Self-Publishing
One Perspective on Self-Publishing
or
DIY is Not Just for the Handyman
by Sandi Layne
“You’ve been writing for months about being a novelist, ‘Submitting to Rejection’ and now you say you self-publish?”
Why yes, yes I do. And, with all the brouhaha of late about self-publishing and so on, I thought I’d share a bit about what this looks like from where I sit.
It’s Not About “The Last Resort”
From my corner of the world, self-publishing isn’t about “No one else will take me, so I’ll do it myself.” Rather, it’s about having control over what I produce. As a self-publisher, I’m not bound by the timetable of a publishing house. When my novel is ready, I can have it printed. It isn’t a matter of waiting until it fits on the schedule. There is an average of twelve to sixteen months from the time a book in my genre is sold to one of the Major Houses until it is seen on a shelf. That’s a long time.
Wait, there’s more. I’m bossy. I’m a control-freak when it comes to my work. I take criticism well, can have someone pull apart a draft of mine without getting defensive, and can accept praise (which can be difficult). But I rather have a passion to tell my story…well…my way.
As an example, I offer my story Captive Irish Moon. This story gnawed at me. I took time to get to know my characters, researched (a long process which I might go into here some other time) and talked it out while I walked about and, in general, grew with these characters over a space of years while I thought about this book.
It took me another year to write it all down. My critiquing group – professionals and award-winning authors – encouraged and red-inked, advised and enthused as I finished the first draft. Many of you reading this article will be nodding because you’ve been here. This is the story I wanted to tell. It was perfect as I saw it.
Understandably, the idea that I should alter major points did not sit well with me.
Granted, the publishing professionals who thought this book would only sell if I changed certain aspects of it were right on the money. I do not doubt their savvy. More sex, more of the supernatural, “the heroine shouldn’t do this” – all of the remarks made sense, certainly. If one were trying to sell a story and make money, these things should be changed.
Remember, the publishing industry is not really about entertainment. It’s about making money. Entertainment is the means through which they do this, but these people are accountable for making their investors’ portfolios increase, not decrease. The fact that my story wasn’t suitable didn’t hurt my feelings or anything. It’s not personal, just business.
DIY – The Other Option
Rather than change my vision of my story, I opted for fewer sale dollars but the ability to tell it my way. This is not a route for everyone.
Before you can really tell “your story, your way” you need to have a team. Just as a publishing house has a staff, you need one, too. I have editing wings and artistic division, otherwise known as beta-readers and a cover-artist. If you go through a printer that provides these services, you can take advantage of them, certainly. But it could cost you up to $1500 dollars – or more – to access their professionals.
I grant you, my editors aren’t professional editors. I touched briefly on this in my Blood Donor column here at My Vamp Fiction. Rather, they’re educated women who know what other women want to read. They’re also brave and bold and sassy. They have to be – they work with me. I am a professional editor and (if I’m not on allergy medication or suffering from intense sleep-deprivation) I can handle the technical stuff.
My cover artists have been professionals. I am blessed beyond reason to call them my friends. They are willing to listen to me ramble and then they design covers for me. They suffer through the failed uploads to the printer. We exchange emails at all hours (neither of these wonderful women live in my timezone) and bounce and squee! and roll our eyes at the computer screens.
But they work to deadline and we get an entire novel formatted and filed within a month, on average. Add another month before publication, because I order proof copies and invariably have to make changes (this is what proof copies are for) and my artist might have to make changes and then, in the space of two months, I can put my novel up for sale.
Not a bad turn-around time, eh?
Yes, Virginia, There is a Downside
I’m not good at selling myself. Even putting my cover as my twitter avatar is a stretch for me. My friend wants to do a twitter-chat where I’d be a guest. I am freaking out. Taking my novels to a book fair? By myself? Color me terrified. I have a website, sure, but I am not the best at tossing it around. The idea of asking folks to spend money to read my words is frightening to me.
I don’t know why.
I am not good at self-promotion but the successful author has to be. Let me re-state that. If you want to be a successful self-publishing author, you need a publicity division. You need to be prepared to head that division yourself. You have to be fearless, engaging and good with promotional activities that run on a small budget.
If you are, then this can be a profitable route. I recommend putting your new novel in a Kindle or ePub format – there is a huge market out there for eBooks.
As for me, I’ll probably keep at this self-publishing gig. If you have any questions about this that you want to ask me, I’m on twitter @sandyquill I don’t bite, honest. At least, not until I know you better.
Sandy, thanks so much for sharing your experience with self publishing. I really think that self publishing is the wave of the future. Getting published by a Major House is fraught with obstacles and, as you said, the timetable is an obstacle to writers who want to get their story to readers sooner rather than later. From what I read Major Publishers are foisting more responsibility for marketing and publicity, but not giving up any of their profit margin in the process. I have to believe that self-publishing is the wave of the future.