WRITING LIFE
WRITING LIFE
My sister-in-law who lives in New York loves to show off her city. When she points out the big publishing houses to me, I look at them in awe. Those fabled names and familiar addresses are the Holy Grail to a writer. It would be wonderful to see one of them on the spine of a book, just below my name. Unfortunately, that has eluded me so far. In reality, if the big prestigious publishers were the only game in town, most of us would be out of luck. Since we have other options, it’s possible for anyone who can write a good book, or even a mediocre book, to see it in print.
It’s discouraging when publishers can’t see the qualities you see in your work. While this usually means the writing could stand improving, it is just possible that your book is as good as you think it is, and you still can’t get it published. One of my favorite books is Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole. It was reject by every publisher he sent it to. In despair, he committed suicide. His mother continued to submit his book until she found a publisher. It won the Pulitzer Prize and is still read by millions. If you haven’t read it, I advise you to do so. Besides enjoying a good book, you can see examples of reasons we have all heard for rejection. It doesn’t fit into any category. Our marketing department doesn’t know what to do with it. The dialect is strange. The protagonist is so unsympathetic. This is all true about Mr. Toole’s book, but I bet everyone who turned it down, wishes he could go back and change that decision.
Editors don’t know everything, so don’t give up. You might have another best seller that no one has recognized. Remember The Celestine Prophesies. The author published and sold it himself until it was picked up by a traditional publishing company, after he had made it a household name. This brings us to a publishing option that has become much more popular in recent years. That of leaving the publishing houses out of the loop altogether and doing it ourselves. Only a few years ago, this was not very practical. It wasn’t cost effective and methods of distribution were limited. Most self-published work was vanity press and catered to people who wanted a few copies for family and friends. The cost was exorbitant and the quality of the book was often poor. Now, many excellent writers chose to publish at least some of their own work, for reasons that make a lot of sense.
Jack and I go to a lot of conventions where book dealers display and sell their books, publishers introduce new books, and authors show up for signings. The impact of alternative publishing has been evident at these conventions in the past few years. Some individual writers publish and display their own work. Others band together, combining skills and resources to publish and market their books. I talked to one of these new publishing entrepreneurs who said he couldn’t write at all, but he established a small publishing company in order to publish his wife’s work along with a small group of friends. Their books were all selling, and guess what. They get to keep the money.
Not all the people I talked to were happy with the results of their self-publishing ventures. I learned a few pros and cons for this approach I would like to pass on to you.
Let’s look at some of the reasons for considering alternative publishing.
First, you don’t have to convince anyone else that you have a good book. If you like it, that’s enough. If you want to sell copies to other people, that’s another issue.
Second, you don’t have to wait years to see your book in print. It can be ready in a matter of weeks from the time you get it to the printer.
Third, if you have a book that will sell, and you keep your production costs to a reasonable price, you can make more money than the 5% to 15% royalties you might get through traditional methods.
Fourth, you can arrange distribution of your books through Amazon.com and barnesandnobel.com and get them into the market place.
Fifth, if you have a computer, you probably already have almost everything you need to get started.
Of course, there are some pitfalls to look out for. As soon as writers began to take advantage of this option, people came along to take advantage of writers. There are companies that can help you produce a beautiful book, but by the time you get through paying their fees, you have invested more money than you will ever recoup. Before you agree to anything, be absolutely sure of all charges involved, including shipping, handling, printing, editing, cost of proofs, layout and design and anything else you ask them to do. This should cover a specific number of books delivered to you, just the way you ordered them. Figure all the costs and divide by the number of books you will receive. This will give you your cost per book. This figure should be low enough that you can sell the book for 60% of the cover price and still make a profit, since book stores who stock it will usually want to make 40% on the sale. The price must be comparable to or lower than similar books on the shelf. If not, book stores won’t stock your book and only people who really love you will buy it.
When you use this system, you will eliminate most of the companies that appeal to a writer’s desire for quick publication. Often, the final costs are so exorbitant, that your book would have to sell for three times its value before any return on investment is seen. If they promise to promote and sell your book, take that with a grain of salt. Their efforts usually amount to a blurb on a web page visited only by other writers who use the service, or in their catalog. In the end, you will be responsible for selling your book.
This suggests the need to consider how you will market your book. I have two books I have chosen to publish myself. They are non-fiction books which I promote through lectures, workshops, storytelling, and other public appearances. I have built an audience of wonderful, supportive people who buy my books and bring friends to hear me speak, who in turn buy more books. I have two other books with agents who are working with me to publish them the old fashioned way. The difference is, the two with agents are works of fiction that I can’t sell by myself. I don’t have a method for getting them out to the public.
Before I self-published my non-fiction books, I knew exactly how many books I had to sell to pay the cost of producing them. I had a reasonable idea of how many books I could sell and a marketing plan. Since I don’t have a market for fiction, it didn’t seem like a fiscally sound idea to invest money in publishing them, so I am leaving them in the hands of a professional who knows how to get them to a publisher for me.
If you are considering an alternative publishing approach, think about the market for your book and how you will get it in the hands of a buyer. Do your research to find the right people to produce your book. Get a written agreement covering the total costs to you.
If you can’t think of a way to promote and sell your book, keep working on getting it to a traditional publisher.
Before you submit it again, print it out and go over it line by line. Look carefully at point of view, grammar, plot development, dialogue, characterization, and anything else you can think of that will make it a better book. I have learned from bitter experience that a manuscript looks very different on a printed page than it looks on the computer screen. Since you will be submitting a printed copy of your book, this is the best way to edit it.
This Summer, the theme of Southeastern Writers Workshop will be WRITING FOR PUBLICATION. The instructors are preparing classes that will help us produce the best writing of our life, and get it published. We will have two agents in residence who aren’t teaching classes, so their only duty will be to work with you for the whole week. Gwen Hunter will be with us as Writer in Residence. Those of you who were in her critique groups last year, know how valuable that experience was. She will be scheduling them throughout the week so have your manuscripts ready to work on.
The brochure will be out soon with more details. I think you will be as excited as we are when you see the full list of instructors. Some of our favorites will be returning along with new teachers who will become favorites.
Our board of directors has been very busy arranging all the details that have kept Southeastern Writers Association alive for so many years. Please join me in saying Thank You to all of them.
