Quality Books Take Time

Back in the early ’80s there was an ad campaign for Paul Masson wine where Orson Welles famously uttered, “We will sell no wine before its time.” The message was powerful; it conveyed, “We care so much about producing the highest quality wine that we refuse to rush the process. We won’t try to bring it out faster to increase profit. We won’t skimp on the craftsmanship that makes our wine so good. It takes time, and we will give our wine the time it needs.” I couldn’t help thinking about that as I considered what I wanted to say today about the time and craftsmanship it takes to write a high quality book. I’m not talking about a book that everyone has to love. I’m talking about a book that has the basics: a solid story,... [ Read More → ]

6 Reasons Authors Self-Publish

On the heels of our lively debate the other day on my post “6 Reasons Authors Still Want Publishers,” today let’s look at the other side of the coin. Many of you are still trying to decide which path is right for you — or if maybe some combination of both might work. So hopefully these posts and the discussions in the comments will be helpful. So here are six reasons writers choose self publishing: 1. To supplement an established writing career. As we talked about a couple of weeks ago in our series on making a living as a writer, it’s a lot of work to be a full-time writer and be able to make a good income. These days many full time writers with traditional publishing contracts are self-publishing both new books and their backlist as a way to supplement their... [ Read More → ]

6 Reasons Authors Still Want Publishers

In an age when so many of the “big stories” in publishing are about amazing self-pub successes, people are asking more and more, “Why would I want a traditional publisher?” Here are six big reasons. 1. Objective validation To be “chosen” by a publisher means that a group of people who are widely read, and who see dozens of new projects come across their desks every single week, believe your book has value and will find a reading audience. It means that people who see all kinds of writing—from really bad to really great—believe that yours is somewhere in the ballpark of “really great.” 2. Editing and design Virtually all writers, including the very best, will find their writing improves and their books are better because they’ve... [ Read More → ]

Will an Agent Recommend Self-Pub?

Marcy Kennedy wrote: I’m committed to finding a traditional publisher for my novel. Not only has that always been the dream, but I also like that a gatekeeper has to approve the quality of my work. That said, have you ever advised a client to self-publish a work that you think is fantastic but hasn’t been able to find a home at a publisher? Under what circumstances might you make that recommendation? Good question, Marcy. These days, agents need to be aware of a far greater variety of publishing options than in the past. Self publishing is one of those options. The circumstance under which I’m most likely to suggest an author consider self-pub is when we can’t get a publisher to bite, but we believe in the book AND the author has the means to sell the book on her own. That... [ Read More → ]

Why I Write Pulp Fiction

Guest Blogger: James Scott Bell With the e-publication of my new suspense collection, One More Lie, I’m happy to count myself as a writer of pulp fiction. What is pulp fiction anyway? Please don’t get anywhere near confusing it with the nihilistic, over-praised and much too often over-copied film of the same name. True pulp fiction goes back to the magazines that used cheaper pulp paper in order to sell in great volume to a voracious reading public. These magazines had their heyday in the 1920s, ’30s and ’40s. It was fiction for the people, for the guy on the crowded subway going to work, or the busy mother with five kids who got a little reading time at night. It was for the people who wanted to be caught up in a fictive dream. It was not written in a style aimed... [ Read More → ]

Will Self-Pub Sales Affect Your Future?

Dear Rachelle: Could poor self-pubbed Kindle sales affect a writer’s chance of getting an agent in the future? Is a pseudonym safer? Signed, Considering Self Pubbing Dear Considering: Yes, if you’ve self-pubbed a book and it sold poorly, it could affect your chance of getting an agent and getting traditionally pubbed in the future. But of course, there’s the sticky wicket of defining “poor self-pub sales” which might be different depending on who you’re talking to. It used to be that the average self-published book sold 200 copies (or fewer). Nowadays, that’s probably still true, but there are self-published authors selling thousands of books a week, so an average is not only difficult to find but virtually meaningless. I’d say, you’ll only impress someone if... [ Read More → ]

How I Created My First E-Book

Guest Blogger: Mary DeMuth I never thought I’d self publish anything. Truly. I’m a traditionally published girl with eleven books under my author belt. I love my publishers, love what they’ve done. But there came a time when one of my book ideas didn’t fit within their needs. The kernel of the idea to e-publish started when I pioneered my nonfiction and fiction proposal tutorials to help authors with the difficult process of writing a book proposal. Sure, they were simple e-documents I sold from my site (and they’re available here on Rachelle’s blog by clicking on “Resources for Writers” above) but they weren’t made of paper, and they’ve proven to be a financial blessing. I don’t make a lot, but the amount helps me pay my... [ Read More → ]

Will Self-Pubbing Hurt My Chances?

This has to be the most common question I get these days, from all kinds of writers including my clients. To use the words of one of my authors: Am I hurting my traditional career by self-pubbing? My pressing goal is to become a best-selling, traditionally published author. First of all, if you’re agented, the right thing to do is discuss it with your agent, because that’s who knows you and what kind of books you write. The answers I give here are generalizations and each situation (as always) is unique. But the answer is . . . NO. Self-publishing probably will not hurt your chances of traditional publishing. This is a 180 degree switch from just a few years ago! There was a stigma, as you know, attached to self publishing, and authors who went that route risked alienating... [ Read More → ]

Tell Me the Truth Now

No matter what I blog about lately—no matter where we go in the blogosphere as a matter of fact—somebody always turns it into a conversation about two things: (1) Publishing is dead or at least in its final death throes; and (2) Everyone should pursue self-publishing and if you don’t, you’re an idiot with your head in the sand. Let me just say this: I completely disagree with both of those statements. Yes, publishing is undergoing a tectonic shift, nobody is denying that. But the shift cannot be accurately described as “dying.” And yes, self-publishing (or indie publishing or whatever designation you want to give it) is increasingly an attractive option for many people, which is a development I completely support. I am, after all, a person in business... [ Read More → ]

Do-It-Yourself Book Publishing

It seems like every week there’s a new story of an author having terrific success with self-publishing. (Two examples from just this week: Amanda Hocking and Alisa Valdes.) I’ve had quite of few readers comment that they’ve gone the self-pub route, and many authors who’ve been published traditionally now have out-of-print books they’re selling via self-pub or simply e-book distribution on Amazon. So I want to know, if you’ve self published a book (or books), tell us how you did it. Did you have a print run, print-on-demand, or is your book strictly digital? Did you go through a company, or do it completely yourself? If you used a company, how was your experience? Would you do it again? Are you having any success? What have you learned that you’d... [ Read More → ]

Are You a Do-It-Yourself Type?

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately about self-publishing. My thoughts have been evolving – things are changing fast and sometimes our thinking has to change, too. Seems like these days, lots of people are into D-I-Y, and that includes the book world. My latest (but still subject to change) opinion is this: Self publishing is becoming an increasingly attractive and viable alternative to the typical commercial (royalty-paying, print-based) book deal.As I’ve mentioned before, I believe this applies much more to non-fiction than fiction, because non-fiction often is targeted to a niche audience to whom the author can effectively promote from their personal platform. Self-published fiction is a much more difficult sell, since there usually isn’t an accompanying... [ Read More → ]

Non-Traditional Publishing

Guest Blogger: Sue Collier There’s a lot of talking, tweeting, and blogging today about self-publishing, as digital technology makes it more accessible to more authors. But there are still misconceptions about what constitutes self-publishing, and it’s frequently defined incorrectly. There are some major differences in publishing options, so let’s go over the three primary ways to publish: 1. Traditional publishing A traditional publisher will offer a contract and probably an advance against future royalties. Since a traditional publisher pays all production costs and makes final decisions on editing, title, and book and cover design, authors will lose some control over their work. They will probably also give up reproduction and other rights to the publisher. The publisher... [ Read More → ]

Think Hard Before Self-Publishing

I recently received an email from a guy who had self-published a book. He’d paid to print 500 hardcover copies, and was pursuing local and national bookstore chains and distributors. But he’d hit a brick wall, finding that most buyers and distributors were not interested in talking to him. He was flummoxed; he needed to sell his books, especially because he was already developing several more books after that first one. He was convinced that if people just looked at his book, they’d want to buy it; he’d already had many positive responses from acquaintances. But he had no idea where to go next. This was hard for me because basically, I could not help the guy. I’m not a self-pub expert. But I told him that his problems getting distribution are the main reason... [ Read More → ]

Where the Money Comes From

Ever since last month when the publishing world erupted in a brouhaha about Harlequin and Thomas Nelson entering the business of self-publishing, I’ve been watching the reports, reading the blogs and mulling this over. It took me awhile to identify what was really bothering me about all of this. But I finally figured it out. There are two issues that are making me uncomfortable with big traditional publishers opening up to self publishing, beyond the things I’ve brought up in my previous posts. 1. Self publishing’s NOT a great idea for fiction authors. Non-fiction books on specific topics that have a built-in audience or subculture are much easier to sell than fiction. You can have a blog and website that attracts people who want the information you’re sharing. You may... [ Read More → ]