How much money?

The problem with the digital age is that now everyone with a valid credit card can see their work in print. There is a reason the rejection letter was born. It might sound elitist, but not everyone deserves to be published—not when they use self-publishing to do an end around and don’t learn their craft, preferring instead to publish on a credit card.

If everyone who wanted to play baseball could do so without years of training and playing Little League, don’t you think there would be more major league ballplayers?

Writing is more than just throwing words onto a blank screen and having them arrange themselves. Too many writers submit to half-a-dozen agents or publishers and, when someone doesn’t recognize them as the next Hemingway, simply self-publish because they can’t stand the rejection.

With more novels in print today than readers, self-publishing makes it more difficult for the consumer to find quality texts, and it makes it more difficult for the cream to rise to the top, for gifted writers who’ve put forth the effort to learn their craft to be taken seriously in a very competitive industry.

That said, some great writers got their start by self-publishing:

·         Deepak Chopra

·         Gertrude Stein

·         Zane Grey

·         Upton Sinclair

·         Carl Sandburg

·         Ezra Pound

·         Mark Twain

·         Edgar Rice Burroughs

·         Bernard Shaw

·         Thomas Paine

·         Virginia Wolff

·         E.E. Cummings

·         Edgar Allen Poe

·         Rudyard Kipling

·         Henry David Thoreau

·         Walt Whitman

But they knew something about the craft of writing.

Today, it very rarely happens that a major publishing house picks up a self-published author and turns him or her into a household name. I daresay your chances of winning the lottery are greater.

The choice to self-publish depends on your goals. If you seek a coffee table book, a legacy to leave behind for your children and grandchildren, then self-publishing might be for you.

If, on the other hand, your goal is to become the next James Patterson, well, expect it to cost you an arm and a leg. If you’re independently wealth and continue to feed money into marketing and promoting your title, by all means, give it a go. But you’d better know what you’re doing. Throwing money at problems doesn’t always make the problem go away.

If you’re like me, I’d rather write than promote my work. Marketing is not a strength of mine. That’s why I took the road less traveled. I went with a small independent press. It took me a little longer, but it’s a lot more gratifying when someone says, “We like this. We’re going to publish this and it’s not going to cost you a dime.”

Just my opinion.

Sorry if I gave the impression that no one should self-publish. I self-published my first novel when my first publisher went bankrupt. I did so to keep the title out there and in the hope that a traditional publisher might pick it up. That happens, but only rarely. It did not happen for me. That was ten years ago and the industry has changed drastically since then. My POD press (NOT AuthorHouse, which is one of the worst in that they prey on the hopes and naiveté of emerging writers) make their money upfront, off the author, by offering a never-ending list of marketing schemes they say are designed to get your novel into the hands of an eagerly awaiting consumer but serve mostly to make more money off the author. In that respect, it’s an investment that the author will likely never recoup.

You’re right that editors at small presses are rarely strong structural and developmental editors, but I think that’s also true at major publishing houses; they, too are looking for ways to cut overhead and one way to do that is by cutting editorial staff. Therefore it falls to the writer to find a good editor. But finding a good editor is as difficult as finding a good hairstylist. Therefore the writer should him or herself become as good an editor as they can become and rely on the line editor their publisher provides. Both my publishers provide this service at no cost. If any publisher charges for this, that is a conflict of interest and that publisher should be passed over.

The truth is that it’s a very competitive market. I was told that in order to sell books I must have a website, so I got one. But just about every author has one, so it’s difficult to make yours stand head and shoulders above everyone else’s. Yes, there are free avenues to pursue to market and promote and I’ve taken advantage of several. I’ve also invested money in others; but it’s still an uphill road and I’ve not yet achieved the success I desire.

It’s true that small presses and indies have small budgets; but they are also more willing to take a chance on an emerging writer who doesn’t write the formula that most big houses demand. Since I won’t compromise on style, I chose to go with an independent press. No, they don’t spend money to market and promote, so that task falls to me and I’m learning as I go; but it’s not something at which I will ever excel. I’d rather write than promote and market. That’s a choice.

You’re right, WriterGirl, about editing one’s own work—a take on the old a doctor who treats himself has a fool for a patient. Often our eyes see what they wish to see. I get valuable feedback from the writers in my writers group. Some feedback I take, and other feedback I take with a grain of salt. As far as structure, that, I think, is very subjective and I’ve learned to trust my gut. Although I will admit that my writers group on occasion points out something I missed. Still, I hold the right of final authority.

In my world, once I finish a novel, I read it once, cover to cover, making revisions and corrections as I go. Then I close the file and don’t look at it for a month or more. Then I read it again, making revisions and corrections. 

Then I send it to my publisher for consideration. He’ll take six weeks or longer to decide if he wishes to accept it. Once he accepts it, I go through it again, making revisions and corrections. By now I’ve gotten feedback from other readers, friends and the members of my writers group. I incorporate the suggestions I like and ignore the rest. 

Then I incorporate the changes and fixes I receive from my publisher. I send to him the next draft, which he formats into a Kindle file and a file for the hard copy. I go over these with a fine tooth comb. In these slightly different formats, items I may have missed previously leap off the page at me and I fix them and return to my publisher the approved files. 

This process seems to work for me as I’ve had other writers approach me to ask how I manage to publish a novel free from typos. 

I’ll check out your Fostering Success link. If I like what I see, I may take advantage of your offer.

Thanks for keeping the dialogue going.

 J.

That's true, WriterGirl; but where does it end? A strong developmental editor can improve a text, but another could improve upon that. Hell, I'd venture I could improve upon what a developmental editor does. I could improve upon the novel I wrote twenty years ago. At some point, one has to let it go.