Author Chuck Wendig has published two articles that I found very interesting, from a professional point of view:
For authors like myself, who've chosen to walk away from the overcrowded, dog-eat-dog world of the traditional publishing market (where fewer than one in a hundred would-be authors ever make it past the gatekeepers to achieve 'traditional' publication), these articles are very useful. I particularly like his use of the term 'Author-Publisher'. I've never liked 'self-published' as a description for my work, because I'm relying on my wife plus a host of companies such as Amazon.com, CreateSpace, my friend Grace Bridges at Splashdown Books (who's now offering editing services to independent authors such as myself at extremely reasonable rates - yes, that's a plug for her, and I don't care!), and others. Without all of them, I couldn't hope to successfully get my books on the market.
I know several of my readers have already followed the 'author-publisher' model, and others are considering it. I'd like to encourage them to do so. It removes most of the costs and delays from the equation, and offers you entry into a field that for too long has been jealously guarded by those who appointed themselves arbiters of its tastes and values. This way, you can ignore all of that baggage, and launch your own literary ship upon the seas of readers, where it will sink or swim upon its own merits.
I note, too, that according to the Atlantic Wire, 'Self-publishing is growing up'. It seems Publishers Weekly, one of the 'gatekeepers' to whom I referred earlier, is waking up to the reality that there are literally millions of author-published books out there, some of which are doing very well indeed - outselling almost all traditionally published books. The author notes:
Self-publishing ... seems the mystical key for frustrated writers of all stripes. For the unknowns, it offers the chance of exposure without tallying up the rejection letters. Eventually—if you're lucky, or a particularly juicy literotica scribbler—a publishing house could take notice. For the already famous, it's just the opposite path: it promises newfound autonomy, the chance to keep the traditional publishers from butting into your craft.
(I note with a certain bemusement that in only 3½ months on the market, I've sold more of each of my books than the print runs a traditional publisher would normally produce for a new author. I know I have you, my readers, to thank for that, because you buy the initial copies that lift my books out of obscurity and onto Amazon.com's 'Hot New Releases' and 'Best Seller' lists, where others can find them. Thank you all very much!)
Peter
2 comments:
Anyone with books that are cross-genre or of tailored interest really should look into author-publishing. I have two fiction books available and a third on the way. In contrast, my first non-fiction book was submitted to a publisher in June of 2011 and should be on the shelves next fall (2014). The second non-fiction was first submitted last July and is still at least two months from yes/no/more revisions, with two years from acceptance to publication if it is accepted. And these are fast-track presses (compared to the Big Five).
LittleRed1
I have been calling it Independent Publishing, or Indie Publishing, myself. Equally as descriptive, I think. I'll be putting my second novel out in a couple of months but there's a whole slew of people involved in the process, it's certainly not self alone.
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