A common attitude among fiction writers that I’ve yet to be able to understand is the: “If a publisher doesn’t take it, then I have to put it in a drawer because it must not be good enough” concept.
Well maybe. Maybe not. The compromise for some is to try to sell it to a very small epub. Then they can “legitimately share” their work. And that’s true, you can. BUT, I truly believe that major publishers want an author with a platform, i.e. built-in reader base.
This has been a requirement for nonfiction for a very long time. Not quite as much with fiction. But it’s leaning in that direction (and I will explain why I think that in a minute.) Most agents and publishers want you to have a blog, before you’re even published. They want you to already be marketing savvy.
Well how the hell can you be marketing savvy if you aren’t marketing anything? And even if a bunch of people like your blog, that doesn’t guarantee they will like your fiction or even read your fiction. So that’s not really platform. Not in the strongest sense.
While I think it’s perfectly respectable to sell your work to epublishers, even teeny tiny epublishers that nobody even in our genre has heard of, the problem of getting new readers remains what it’s always been.
How does someone know they can trust you? Free excerpts? Maybe. But I’ve read plenty of books where the end payoff wasn’t worth the cost of the book, even if the beginning hooked me.
It’s my opinion that more fiction writers who are just starting need to be giving some of their work out for free. And I’m not just saying that because it’s something I’m about to start doing. I’m saying it because I’ve seen it work for several writers. A few of them in big ways.
Check out: Cory Doctorow
Yes, he is published, by Tor. But pay attention to the important part. He is selling MORE print copies, through a free ebook of the same book. Scott Sigler, same thing. And Sigler was giving things away before he had a publisher.
These are the folks on the front wave of something that I don’t believe is a passing trend.
Check out this podcast: The Dragon Page
Sci Fi and Horror tend to be the front-runners in many new trends, because they think outside the box, and they are already marginalized enough and have enough “indie spirit” that they’re like “well screw it, I’m trying this.”
What boggles my mind is the fact that romance writers are equally, if not more marginalized. There are plenty of people who think Romance books aren’t real books and they think Sci Fi and Horror are.
Though there has been some innovation in romance. Ellora’s Cave, Samhain, Loose ID and others. Two of those were started by authors who wanted to publish their own work, and then grew. And that’s great. But there isn’t a very big “get your work out there” mentality in Romance, like there is in Sci-Fi and Horror, and I believe that is ultimately to our detriment.
I think as writers we have to get away from this “I’m not worthy to share my work with the world unless an agent and publisher vetted me first” idea. Because platform is important. And I believe fiction writers can get it too. By giving things away.
Nothing says: “Give me a shot, see what you think” like free. And I’m not suggesting anyone should put unpolished work up. And it might not be good enough, but life is a risk. I’m taking the risk, and if I screw up, then I’ll figure it out from there. But I won’t fail to act because “what if I’m not good enough.”
More and more people who build a fiction platform through putting their work before the public in some format are getting contracts. Now I’m not saying every single person who does this will get a contract. And it’s not even every single person’s motivation for doing it.
But will someone explain to me in what reality “no audience” is better than “some audience.” Then I’ll stop saying writers need to be giving work away to readers.
Nonfiction writers didn’t used to need a “platform” to get an agent and a NY publisher. Now they do. Up until recently there wasn’t a logistical way for a fiction writer to build a platform first. But now there is.
And as more and more writers start doing it, and publishers have more and more talent to choose from that has a platform, they will start shifting in that direction. That’s my forecast.
Publishers want what they believe will sell. If you build a platform, you can sell. If you don’t build a platform, you might get published because you are an unknown quantity and they have hope for you and believe you can sell. But if you can’t sell, then you are a one or two book author. Why is this preferable?
This doesn’t mean I don’t believe writers deserve to be paid for their work. They do. BUT … all moral indignation aside, more people will give it a shot if they don’t have to risk their pocketbook. The world doesn’t “owe” you anything. And if you can’t get an audience for your work, then the philosophical view that you should be paid for it means nothing, because you won’t get paid either way.
If at the end of your life, you followed all the rules, and you didn’t put any work out there, because you wanted to do the professional thing, and not share any work that an agent or editor didn’t formerly approve, and you never got published … then you have the comfort of knowing that you “followed all the rules.” That’s cold comfort, in my opinion. And all “rah rah, you can do it, just keep pushing” aside, I see around me a LOT of really great writers, and the numbers just don’t add up for them all to get published once by a NY publisher, let alone have a career.
Dreams aren’t goals. Do something proactive. Submit your work, but for God’s sake, build a platform. In a decade we’ll see if I’m wrong.
November 15, 2008 at 12:54 pm
That whole think just baffles me.
November 15, 2008 at 12:58 pm
The traditional publishing industry is closing in on itself. Nowadays, writers need something in addition to good writing/plot/characters/etc–which has (duh) always been a requirement–to get inside the door. Establishing a reader base is one of the best ways (in my opinion the best way) of doing that.
I’m no Cory Doctorow (who is officially my new hero–plus I totally dig his glasses), but I can testify to the truth of his assertion: “…a much larger minority treat the e-book as an enticement to buy the printed book.” That has been my experience as well. I doubt I would have sold more than a handful of copies of Waiting For Spring if I hadn’t offered it online for free. I’ve had well over 1000 downloads of WFS (actually, I think it’s closer to 1500). Right now I’m creeping up on 375 physical copies sold, far more than the “50-150 copies” statistic frequently quoted for self-pubbed books, and I’ve only had mine out since May of this year.
Here’s the thing: I’m a good writer. WFS is a good story. (There, I’ve said it.) But no one would have known that had they not had the chance to read it for free first.
November 15, 2008 at 1:00 pm
It baffles me too. I TRY hard to understand it, but I just don’t. And I never will.
And it’s that whole thing where I want us all to “get along” but my publishing ideology is SO vastly different from the publishing ideology of the person who will NOT share work, and puts 20 novels under their bed while seeking representation that they may or may never get, and after that a publisher that they may or may never get…
The best we can ever hope to do is agree to disagree.
November 15, 2008 at 1:04 pm
hehe, Kel. No doubt, Doctorow is a cutie!
And you are busy with other stuff too. You haven’t begun to exhaust your marketing possibilities. And while it’s a very good book, that I very much enjoyed. Your interior isn’t perfect, your cover isn’t perfect. (And hell, mine won’t be either at first, so that’s not blanket criticism.)
My point is… IN SPITE of this, you’ve had 1500 downloads, and close to 375 physical copies.
It takes awhile for a snowball to build, and I think you’re doing the right things, and you’re just going to keep getting better at this!
You are kickass, and in a few years I fully expect you to have a strong platform. By that time, whether or not a publisher wants you, might not matter one way or the other to you.
November 15, 2008 at 1:28 pm
“You haven’t begun to exhaust your marketing possibilities.”
Right now I’m preparing to do an audiobook of WFS. I’m a little nervous about it, but I’m going for it anyway. I like doing things that make me nervous.
“…whether or not a publisher wants you, might not matter one way or the other to you.”
I’m not ruling out anything at this point. If the door to the traditional publishing world opens up, and on terms I can deal with, then I’ll walk through it. If it doesn’t, then I’m perfectly fine with staying in the indie world. I’m very happy here right now. The scenery is quite lovely and the water is fine.
November 15, 2008 at 1:35 pm
That’s awesome, Kel! Are you doing an audiobook or a podcast?
Technically you could do both without much tweaking. If you’re going to Podcast (or do audio period) I highly recommend: “Podcasting for Dummies” And defniitely google Tee Morris, he’s one of the authors, and a major voice in the novel podcasting community.
He’s got his own podcast on novel podcasting. I’ve got a good friend who used to be deep into podcasting, and Tom is my tech guy to help me figure it out. So if you run into any trouble, let me know and I’ll try to help you work out the issue.
But the Podcasting book gives a lot of good advice on equipment and software. There is a learning curve, but it’s totally doable. You definitely want good sound quality.
As for doing things that make you nervous… it’s not worth getting out of the bed in the morning, if I’m not doing something impossible.
So… Ya Ya!
Hey Kel, I have the same views with regards to the larger publishing industry. If I ever manage to do anything impressive enough to draw them, and the terms they lay on the table are good, awesome. If not, hey, I can stay and keep playing in the kiddie pool.
November 15, 2008 at 1:48 pm
Hey Z!
My plan is to release it as a podcast first and see what kind of interest there is before I hard-copy it. (I just verbed a noun.)
Thanks for the info! I need all the help I can get!!!
November 15, 2008 at 1:50 pm
Kel, we all need all the help we can get.
And LMAO @ “verbing a noun” That sounds so dirty.
November 15, 2008 at 4:38 pm
Dragon Page is made of win! It took me a week to get through that whole podcast archive but I highly recommend it for all writers and speculative readers to check out.
My heart breaks a little every time I hear a writer say this: ““If a publisher doesn’t take it, then I have to put it in a drawer because it must not be good enough”.”
Congrats on your sales, RJ! That rocks! Definitely go for podcasting. I’d definitely take a listen because I’m an addicted podcast listener and can always use a fix lol.
I’m looking to bring some of my work to audiobooks but I’m still researching voice talent at a reasonable price. If any of you guys know of any please steer me toward em!
November 15, 2008 at 4:50 pm
Hey Rae, a lot of people in the podcasting community work on trade: “I’ll do some voice work for you in exchange for a promo mention, or doing some voice work for them.”
November 15, 2008 at 4:55 pm
I think people want the comfort and promise of “one way,” but to be innovative, you need to find your own way. Once everyone is doing it your way, you’re going to get lost in the shuffle.
The only way to stand out is to be a different color, to be one of the most talked-of reds, or to be one of the best reds. There’s also a luck factor, but you can’t plan on that one.
November 15, 2008 at 5:01 pm
Very true, Spy, but there is a luck factor in the whole thing. And since I don’t particularly like games of chance, I took/am taking the “risk” that I feel I have the most ultimate long-term control over.
If I was (and I’m just talking about me here, I’m not preaching for converts), sending things out to agents, and I kept hearing “I love it but I don’t think it will sell.” Well to me, THAT is too frustrating to deal with.
Fine, let me get out there, play with it, see what I can do and see if I can make it sell. By interacting directly with the audience, and tweaking and putting new stuff out, I learn through trial and error, what people will and will not respond to.
I can’t get that interactivity to know what to do to make it “better” “more marketable” or “more whatever” if I’m just submitting things over and over to gatekeepers.
And I agree with you about the comfort and promise of “one way.”
Human beings do not like ambiguity. It’s easier to deal with the wrong answer or a “one way” answer, than it is to deal with the idea that whatever you’re doing may or may not be “wrong” in your case.
It’s all a risk though in writing. You can’t not take risks. Everything you do or don’t do, is a risk. The important thing is to make a calculated risk. And that’s going to be different for each person dependent upon their circumstances.
November 15, 2008 at 5:19 pm
You have no idea how heartbreaking that is. And, worse, to be told, “We’d buy it, but we bought something a little similar last month. Yours is better, though!”
November 15, 2008 at 5:27 pm
Hey MoJo I don’t think it’s a character flaw to want off that hamster wheel or not want on it in the first place.
I think a part of the stigma of anyone sharing any of their work on their own even if they aren’t self publishing in the strictest invest a bunch of money in it, sense, is because people have this mental idea that there is a “line” and you are supposed to “wait your turn.”
But that’s crap. That would make sense if I didn’t hear about a guy that it took him 50 years to get a contract, then another chick who picked up a pen for the first time 3 years ago, with a 3 book deal.
Further, I don’t comprehend the money views either. Even if someone did spend their own money to put their book out (which isn’t shameful in any other industry but publishing, btw), how is that any different than spending money for writers conferences, retreats, books, magazines, seminars, workshops, and classes?
It isn’t. It’s all money spent that you may or may not see come back to you.
November 15, 2008 at 8:20 pm
I know a lot of published writers are giving free short stories out on their websites. Elizabeth Hoyt is one.
This could be a great way to go. I’m on the computer too much to read ebooks, no matter how much I love the author, but short stories could be the way to go.
I’ll think about this!
November 15, 2008 at 8:24 pm
Edie, I think short stories are an EXCELLENT way to go!
It’s also really cool if you can write short stories that tie into work you have for sale already, or that you’re shopping around with agents and editors.
As far as a paying medium, the short story is pretty dead, but it’s a great promo tool to start introducing people to a little bit of your work for free.
Not everybody wants to tie up longer work in a free release like this, but there are so many ways to go here. And short stories are definitely a solid way, I think!
November 15, 2008 at 11:47 pm
Hello, Zoe. This was another of your many fascinating posts. I learned a lot here today, so thank you very much.
My own view is that writing is no different than any other business- and I don’t say that lightly. I own my own business, and what you have been saying re indie publishing is quite true. There are many marketing models from products, and let’s face it- our written work is a product.
The key criteria for determining the validity of a business model is simply whether it works- period. I’m so glad that you don’t back down from the snobs of the publishing and writing world. Nice to meet a writer with a backbone.
November 15, 2008 at 11:59 pm
Hey Ferrel, what I find fascinating is how much the publishing industry operates so unlike most businesses. Not a lot of advertising or test marketing of new products. No demographics studies. Over a 50% failure rate when they buy a book.
They don’t buy a book they don’t think can earn them money; they aren’t running a charity service. But a large percentage of books don’t earn them money, so those books are failures from a financial standpoint. And books they made a mistake on.
Since there is, very conservatively, a 50/50 chance that they could be entirely wrong about any assessment they make about any of my work, and since they are in this to make money, then I’m not putting much stock in what they have to say either way about any book. If I ever prove to be a “sure thing” (which I’m not saying I can or will), then it’s no longer a crap shoot.
The bookstore returns system, where you have an industry claiming to be selling wholesale, that really sales on consignment.
I could go on and on. I don’t know how ANYONE survives in this business with THAT business model.
As far as I’m concerned, screw snobbery. If someone doesn’t think what I’m doing is valid because they think I can’t write or market, that’s one thing. If they don’t think it’s valid because I’m putting out my own product, then that’s insane.
In every other entertainment or product related industry, putting out one’s own product is seen as respectable initiative. Just because publishing hasn’t caught up to that, doesn’t mean I have to just go along with what I view as a backwards mentality toward self-motivated initiative.
Besides, there was a time when a band was thought to be “not good enough to get a record label” if they went indie. But that changed.
I’m seeing a big emotional revolution going on with writers, with podcasting and free ebooks, and the light bulb that, “hey, we can put work out ourselves, and it won’t cost an arm and a leg to do it.”
Suddenly writers are back to being the storytellers, interacting with their audience. And that’s how it should be. Not going through the special olympics of gatekeepers.
Like franchising, I think personally, for me, that the gatekeepers would only make sense if I had a proven product and wanted to expand. Then I’d be looking for a business partner, not someone to validate me.
November 16, 2008 at 3:43 am
“They don’t buy a book they don’t think can earn them money; they aren’t running a charity service. But a large percentage of books don’t earn them money, so those books are failures from a financial standpoint. And books they made a mistake on.”
And that’s like a ginormous amount of books, too. There’s no real polling going on nor any real counting of receipts for books that are sold to prove what readers are really reading. Just overall estimates, presales to bookstores and an eye on what the new trend is. So not a way to run a business and that’s why everything’s pretty much collapsing. That along with all the big publishers are practically in bed with each other so when the parent company folds it’s a domino effect to all the imprints.
That’s a shame, too because so many poor authors get left holding their books not knowing what to do and readers are left wondering what’s going on with a series in the middle of a story. Now authors have an alternative to keep their work going and within their own hands.
November 16, 2008 at 12:59 pm
Hey Rae, not sure why but this last comment of yours went into my “comment approval” box, and it normally just does that for first comments.
And I agree, it’s not a way to run a business. And I guess, coming from a family where business is highly respected, and running one’s own business is highly respected, the idea that an industry that can’t seem to wrap it’s head around the basics of business, could ever tell me whether or not my work would sell, well it’s just galling. And I won’t play that game.
Nobody doubts that the bigger guys have really far reach, but they aren’t very good advertisers, they aren’t good test marketers. They don’t do formal demographics studies. Yet every other business with a product, DOES do those things.
And I can’t respect the lack of that activity. The throw it on the wall and see if it sticks, spaghetti approach to business. Or the “throw a bunch of money at these few products, and see if people buy it” approach.
Then there is that dragon pages podcast, where they gave that ketchup analogy, that nobody buying ketchup means nobody is eating. And the book industry tells us, less books are being sold, so nobody is reading. But EVERYBODY is reading. People read more now than ever with the internet.
And somewhere in there, they are getting stories. Because that is a human need.
Also, I agree with what those guys are saying with regards to ebooks. Most NY pubbed authors see ebook sales as a very small portion of their sales.
Well, yes, but there are many reasons for that. Ebook readers aren’t yet highly affordable. They don’t have a uniform format, or barring that, a reader that handles most platforms. (Who spends over $100 for an ebook reader that can only read maybe a fourth of the ebooks they may want to read because of format differences?)
And the DRM thing? That pisses off consumers, because it treats everybody as a thief. Or a potential thief.
But the industry as a whole isn’t interested in the ebook. They’ve been burned, and they can’t give up any level of control over an industry they don’t have much control over in the first place.
But like Cory Doctorow says, books are fetish objects. Readers aren’t going to just stop buying their fetish objects. Especially fiction readers. I know I personally am far more receptive to reading nonfiction in ebook format, than fiction.
I know what an author can do, especially one who already HAS a reader base. Take it directly to the reader.
Editors and agents are human beings. Nothing more. Nothing less. And until writers finally get to the point where they say: “Hey the views of 1,000 readers, are more important to me than the views of this one agent or editor” then nothing will change.
There is no qualitative difference in the opinion between one human being and another on the wonderfulness or lack thereof for any piece of fiction. Different people have different tastes.
Some books have a much smaller pool of people who like them. Sometimes that’s a writing or storytelling quality issue, sometimes it’s the topic/idea just has a smaller pool of people who want it.
And sometimes a book doesn’t necessarily have a smaller pool, but it’s hard to find and connect with the readers, so something is off on the marketing end of things.
But I don’t think, at least in my world, than an editor at a major publishing house loving or hating something is more validating to me as a writer than the views of a thousand readers. (as just a random number. I’m not getting into empirical value of various numbers of readers. Because that only really becomes an issue when we’re talking about profiting from writing financially, and that’s a different discussion.)
November 18, 2008 at 12:15 am
Well Zoe, the trouble with the romance genre is that it is ruled by a monopoly. There’s one organization for romance writers. One medium of being published. One way to write romances. Etc.
I look at the Horror and SF/F genres and they have multiple methods publishing, contracting publishers, networking, meeting readers and fans, etc. They can publish in anthologies, submit stories to short-story magazines, go to Cons, join multiple organizations devoted to particular segments of the fandom (ie, WisCon for discussing women in sf/f), publish in online journals, and so on.
We that write romance write and publish within a narrow tunnel, which is why there is such resistance to any change or deviation from the “establishment.” It confuses the heck out of me since romance makes up a HUGE percentage of book sales, so it isn’t as though the genre would splinter and fragment if everyone didn’t follow the same exact path to readership and success. It hurts the genre immensely because we’ve cut ourselves off at the foot–if there wasn’t such a stigma attached to indie publishing (thereby extending the disdain to journals and magazines), I think the frustration, envy and strife seen within the genre would abate. If romance authors saw other fields open to them to reach readers, there wouldn’t be this immense pressure to publish solely through NY.
November 18, 2008 at 12:47 am
Evangeline,
Monopolies are illegal in this country, and I don’t really plan to play by those rules. If I can’t win, that’s fine. But I’m in it to play my own game.
Also, I absolutely don’t get the indie publishing stigma when it comes to romance. All romance authors are stigmatized and marginalized by virtue of the fact that every single person that doesn’t read romance practically thinks they are all bad books with no plot, and hardly what anyone would call a “real book.” And most romance readers who openly admit to reading romance feel compelled to qualify or explain their reading preference.
So this leg of the industry has no room for snobbery. The fact that anyone turns around to behave that way, after the larger industry spits on them, well, that’s a little hypocritical, IMO.
The other fields open the moment people start TAKING other paths.
The epublishing boom in romance wouldn’t be what it is now, without the people behind Ellora’s Cave, Samhain, Loose ID, and others deviating from the standard way of doing things.