1. This Industry Is Alarmingly Subjective
Despite the promises of certain snake oil salesmen offering to sell you a magical unguent that — once slathered upon your inflamed nethers — will assure that your book gets published, no actual formula for success exists. If it did, a book would go out into the world and either fail utterly or succeed completely. All editors would want to take it to acquisitions. All readers would snap it up from bookshelves both real and digital with the greedy hands of a selfish toddler. But it ain’t like that, slick. One editor may like it. Another will love it. Three more will hate it. The audience will run hot or cold on it for reasons you can neither control nor discern. This is an industry based on the whims of people, and people are notoriously fucking loopy.
2. One Big Collective Shrug
More to the point, just as the industry starts first with opinion, it ends on what is essentially guesswork. It’s not so blind and fumbling that industry insiders gather in a darkened room to examine the cooling entrails of New York City pigeons, but just the same, nobody really knows what’s going to work and what’s not. Their guesses are educated, but I suspect that nobody anticipated that 50 Shades of Grey was going to be as big as it was — that must’ve been like finding out your Fart Noise smartphone app sold a bajillion copies overnight. They don’t have a robot they consult who tells them: BEEP BOOP BEEP THIS YEAR EROTIC FANFICTION IS THE SMART MONEY BZZT ZING. ALWAYS BET ON BONDAGE. BING!
3. They May Like Your Book… And Still Not Buy It
Trust me on this one, you can get a ton of editors who love your book who won’t touch it with a ten foot pole. That’s disconcerting at first, because you think, “Well, you’re an editor, this is your job, you are in theory a tastemaker for the publisher, and here you’re telling me you love the book but wouldn’t buy it with another publisher’s money.” You’d almost rather they just send you a napkin with FUCK NO written on it. But then you realize…
4. It’s All About Cash Money, Muthafuckas!
At the very end of the day, publishing is an industry. That editor gets a paycheck. Everybody there gets a paycheck.When a book does well? Folks get paid, keep their job, maybe even get raises. Books do shittily, people get paid, but no raises, and some poor bastards will be punted out onto the sidewalk. It’s overly cynical to suggest that people in publishing don’t love their jobs. Generally, they do. Most folks I know inside that industry do this because they love books, not because they want to be rich. But despite what some politicians will tell you, companies are not people. And companies like money. Oh, and at the end of the day? Self-publishing is about money, too. Success is marked by books that sell well, not by books that were “really good but nobody read them.” Art must operate within a realm of financial sufficiency.
5. About A Billion Books Are Released Every Week
As I write this sentence, 50,000 more books will be released into the world like a herd of stampeding cats. By now, I think the books are actually writing other books in some self-replicating biblio-orgy of books begetting books begetting books. All in a big-ass mash-up of ideas and genres and marketing categories (MIDDLE GRADE SELF-HELP SCI-FI COOKBOOKS will be all the rage in 2014). Between the publishing industry and self-publishing, I think more books are born into the world than actual people (and just wait till one day the books become sentient — man, forget SkyNet, I wanna know what kind of Terminators Amazon is probably already building). Your book is sapling in a very big, very dense forest.
6. Online Book Discovery Is Wonky As Fuck
Browsing for books online feels like being thrown into a dark and disorganized oubliette of information — like you’re the extension arm of some epic-sized claw machine and whatever you find, you find, and that’s it, don’t ask questions, just take your book and shut up, reader. Music discovery is good. Movie discovery ain’t half bad either. But books? Man, it’s either something I hear about from another human, or fuck it, your book is left to the whims of chaos theory.
7. Indies Can’t Get No Respect, Yo
Go up to somebody on the street. Tell them you’re a writer. Provided they don’t then laugh in your face or Taser you in the ta-tas, which response do you think will earn more respect? “A publisher bought my book,” or, “I self-published my book.” It’s the former, and that’s how you know that indie-publishing, despite its many strides, is still seen as the lesser creature. Self-publishing is designed in a way to allow for anything to be published at any time. That’s not to say there are not wonderful self-published books. I’ve read many. And will read many more. But while some will tell you, “cream will rise to the top,” I’ll counter with the reiteration that book discovery is broken. You’re just as likely to discover some great new novel as you are some dude’s shitbucket Tolkien rip-off (“AND THEN THE HARBITS ASSENDED MOUNT DHOOM AND THREW HTE WIDGET OF SARRONG INTO THE SEA”). And until that’s fixed, the mighty morass of the indie-pub world will be ever-present.
8. Self-Publishing Is Easy When It Should Be Hard
Self-publishing is easy. Or, more to the point, self-publishing badly is easy. Which is why a lot of people do it, of course. Self-publishing well is a whole other bag of coconuts.
9. All The World’s Entertainment Is Your Competition
It’s easy to believe that other books are your competition. They are in a very loose, very general sense, sure — certainly at the stage of acquisition, anyway. But readers aren’t a one-book-a-year type. They read lots of books. Their attention is finite and they can only pick up so many books, but generally speaking my book is not competing with your book. No, what you’re competing against is everything else that’s not a book. Movies! Television! Games! Your brain lights up like a fucking full-tilt pinball machine when it’s stimulated by the blitzkrieg of sound and noise. And let’s not forget how you’re competing with scads of totally free content. Blogs! News! Youtube videos of some guy getting hit in the nuts by a surly cat riding a dirtbike! HA HA HA I DON’T NEED BOOKS I HAVE SURLY DIRTBIKE CAT TO MAKE ME FEEL GOOD
10. Slower Than A Three-Legged Donkey
Traditional publishing is sloooooohoooooaaaooooo — ZZZZZZzzZZzz *huh wuzza where am i*– oooooow. It’s slow like an old man gumming a steak. It’s slow like a 1200 baud modem downloading the entire run of Downton Abbey. You could get a publishing deal in 2013 and not have that book on shelves until 2015. They built the Pyramids with more pep in their step.
11. Barnes & Noble May Be Shitting The Bed As We Speak
It may be doom-saying, but after Borders imploded, any tremor in the B&N paradigm is a worrisome one. Sales are down. Some stores are closing. The Nook isn’t doing as well as everyone wanted it to. You go into a B&N and you see a whole middle of the store devoted toward coffee and board games and lawnmowers and bath towels — all the books keep getting pushed toward the edges. So, there’s one big bookselling avenue possibly closing off. The optimistic view is that — fingers crossed — kick-ass indie bookstores will rise to fill the gap, offering an experience you can’t get elsewhere. High-five, indie bookstores. Let’s see your war-face!
12. Trends Matter, Except Also, They Totally Don’t
Trends matter at the point you a) sell to a publisher and/or b) publish your book. Right? If “young adult robot erotica” is hot right now, if you have a book of young adult robot erotica at either of those points, hey, good for you. You’ll probably get a bigger advance. You’ll probably move some copies. That said, it’s very difficult in publishing to capitalize on a trend outside either of those moments because, like I said, publishing is slower than molasses crawling down a Yeti’s asscrack. And trends are unpredictable. Trying to nail a trend in publishing is like trying to knit a sweater while jumping out of a plane. On fire. Covered in squirrels.
13. Your Online Followers Are Not Also Book Buyers
Publishers will tell you, you have to blog. (Because nothing sounds more exciting like someone forcing themselves to blog every day based on somebody else’s marketing proclamations! “Today I’ll blog about… let’s see… drinking gin and crying into my hands.”) They’ll say: “Get on Twitter. Use Facebook. Build a Companion Circle on Friendopolis.” Fine. Only problem: your online followers are not automagically your book readers-slash-buyers. HUMBLEBRAG TIME: I have almost 17,000 Twitter followers. NOTSOHUMBLEBRAG TIME: I do not have 17,000 readers.
14. A Big Advance Means Big Expectations
“Woo hoo! I got a big advance! Six figures, baby. Time to buy that jet-ski and that pet narwhal so we can go have crazy adventures out on the open sea while my book hits shelves and people check it out and… wait, what? My book’s out? And it’s not… selling that well? That’s okay! I still have my six figure advance! And the next book will do better! I’m sorry? Poor sales make it harder for me to be profitable? Because they invested a lot of money in me they’re not going to get back? So now I’m going to have a hard time publishing my next book unless I accept a lesser advance? WAIT STOP REPOSSESSING MY NARWHAL NOOOOO MISTER HORNY COME BACK.”
15. The Name Of The Game Is “Royalty”
The royalty is the real name of the publishing game. (Well, the real name of the publishing game is: “Alcoholism,” but whatever.) Yes, that advance is lovely, but it is an “advance against royalties.” The royalty — meaning, roughly, how much you get per book sold — is how you earn out that advance and become profitable. A better royalty means you earn out faster.
16. That Honey Boo-Boo Middle Grade Self-Help Sci Fi Cookbook May Be What Gets Your Little Tiny Literary Novel Published So Shaddap About It
I know, we all like to grouse that they just gaveanother book deal to Snooki or a publishing imprint to Grumpy Cat. Hard crotch-kick of truth: these books pay for a lot of the other books that don’t earn out. The existence of some Kardashian “fashion detective novel” not only does not hurt your own book but probably helps it exist in the first place.
17. War Of The Megapublishers
The publishers are super-blobs coalescing into one mega-ultra-super-blob. I assume they’re doing a kind of slow-mo Voltron thing so they can battle what they perceive to be the kaiju cyber-monster that is Amazon, but at the end of the day, when two big publishers become one, that’s not good news. Reduced competition. Cut staff. Fewer authors in the stable. Soylent Green in the cafeteria. In five years, there shall be but two publishers: RANGUIN SCHUSTER PENGDOMHAUS and HARPER MCHATCHET INCORPORATED. They will battle. We will lose.
18. People Are Going To Steal Your Book
The current generation is used to open access, not restricted ownership. Someone is going to gank your book. They’re gonna gank the unmerciful fuck out of it. And you’re either going to be mad about it and flail or you’re going to find a way to deal and even make it work for you.
19. People Are Going To Hate Your Book
You will get bad reviews. You will want to respond. Repeat after me: “I will not respond. Because responding to bad reviews makes me look like a doofus with poor impulse control. Because one bad review is not the measure of my book. Because I don’t want to reveal to the world how my self-esteem is the equivalent of one of those teacup poodles that shakes and pees anytime anyone comes near it.” Okay, that’s a lot to repeat, you can just nod and smile.
20. Eventually, Someone Is Going To Try To Dick You Over
Publishing is chockablock with bad deals. Not just the scammers — though, of course, those are out there, All Hail Writer Beware. Oh, no. You’ll see good and venerable publishers occasionally trying to slip a truly toxic deal past the bouncers. Sign that contract, next thing you know you’ll have offered up your next seven books for the price of one. You’ll have offered your house for orgies and your mouth as an ashtray. This is why we have agents. The agent is there to say, “This clause, the one about eating babies, we’re going to say no to that one.”
21. You Are Now In Marketing And Advertising, Congratulations
Publishers expect you to handle some of the marketing and advertising brunt. Doubly true if you are your own publisher. Problem: nobody knows what works. Like I said: all guesswork. And yet, there you are, the author standing all by himself, trying to peddle his intellectual wares with naught but a single clue as how to do it. So you stand on all the social media corners, shaking your word-booty, trying to seduce readers. The burden is at least in part on you.
22. Word-Of-Mouth Is The Only Surefire Driver
The only truly certain way a book gets properly “advertised” is through memetic transmission — aka, “Word-of-Mouth.” (That sounds like a disease all writers get. “I got a bad case of the word-of-mouth. There’s… no cure. Cue the Sarah McLachlan music.”) Only problem: nobody knows how to manufacture or stimulate word-of-mouth. (It’s definitely not the same way one electrostimulates the prostate gland. I’ve tried!)
23. Writing A Lot And Reading A Lot Is Not A Magical One-Two Combo Punch
You’ll hear a lot that the only advice you need is to read and write. Writing well — and the next step, publishing your work or getting published — is the product of a lot more than just those two things. Practice and effort matters. But contextualization and reflection are key. Further, writing a good book and then getting that book out there requires a skill-set beyond reading and writing, or the world would be full of kick-ass penmonkeys, wouldn’t it?
24. It’s Really Hard, Luck Matters, And Frustration Is Guaranteed
Writing and getting a book out there — whether through a publisher or via your own intrepid go-get-em spirit — is a tough row to hoe, Joe. And luck factors into it: you can certainly maximize that luck, but just the same, publishing requires that spark of serendipity. Frustration is imminent. You’ll hear things, see things, and have to deal with things that will make you want to headbutt a plate glass window. You’ll want to give up. Don’t. Because:
25. A Lot Of This Is Just A Distraction
Learn the ins and outs of publishing. Do not not be ignorant of them. But if you’re not careful, gazing into the dread eye of the publishing industry will become a distraction — one that’ll give you the icy shits every couple weeks as some new wave of dubious news hits the wire (OH GOD AMAZON GAINED SENTIENCE AND IS DOWNLOADING AUTHORS INTO ITS CYBERMIND). Further, the publishing distraction feels like productivity — it’s not like you’re sitting around watching cartoons and eating microwaved pot pies. You’re keeping up with the industry, by gum! Yeah, and you’re also not writing books. Know your industry. But don’t get bogged by it. Your book can’t succeed if your book doesn’t exist in the first place. Concentrate all fire on that Star Destroyer, mmkay? You can’t control publishing. You can’t control the audience’s reaction to your book. Control what you can control, which means: write the best book that lives inside you.
Want another hot tasty dose of dubious writing advice aimed at your facemeats?
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CONFESSIONS OF A FREELANCE PENMONKEY:
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REVENGE OF THE PENMONKEY:
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Michael Sirois says:
Inspiring, scary stuff, Chuck. Thanks.
January 23, 2013 — 4:00 PM
Ksenia Anske (@kseniaanske) says:
Well, dear Chuck, I love you and everything, but you got me so upset yesterday with this post, that today I wrote a response, a blog post called: Write Not To Sell. WRITE TO FEEL. There, call me crazy… http://www.kseniaanske.com/blog/2013/1/23/write-not-to-sell-write-to-feel.html
January 23, 2013 — 4:11 PM
Gary Robson says:
This is very well-written and thoroughly depressing. I would like to recommend to every writer that they print out #19 and post it directly above their computer. Anne Rice should have listened to this. I’ve only responded to bad reviews a couple of times, and it made things worse both times.
January 23, 2013 — 4:31 PM
Sharon Fummerton says:
I really needed to read this today. Seriously. I’m working on my sixth proof of corrections, and I’m feeling as though my brain MUST be made of tapioca pudding considering all the corrections I’ve made so far.
And, yes, I am using a self-publishing company. So, rather than running, screaming, into the wilderness, I will continue to slog through my novel, shrieking each time I see a hyphen when there shouldn’t be one, or not having one when there should be one. But I will take care of it.
Your counsel is appreciated.
January 23, 2013 — 5:44 PM
Becca says:
Heh. Your online followers may not be your readers, but I read this and immediately wanted to read your books, too. Great stuff.
January 23, 2013 — 5:58 PM
authormichaeljsullivan says:
Entertaining as always and I agree with a lot of what you say. But we disagree on a few points. My 2 cents for what it is worth:
A lot of wisdom there – but also some things that I take issue with.
1. THIS INDUSTRY IS ALARMINGLY SUBJECTIVE – I agree as far as acquisitions is concerned. As for audiences running hot or cold, I think that is a perception of someone who doesn’t know how to find their core audience. If you understand branding and positioning and assuming you a) can write a good book and b) aren’t appealing to too small a niche – then it’s just a matter of getting the book in front of some people and then let word-of-mouth work its magic.
2. ONE BIG COLLECTIVE SHRUG – Yes it’s not possible to predict the “next big thing” but in general you don’t have to. There are many genres that are tried and true year in and year out and as long as you are concentrating on them, you’ll be fine.
3. THEY MAY LIKE YOUR BOOK… AND STILL NOT BUY IT – Very true, and when publishing was all that there was…this was a problem. Now if you feel strongly enough about the project (and you should or you shouldn’t have written it) then it doesn’t matter. You don’t need it to be picked up to be successful.
4. IT’S ALL ABOUT CASH MONEY, MUTHAFUCKAS! – Some people are more concerned with “art” then money – and if they are happy with that – fine. As for me, and most authors, we want to earn a living at this so yes we “must operate within a realm of financial sufficiency.”
5. ABOUT A BILLION BOOKS ARE RELEASED EVERY WEEK – Yep – but so what. We disagree about the difficulty of discoverability – I do think that inferior books fade into obscurity and are a non-issue.
6. ONLINE BOOK DISCOVERY IS WONKY AS FUCK – I don’t agree. Amazon algorithms are extremely important and those that know how to categorize, concentrate on quality (and therefore get good reviews), and use short stories as free or low-priced incentives to get people into higher priced works can make them work to their favor. Most people don’t know how to maximize their Amazon author page and books page. Those that do outperform those that don’t. Also goodreads is a highly underutilized tool that is a terrific resource for fostering discoverability. You just need to know how to “make it work.”
7. INDIES CAN’T GET NO RESPECT, YO – Yes in your example of course they are going to choose the person who is traditionally published, but thankfully that’s not how people decide on books. The Amazon epic fantasy bestseller list has 50% traditional and 50% self-published. Likewise if you look at the “Author Rank” pages for fantasy you’ll see a good mix of both (though I’ve not done a tally). Clearly indies that know how to “do things right” are selling well….and yes many aren’t but again they fade into obscurity and are a non-issue.
8. SELF-PUBLISHING IS EASY WHEN IT SHOULD BE HARD – Self-publishing isn’t easy…and it is hard. Because as I said those that do it poorly fade away but when I speak of self-publishing I’m speaking of those who “know how to do it right” and those people work very hard to get the success they have.
9. ALL THE WORLD’S ENTERTAINMENT IS YOUR COMPETITION – No arguments there.
10. SLOWER THAN A THREE-LEGGED DONKEY – No arguments here.
11. BARNES & NOBLE MAY BE SHITTING THE BED AS WE SPEAK – Yes we are in agreement.
12. TRENDS MATTER, EXCEPT ALSO, THEY TOTALLY DON’T – I agree – trying to “time trends” is a waste of time.
13. YOUR ONLINE FOLLOWERS ARE NOT ALSO BOOK BUYERS – it depends. Remember when I mentioned branding? If you build a brand and position yourself to a target market, then your social networking will produce dividends. That being said…I think there are more effective uses of your time time then blogs and tweets.
14. A BIG ADVANCE MEANS BIG EXPECTATIONS – Yes this is true…in my case I earned out the six-figure advance in six-months and you know what? I was still offered less for my second series than even though I beat the expectations. Bottom line…publishers want to pay the least amount they can. In my case I said no, and they doubled the deal. If they didn’t I would have walked and done just as well (or probably better by self-publishing).
15. THE NAME OF THE GAME IS “ROYALTY” – I agree, but to date I’ve not been able to get publishers to move off of those numbers. If you are Stephen King or Jo Rowlings yeah you might get higher royalty rates but for the vast majority of us we see “industry standard.”
16. THAT HONEY BOO-BOO MIDDLE GRADE SELF-HELP SCI FI COOKBOOK MAY BE WHAT GETS YOUR LITTLE TINY LITERARY NOVEL PUBLISHED SO SHADDAP ABOUT IT – I agree
17. WAR OF THE MEGAPUBLISHERS – You are probably right, and I agree this isn’t good for authors.
18. PEOPLE ARE GOING TO STEAL YOUR BOOK – No disagreement there.
19. PEOPLE ARE GOING TO HATE YOUR BOOK – Very true – you can’t please everyone all the time, and never engage in negative reviews.
20. EVENTUALLY, SOMEONE IS GOING TO TRY TO DICK YOU OVER – I’ll go a step further and don’t abdicate completely to your agent – make sure you understand every clause and interpret it as if the “worst” occurs. My agent missed a loophole where my books could go in limbo because I could only terminate after failure to publish after a certain amount of time past acceptance…but there were ways in which acceptance could not be reached.
21. YOU ARE NOW IN MARKETING AND ADVERTISING, CONGRATULATIONS- I agree – but I go a step further. I treat any marketing that my publisher does (and they actually do quite a bit) as “gravy” I act as if their efforts weren’t there and rely on myself to build the audience – that way I have only myself to blame if I fail.
22. WORD-OF-MOUTH IS THE ONLY SUREFIRE DRIVER – Without question … but we disagree about to stimulate it. Again finding your audience is key – and you MUST have a book worthy of people spreading the word about -if you don’t have that then you are doomed when it comes to word-of-mouth.
23. WRITING A LOT AND READING A LOT IS NOT A MAGICAL ONE-TWO COMBO PUNCH – Yes I agree.
24. IT’S REALLY HARD, LUCK MATTERS, AND FRUSTRATION IS GUARANTEE – boo to the “it’s just luck” argument. It is the cry of those not willing to take responsibility for their own success and failure. You make your own luck through a) skill b) talent, and c) persistence. As Jefferson said, “”I am a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.” – stop making excuses about not getting “lucky.”
25. A LOT OF THIS IS JUST A DISTRACTION – I agree to some extend – but the publishing landscape is changing fast, and it’s important to know what is going on. I now know of 3 authors who have negotiated print-only deals – this is an important new development. Harper Voyager is doing digital only releases – this is also important to know. You have to be nimble and in order to know which way to jump you need to know what is going on in the industry. But yes, don’t pretend that you are “doing work” by keeping up on this – concentrate on getting your word count first and research after your daily limit has been met.
January 23, 2013 — 6:08 PM
terribleminds says:
That’s a helluva comment, Michael. Not enough time to tackle it in its entirety (my apologies), but, some quick thoughts in no particular order:
a) I didn’t say luck was everything. But publishing features a lot of elements you can’t control. As such, there exists an element of luck. And, of course, you can maximize that luck. (Which I note in the post.)
b) If book discovery requires that much effort on the author’s part, it’s broken. What you’re talking about is a mechanism of marketing and advertising. I’m talking about the algorithms of discovery that would mimic me walking into a bookstore and seeing a book on a shelf.
c) We cannot predict or control our audiences. Nor are audience preferences in any way objective.
d) Do not assume the Amazon Bestseller List is the only indicator of how books reach people’s hands. It’s a big part. It’s not the only part. Indie publishing lives strong on Amazon, and weak just about everywhere else.
e) Inferior books do not fade into obscurity. Many become big sellers — that’s true of traditional and indie publishing. And also true of both is that some truly superior books do not reach audiences sometimes because the mechanism for discovery is, as noted, wonky as fuck.
— c.
January 24, 2013 — 9:05 AM
authormichaeljsullivan says:
a) There are always things you can’t control – and A LOT of things you can’t control when traditionally published (price, cover, title etc) – but “luck” implies complete randomness and fosters a mentality of resignation. You can’t maximize a random act. What you can do…is improve your odds. Winning a raffle is random – but the more tickets you bought the better your chances, so my contention is you not worry about things you can’t do anything thing about (those things that are random and out of your control) but DO work hard on those things that you can do to improve your chances. – Be proactive!
b) It is what it is. You can say “I’m not going to do it because it’s brain dead, but how does that help you or your books? Better to find a way to operate within the system. There are a lot of “broken things” about traditional publishing, again it is what it is. I recommend that you find a way to succeed despite the obstacles placed in your path.
c) No, but if you concentrate on sending the right message to the right audience then you’ll be more successful. My books have very little in the way of romance. If I try to build an audience from people who like romances, I’ll not succeed well. But I do have a pair of witty adventure seekers, so if I put it in front of people who like Fritz Leiber’s Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser it will do well. I don’t have to try to predict or control my audience I have to find an audience that generally likes my type of stuff and let them know it exists.
d) Absolutely correct..but the important point is you can make a damn fine income with JUST Amazon if you are self-published. Yes when I was self-published my books were not in bookstores, or Wallmart or libraries. But I was selling 11,500 copies a month (producing more than $45,000) so why should I care if they are in bookstores – Many “traditional” authors won’t do that over the life of their release even with a much wider set of venues.
e) Any book that sells well is by definition “not inferior” – you may not like Twilight, or 50-shades, or Dan Brown, but they obviously did something that connected with an audience and made good money for the author and their publisher so they are by definition “a success.” And yes some great books are never discovered – but that is generally because no one knows what they are…and back to the “if you want success you have to work within the confines of the wonky system. Bottom line…IF you:
1. Write a good book (defined as one in a genre that has a good number of readers (i.e. not too “niche”) that people like so much that they buy subsequent books by the author, tell their friends and family, and buy as gifts)
2. Get it into the hands of a core number of people (prime the pump if you wil)
3. Continue to produce more works for people to buy/recommend
Then you will be successful. The problem of course is doing #1 is very hard. And many authors refuse to do #2 (and so they have only themselves to blame). This three step formula is EXACTLY the same for self and traditional – the two routes are not as different as one might think.
January 26, 2013 — 8:43 AM
Paula R. Stiles says:
Wait…what…pigeon augury *doesn’t* work? Well, *damn.* There goes the cornerstone for my marketing plan in February!
January 23, 2013 — 6:15 PM
Riley Redgate says:
God, you’re great.
January 23, 2013 — 7:51 PM
Carol Chittenden says:
As a real bookstore owner, I want to print this out and use it to bap dewy-eyed self published folks up side the head with it.
And do you have the nuts to take on the corrosive effects of Amazon, for which many of your readers seem only too happy to bend over forward?
January 23, 2013 — 8:59 PM
Amy Wachspress says:
God I hope more people read my books than read my blog. I think only my husband, my father, my brother, and a couple high school girlfriends read my blog.
January 23, 2013 — 9:50 PM
inkingdreams says:
Funny and sad truth. What most people know but refuse to say.
January 23, 2013 — 10:19 PM
Aine Greaney says:
Interesting piece. My big quibble: # 7. I hate when people confuse indie publishers as in, smaller, independent presses, with self-publishing (author pays) outfits. Fiscally or artistically, they are completely different.
January 23, 2013 — 10:25 PM
RD Meyer says:
Nice list – honest and hysterical. Definitely grabs readers by the balls and keeps their attention(as most ball grabbing will do).
January 23, 2013 — 11:58 PM
D.J. Gelner says:
Absolutely true, and hilarious! Really enjoyed it as a new indie writer–love to hear all perspectives, especially when they’re so entertaining. If we ever cross paths, I’m happy to buy you a beer.
January 24, 2013 — 12:02 AM
Susan Spann says:
Speaking as one of the lucky ones … yes. To all of this. A thousand times yes. Don’t get too down in the process, because you simply have to keep getting up and starting over. Don’t get too high on your own successes, because no matter how many books you sell, the next one might not and you’ll look like an asshat for peeing in the wheaties of the readers and writers around you.
And always, ALWAYS, listen to THE WENDIG, for he is wise.
Now … can I borrow your narwhal?
January 24, 2013 — 12:53 AM
Gaye Weekes says:
Loved Para 12 ‘Trying to nail a trend in publishing … (and feel free to substitute anything you like here which requires ultimately persuading the public to part with cash)! Reading the rest of the paragraph resulted in a satisfying belly laugh. I don’t agree with Para 13, however – I can’t be the only one who not only buys and reads books but also embraced e-books yet still borrows umpteen library books a month. I work self-employed from home and when not working am usually reading – some days I don’t get any work done. And I’ll give most genres a go…. My daughter must have caught the bug as she asked for a nice copy of a Jane Austin title she particularly loved one Christmas – ‘just to keep and re-read when I need to.’
January 24, 2013 — 6:55 AM
Raven says:
Love it. Informative and funny.
No, I’m not discouraged. Anything worth doing is a pain in the ass. 😉
What if I write a book ABOUT fart-noise apps? Am I sure to get a ga-jillion dollars then?
No?
Dammit.
January 24, 2013 — 8:56 AM
terribleminds says:
That might actually work. Especially if the book about an app is also an app about a book.
— c.
January 24, 2013 — 9:06 AM
Dale Long says:
This came at the right time for me. The subjective part I understand but it annoys the hell out of me.
Submitting to writing contests seems to be similar to Olympic Figure skaters waiting for their marks.
And the Russian judge says…
January 24, 2013 — 9:57 AM
scieditor says:
Words of comfort, words of hilarity, words of truth.
January 24, 2013 — 11:20 AM
JF Brown says:
Hi Chuck,
I have several of your writing books. They’re very useful and informative. I also love a good poison pen, and yours is wielded well.
This blogpost was mentioned at Passive Voice. I had to laugh at your number 7, above, referencing Tolkien ripoffs. Thought you might be enjoy this link to Lousy Book Covers on tumblr. All the examples are both egregious and hilarious. It’s from 3/22/12. Here’s the URL:
http://lousybookcovers.tumblr.com/post/19739183666/the-tower-the-eye-book-one-a-beginning-the
JF Brown
January 24, 2013 — 1:25 PM
Corey Feldman says:
Personally I love being self published. I never queried an agent or a house. Why? Exactly what you and others have said about the time it takes to get published. I also didn’t want to give up creative control. The whole thing about people caring whether your indie or traditional is more about ego than anything else. I wrote a good children’s book about 6 months ago. Then I wrote 4 more. I creatspaced/KDP the first one a little over 3 months ago, now I have it on iBook, Nook, and kobo for the last couple of weeks. I can almost guarantee you I made more money in the last 3 months than the advance (if I was lucky enough to be picked up) that I would have received in 1 to 3 years from now. And over that next 1 to 3 years I would have been waiting for an advance I will continue to earn royalties at a higher percentage than with a traditional publisher. So if Carole or any other local brick and morter store owner wants to bap me up side the head with your printed post, or you know not carry my book, your not hurting me and your not hurting Amazon. When B&N collapses or evolves into another Amazon, your not going to see indie store fill that void. Your Targets and Walmarts will have the few huge selling books and Amazon will be taking most of the rest of it. It’s not a slam against indie stores. I’d love to own an indie bookstore/coffee shop. But most won’t survive Amazon. If the big houses turn into a giant blob, it won’t cut competition, there will just be more indie writers. No one has asked me this yet, but if someone did ask if they could buy it at B&N, I would say sure, online, but I would prefer if you ordered through amazon since I make a higher royalty.
January 24, 2013 — 7:36 PM
Editor says:
It’s “you’re not hurting me,” not “your.”
January 25, 2013 — 7:43 PM
Corey Feldman says:
Thanks I know the difference. Since your user name is Editor I’m glad my typo made your day
January 26, 2013 — 10:06 AM
Grammarpolice says:
If you know the difference, how come you repeated you’re “typo” umpteen times?
February 1, 2013 — 3:42 PM
terribleminds says:
Would you care to share how much you made off the children’s book(s)?
— c.
January 25, 2013 — 7:57 PM
Corey Feldman says:
I made about 3K on paperback sales that I ordered from createspace and sold myself. About 750 from online sales. Not much on ebook sales since its not the right genre. But even those have picked up since I went to iTunes.
January 26, 2013 — 10:04 AM
Corey Feldman says:
I also firmly expect sales to increase as I get more and more good reviews and word of mouth catches on…
January 26, 2013 — 2:02 PM
UrsulaV says:
For what it’s worth, the advance on my first three children’s books was 15K apiece. This is not in any way to disparage your very mpressive sales effort, just to give you a data point on current kid’s book advances.
January 26, 2013 — 8:01 PM
Corey Feldman says:
I’m impressed. I talked to a few authors of illustrated children’s book and they were all around 1,500
January 27, 2013 — 10:52 AM
Corey Feldman says:
One got none at all
January 27, 2013 — 10:53 AM
UrsulaV says:
Hmm, can’t reply any lower on the thread. I suspect it’s a question of agents and genre–picture books are a much tougher sell than middle-grade, which is what I write, and the profit margin is thinner.
Also, my agent is a barracuda with good hair.
January 29, 2013 — 11:44 PM
Yourm says:
Thanks, now I am totally psyched to write, but yeah better to read this now when I am an official nobody then to be surprised later when I am a wantabe writer who got …. well, all this happening to him.
January 25, 2013 — 3:21 AM
Violet says:
I liked this. Hilirious too. It’s like tough love preparing you for the real publishing world. I just started writing. I have written a few books but the recent one that I started working on I want to get it out there. So this article was great on been realistic and what to expect I guess in this book-publishing industry. Thanks for this. Love your sarcasm btw. 😀
January 25, 2013 — 8:50 AM
Roxanne Smolen says:
Terrific post. Must read!
January 25, 2013 — 10:34 AM
Steve says:
Nodding and smiling…
January 25, 2013 — 3:39 PM
Diana Stevan says:
Liked that you added luck to the mix. Also, ended on “write the best book that lives inside of you.” Good stuff. Thanks.
January 25, 2013 — 8:17 PM
Peter Newton says:
All great advice. Fun. But being a poet, very little of this apples. Except the key to self-publishing, which is to do it thoughtfully, professionally (edit, edit, time, space, edit) and on halfway decent paper.
January 26, 2013 — 7:16 PM
Peter Newton says:
I meant, of course, “applies”, not apples. But apples are good too.
January 26, 2013 — 7:17 PM
VeronicaThePajamaThief says:
I stopped obsessing over how many followers or friends I have, because, as Chuck says… ‘that don’t mean squat!”
Great stuff, Chuck! Thank you!
January 26, 2013 — 7:24 PM
Elaine Ash says:
Hi Chuck, can you do a whole post on #18, please?
January 26, 2013 — 7:32 PM
Geraldine Evans (@gerrieevans) says:
Newbies. Listen up! This guy knows what he’s talking about.
January 27, 2013 — 6:21 AM
quentinscrisp says:
While there were some good points made here, there were also some bad ones. Indie publishing and self-publishing are not the same thing, and anyone who knows anything about pubishing should know that. As to success being judged by how much a book sells, well, that may be how some people judge success. Personally, if I’ve enjoyed a book, if it’s changed my life, I don’t then go out and ask how many copies it’s sold. If I happen to discover it has sold very few, I don’t then feel, “Oh, I must have been wrong about it.” But you’re right that people should understand that publishing, in a society based on money, does not run without money. Oh, and, by the way, I’ve been working as a publisher, without being paid for it, for some years now.
January 27, 2013 — 10:04 AM
Corey Feldman says:
Indie is a short term for independent. There used to be more of a difference, but that has eroded. I can set up an LLC for a nominal fee. Buy a string of ISBNs and outsource the printing to lighting space and Bingo I’m an indie publisher.
January 27, 2013 — 7:18 PM
Corey Feldman says:
Sorry, lighting source
January 27, 2013 — 7:19 PM
renée a. schuls-jacobson says:
As usual, you slay me. I want to shake my word-booty an a street corner. That sounds hot.
January 27, 2013 — 4:28 PM
Nathaniel Tower says:
If you have 17,000 followers, you may not have 17,000 readers, but you surely have more readers than if you had no followers, right?
January 28, 2013 — 3:34 PM
Col Bury says:
Insightful and entertaining, as ever, Chuck. Especially agree that “book discovery is broken”, unfortunately.
Regards,
Col
January 28, 2013 — 3:59 PM