REDUCED « Robin Writes

Yes, I turned down a publishing contract. Let’s recap what they were going to do for me and how they were going to sell my books:

Editing – I’d already paid a professional

Put my book on Amazon, BN, Smashwords, Goodreads, their own website – I could do all that, for free.

Use distributors like Ingram and Baker & Taylor – I could do that, too.

What’s left? “Not much” is what I figured, except I’d get paid less for a book that *I* had written and done all the work for and I’d still be doing everything. So I went over to the Dark Side.

In case you’re wondering, the Dark Side, to booksellers, is Amazon. Yes, I’m playing a game – you know, if you can’t beat ’em, join em! I’m not big enough for them to take any notice of me and, while wearing my author hat, they can sell my books. As a bookseller, my store will carry my book too. Now, some booksellers won’t take it simply because I used CreateSpace to print it. That’s okay. It’s their decision, after all and I totally understand why they feel that way. Of course, a lot of small indie publishers use CS to print too, but I’m not going there. Another reason some bookstores won’t carry my book is because, in general, self-published books are garbage.

Not all, but an awful lot. I know. They come into my store and, well, ick. Some I can’t even get through the first chapter. But more on that some other time.

So I made the decision to SP. Copyright, check; editing, check; cover design, check; marketing plan, check. Oh, wait – that last? Yeah, you have to have one. You can’t just expect the Magic Fairy of Sales to wisk your book out and about and bring you money every night while you sleep. You’re an author? Then you’re a business, a commodity, a personality. Be one.

I Tweet; I Facebook; I blog; I have a website with PayPal enabled buttons for readers to buy my book. Yes, I also take advantage of Amazon distribution and sales and yes, it’s available on Kindle. By Christmas, it will be available on other e-readers.Why did I let Kindle have first dibs? They pay me more. Simple.

Friday is the big launch party. Why? Well, why not? I spent six months writing this book, it’s getting really good reviews, and I want to sell books. I’ve notified the press and yes, some will be there. I’ve invited everyone I know – gosh, I hope someone shows up! The point is that yes, it’s a big deal to me and I want to make it a big deal to everyone else. Yep, tootin’ my own horn, but who else is going to do that? Seems like not even that publisher was going to go all out for my book.

I have posters, stand-ups, cards, giveaways; opened a Cafe Press storefront, in case anyone wants to wear my book or drink from it. Sure, some of it cost me a few dollars, but again – you’re a business, remember? Think of a launch party like a grand opening!

Besides, after all that hard work, don’t you deserve a party?

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….