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.

 

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

Bound by Books Podcast - Goblin Kings and Reverse Harems

Today's podcast features me and Tina Moss. Tina is a USA Today Bestselling Author of urban fantasy, paranormal romance, and sci-fi romance. 

 

This week we're talking about indie publishing, writing our first novels, and how TikTok has changed the direction of Tina's upcoming projects.

 

Click on the picture below to listen.

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?