and moved on to Sigil. The nice thing about Sigil is that it will open the guts of the .epub without you first having to convert the .epub to a .zip, then uncompress the .zip to get at what’s inside. The downside to it is that you can’t edit the .ncx (table of contents) or .opf (content and manifest) files, or add any new files, such as art or css templates. You can, however, add new chapter breaks (which are new files that you’ll have to then add to your .ncx and .opf files).After doing what I could in Sigil, I used TextWrangler (after the aforementioned conversion to .zip and uncompressing) to make final changes to all the files. The next big step was to recompress and change the file back to .epub, then convert the .epub to .mobi for Kindle. As many of you know, Amazon is the biggest retailer for ebooks, and if you want to be a success at self-publishing, you really have to play in their playground. They bought the Mobipocket reader software when ebooks were still relatively new and are holding onto this file format for the time being. Rumor has it, however, that they will move to the more universally accepted .epub format in time. Cross your fingers.My biggest mistake was reading the documentation for how to create .mobi files a little over a year ago, and technology, being technology, has changed. Therefore, I wasn’t sure if what Calibre once did to convert files from .epub to .mobi would still be viable. Fortunately, as mentioned, Amazon has made the KindleGen conversion and Kindle Previewer software freely available to download, and they worked perfectly. Amazon also provides some of the best instructions going for how to get this step done. I’m not sure Calibre would ever be needed at this point, but it’s still nice to have as a back-up to the Adobe Digital Editions viewer. Here’s why:Your .epub output from InDesign and Sigil work seamlessly with the recommended Adobe Digital Editions viewer. But after unzipping-rezipping the modified .epub originally exported from InDesign, it can no longer be viewed with Adobe DE. I have no idea why this is, and it frustrated me for awhile. After trying a few fruitless ideas, I brought the modified .epub into Calibre and set the conversion instructions to convert from .epub to .epub. It worked fine in Adobe DE afterwards. My instinct is that this may be a problem that’s exclusive to a Mac.Biggest Takeaway: The more tools you have in your toolbox, the more likely you are to get what you want, and the more troubleshooting options you have to draw from.Brief as that rundown of the software is, the fact of the matter is that you’ll have to patiently test-retest-re-retest and re-re-retest your own files before they’ll be ready to submit to Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or the iBookstore. The easiest distributor of all to work with is Smashwords. In fact, they are so simplistic in their standards for submission that they won’t even take an .epub file. With Smashwords, it’s MS Word only.Quick rundown on the distribution channels I’ve explored (I'm sure there are others that I haven't):Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) for Kindle ~ author royalties at 70% (for this and all following, these figures are as of this writing and will certainly change as ebooks become more the norm).Barnes & Noble’s PubIt! program for Nook ~ author royalties for ebooks with a list price at or between $2.99 and $9.99→ 65% of the list price. For ebooks with a list price at or below $2.98 or at or greater than $10.00 (but not more than $199.99 and not less than $0.99) → 40% of the list price.Apple’s iBooks ~ author royalties at 70%.Smashwords ~ author royalties at 60% if sold through distribution partners such as Amazon, 80% if sold through Smashwords.Bookbaby ~ 100% royalty to authors after an up-front fee of $99 and up.More discussion on the royalty wars can be found here, here , and here.Though on the surface Book Baby seems to be the best deal given it’s 100% royalty return, I decided not to use them for simple reasons: loss of control on the book creation, and they charge more for every incremental additional feature. For instance, should you go with their basic $99 package, if the first file you give them doesn’t turn out right, you must then pay for revision. If you require multiple revisions, you automatically go up to the $199 premium plan. So, before you even get your book published, you’re out $200. Also, you pay them $19 for an ISBN, which is a requirement to distribute with Apple or the Sony Reader, but this price only applies if you use their services to create the ebook. A single ISBN costs $125 and a batch of ten is $250. So, for approximately the same price as Book Baby charges for a premium plan, you get ten ISBNs instead of one, plus retain all the flexibility and control of each of your books’ creation and modification.I should mention that there is, of course, an ample time commitment for learning all of the tools and standards, but once you’ve done it, you’ve done it. And think of all the geeking out you get to enjoy! You’ll only add to your knowledge as the technology changes and advances, but it will always cost you the same: nothing.Once I had my .epub and .mobi files, Amazon and Barnes & Noble were quick and painless to upload, test, and distribute through. They each had my book on their sites within twelve hours.After getting those two going, I turned my attention to Apple. Apple is the least helpful, and I have not yet succeeded in getting my book up in the iBookstore catalog. The error messages delivered through their proprietary uploader are painfully vague. Instead of beating my head against them, and knowing that Smashwords is an approved Apple iBook aggregator and part of their distribution network, I decided to move onto the task of reformatting my book for Smashwords, and just accept the 10% reduction in royalties from any book sold through the iBookstore.Smashwords is a little like that mothball-smelling, blue-haired, high school math teacher that you had to be polite to because your parents taught you to be nice to your elders, and if you didn’t, you’d flunk ninth grade. It is a great option for authors who want to self-publish thanks to their nearly Luddite technological requirements, but their website is clunky and their service is slow, slow, slow. It’s been almost a week since I submitted my book file to them, and it still sits in the review queue. Additionally, emails to their help department have gone unanswered. Thus, I have no idea what the finished product will look like.The reason I call them almost Luddite is because the only type of file they will convert from is MS Word .doc (not .docx). Therefore, none of the work you did to create your .epub file for other distributors can be applied, and you have to completely strip and reformat your document—including things like complex MS Word styles, and even italics or bold fonts—then reapply them using Smashwords’ strict guidelines. Going from MS Word to an .rtf text file to strip out all of Word’s under-the-hood code, and then putting the document back into Word to employ Smashwords’ guidelines is the most reliable option. If you’re handy with Word, this isn’t too terribly bothersome, but if you’re using Open Office or other word processing software, or are not even sure what a Word style is, it could get very cumbersome.Then there is this: all ebook distributors require an interactive table of contents (understandably). Smashwords has guidelines for how this must be created in your Word file using bookmarks and hyperlinks, but (I don’t think they know this) you must have MS Word for Windows. Word for Mac does not have the required features for accomplishing their requirements. This is the issue I’ve emailed them about and not received a response. Fortunately, I have access to a PC that would allow me to complete this step.The really nice thing about Smashwords is their coupon feature that allows you to reduce the price or make free copies of your book for special people or for promotions. They are also very flexible as to how you want your book distributed; for instance, you can set it up to distribute to Sony, Kobo, and Apple, but continue to manage your own distribution to Amazon and B&N. Sweet.This is a giant bombshell of a post and I commend anyone who got all the way through to the end. There is so much more that can be discussed for each of these points, but it would be an endless conversation. I encourage anyone who wants to know more about self-publishing in general, and epublishing specifically, to visit the blogs of JA Konrath, Bob Mayer, David Gaughran, and Barry Eisler (whose name always makes me think of Bernie Eisel, but that’s a whole ‘nuther topic). I hope folks get some helpful information from this post, and feel free to continue the discussion, point out any mistakes I may have made, or post questions in the comments.**For an update and the Final Word on the process, please visit this more recent post.

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All content copyright unless otherwise specified © 2008-2013 by Tammy Salyer, writer. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to use short quotes provided proper attribution is given.

Publishing Pains: Part One

It happened. The book thing. Finally. Happened. And wow, believe me when I tell you, the easiest thing about self-publishing is doing the writing. Think of all the work a publisher does that you, as a writer, never have to worry much about. Typesetting, image and cover creation, editing, ISBN purchase and assignment, distribution, and *gulp* marketing. This writing gig is definitely a full-time occupation, and that’s for everything BUT the writing.But, it’s a labor of love. Why else would anyone do it? Don’t answer that. Love can be defined in many different, and let’s be honest, surprisingly crass and distorted ways. One of the genres I read and write in is horror, so I have a truly deep appreciation for these distortions. Which brings me to my first book.Just a quick history. I wrote a novel that was inspired by two of my favorite genres, science fiction and action, and completed it (as much as any book can ever be complete) about three years ago. It’s a really good story, you can take my word on that (wink, wink). I did the traditional things: submitted it to a contest (which it won o/), and shopped it out to a few agents with all the naive certainty of a fledgling writer. This resulted in a booming, yet polite, silence, to my utter shock.As I was going through this process, I tapped into the publishing world and tried to learn as much as I could about it. It is a bit soothing to the ego to realize that the reasons a book doesn’t get picked up are not completely based on the quality of the writing; it’s also very much about what’s “hot,” what can sell, what grabs an agent’s attention in the first place based on their subjective preferences, and many and sundry other factors. Almost no one read Moby Dick until a hundred years after Melville’s death. Perhaps he’d have had better luck if he’d taken the...um...whale by the horns and done the job of marketing and promoting himself. It’s possible.So as you can see, inevitably the arguments for epublishing began to work their way into the dark recesses of my brain, plant roots, and grow. The DIY punk in me could not resist the overall control that comes from being solely responsible for the babes of my own creation. Anyone who writes knows how far your own words sink into your psyche, and letting any giant, faceless, impersonal company twist them for their own ends feels a bit like pimping out your soul. Or maybe I’m being melodramatic. And maybe there’s nothing wrong with pimping out your soul. Who can say? Suffice it to say, after hearing the arguments in favor of being the master of your own publishing fate from such successful mavens of epublishing as Amanda Hocking, Barry Eisler, Bob Mayer, and Joe Konrath, I was convinced it was the right way. Which, again, leads me to my first epublished book.Patience! You knew I’d get here eventually. Anyway, my first epublished book was supposed to be the science fiction novel, but getting it ready has been a collaborative effort with Mr. Universally Talented, who is creating the cover, and who is also far more of a perfectionist than I previously realized. (The good news is that it will be out next month!) In the meantime, a writer friend, the zombie connoisseur Mark Morehead, put out a selection of his works as single shorts on Amazon and Barnes & Noble, and the light of inspiration went on! I have a number of short stories sitting around, some previously published (which have matured past the exclusive rights clause), some not. I’ve always felt a bit sorry for these little gems languishing in anonymity, and began to explore the idea of epublishing a few of them in a sort of trial run, a way to get my feet wet in the DIY process of creating my own ebooks. As I revisited my archive, I realized that I had four stories that shared a central theme: love and romance.Those of you who know me are laughing right now. The thought of me, the girl who makes gagging sounds at the mere mention of Drew Barrymore films or Nicholas Sparks books, actually writing lovey-dovey stories is pretty much a knee slapper. Never fear, I have not been possessed by naked, cherubic, arrow-slinging demons. These stories are about the aforementioned kind of romance: distorted, dark, and decidedly not chocolate-hearty-and-red-rosey.With the help of a number of friends, especially Jeannie Stevenson, and Mr. UT, these separate stories coalesced into my ebook On Hearts and Scorpions. It may not be Hemingway or Dante, but the blood, sweat, and tears that went into first writing the words, then turning them into a published work is very much a universally shared agony for all writers (okay, Ernie and Dante may not have had quite the same experience in regards to ebooks). In my next post, I will regale you with the details of the specific trials and tribulations of my process for getting the ebook in publishable format. I’ll discuss the software I used, including the pros and cons of each, the different distribution organization’s I explored, and what I learned along the way. For those of you considering going this route, maybe you’ll be able to take away a few helpful tidbits that will lessen the leakage of your own systemic fluids.

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All content copyright unless otherwise specified © 2008-2013 by Tammy Salyer, writer. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to use short quotes provided proper attribution is given.

It’s been an intensely busy couple of weeks...

...but I wanted to jump in here with a quickie post and let you know what’s goin’ on.First of all, last week started with a rather spiraling meltdown after first hearing about Mike Pence of the US House of Representatives and his budget proposal  to cut all federal funding for Planned Parenthood, furthered by the disbelief and disgust that they actually passed it. What the hell is wrong with those people? Let me get this straight: they’re anti-choice, but they also want to ensure people lose vital access to contraceptives? WTF? How is that logical?Of course, it isn’t. It’s ideology. Simple and stupid. Proves that politicians don’t give a flying eff at a rolling donut about people, and furthermore, they have a deeply socially ingrained undervaluing (even outright hate) for women and will continually pass laws or create limitations on a woman’s full rights, including to her own body. Kinda reminds me of another group of ideologists from last century who imposed birthing laws on women so they could contribute more babies to the Nation. Yeah, you know whom I mean. Here's what I think of you Boner (uh, Boehner), Pence and the rest of the mysoginistic House Republicans.

So anyway, that happened.On a more positive and personal note (although I don’t know what could be more personal than a bunch of rich white dudes trying to tell me what I can or cannot do with my body), I’ve been banging out a ton of final edits on my first novel, Contract of Defiance, with the help of some of my magnificent friends. I am so indebted to the many people who’ve sat down and put some real time and thought into this little book of mine, offered advice and suggestions, and have just been incredibly supportive. (You know who you are, and yes, your names will be in my acknowledgments page. I wish I could do more.) They say writing is a solitary endeavor, but my experience with it has been one of utmost support and sharing.I’m also thirty pages from completing the second draft revisions to my second novel, Contract of Betrayal. Editing, editing, and more editing! Whooo!The road to self-publishing is being derailed for now thanks to another old friend of mine who sent me information on a scifi / fantasy novel contest happening at Del Rey Spectra. I’m going to enter and am really excited it about it. I also discovered through some authors who write in a similar genre to mine that Penguin has an imprint press that will accept unsolicited manuscripts, so I think I’ll give that a go too. As you can see, lots of publishing paths ahead.If you’d like a little more background on the Planned Parenthood issue and / or would like to support them by urging the Senate to burn that budget amendment in the hottest hellfire it can find, check out these links.

The President of Planned Parenthood Cecil Richard talks about it the organization and Congress's attack on women's rights.

Support Planned Parenthood

Contraception is not Abortion (for those who didn't know).

(Thanks for the image use, Cain and Todd Benson).

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All content copyright unless otherwise specified © 2008-2013 by Tammy Salyer, writer. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to use short quotes provided proper attribution is given.

The Road to Self-Publishing (series, 2)

I have a really fantastic artist, who we'll affectionately refer to as Mr. Universally Talented (or maybe just Mr. UT), working on my book cover. Here's the first sketch he busted out, just a quick and rough (I'm referring to the sketch here). Can you guess the theme of the book?

Yesterday I began a discussion of opinions surrounding the idea of self-publishing and outlined three points that are often given by those in the industry for not doing it. These were: A) there's an endemic belief that if your book was not successful enough to get offered representation by an agent, it just wasn't that good, B) if you self-publish, publishing houses won't take you seriously later on, and C) you won't make as much money self-pubbing as going the traditional route.

To quote one of my favorite movie characters, allow me to retort.

Firstly, I'd like to point out that any literary agent you talk to will freely admit that they pass on representation of a lot of good projects because the market audience is too nebulous, too niche, or just not there at the present time to make the book lucrative. In terms of making money, creative writing is so much more complicated than simply pouring all the shiny and dark bits of your soul onto paper and blowing others' minds away with how brilliant and twisted one is. When it comes to being a "successful", i.e., money-making author, you gotta have someone willing to pay you to bare your complicated soul. And literary agents are much like weathermen when it comes to finding those people; sometimes there just aren't enough people who like tornadoes and rain. OK, am I trying to hard with this metaphor? Yeah, probably, let me get back on track.

The point is, the first argument against self-publishing, that agents will think your books aren't that good if you self-publish, is a fallacy. It may be a magnificent book, they just couldn't think of a way to market it. And agents will tell you that.

Let's think about what that means for a second. Who is this elusive market? What do they want? Why would they prefer a book by Stephen King or Neil Gaiman over yours (or whoever your own work most closely resembles)? The answer may be a little bit creepier than you thought.

It's the publishing industry itself which decides what the public will read. They decide what to sell and how to sell it to make it seem like just what you want. The actual words on the page are really only half the reason you buy a book. The other reasons are simple things like, the cover looked interesting, you've read other stuff by that author that you liked, you saw the movie and it seemed pretty good, it was right there at the grocery checkout so you figured you'd pick it up, etc.

The cover: created by the publisher to do exactly what it did, make you look twice, maybe buy the book.

You like the author: and the publishers know it, hence paying that author to write more books (Note: I'm not slighting authors here, they've worked damn hard to write a good book and deserve the credit).

The movies seemed good: like books, the movie industry funnels a ton of money into making a movie a success so they follow the model of "what's worked before will work again" (which is why so few movies seem new and fresh; they're frequently just the same storyline with new characters, new costumes, and different locations).

Etc.

Are you seeing a theme here? Whatever the publishers put the most money into is what sells the most. It's what people think about when they think of a good book (or movie) because those books are what have had the most backing and exposure. But the simple truth is, there are gads of wonderful writers in the world whose books would be loved by many, but there simply isn't enough money in the publishing world to support them all. If you think about it, if publishers put equal attention and equal money behind every project, they'd actually be competing with themselves. Nothing would get the hyper-exposure that big name authors do and...well...and what? Would sales go down? I bet no one really knows.

The gist of this is all to say that the publishing houses spoon feed us what we will read and self-publishing is very much the DIY punk mentality of saying, "f**k that, I'll make it on my own and not sell out to your narrow-minded, conformist, soul-crushing demands."

That's a thought, anyway. Viva La Revolution, right? But don't just take my word for it. Read Jim Munroe's thoughts, he's been in the business for awhile.

Tune it later this week and I'll address point B. In the meantime, what are your thoughts on the media monopoly?

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All content copyright unless otherwise specified © 2008-2013 by Tammy Salyer, writer. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to use short quotes provided proper attribution is given.

The Road to Self-Publishing (series, 1)

Lately, I've been bandying around the idea of self-publishing my first novel. It's been a work in progress for almost five years now and I'm at the point where I believe that the characters, the world, and the verve within me to keep supporting the book has come to a near close. Don't get me wrong, I love the book. In fact, I'm sure many new novelists feel about their books the way new parents feel about their kids: protective, supportive, nurturing, and pretty damn certain that there's is the most wonderful kid that ever walked the earth (I'm not ego-centric enough to believe that last about this novel, but I do think it's good).

As you may have guessed, there's a very serious debate in the publishing world regarding this move. Really quickly, the "success" model is: write the best book you can, find an established agent to represent it to major publishers, then sign a contract with same for a decent advance and a the big house's commitment to market the book so you'll make more money. Sounds like a pretty direct route right? Ahem, let me enlighten you.

First of all, the mainstream publishing world is in the eye of a maelstrom that combines damages from their short-sightedness, a bad economy, and a public's growing interest in the quick and cheap promises of ebooks. All these things have left the mainstream world reeling and limited their ability to financially support a good crop of mid-list authors. To be a success in the current model, you have to already be a success. In other words, as a genre writer, you really need to be a package deal with an established readership and good track record of sales before they'll really start to consider your book. No matter HOW good it is. Now, of course, this is a generalization, but the overall idea has been confirmed by many, many channels in the literary world.

Publisher's just can't afford to pay for maybes anymore, and maybes are all a new author can bring to the table. If you pick apart that idea, you start to see the Catch-22. You have to BE a success before given a chance to BECOME a success. Come again? Yeah, how's that for a crap deal?

There are authors, agents and publishers who say that self-publishing is a bad idea because, A) there's an endemic belief that if your book was not successful enough to get offered representation by an agent, it just wasn't that good, B) if you self-publish, publishing houses won't take you seriously later on, and C) you won't make as much money self-pubbing as going the traditional route.

Tomorrow, I'll follow up on those three ideas and share my thoughts on why they just aren't altogether true.

What about the rest of my writer buddies? Any thoughts or ideas on this subject?

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