To Self-Publish or Not to Self-Publish
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‘Are you sure you want to self publish again?” asked a colleague of mine who is traditionally published. We were discussing my plans to self publish my historical novel. I felt defensive because I knew what was coming next. I’d heard it before. “You will never land a traditional publisher if you do. Believe me, I know.”
As I tried to come up with a retort, ticking off in my head all of the stories I’d read about self-published authors who eventually had their worked picked up by one of the Big Five, I started to ask myself: do I want a traditional publisher? Do I need one?
My efforts to find an agent, or a small indie to publish my work, have proved fruitless. I’ve just about given up on sending out queries. I’ve read that no one wants to pick up a trilogy once it’s already been published. I was even told so by one independent publisher who probably stopped reading my query after the first line:
“I am looking for a publisher to continue with my efforts to publish books two and three of a trilogy in this family saga. I hold all rights to the first book, Imaginary Brightness: a Durant Family Saga, self published in May 2015.”
I’ve invested a considerable amount of time and money into my historical novel. When I started down this road I hadn’t thought about how much money would be needed to conduct the research. The expenses have been piling up. Over the past two years I’ve travelled to museums and libraries up and down the east coast, paid for digitized copies of archived documents, and took a trip to England to retrace the steps of one of my main characters.
I’m not complaining about the research. I love it. It’s been a lot of fun. But now that I’ve self-published the first book in the trilogy I question my ability to keep up with the research and marketing for two and three. And I also question whether I’d have access to resources and public relation services that have eluded me at times.
For example, I’ve been trying to track down a document in a collection that is currently off-limits to researchers at New York University. I wonder, if I had the backing of a traditional publisher would they allow me access? Would I appear more legitimate under their scrutiny? I’ve applied for a number of grants at foundations that support emerging authors. Would I have more clout if I had an agent? I don’t know.
I recently received a Goodreads, auto-generated email from a well-known author of historical fiction announcing her latest work and publicizing the numerous four and five star reviews it received pre-launch from readers of NetGalley. If I paid $400 would anyone review my novel on NetGalley or would I be wasting my money because I’m not as well known and no reader would download it?
I never cared, or thought much about any of this when I wrote my first novel, a coming of age story titled: Ephemeral Summer. I sat down and banged it out in a few months, spent a year editing and then I self-published. I learned a lot in the process, found a great critique partner, as well as learned the importance of paying for a good editor. But I never cared if the book ‘made it big’. I never, as I do now for my latest novel, checked its ranking on Amazon. I wrote it partly, to allay a mid-life crisis.
But now, everything is different. Besides the fact that my crisis is over, I do care if my historical novel makes it big. I do want it to reach a large audience because I’ve uncovered new information about the family I am researching, and I’m spending an enormous amount of time and money to make it as perfect as possible, including fact-checking every historical detail.
So now what? I don’t know. I don’t have the answer, really. I just keep moving forward. As Henry James (1843-1916) once said: We work in the dark — we do what we can — we give what we have. Our doubt is our passion and our passion is our task. The rest is the madness of art.
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Sheila Myers is an author of two novels. When she is not writing she works as an Associate Professor at a small community college in Upstate New York where she teaches environmental science. Her website chronicles her research and writing journey: http://www.wwdurantstory.com/
Category: Contemporary Women Writers, On Publishing
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- To Self-Publish or Not to Self-Publish | Toni Kennedy : A Writing Life | January 6, 2016
I hope all goes well for you with the self-publishing. I think the key is to learn how to promote yourself, as indie publishers will not do it for you (and yes, you’re right, you will never find even the smallest publisher to take on part of a trilogy that’s already been published), and even if you get a trad pub interested in you, you still have to do a hell of a lot of promo yourself. One writer I know, who is almost constantly in the Amazon UK top 20, tweets and retweets EVERY SINGLE DAY.
I think that, as the publishing business becomes more and more about what will make money rather than what is of literary merit, self-publishing is the way of the future. I wrote about this, here (I hope it is okay to post a link on this, it’s of genuine interest re the subject)
http://terrytyler59.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/thank-you-anton-newcombe.html
Thanks Terry! I can’t keep up with the twitter thing. EVERY SINGLE DAY! Wowsa!
Hi Lovely ..I also write histfic….and have decided to go entirely self-published (read the ‘amusing’ blog about my efforts!) The trouble with publishers, big and small is that they take so much of your hard-earned money! And agents ~ don’t get me started! I was with David Higham & my agent there told me Diamonds & Dust (first book) was so rubbish she wouldn’t even send it out. I am now unagented. Once you realise that you can make a reasonable living from your own efforts…blog/Facebook writer page and a LOT of supporting other friends, it’s fun! Hard work, but fun! TBH it doesn’t matter hos brilliant you are, publishers decide who they are going to turn into a ‘big’ writer, and if it ain’t you, you can do nothing about it.I had several books published with OUP, who decided another children’s writer was going to be their ‘new discovery’. So they did nothing. Actually, publishers do nothing generally ~ they rely on you, the writer to shoulder most of the publicity. Go Indie! And good luck.
Thanks Carol!
It’s a tricky one. I have written my first book and and doing the rounds of submissions. When do I realise it is not going to get a traditional publisher and go it alone? But you are right that it does take a lot of resource to get a book written and despite understanding that the chances of a Girl of the Train moment are slim, it would be nice to get something back. Good luck with the second and third books.
Thanks Lindsay!
OOps, saw your website. IMHO, needs a better title and some more posts, nice design!
Thanks for the input. I hadn’t changed the title of the website since I started it over a year ago so I went back and did just as you suggested! Actually I’ve been blogging for about a year about my research and have over 50 posts and that reach over 1,000 visitors a week.
Sheila, I appreciate you honesty. The only suggestions I have are- start a blog or website to introduce you and your work to potential readers. I understand the economic limitations but continue to pursue low-cost or free marketing methods. Check out Book Designer – Joel Friedman’s site, he has lots of good advice. Consider interviewing other historical saga autnors and posting on your site to develop a community. Good luck, Ria
Sheila, your blogpost resonated with me so strongly I might have written it myself! I, too, have written a trilogy, the first and third being historical sagas, and the middle one set in the present but heavily connected to the first and a little to the third in The Voyagers Trilogy.
Like you, I tried to find an agent and/or publisher, but no one wanted to touch a debut writer who wrote long novels. And several years ago, unbeknown to me, sagas weren’t fashionable. Apparently, now they are! And again, like you, I’ve spent loads of money on the research, going to Australia to see the country where my characters had emigrated to in 1913 from a ‘Downton Abbey/below stairs’ life, going on expensive courses, and finding a great writing buddy/critique partner.
In the end I self-published using a service provider, SilverWood Books, who are marvellous. Annie’s Story was published in April this year, and Juliet’s Story will be out in January 2016. Kitty’s Story will follow at the end of next year.
But I wanted to tell you a kind of sequel to my hoped-for journey to traditional publication, so if you’d like to tell me your email address I’d be pleased to continue my story. I did have a look at your website and it looks very professional. And I looked inside your latest book which looks very interesting.
Sorry this has been all about my journey to publication but I was so taken with the similarity of the two of us.
Whatever happens, I wish you lots of luck. Denise (pen-name: Fenella Forster)