New Adult vs. Adult Fiction

 At a recent writing group meet, we talked about writing for different age groups. How writing for children's, middle grade, young adult, new adult, and adult differ when it come to vocabulary, language, and content.

As we moved through the different age ranges, highlighting the standards for the classifications, both from a library prospective, as well as, a commercial one, we ended up getting stuck on new adult. It's not really a classification, as far as age range, that libraries use, but it is used in the commercial space, and has been for over a decade.

 So what is new adult?

If you've never heard the term before, it can be confusing. Up until a little over a decade ago, new adult meant a book fell into the adult genre and was a new release. Or, at the very least, a new acquisition for the store or library. But today, in the commercial space, that might not be what someone means when they say they're looking for a new adult book.

Most books that fall into the new adult category have characters between the ages of 18 to 24 years old. They are embarking on their lives as adults, encountering a lot of changes, and adjusting to new responsibilities. They are new adults.

A lot of these books revolve around college and college students, but they don't have to. The genre tends to revolve around characters finding their way in life as adults. Experiencing things for the first time.

The new adult label is most often found in the romance genre. It focuses on falling in love for the first time as an adult. Sometimes it deals with one or more characters losing their virginity. And it usually involves one, or more of the characters exploring things out of their comfort zone.

Why is this distinction between new adult and adult important in romance?

I've been a romance reader for the better part of my life, which means I've read all different types of romance. And while I enjoy some new adult titles, I tend to favor adult titles. Why? The maturity of the characters.

That's not to say all new adult books have immature characters. They don't. Elle Kennedy's Off Campus series is a perfect example of that.

While her characters are in college, and sometimes they do stupid things, they don't come across as immature. They all have responsibilities and they take them seriously.

But new adult books often center around going to college, college parties, and finding your way as someone who's often experiencing independence for the first time. As a woman who's flirting with 50, and has been on her own for several decades, that holds very little interest to me. 

That, however, is one of the great things about books. There are different genres, different characters, and different lifestyles we can read about and we can find the books that speak to us. Even if they don't speak to someone else.

It's one of the things I love about indie publishing. There is no gatekeeping. No begging an editor in New York to give your book a chance.

Self publishing has opened the door to everyone. If you have a story you've written, you have the ability to put it out to the masses-to find your audience.

Do you have a preference between new adult and adult books?

What Kind Of Writer Do You Want To Be?

Last year a local writer's group started meeting at the library. We're still trying to find our footing, but we're getting there.

 

One of the things I love about our group is how varied our interests are. The organizer of the group and I are the only published writers, however we do have a couple of bloggers who post regularly, as well. 

 

This month, we had three new faces. They all were in various stages of their writing journey.

 

One woman wants to write, but didn't know where to start. My first question to her was where do you want to go?

 

 This might sound like a silly question, but it's really important. When you decide you want to write, knowing where you want to end up will help you to decide how to proceed. Are you wanting to pursue traditional publishing? Do you want to self publish? Are you looking to start a blog? Or are you purely wanting to write as a hobby and have no intention of sharing your words with the world? The answer to this will determine your next step. 

 

If you're wanting to go down the traditional publishing route, then researching what all is involved might influence what type of story you want to write. Knowing your genre and the audience you're writing for will guide you not only in your writing, but also when it comes to finding a literary agent and hopefully getting your book published.

 

The same can be said for self publishing. Researching what is involved and how to market effectively may sound like you're putting the cart before the horse, but if you're planning to publish, whether it be traditional or indie, I'm assuming you want people to read your stories. If you think you're writing a romance and there's no HEA or HFN, then that could be a problem.

 

That's not to say you have to publish if you're going to write. Some people write purely for their own pleasure. They have stories inside them they want to get out, but for whatever reason, they have no desire to share those stories with the the world. If that's the case, then there's no need to know what genre norms are, or how to query an agent, or how to market a book.

 

The Book That Changed My Life

 I was in the middle of writing my very first fan fiction based on the television show Prison Break when an online friend suggested I check out this vampire romance series called Twilight. I was hesitant because I'm a steamy romance reader and Twilight is a YA romance. Would I really like a book series that had zero spice?

As it turned out, I did. I fell in love with Bella and Edward. So much so, that when I finished writing my Prison Break fan fiction, I decided to dive into Twilight fan fiction.

My first foray into writing Bella and Edward was to give them a proper wedding night. I was perfectly fine with the slow burn, but I needed more from the wedding night than what the author gave us. I mean, she made us wait for 3+ books and THAT was all we got?

I needed more, so I decided to write it.

My first Twilight fan fiction was titled Perspective. It was written in Edward's point of view starting three weeks before the wedding night. Stephanie Meyer mentioned how Bella and Edward had been practicing for their wedding night. She didn't give us details, but I decided to fill in the gaps.

With each chapter, we get to watch Bella and Edward test the waters and prepare for their wedding night. And then, of course, the story wraps up with the big finale...the wedding night. And unlike what we got (or didn't get) in Breaking Dawn, I didn't leave it at a fade to black. I gave Bella and Edward a proper wedding night.

That fan fiction led me to writing more in the Twilight universe and it was that second story that caught the attention of some ladies who were starting their own publishing house. The owner of the publishing house reached out to me, explaining how she'd read and loved my story. She wanted to know if I had anything I was interested in publishing.

As it turned out, I had a story I'd written and was in the process of editing with the intention of trying to get it published. I emailed her the story and within two weeks she contacted me again. This time, it was to offer me a publishing contract.

 Fourteen years later, I am not 100% self published and have 16 novels, 1 novella, and 3 short stories. Writing that first fan fiction changed the course of my life, but I may never have published my first book without having read Twilight and diving into the world of Twilight fan fiction. It truly changed the course of my life and gave me an outlet to tell all the stories floating around in my head.

To find out more about my books, check out my website at www.sherrihayesauthor.com.

Pushing Boundaries In Your Writing - Bound by Books Podcast Episode 61

 

Marianne Morea and I are discussing pushing boundaries in our writing today on the Bound by Books Podcast.

    ...

 

The Hosts 

Amazon

 

 

Amazon

You Must Write Everyday In Order To Be A Successful Author

PJ Fiala and I were talking all about writing myths on this week's Bound by Books Podcast. We covered eight common ones we've heard over our years of publishing.One of those myths is that if you want to be a real author, you have to write everyday. While PJ and I talk about this one on the podcast, I wanted to dive into this myth a little more today on the blog.

 

First and foremost, there is no one right way to do almost anything in this business and that includes writing. I do try to write every day, but it doesn't always happen. Life gets in the way, or I need to finish formatting a book to get it ready for publication. It could be that I just plain don't feel like it. All of these are perfectly okay reasons not to write. 

It is true if you go days without writing it can be difficult to get back into the grove again, but that isn't everyone. An author friend of mine goes months sometimes without writing, then locks herself in a room for three weeks and writes and entire book.

 

When I first started writing, I did so in the evenings before bed. I had a day job and it was the only time I had to write. Back then, when I was a bit younger and didn't start falling asleep at 10:00pm, that worked for me. Now, if I tried to stay up that late and write, I'd probably nod off before getting more than a few sentences in.

 

As time went on and I no longer had a nine to five job, my writing routine evolved. Afternoons worked better for me, so I'd set aside some time after lunch to get my writing time in. I'd spend two to three hours writing and editing before my husband came home from work.

 

That was all well and good until my husband quit his day job to work from home. Now, let me tell you, that threw a wrench into things big time.

 

Not that I don't love my husband, but I'm the type of person that needs quiet when I write. As someone who writes by the seat of their pants, I need to focus.

 

So my writing routine had to change again.

 

These days, most of my writing is done first thing in the morning. I settle in at my desk before my husband wakes up and I attempt to get my word count in for the day.

 

Will that work for everyone? No. But it works for me.

 

The biggest issue I find when I talk to other creatives-and this isn't only writers-is that they tend to be overly optimistic. Write ten thousand words a day seven days a week? Sure, no problem. Publish a book a month? No sweat.

 

 

But that isn't realistic. Even the most prolific writers I've met over the years have trouble keeping up that pace. The ones who've tried often get burnout.

 

 

One writer friend published a book a month for two years. She had built a great fan base and was making a good living. Then, she hit a wall. Complete and total writers block. And it lasted for over two years. She has now gotten back to writing, but at a slower pace.

 

It's true publishing regularly is smart business, but only you get to decide what that means to you. For me, it means publishing two books a year. I write longish books-usually between 80k-100k each.

 

 

Could I publish more? Maybe. But the pressure of that, plus the other things I have in my life outside of writing, would making creating good stories very difficult, if not impossible. And I'd rather my readers wait a little longer for a good book than to push something out that isn't up to par.

 

 

Again, that is what works for me. What works for you may be very different.

 

 

Be honest with yourself about how much you can write and how often. And then, try to stick to that.

 

 

But, here's the kicker. If you find it's just not doable, that you're feeling overwhelmed or under a lot of pressure to the point where writing isn't enjoyable anymore, then it's time to re-evaluate.

Choosing The Right Publishing Option For You

In this week's episode of the Bound by Book Podcast, Tina Moss and Danielle Bannister broke down the pros and cons of self publishing your own story and going the more traditional route. Both Tina and Danielle have experience with both, as to quite a few authors in the indie sphere. For a long time, there was a stigma with self publishing that it was only for those writers who couldn't get a deal with one of the big guys, but that isn't the case anymore. A lot of authors, specifically romance authors, are choosing to self publish.

 

My journey to self publishing began way back in 2010. I was trying to polish a story I'd written and get it ready so I could start querying agents. But before I'd sent out the first letter, I was approached by a small publishing house. They'd read some of the fan fiction I'd posted online and wanted to know if I had anything I was interested in publishing. Two weeks later, they'd read my manuscript and offered me a contract. That story became my first ever published novel.

 

I was with that small press for five years and while with them I published eight novels and a short story. It was a good experience and it helped me learn a lot about marketing and publishing.

 

Small presses still fall into the bucket of traditional publishing even though they tend to be more approachable than the big five and you often don't have to have an agent. Authors still have to submit their manuscripts for consideration, especially authors new to that publisher. The turn around time to get an answer, however, tends to be much quicker than that of the New York publishers. Instead of waiting years to find out if your book will be picked up and published, you will often know in a matter of weeks.

 

Part of this is because small presses, because of their size, can change and adjust to the industry a lot faster than the big houses. They can adjust their marketing, jump on trends, and even focus on niche markets that can give their authors an advantage. 

 

There are small presses that only publish erotica. Other presses focus on cozy mysteries and sweet romances. These publishers know those markets and they know them well, which means they know how to find those readers. That can be a huge advantage to authors, especially if they aren't great at marketing themselves.

 

So why self publish?

 

While some authors do choose to self publish because they haven't been able to land a publishing deal with one of the big houses, a vast majority do it because they want to. Self publishing gives the author complete and total control, but with that comes a lot of responsibility.

 

When you publish through a publishing house, large or small, that publisher covers the cost of the cover design, the editing, proofreading, and formatting. They might even do a little marketing. If an author chooses to self publish, then all of that is on them.

 

Some authors thrive on this type of control. For others, it stresses them out. They'd rather focus on the writing and leave all the rest of the behind the scenes stuff to someone else and they're willing to give up some of their royalties to do it.

 

When the owner of the small press I was published with decided to close their doors, I had a decision to make. I could seek out another publisher for my books, or I could self publish them myself. 

 

I went back and forth, weighing the pros and cons before finally deciding to go all in and self publish both my previously published titles and the ones I had planned for the future. It was a huge decision and a big shift for me. I used to be able to write the story, and then turn it over to the publisher. The book would be assigned to an editor and they'd keep it moving from there. Sure, I had to go through edits, look at cover designs, and participate, but they kept things on track. And they paid for it.

 

One of the most difficult things I've found in transitioning from a more traditional route to self publishing as been the lack of accountability. I'm my own boss. I set my own publishing schedule. And while that can be great, it's easy to let days go by without writing anything. Days turn into months and before you know it, it's been two years and you haven't published anything new.

With self publishing, you really are running your own business. Because of that, you have to run it like a business. That means setting deadlines and sticking to them. It means finding people to help you produce a quality product for your readers. It means marketing your story.

 

Want more insights into the pros and cons of traditional and indie publishing? Click HERE to listen to this week's Bound by Books Podcast.

Indie Vs. Traditional - Bound by Books Podcast

 Are indie books as good as traditionally published books? This week Tina Moss and Danielle Bannister are comparing self publishing and traditional publishing. Which is better for you?

    ...

 

The Hosts 

Amazon

 

Amazon

Boundaries And Burnout

 

In this week's episode of Bound by Books, authors Hannah Byron and Marianne Morea are having a frank discussion about Boundaries and Burnout.

 

Click below to listen, or go to www.boundbybookspodcast.com to find out more about all the hosts of the show.

   ...

 

The Hosts 

 

Amazon

 

Amazon

Do You Nano?

 

It's November, which for authors means National Novel Writing Month.

 

On this week's Bound by Books Podcast, Danielle Bannister and I are talking all things NaNoWriMo and how we're each approaching writing during the month of November.

 

Click below to listen, or go to www.boundbybookspodcast.com to find out more about all the hosts of the show.

   ...

 

The Hosts 

 

Amazon

 

Amazon

Making Writing A Priority

 

This week on the Bound by Books Podcast Tina Moss and I are talking about our writing, deadlines, and some of the pros and cons of being an indie author.

Click below to listen, or go to www.boundbybookspodcast.com to find out more about all the hosts of the show.

How Much Does It Cost To Self Publish My Novel? #WriterWednesday

One of the big questions aspiring authors ask is how much does it cost to self publish your novel. It seems like it should be an easy answer, but in reality it is anything but straight forward. However, there are three main expenses an author needs to account for when self publishing their book.

Editing

 

What editors charge varies depending on their experience and what type of edit that's required. For example, a developmental editor, that will work with you on plot and pacing, will cost more than a copy or line editor, that focuses on spelling and grammar. I've seen editors that have charged as little as 0.004 cents per word to ones who've charge over a penny a word.

 

The key is to shop around and find the right editor for you. Always ask for a sample edit from an editor you've never worked with before, which typically involves sending them the first chapter of your story. They will edit the chapter, for free, to give you an idea of what kind of work you should expect from them.

 

Cover Design

 

Finding the right designer for your cover is just as important as finding a good editor. The cover is the first thing most readers will see. It needs to make a good first impression.

 

Covers range in price from $50 to over $1,000 per cover depending on if the cover is a pre-made, custom with a stock photo, or a custom cover design with an exclusive photo.

Formatting

 

There are formatting options where you can do the formatting on your on, or you can pay someone to format your book for you. 

 

If you do it yourself, you can either use Word or formatting software such as Vellum. Which these are less expensive, they can also be time consuming and there is a learning curve, which is why some authors choose to hire someone to format their books for them. This service starts at around $50 per book and goes up from there.

Why I Decided To Self Publish - #WriterWednesday

After five years of being with a publisher, the owner of the publishing house decided to get out of the business. I'd heard horror stories from some authors about publishing houses going under and the authors having to fight to get the rights to their books back. So, when that first email was sent out saying they were no longer taking new submissions I was a little nervous.

 

Luckily, once the publishing house officially closed its doors, the owner gave all the authors the rights to their books back. But this now created a new dilemma. Should I seek out another small publisher? An agent? Or should I take the plunge and self publish the books myself?

 

Because most of the affected authors saw the writing on the wall several months in advance, we all had the opportunity to weigh the pros and cons of each. Some authors choose to find new publishers, but after going back and forth with all the positives and negatives, I decided that self publishing was the direction I wanted to go in.

 

I'd been published for five years at the time and had nine published stories. The first four books in my Finding Anna series (Slave, Need, Truth, and Trust) were out, as well as the first three books in my Daniels Brothers series (Behind Closed Doors, Red Zone, and Crossing the Line). I'd been active in marketing my own books since the beginning and had worked closely with the publishing house whenever I launched a new book. I was confident I could do it on my own.

 

But that doesn't mean there wasn't a learning curve...

You're Never Going To Pass The Second Grade - My Publishing Journey Part 1

After ten years, I've learned that my publishing journey is anything but typical. I never set out to become a published author. Who knew that ten years later I would have thirteen published novels, a novella, and three novelettes under my belt.

 

In a way, my publishing journey started way back in the second grade. I was seven years old and only two weeks into the school year. While overall I was a good student, there was one subject where I had trouble...spelling.

 

I couldn't spell to save my life. Really. I'm not exaggerating. Even simple words like 'how' and 'who' would cause me pause. Phonics didn't make sense to me and in many ways it was as if I were learning a foreign language. I could speak the words fine, and I was even reading above my grade level. But for some reason, when it came to spelling the words, my brain went on the fritz. 

 

Because of this, my new teacher called my parent in for a conference. She sat them down and told them that my spelling was so bad she didn't know if I would pass the second grade. My parent's were rightly concerned and began trying to find a way to help me get better at spelling.

 

I ran into that teacher a few years ago and shared that I was now a published author. Her astonishment was clear on her face. Never did she imagine that the little girl who couldn't spell the simplest of words would go on to write books for a living.

 

Continue reading part 2.

Happy Book Birthday To Strictly Professional

 

 Ten years ago today I became a published author. My first book, which was then called Hidden Threat, released on December 30, 2010 through The Writer's Coffee Shop publishing house. It was an exciting day for me as I'd never in my wildest dreams thought I would become an author.

Five years later, the publishing house decided to close its doors and I had to decide whether to find another publisher or take the leap into self publishing. In the end, I decided to self publish.

But in the publishing world, five years is a long time. I'd learned a lot about writing and publishing in the five years since Hidden Threat was first released and I decided I wanted to do a bit of revamping before releasing it again to the world.

Instead of just slapping a new cover on the book and republishing it, I decided to do a complete rewrite of the story. There was a lot of head hopping in the original book, something very common for first time authors, and I wanted to fix that to fit more in line with my other, more recently written stories. 

In the end, I added an additional 15,000 words to the original story and changed the title of the book to Strictly Professional to better showcase this sexy office romance. 

Cali and Matthew's story will always be close to my heart because their romance was my first published novel. It set me on this path of writing and publishing...a path I never imagined going down, but that I absolutely love. 

To find out more about Cali and Matthew's story, or to pick up a copy, click HERE.

 

Do You Judge A Book By Its Cover? #SelfPublishing #Marketing

We've all heard the phrase 'never judge a book by its cover'. But the truth of the matter is most readers do judge. It's the first impression they have of your novel. And if you're going to self publish your own novel, that's something you need to keep in mind.

Marketing is a scary word for most writers. The vast majority tend to be introverts who'd rather spend their days typing out words than thinking about how to sell their book. But the reality is, if you're going to self publish your novel, you do need to think about these things. One of the first marketing decisions you will need to make is choosing a cover.

I wrote a blog post a while back about the different options an author has when choosing a cover: pre-made, stock, or custom, so I won't be covering that again. If you'd like to check out the other blog post click HERE.

A lot more goes into choosing a cover for your novel that just deciding on whether to use a pre-made cover, a cover with a stock photo, or doing a custom shoot.

Here are some things to consider:

• Genre. It's always a good idea to research your genre. By that I mean go to Amazon and find out what books are in the top 100 Paid in your category. Look at the covers and look for similarities, themes. Are there certain colors that are common? Do most of them have people on them? Objects? Is the font fancy script or more of a block type lettering? It may not seem all that important now, but keep in mind this is what readers are buying in your genre. They are buying it for a reason.

• What Fits Your Story? While you want a cover that fits into your genre, what you don't want is a cover that says nothing about your story. If you're writing a fantasy novel about witches, you probably don't want a half naked man on the cover. There are also some readers that are picky about hair and eye color, so if you're using models on your cover keep that in mind when selecting the picture/models you're going to use. 

• Branding. This is a step many authors forget about when it comes to marketing, but your brand as an author is very important. When it comes to covers, the thing to remember is consistency. This can take on a few forms. 

1. Your Name. It sounds simple enough, right? But making sure your name appears in the same font on all your covers is important. It's like your signature that identifies you as being you. It also looks neater and more professional when you have multiple books in one place. 
2. Titles. This one is a little more flexible. Not every title of every book you write has to be in the same font or have the same cadence to it, etc. But if the books are part of the same series, then having that consistency is very important. Again, it looks more professional, but it's also a signal to readers that these books belong together, so if they like one then they will most likely like the other. Below are two of my series. You can clearly see by the design and titles which books belong together.

Details matter and your book cover needs to convey the story you want it to to potential readers. Consider what appeals to you when you're browsing through a bookstore for a new book. 

• Thumbnail. What is a thumbnail, you might ask? A thumbnail in the book world is how we refer to the small picture of your book cover on Amazon. Considering most authors sell more than half their ebooks via Amazon's website, how your book looks on the site while readers are scrolling through potential books to buy is important. The picture needs to be clean, crisp, and it needs to draw the eye of the reader.

          Some common mistakes I see are:

1. The Cover Is Too Dark. It's fine that your book has dark elements, but if a reader can't see those elements on the cover then that doesn't help you sell that book. 
2. The Font Is Too Small. People need to be able to read what's on your cover, even at a thumbnail size. As you can see from the covers I posted above, the titles are clear and stand out. Some authors choose to make their name more prominent and if you've built up a big enough fan base that makes sense as your name will automatically draw readers. Personally, I prefer the story take center stage, so I want my titles to be what stands out the most.
3. There's Just Too Much Going On. If your cover has too much stuff on it, it ends up looking like a garbled mess...especially on a thumbnail. Keep it simple. Your cover should be a snapshot of your story. Once you get a potential reader to click that buy button, then they can discover all the other fascinating elements you have within your book. 

Don't forget your cover is most likely the first thing readers will notice. First impressions are everything. Make it a good one.

Do I Really Need An Editor? #writing #selfpublishing

As I talked about in last month's blog post, Self-Publishing vs. Traditional Publishing - 3 Major Differences, when you self publish editing your novel is all up to you. There isn't a publisher with a team of editors and cover designers. That's all on you, the author.

There is a huge debate, and I do mean HUGE, in the self publishing community as to whether or not an author needs to hire a professional editor. I'm of the opinion that hiring an editor is a must. It's not something you should do, but something you owe to not only your readers but yourself as well.

So why don't some writers hire editors? 

The two main reasons I hear are:

1) They are two expensive. And 2) They will alter my words and then they won't be mine anymore.

Editors do cost money, sometimes a good amount of money. For a 100,000 word manuscript you will normally be looking at paying somewhere between $500-$1,000 depending on the editor you choose to use.

To put this in perspective,

- If you sold your book for $2.99 on Amazon, you'd need to sell 478 copies just to cover the cost of editing if your editing cost you $1,000.

- If you sold your book for $3.99, you'd need to sell 358 copies.

- If you sold your book for $4.99, you'd need to sell 287 copies.

Also, keep in mind this is only what you'd need to sell to cover editing costs. This doesn't include the cost of your cover, formatting, or any marketing you choose to do.

So why spend the money? Why pay someone else for something you could just do yourself?

To put it simply, quality and professionalism. Now, there are probably a few authors that could, and maybe can, edit their own manuscripts, however they are in the minority. Most writers have read over their work so many times while writing it that they either see things that aren't there or miss things that are. There's also the fact that it really is a good idea to have another set of eyes on your manuscript. Something you may think makes perfect sense may in fact have everyone else scratching their head.

For example, I started reading a book recently where the heroine ended up marrying the heroes best friend because when she found out she was pregnant five years before the hero said he didn't want to be a father. As I began reading, I started noticing a few things. The conversations were unnatural and didn't flow well. There were also issues with the pacing. One day the heroine goes from crazy mad at the hero for leaving them high and dry five  years before to being ready to jump into bed with him the next. But what really had me scratching my head was the backstory itself. Halfway through the book (where I finally gave up) we still didn't know exactly how everything went down five years before and how she ended up marrying the heroes best friend. At one point it sounded like the hero 'called in a favor', and then at another part it sounded more like the heroine had approached the friend when the hero wouldn't 'step up.' There was definite confusion, which all could have been worked through with a good editor.

But what about editors changing your words so they don't feel like you anymore?

It's true. There are editors out there who do this. I had one once who completely rewrote the sample I sent her to the point where it didn't sound like me or my characters. She and I did manage to make it through the manuscript we were working on after I sent her a strongly worded email basically telling her to knock it off, but I swore I'd never work with her again.

A good editor should be looking for grammar, spelling, formatting, and other errors along with plot holes and inconsistencies. They should also be looking at how your book flows. Is there a lot of information thrown in that isn't really needed to move the story along? Does something happen where it seems like everything makes sense to the characters but the reader is left feeling as though they're missing something? These are all things an editor SHOULD be doing.

So that brings us back to why I think authors need to hire a professional editor. In a nutshell, if you're asking someone to pay for a product you've created, then you should be presenting them with a finished product. It's sort of an unspoken agreement between buyer and seller. You wouldn't go into a store and buy half a candy bar.

And while I understand that creative things such as writing aren't as subjective as a candy bar, it is a product and if you're asking people to spend their hard earned money on it then they deserve to receive a product that was polished and ready for sell.


 

Self-Publishing vs. Traditional Publishing - 3 Major Differences

Last Saturday I sat on a panel at the Ohioana Book Festival called Publishing: Let's Count The Ways. There were four authors and we'd all published both traditionally through a publisher and self published our own books. It turned out to be an amazing panel and what I took away from it was that a lot of people have questions about self publishing. Some don't even know where to start.

So, with that in mind, I'm going to be writing a series of blog posts to hopefully help some of you out there who are thinking about self publishing. There's a lot to know if you choose to go the self publishing route and I don't claim to know it all, but hopefully I'll be able to share some of my knowledge.

Self Publishing vs. Traditional Publishing

You've written your novel, so now what? Do you find an agent? A publisher? Or do you self publish?

The answer isn't as straight forward as you'd think. In fact, it takes a fair amount of research, and to be honest, a little soul searching to decide which publishing option is right for you. Below are three of the main differences between self publishing and traditional publishing.

1) Genre. Some genres sell more ebooks than paperbacks. Romance, for example. This makes self publishing extremely attractive to many romance writers these days. When 90% of your sales are ebooks, it isn't as important to get a physical copy of your book into book stores.

But with other genres, young adult for example, paperbacks still outsell ebooks. That makes having your books in stores an important factor, which is less likely to happen if you're not with a traditional publisher.

Research your genre of choice and find out how most of your potential readers are buying their books. This might effect which publishing option you choose.

2) Choice. Before you sign with a traditional publisher, make sure you read and understand your contract. Most authors give up any say in the cover, title, and even editing decisions when it comes to their manuscript. It's best to know what to expect going in.

If you choose to self publish, you have complete and total control. This can be a good thing, or it can be disastrous. Cover, title, editing...all of it is up to you.

3) Cost. One of the advantages to traditional publishing is that the publisher covers the cost of publishing the book. They pay for the cover design, the editing, formatting, and usually some of the marketing. Depending on the publisher and the contract, sometimes the author is even given an advance. The publisher is making an investment in the author and the book.

With self publishing, the author has to cover all the cost associated with publishing and marketing. This can run anywhere from several hundred dollars to several thousand. Instead of a publisher investing in the author and their book, the author themselves are doing the investing.


Did this blog post help answer any of your questions? If you're already published, are you traditionally published or self published? Do you agree with what I said above? Let me know in the comments.

One Size Fits All Publishing

Sometimes I scratch my head when I come across posts on Goodreads. Last week I came across a post from a traditionally published author that was giving encouragement to authors that they can become traditionally published with a big name publisher and not to give up.

The poster told authors not to limit themselves. That being traditionally published isn't only 'a bridge only a select few are privy to cross'. It also goes on to say that with 'persistence, a true belief in the power of your words, a broad knowledge of the industry itself, a bit of innovative strategy, and a hell of a lot of luck' you can cross that bridge and be traditionally published, too.

There are some issues with this.

1) Not everyone wants to be traditionally published.

I know plenty of authors who have chosen not to be traditionally published. They wanted to have complete control over their book's content, cover, marketing, etc., so they decided to publish the story themselves.

2) Self publishing isn't the black hole it used to be.

With the evolution of Amazon's 'KDP', iBook's 'Connect' and other online retail sites, authors who self publish have access to something that used to belong solely to authors attached to one of the big six publishers…readers. More and more readers are shopping online for their books. This means that a self published book that was once relegated to a box in the author's house waiting for someone the author meets or knows to become interested, now has a platform alongside a slew of other books.

3) It doesn't have to be an either/or proposition.

Many authors decide to become what is known as hybrids. They have some books contracted with a publisher and others that they've self published. There are some great advantages to this. Authors who choose to hybrid publish not only have the flexibility they desire with their self published titles, but they also have a publisher helping to market the contracted books, and in turn, the author themselves. Paired with the right publisher, it really can be the best of both worlds.

4) Luck where are you?

One of the things this poster stresses is that you need 'a hell of a lot of luck' and their one hundred percent right. In order to get a contract with a big name publisher (one of the big 5 now that Random House merged with Penguin) you need a lot of luck. Not only do you need a quality book, but you also need to have good timing. Some of this comes down to research…knowing which agents/publishers are looking for what types of books and when. But sometimes it isn't that simple. Say you wrote a great murder mystery and you submit it. It may truly be an amazing story. But you wrote a cozy mystery and they're looking for a nail biting thriller that is X number of pages long with an ending that can be developed into a series. Your book, however, is complete in and of itself. So guess what? Your book gets rejected. Has nothing to do with your book. It's all in what the publisher is looking for at that given moment. Who knows? If you'd submitted the same book a year before, it might be sitting in bookstores all over the world now.


My biggest issue with this post is that while I'm guessing the author was meaning to be encouraging, their words came off as condescending. Not everyone chooses to get an agent and try to get a publishing contract with a New York Publishing House. Some writers do and it just never happens.

So what is right? That's up to the authors themselves. They have to decide what they want and how to best go after it. I would never discourage someone from trying to get an agent if that's what they desire. But at the same time, I wouldn't tell someone that self publishing is selling themselves short.

The first nine books I published were through a medium sized publishing house. My tenth and eleventh books are being self published. This was my choice. Will I publish again through a house? Probably. I like having a little of both. It works for me. That doesn't mean it will work for someone else. Everyone has to find their own way.


What are your thoughts on what the original poster had to say?

A little rant about "Indie" Authors

I am an indie author!

So why am I ranting about indie authors if I am one?

If you read my blog post last week, you know I spent this past weekend at the Lori Foster RAGT in West Chester, Ohio. While I was there, I ran into an author who said she was indie. Okay. No problem. So am I.

But, wait. According to her...and many others like her...I'm not.

Why? Because I'm with a small publisher. I'm not self published like she is.

This isn't the first time this has come up. A friend of mine went to an "indie" conference last year. On the website it was very welcoming and said all authors were invited. If you contacted the organizers, however, you found out that this wasn't the case. The conference was only for self published authors.

It seems that for whatever reason some self published authors have decided to banish those who are published with small publishers from their ranks.

This makes no sense to me.

Whenever I think of indie, or independent, when it comes to films, records, and more recently, book publishing, I think of stuff not with the big boys. Given my recent encounters, I decided to do a little research.

Growing up, I was always taught to go to the dictionary first, so that's what I did.

in·die

  [in-dee]  Show IPA Informal.

noun

1.

an independently owned business: to work for an indie.

adjective

2.

(of a person) self-employed; (of a business) privately owned: an indie film producer.

~http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/indie?s=t

Notice self-employed is only one of the listings. To my knowledge, most, if not all of the small indie publishers are privately owned. According to the definition, this makes them indie as well. 

Most small publishers have had to go through the same challenges and struggles self published authors go through. And yes, the small published authors do have their publisher behind them, but in many cases that is maybe one or two people. How is this different than the co-ops that many self published authors have formed? Not a lot. 

Why are we segregating? Many were upset at the RT convention this year when traditional publishers and indie publishers were put in separate rooms. How is this different? We all do the same thing. We write books.