publish « Robin Writes

In the interests of full disclosure, I did re-query one agent. That was after a friend referred me to her publisher and I’d received a contract offer. I mentioned that to him, and re-sent the info he’d originally asked for. Still nothing. So, about that publishing contract:

Because my friend had mentioned the book to her publisher, I was asked to send a query; so I did, of course – who wouldn’t? And it was very exciting – a real publisher and all! Boy, was I excited! The gal told me she’d get back to me in a few days. Except…it was 24 hours later! That’s when she asked for the full ms, to which I complied, and said I’d hear back within a week.

Talk about complusively checking email – I did that after querying all those agents, too, but this was even worse! And, it was over a weekend!

Just a few days later, however, I got an email with a couple questions: was this a series, or was a sequel planned? And how willing was I to participate in marketing, etc.?

Oh, heck yes! Whatever it took, I was in – and I’d already started writing the sequel anyway.

The next day, I got the contract. ALL of this happened in just under a week. By the day after that, I’d turned it down.

Am I crazy? Maybe. Probably. But here’s why I told them “no”:

The E-book wouldn’t be released until October, the paperback late January.
Their marketing strategy was simple, basic, and something I’d be doing myself either with or without them.
They don’t work with bookstores.

Yes, I’m impatient. But I also own a bookstore and know the importance of getting out the merchandise BEFORE the holidays, not after. All of their “marketing” involved free/easy/simple online things, which I already do for said bookstore or could easily sign up for and do myself; the one exception was their authors’ group, but approximately 100 of my Facebook friends are also writers which kind of negates that “perk.”

And wait – don’t work with bookstores? They told me that I’d have to sell my books to stores myself – based on their 50% author discount. So I did the math. I would pay $7 each to buy books from the publisher, then haul them to a bookstore; the bookstore would pay me just over $8 per copy, when the books sell. My cut of this came to about $1.50. Huh. On the other hand, if they sold my books to a store at a 40% discount and paid me on that other 60%, I’d earn about the same thing. The big difference was my hauling books everywhere.

Now, if the book isn’t coming out until after the holidays, and I have to do 95% of the marketing and selling, and I can actually make almost $9 per book with direct selling – and over $3 each selling to bookstores at a standard discount – why in the world would I choose to go the traditional publishing route?

Actually, there is one reason: the tendency for trad publishing to look down their collective noses at self-published work. It’s changing, slowly, but it is changing. A lot of booksellers don’t really care, as long as the book is good, but some do; many will indeed accept your book but on a consignment basis – that shouldn’t be a problem. Buyers don’t know the difference, and it simply means you do have to work to sell your book; but you should be doing that already!

So, that’s why I turned down a publishing contract and went the SP route….

Dear-Writers-Who-Want-To-Be-Published:

This may not be possible.

I’ll say it again – this may not be possible. Sometimes, it’s not even advisable. For several reasons.

Traditional publishing, which is what you’re probably dreaming about, is a tough business but it’s not personal. First, you have to query an agent – that means pitch your book to him. Make him interested; make him want to read more. If he likes it, and thinks he can sell it, he may take you on as a client.

Sounds good so far, right?

Well, you might have to query several agents. Or hundreds. And…

…none of them may want to represent you.

But…but…why??

Your book might need a lot of work. Your book might have been already done…repeatedly. To death. Or the agent might not believe it’s “commercial” enough – and that means he doesn’t think it will sell. Because, well, if it doesn’t sell, he won’t make any money. And neither will you.

Then, too, there’s a possibility that your book sucks.

I know, I know – your mom read it, your husband read it, your best friend read it. Oh, and she’s the one who “edited” it too. Um, yeah. About that. Find a professional to do your editing – your friend might not be the best choice, unless you KNOW FOR SURE that she can spell, punctuate, and use proper grammar. And not because she told you that, but because you’ve actually SEEN some things she’s written. And if she hasn’t written anything, even a “note” on Facebook, find someone else.

Please – don’t do it yourself. You know how, sometimes, you’ll type a word and it looks funny after you’ve read it over and over? A lot of words, in a book you wrote, will start to do that; but eventually, even the wrong words look right. Then you’re in trouble.

At this point, you still have choices. You can take whatever the agent said, if he said anything to you at all besides “thanks, but no thanks,” and rework the book; you can Google “self-publishing” and find a company that will take a lot of your hard-earned dollars, i.e., make YOU pay THEM, to publish your book; or you can go the completely self-published route, the DIY path.

However, there is still the possibility that your book sucks.

I really can’t say this enough.

Self-publishing is big these days; it might even last, hard to say. But there’s a reason that the Big Six don’t publish every book that might make it through their hallowed doors. Some books are awful. Yes, I know even these giant behemoths publish crap sometimes – I’m always surprised but I really shouldn’t be shocked. Crap is everywhere.

So if you find a “publishing” company that wants big bucks to “publish” your book – be very, very careful. Very. Careful. Double-check, triple-check, sleep on it, ask anyone you can grab what they think about this company, frequent the message boards. And, while you’re at it, check Amazon – they might not be good for much, but they do list the publisher and you can do a search. See what kind of crap they’ve published (the company you’re checking out, not Amazon). If it’s bad, keep looking.

Probably – not always, but probably, you don’t want to deal with one of these places. THEY are supposed to pay YOU, not the other way around. And ESPECIALLY check out their website – if it’s crap, if there are a lot of grammatical errors, run away. Fast. They haven’t a clue. And, if the only books they’ve “published” are written by the PUBLISHER – run faster. Google him too; sometimes you can find more about the company by checking the so-called guru in charge.

If you want the “true” self-publishing route, go for it. One big advantage is that your book will be out much, much quicker than using traditional publishing and, usually, “those other” companies I just mentioned. But please, make sure that it doesn’t suck. And make sure you don’t get taken for a ride. It’s gonna be real tough to sell a bunch of bad books just to break even – it’s hard enough to sell a good book.

But whatever you do if you self-publish, be upfront with the bookstores and anyone else you come into contact with regarding your book: if you self-published, say so. Don’t tell us that “ABCXYZ” published your book – it’s really easy to check who “owns” that company. I’m not an attorney or a tax accountant but, by all means, if you want to use a DBA for publishing, feel free. Just don’t expect us to think it’s a “real” publishing company unless it is indeed one.