Recently a small independent press decided to close their
doors. This really saddened me because I have so many of my friends that have
books with them. It got me to thinking once again about the publishing world
and how unexpected it is. There have been so many small publishers to go under
over the past few years that it seems almost not worth it to be with a small
publisher. The risk seems too high. The publisher that recently announced their
closer actually asked to review The Dream
Keeper book when I was shopping it around. I don’t know how I would have
responded if I had been published with them and just a few months later they
made this announcement. What would have happened to the remaining books in the
trilogy? What would become of my rights?
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| image courtesy of Stewart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net |
This got me to thinking more about the goals for myself as
an author. I want to be successful and I crave the support of a publisher, but
a small press, unless it’s self-sustaining, cannot make that happen for me. I
need a large publisher. So really, I need an agent. With the regulations on
unagented manuscripts there is no way I will sign with a large publisher
without an agent. In order to get an agent, I need a great book that is
sellable—intriguing and market driven. So, first step: write a killer book. Next,
I need to find an agent that I know will get the job done. Not just anyone. I
need someone who has proven to be successful and who knows their business—that’s
not asking too much right? Of course not! But that means I am going to have to
do my homework. Submit only to the agents that I feel are a good match for me
and my work. Submit to agents that I know will work as hard as I will to sell
that book. Okay, I have found my agent, now I need to get the agent’s
attention. I need to write a query letter that will have them requesting the
book in a matter of seconds after reading it and not put it in the “maybe” file
and be forgotten. After I bleed the query letter onto the keyboard I send it
out and wait. Once I get an agent the process begins again, this time with
publishers. In a few years I might see my book printed. This sounds like a lot
of work right? You bet it does! What’s the other option?
The other option is to self-publish, or as the hip new term
goes, turn indie. This is going to be less The
Dream Keeper on my own I knew what I was getting into. I spent two years
researching the playing field before I even attempted doing it. I started with
picture books, just to see how they did. I found the work, hard, frustrating at
times, rewarding at others, and over all a full-time job. Did all the work I
put into it make me successful? No, it didn’t. Am I still working on becoming
successful? Yes, I am. An overnight success takes about ten years, so I feel I
am on the right track. Self-publishing or indie-publishing, however you look at
it, is not going to give you a quick way to publishing a book and making it
big. I am not saying it won’t, but it will come with a heck of a lot of work.
As an indie author I am the cover artist, cover designer, formatter, editor, line
editor, copy editor, proofer, marketing expert, budgeter, publicist, distributor, financial backer, and
on top of it—writer. That’s a lot of roles, not to mention all the ones you
have outside of your book, spouse, parent, grandparent, sibling, child,
employee…the list goes on and on. Self-publishing take a lot of work. Heck, publishing a book period, takes a lot of
work. Let’s not forget what it takes just to get an agent and even that’s no guarantee
you’ll sign with a large press.
I hope I am not sounding all Johnny-rain-cloud. I just want
to remind myself and maybe you what authors are up against. Whichever road we
take to get our books into the hands of readers will be well work the time,
effort, risk, and heartache (yes there is plenty of tears shed over rejections
and bad reviews). But guess what? It’s really worth it in the end. The best
moment of my writing career was when I saw a picture posted online of a kid
reading my book—my book!! It took over a hundred and twenty rejects from agents
and publishers, hours and hours of editing, illustrating, formatting, sweating,
planning, launching, and smiling to see it all happen. It was hard work, but
that one kid made it all worth it. Will it be the same with a big publisher,
heck yeah, and I am ready for the ride, but I think I am done with small houses.
It’s either go big or go indie for me…maybe I’ll do both.
