Publishing in the Brave New World

Given this absurd era of expected “entitlement” e.g. I-Pod, I-Phone, I don’t find the perpetual belly-aching all that odd. Next thing you know, authors will be wanting a “platform” app for their phone! What ever happened to bustin’ your ass to achieve your goals? If developing an author platform is one of the required evils to assist you in becoming a successful author, so friggin’ what! Develop it! Either stop complaining, or brainchild the app for the rest of us…

I think people often latch on to that which they fear. Your post was clear and insightful and I still have trouble understanding why WRITERS whine about blogging!

As for you? Press on.

You are not the enemy. And everyone who values good books is not the enemy, whether they’re an editor/agent/some-other-”gatekeeper.”

Thank you for the call to be on the same team. Keep the faith. *hugs*

In answer to your question: I’m not “in it” for anything. I write because I have to; it’s how I speak. I don’t have a choice. And now if I don’t blog every Sunday, I get agitated as if I’ve missed my medication. (Just a simile – I don’t take medication. I just write. And then I read it, again, and again, and again. And I keep messing with it until I have to scream at myself to STOP. And then I write something else.)

Legacy? I drive a car to work because it’s more efficient than the horse and buggy it has replaced. I replaced my land line phone with a cell phone. And my iPad replaces my computer for times when I want to consume media, rather than create it.

But what does traditional publishing offer to new writers these days?

From your previous blog posts, you said that publishers are cutting corners on editing, and some folks commented that they can see lower quality books coming to market. If the old guard is going to publish poorly edited books, then how do their imprints stand out from self-published books? If publishing executives are pushing their costs onto writers, why should writers take a pay cut?

If the writer is doing their own marketing/advertising and paying for their own editing, then what is the publisher doing?

My dream isn’t to be published. My dream is to make a living wage writing. Otherwise, I’d just write for myself.

I have to wonder about this legacy business. Who’s the fool? The writer making 25% from electronic royalties, or the publishing executive who can cut corners, so that they can continue to fly around in their Gulfstream jets as their business makes less and less each year.

I think what happens sometimes is that we start writing with one set of expectations, not knowing ANYTHING about the publishing world. Once we get even a little way into this world we are faced with a totally different and unexpected reality, and the adjustment from one to the other is difficult and sometimes discouraging. Having said that, if we see writing as a calling from God, our trust is not in the “business” of writing/publishing, nor is our success measured by worldly standards. If we believe that God has a plan and is directing us, then instead of complaining about the way things are, we should, everyday, be looking for God’s hand in this journey, and trying to learn what he has for us this day.

I think there is a verse about ceasing all the grumbling???? We are also called to correct one another in love, so thank you for having the courage to do that.

Building a platform can be exciting! Plus, pre-published authors benefit by discovering their audience and getting to know other authors at the same time.

It is always easier to blame others for our seeming failures.

Most writers are introverts. We want to live in our caves and create. Then we want to partner with a wonderful extrovert who will promote us while we stay inside.

Wake up call. It does not work like that. It takes teamwork.

Even those who self-publish have to have a platform.

We need to get over ourselves and be willing to learn.

Regarding publishing, in the September issue of Book Business Magazine, David Hetherington writes:

“Some might see this volatile environment as anxiety-provoking and the end of the world as we know it. However, this new era we are entering has the potential to be an extraordinarily exciting time for the book publishing industry…”

He then concludes with, “If we keep an open mind and are willing to ask the tough questions about the status quo, the industry will be the better for it.”

I agree!

People in publishing still see this dream as worth it. They’re willing to swim against the tide because publishing isn’t just a business, it’s a life, it’s a calling, it’s a passion.

I like the “people in publishing,” but also know they can’t swim against the tide too much or they’ll get fired. Because when it all shakes out, publishing companies have to make money. At the end of the day (or pub board meeting) the final decision to publish or not is filtered through a single question: will this make money for the company? Even that first risky book is OK’d because it’s seen as an investment in the future. But if three or four books later there is no return, “passion” is not going to keep that author published at that house.

Writers, same thing. Yes, a writer should write with passion, but all writers (except, as Samuel Johnson once remarked, the “blockheads”) write expecting and desiring to make money. There is nothing wrong with this. It’s looking for a fair exchange.

With the self-publishing option today, the exchange is made directly, between writer and reader, with the writer keeping the majority of the return. That’s never happened before in publishing history. I like that aspect of it. A lot. But it means the writer has to do those things the traditional publisher has done well (strategy, design, edit).

Not easy, but it can be done.

Great post, Rachelle!

I think most of the pople who read your blog have a love of books, otherwise they would probably not be interested in writing.

In today’s world, the book publishing industry, and even printed books themselves, are in jeapordy of going the way of the dinosaur, which has us all a little nervous…and yes, we are all in it together.

As someone very new to the business side of this industry, it is intimidating in and of itself, then add the realization that it is in a state of major flux, and it becomes downright daunting!

Yet, at the same time, we writers have so many more options than we used to have, and that is rather exciting and encouraging!

More options means I don’t have to go the traditional publishing route. I can go indie or self-pub, or e-pub!

Yet, that same option is open to all other writers, which means the competition is fierce! More writers with more good books and blogs have more direct access to readers…making it awfully hard for any one writer to get their writing to stand out.

Fun times! =^)

Thanks!

IT is very hard, but I am doing a lot of research, asking a lot of question to those who know more than me. Sometimes I even stick my foot in my mouth, but I’m showing up! In the end, it’s God who opens the door, we just need to be on our feet and ready to go through. Studing and waiting are the hardest part.

I just want to make a living entertaining the reader, whether they would like to consume it on paper or on their device screens.

Writers write to be read.

Seems to me that if the author wants to succeed they’ll want to market their own book. Same for the publisher, the author is expecting too much for the publisher to do all the work, and is justifying it because the author “did all the work” getting to that point. There is a fallacy in that statment just as there is a fallacy in the expectation. In many ways I see this as the entitlement mentality that many in the US have towards the government, just on a micro scale and much more personalized.

For my own future, I expect to market the heck out of whatever I am able to get published. I may use the publisher’s resources to get my foot in the door but expect to do the work myself. No one will have more vested in the success of my work then me and I will treat it as such. Meanwhile, I’m just worried that my own little attempts at platform building are too inefficient to get the agent/publisher’s attention. Once I have acheived that hurdle, the rest will be just duplicating on a larger scale.

Or am I wrong?

Rah for the legacy! I’m still aiming for traditional publishing and all it represents. I expect to do some marketing, yes, and that’s fine. Whatever helps get my book to readers (which is the point of a book, right? to have people read it).

In the workshops I teach, I often point out that “Writing is solitary; publishing is a partnership.” I do think writers look at their own marketing efforts, or those the publishers ask for, and think the publishers aren’t doing any marketing.

What we don’t usually do is what the author can do for themselves. But while the author is Facebooking, and blog touring, and workshopping, and building a platform, the publisher is doing the “invisible” marketing–like spending money on great covers ($2500 and up), pitching to new markets, and working the digital angle.

We frequently license books to bookclubs, and just placed several key titles in an airport-based chain. And the digital marketing we’ve been doing has recently caused sales surges in three books that had stopped selling in print.

We are constantly looking for new placements, new markets. Re-evaluating what can work (limited free downlads) and what doesn’t (print ads). We sometimes hire outside publicists for key titles.

Marketing money IS limited. Wise use is what we’re going for, so platforms help, as do the grassroots efforts we ask of authors. For us, it’s about the PARTNERSHIP. You blog and speak; in the meantime, we’ll be pitching you to the Book of the Month Club.

Creativity takes many different forms these days and as our world shrinks we all need to take responsibility for our own little corner of it. If writing is the world you desire to find success in, then you need to do the work required to achieve that goal.

We have no option but to fall in step with technology. Whether its publishing, or any other industry, those who adapt to it, survive. That’s the law of nature! Great post and no, you are not ranting. I think every author, even the ones who complain, know that it is the way things are and going to be for a long time. Until there is another change!

Writers need publishers. As much as artists hate to admit it we need the support of those with business and marketing sense. We could do it alone, but we most likely won’t be nearly as successful.

I’ve seen it from both sides. When I’m not writing, I work as a production manager for animated features. Though most artists are lovely, some don’t hesitate to tell me how the don’t need to be managed (those, of course, are always the ones missing deadlines and working poorly with others).

And I’m sure they are resentful of the attention of management. They just want to be left alone to create their art, to make something awesome. But let me tell you, awesome things cannot be created by one person. Sure, you can write a great novel and you can self-publish it, but there are so few people who have both the talent of an amazing writer and the skills of a truly gifted publisher to make it awesome.

A great publisher will make you a better writer. I truly believe this. Think of the first Star Wars movies (nerd). They were pretty awesome, weren’t they? But George Lucas had all these restrictions. Budget, technology and production requirements. He found a way to work with it and voila! Classic. Now look at the more recent Star Wars films. He was unrestrained, unlimited. George could do whatever he wanted – any artist’s dream, right? Well, look at the result. Just eh.

We need each other and it’s only through collaboration are we going to figure out how to make it work.

Change, hard work and RISK are all part of running a business. Like it or not, we writers are in a business (traditional and self-published alike). Creating the product is part of the business, but distribution and marketing are also vital parts. Get involved.

It isn’t unfortunate that things “aren’t the way we all wish they could be.” It’s called reality.

Thank you for being positive, straightforward and realistic.

Rachelle your last question tied this post into a nice neat little bow. I not published yet, and things could look a little scary for a wanna be author. However, I try to think of my writing in terms or reach not revenue. If I concentrate on the people I hope to reach with my message, I believe God has already paved the way for that. His intention may be for me to reach 10 or 10 million. I have to be content either way and write for the joy of the “reach” of the written word.

Maybe we all lack time and money, but it’s writers who work on their books for years without earning a cent, getting health insurance, or paid holidays.

Writers can invest thousands in getting their work edited and proofed to make it perfect enough to submit to an agent or publisher. And to attend conferences. (I assume agents and publishers don’t have to pay out of their pockets to attend.)

Finally, though a writer might earn a little bit of money (say, by teaching) as part of building a platform, more often than not, building that platform costs the writer additional money.

I think the antagonism between writers and agents and publishers might settle down if agents and publishers acknowledged writers’ investment, as they repeatedly insist we acknowledge theirs.

Agents and publishers are useful to writers, but know what? Without writers, agents and publishers would be out of business. Time to treat writers (as a class, not just those who an agency or publisher is working with), like partners, rather than as mere nuisances.

This is very much enjoyable post. Well admirable comments by the readers.

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