As a relatively new contributing writer for the Examiner, I have spent the last month and half trying to learn how to juggle my time. With a requirement of 3 – 4 articles a week, the Examiner has been both great practice and great exposure, but getting my stuff read by a large audience is a tremendous amount of work. The good news is that it has given me a huge insight into what it will really take to be a successful published author. Networking and becoming a ‘brand’ borders on a full-time job.
As some of you may know, I have a novel I have been ‘shopping’ for months and months now. Always a dream of mine to go the ‘traditional’ publishing route, my learning curve on this project has been huge. After all this time, (and more responses than I care to admit that tell me “thank you, but our agency is not taking on any more clients at this time”), I am centimeters away from finally realizing that POD/self-publishing may be the only way to see my novel in print within my lifetime. Sigh…
When I began this journey, “self-published” had the connotation of “my writing sucks, I can’t get an agent and so I have to go this route”. I have now read books from tremendously talented people who have gone this route and I have to admit, I am pleasantly surprised. With the literary world fighting harder to make a buck and more and more authors trying to get published for the first time, POD and Ebooks seem to honestly be a more viable and economically feasible alternative. Whether one goes traditional or another route, an author has to fight tooth and nail to get his name and product out there, so why not reap greater financial benefits for doing the same amount of work?
I’m convinced that the only way for this to succeed is to continually market, network and support those authors who have opted to go the ‘non-traditional’ route. My reading list now contains up-and-coming authors I find on Facebook, those who have opted for smaller publisher/distributors and those going the self-published route. I am making a conscious effort to reach out to those that have traveled my same difficult road and encountered the same ‘bumps’. I can only hope that one day, when my novel is out, others will do the same.
I’m getting book #1 published at Mill City Press. As soon as it’s available I’ll let you know. Also, congrats on your column.You rock!
Nice article…welcome to the club 🙂
I tried for years then paid 5000 to ligntning source to publish my book and i got one copy. Now amazon is selling it and i get nothing, they dont even respond to my emails. When people do read Unknowing Savior they say it is better than DaVinci Code. If you would like one I could send it to you. LB
Welcome to my world. I had two high-profile agents, the second taking me on after the first seemed to be too busy for me. Yet, even though I was never told of any rejections by the first agent, once she found out I had another agent interested, she sent a list a mile long of where she’d ostensibly sent my manuscript. When she didn’t have proof, she told me the rejections were over the phone. Even though we had no proof, the second agent couldn’t send it out, just in case the 1st was telling the truth. Therefore, my novel “Without Grace” was sabotaged.
When Susan Driscoll, former CEO of iUniverse, heard about this, she offered to publish it gratis. I felt that self-publishing or POD was vanity publishing, but I soon learned otherwise. and agreed to let iUniverse publish my novel, which went on to win quite a number of awards. Due to its success Susan paid me a nice sum to write my second book for iUniverse, “The Author’s Guide to Planning Book Events.”
However, I am still trying to get my novel “Of Little Faith” traditionally published. I’m even posting the 1st chapter in installments on Red Room and the feedback I’ve been getting via email has been gratifying. (I guess no one wants to bother to log in or create an account to comment on the Red Room site.)
Anyway, as you are discovering, it’s tough to get published, but it’s comforting to know that there are outlets where you can find an audience when the gatekeepers won’t let you in. Much success to you!
Carol
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this. You’ve made some good points, and, as you said, I think connecting with other writers in similar situations could prove to be very meaningful for me (as opposed to just talking about doing it). Just reading your blog entry and knowing that someone else is thinking about these things is both comforting and encouraging. We will all find a way to get out voices heard!
Nicole
nicolesallwrite.wordpress.com
It’s so nice to know to find a blog post that expresses just how difficult this particular route is. Thanks for it.
Well, that comment above was made before my morning coffee, and as you can see contains a sample of my sterling prose. Arrg.
Hope you could decipher my very writerly message. 😀
New to your fine blog! I am inspired by your post here and I hope your novel is a great success.