33 replies to this topic

[A. E. Costello]

I've always wanted to traditionally publish because I thought that was the way to get famous, by joining one of the Big 6 and getting my books on the New York Times Bestselling List. But now I keep hearing about indie publishing and e-publishing and how its so much better. Can someone take the time out to help explain what all of this is about to a hapless hopeful writer?

[Peter Burton]

I'm not fully up to speed about the indie-publishing thing; the most I know is it seems very similar to the traditional route with a few exceptions. The biggest one is that a lot of the indie publishers will accept a MS directly from the writer. Some don't, but a large majority does. They have a longer turnaround time to accept, or reject the story (a year, or more in many cases). Many of them are also genre based, such as Tor/Forge, who are only interested in Fantasy, and Sci Fi.

E-publishing I do know a bit about. You can do both e-book, and POD (Print on Demand), in e-publishing. Amazon Create space is a good source of info for the POD with a little e-publishing thrown in, but Smashwords will give you a better idea about e-book publishing in general than Amazon does. I would suggest checking out both, as well as the e-publishing section here on the AQC forums.

Actually I'd probably start here, as there is info from many writers who know a lot more about it.

Either way, you are going to have to do the lion's share of promoting and marketing your book(s).

Also with e-publishing you will be responsible for formatting, cover art, and a properly edited story. It's a much harder job to do right, but the rewards can be greater than traditionally published work, if it sells.

Good luck.

[Darke]

This is just my opinion, okay?

First, before you do anything more, what do you want out of your writing career? Answering that question will help you decided. There are pros and cons to both, but before you start looking at publishers or agents, you need to write a book.

You need to learn about your craft and how to use it. That means proper grammar, spelling, punctuation, syntax and all that other mechanical stuff. You need to learn how to craft a good story; how to keep the reader interested in your plot. Create main characters people can sympathize with and villains people can hate.

Then you have to revise. You revise because first drafts are never any good. Then you have to edit your story and find people who are willing to critique it for you. Trust me, having beta readers is a wise thing.Then you'll probably have to do another revision to take into account the things your beta's pointed out.

Be careful, you can get stuck in this phase for months if not years. Then when your novel is the best it can be, you start deciding on what path you want to take. Traditional, Indie, or Self. Once you've reached this point, you should already have a good idea of what you want to do.

I'm not saying you can't look over submission guidelines and read agent blogs. This helps you get a feel for the business, but you need to know your story, before you know what you're going to do.

[A. E. Costello]

Yeah, I've got the book writing down pat, I know what it takes for that. My question was about the publishing, that's where I don't have much information. You had good things to say, so thanks.

[Litgal]

I'm not fully up to speed about the indie-publishing thing; the most I know is it seems very similar to the traditional route with a few exceptions. The biggest one is that a lot of the indie publishers will accept a MS directly from the writer.

I could be wrong but I think you are confusing small or independent presses, which the term "Indie" used to refer to, with its newer use. Lots of folks these days are using the term "Indie Publishing" as a word for serious self-publishing. In which case the process is pretty dramatically different than traditional publishing (and that is often the point for writers who chose to go the Indie route)

[A. E. Costello]

Okay, so explain this to me. I thought indie was short for independent.

[RC Lewis]

Side note: Many in the industry still use "indie publishing" with its original meaning, a press that operates independently, non-Big-Six. (Sarah LaPolla blogged about it.)

Like others said, the main thing is to think about what your goals, abilities, and resources are. Self-publishing requires you to do everything yourself, either directly or by hiring out. Yes, you will generally get a much higher cut of the pie, but you have the obstacle of getting noticed. You may have far fewer sales, far smaller reach. Or you may be wildly successful ... but just as with traditional publishing, that's a rarity (likely more so).

On the other hand, you have more control, more immediacy ... there are pros and cons.

[Rick Spilman]

The phrase "indie publishing" has indeed taken on several meanings of late. Not long ago it meant publishing with an smaller non-Big 6 publisher. Often the smaller presses offered either small advances or nothing at all and often had limited marketing capabilities. On the other hand some smaller presses did not require submission through an agent and could offer a greater focus on a particular genre or market segment.

Increasingly authors who have chosen to self-publish describe themselves as independent publishers, in part because "self-publisher" has a certain stigma. The down side to independent/self publishing is that everything is the authors' responsibility from arranging editing to cover design to marketing. The upside is that the "indie" author has more control and receives higher royalty rates on sales.

Here is an interesting perspective on the difference between traditional publishing (Big house and indie) and indie/self-publishing by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.

The Business Rusch: Hurry Up. Wait.

[Darke]

Yeah, I've got the book writing down pat, I know what it takes for that. My question was about the publishing, that's where I don't have much information. You had good things to say, so thanks.

Then what do you want out of your career? Go through the submission guidelines of agents; look at the agency websites and see what kind of books they're selling. If you think you have a well written book that they might like, then go the Traditional route.

But...

Indie Press/Small Press are good too. There's a bit more work involved than with traditional, but if you have a niche book that the Big Six don't rep, this might be for you.

Or...

If you have a book that has a very small niche market, you might want to do self-publish. It doesn't have the same stigma as it used to, but like RC said, you will be required to do every, little, thing, yourself. No help at all.

[A. E. Costello]

Then what do you want out of your career? Go through the submission guidelines of agents; look at the agency websites and see what kind of books they're selling. If you think you have a well written book that they might like, then go the Traditional route.

But...

Indie Press/Small Press are good too. There's a bit more work involved than with traditional, but if you have a niche book that the Big Six don't rep, this might be for you.

Or...

If you have a book that has a very small niche market, you might want to do self-publish. It doesn't have the same stigma as it used to, but like RC said, you will be required to do every, little, thing, yourself. No help at all.

I see. By what do I want out of my career, I'm guessing you mean why am I writing or what do I hope to accomplish with my writing. I'm writing and want to sell my books so I can entertain others with my stories. I want my novels to provide an escape from people's lives, to make them laugh cry or scream, to provoke happiness or anger. That's what I want out of it, to entertain and delight everyone.

I definitely have to keep looking into the way I want to publish, but my first task is to finish my novel. I was getting overwhelmed with this battle between traditional and self-publishing, I just wanted someone to clear the air for me. Thanks everyone.

[Peter Burton]

I could be wrong but I think you are confusing small or independent presses, which the term "Indie" used to refer to, with its newer use. Lots of folks these days are using the term "Indie Publishing" as a word for serious self-publishing. In which case the process is pretty dramatically different than traditional publishing (and that is often the point for writers who chose to go the Indie route)

No doubt, Lit. And no, you aren't wrong... I was doing exactly that.

As often as the definitions change in this biz, as well as new genres, catagories, sub-genres, sub-catagories, and the gods know what else... it's a wonder anyone can keep up with anything before it changes again.

(And folks wonder why I'm insane. )

[Darke]

I definitely have to keep looking into the way I want to publish, but my first task is to finish my novel. I was getting overwhelmed with this battle between traditional and self-publishing, I just wanted someone to clear the air for me. Thanks everyone.

But that's just it, there shouldn't be a battle. Read this post by Nathan Bransford. He's an author now,but he used to be an agent. I think he says it best in this post.
http://blog.nathanbr...g-is-false.html

Also, if you do decide to self publish, but change your mind later on, read this blog post by Rachelle Gardner.
http://www.rachelleg...or-seeks-agent/

And I suggest you follow both. :)

[RC Lewis]

Darke makes a good point. People who've gone either route (or both!) have important things to say. It's the people who take a firm Us-vs-Them line who make me wary.

[TBruce]

And here's an article I wrote on sort of the key points I learned during my search for an agent/publisher: http://terribruce.ne...iting&Itemid=69

Hope this helps.

The main thing is it's not really an either or choice anymore. Very few authors will publish every single work they write with the same publisher (or even with the same agent). You'll probably end up using all three publishing methods during your career. You will probably search for an agent more than once in your career, as well. You will most definately search for a publisher several times, probably many times. If you write books in more than one genre, if you write both novels and short stories or novellas, if you want to sell audio book or foreign rights your first publisher didn't buy, if your agent can't sell a novel you really believe in, if your agent or publisher goes out of business or changes focus/lines of business...you get the point - there are a lot of very normal and very common reasons why authors may use several different agents or publishers over the course of their careers. The best thing ANY author can do is to get educated about the options out there and to treat this business like a business - which means making good, educated decisions.

Good luck!

--Terri

[A. E. Costello]

And here's an article I wrote on sort of the key points I learned during my search for an agent/publisher: http://terribruce.ne...iting&Itemid=69

Hope this helps.

The main thing is it's not really an either or choice anymore. Very few authors will publish every single work they write with the same publisher (or even with the same agent). You'll probably end up using all three publishing methods during your career. You will probably search for an agent more than once in your career, as well. You will most definately search for a publisher several times, probably many times. If you write books in more than one genre, if you write both novels and short stories or novellas, if you want to sell audio book or foreign rights your first publisher didn't buy, if your agent can't sell a novel you really believe in, if your agent or publisher goes out of business or changes focus/lines of business...you get the point - there are a lot of very normal and very common reasons why authors may use several different agents or publishers over the course of their careers. The best thing ANY author can do is to get educated about the options out there and to treat this business like a business - which means making good, educated decisions.

Good luck!

--Terri

Thank you Ms. Bruce. I'll read your article right away. You've settled the buzzing in my brain. Thanks again.

[AQCrew]

Fantastic discussion and contributions to be very wide, open-ended question...

We are re-naming this thread and pinning it for future reference by other AQC members who may have similar head-buzzing questions...

[C. Taylor]

I'll add that it doesn't have to be one or the other. If you have a manuscript that is more suited to mainstream publishing, then you may want to query agents and try to get traditionally published. Just be aware that this can often be a very long journey, since it's difficult to get an agent, and even more difficult to sell your book to the big 6.

If you have something that's more of a niche genre or would do well to be published in a timely manner (your story coincides with an event that's about to happen or just happened), then self publishishg (primarily as an ebook), might be a better route. Self publishing can also be a very good route with a genre that's highly popular as ebooks (like romances, erotica, mysteries, etc), since it's often easier to find a readership.

The nice thing is that, these days, it doesn't mean that you can't publish one book traditionally, and also publish other books yourself. Neither route guarantees you'll be wildly successful, and both have their ups and downs. Like everyone said, it depends on what you want out of publishing and what you're willing to do.

[patskywriter]

While polishing up the query letter and proposal for my "traditional market" nonfiction book, I've been mulling over a book idea that's hyperlocal in scope. Now I've decided to put this project ahead of the other one because it's going to be so much easier to write and—because it is so locally focused—easier to publish if I do it myself. I'm already a proofreader, editor, and designer, so why not? I'll continue to send query letters out for my nonfiction book, but I'm definitely going to take the plunge with my local book first.

[RC Lewis]

One thing to keep in mind if you go for the Both route:

If you get to the point of signing a traditional publishing contract and still intend to self-publish other (unrelated) works, you need to make sure your agent negotiates the contract with the proper wording to allow that. There's often a non-competition clause that would need to be taken out or carefully modified. Otherwise, you could find yourself in a sticky mess.

[C. Taylor]

That's true, Rc!! I know with my contract, it was that they got first dibs on any book I wrote in a similar vein (i.e. a craft book), so I was still free to self pub my fiction.