Derek Parker, for many years the editor of The Author told me years ago that there was one subject on which he got more submissions than any other: how it feels to be accepted by a publisher and finally see your work in print. Given how profoundly most authors feel about the validation that comes from being published, it is likely that the inbox of the current editor receives just as much material on the same theme.
So please forgive me for adding to a much over-written about subject. My reasoning is this. Today is the publication date for The Naked Author, a guide to self-publishing (Bloomsbury) in the US.
OK the date is largely arbitrary. It was published in the UK last October, and I have meanwhile been communicating via Twitter (@alisonbav) with a growing number of writers, and writing support groups, in the US. The foreword to my book was written by Mark Coker – founder of smashwords.com – whom I visited in California last year, and who is increasingly hard to pin down as he tours North America giving seminars and taking part in conferences on self-publishing – indeed we are next getting together at uPublishU in New York next month. But from today, my book becomes officially discoverable in its own right in the US; has its own place in the catalogue of books available from US publishers, and can be ordered and commented upon in bookstores (and associated fora) of all types.And yes, this is exciting.
Writing a book is often compared to the process of pregnancy and childbirth – you deliver, snuggle the output and after a suitable period hand it over to others who will help it make its own way in the world. Initial separation anxiety can be enormous – Truman Capote said ‘finishing a book is just like you took a child out in the back yard and shot it’. But even though today the author can influence its reception in new ways, for example by blogging, tweeting and using other social media, what you offer still stands (or falls) largely on its own. You deliver up the best you can do – how it will be received is beyond your control. And if those who read it don’t like it they have all the same channels available to them to let the world know.
The US is an enormous market and a country I have visited at least a couple of times a year since 1980 (we have family in New Jersey and Washington). And just as my husband and I now go out to see our eldest son living in Madrid, and love being shown around a city we barely know by our offspring who is entirely at home there, I now have a mental image of my book, Dick Whittington-like, gazing at road signs and wondering where it will go next. Until I catch up with it in New York and Washington in June, I hope it behaves itself.
In the longer term, my hope for the book is that it becomes both established – and used. A lot of research time went into its compilation and so it would be a huge pity if all that effort went to waste. I am delighted to say that so far it has been consistently well reviewed, but perhaps I should hope that it becomes respected – rather than a classic. After all, as Mark Twain (who incidentally also experimented with self-publishing) said ‘a classic is a book which people praise and don’t read.’
for some writers it doesn't matter which way you get your book published because at the end of the day it's seeing their book in print and out there on the shelfs that matters, and as for vanity publishers well its a dog eat dog world in the book publishing world you will find the good publishers aswell as the bad but you have got to expect it when you first start out, its called learning from any mistakes you make along the way learn from then pick yourself back up brush yourself of and get on with it. and as for the supermarket i agree with Adrian sroka there is a very big lack of adult literature. but with th e book and all of the other technology there is fast ways of getting published but for me personaly i prefer the book which you can hold in your hands and feel the pages as youy turn then.
Interesting responses.
Authors will self-publish because there are not enough publishers to cater for the growing demand. So books like yours are welcome, Alison.
My concern is quality. It seems from Wanda Whiteley's earlier blog, that even publishers editors are not putting enough effort into their jobs with regard to some commercially successful authors. It appears that some best-selling authors manuscripts are not being rigorously edited. Is this because editors fear offending the author, or because the publisher is arrogant about making money? If either comment is true, then this is most disappointing .
Is there a rush for traditional publishers to rush into print because of the growing trend of self-publishing? If so, I believe standards will drop. I understand that publishers have to make money, but I hope that the traditional publishers can also guarantee quality assurance.
There is already a lack of quality adult literature on supermarket shelves.
This time last year I felt I felt the same way, Adrian, but in the last quarter of last year, the best selling author in Kindle was an unknown. If you look around, it isn't just previously known authors who are finding success and the Fifty Shades trilogy was famously vanity published along side its e-book edition with only a recommendation on Good Reads to start the ball rolling.
I have never received a rejection for my work because I didn't send it off. I've been told several times that I should see if my idea is good enough for a publisher to consider, but if I really want to do this myself, that would be wasting someone's time unnecessarily. I've thought long and hard about whether I wanted to use the investment of traditional publishers or whether I would be happier spending my own money my own way to produce a more unique marketing campaign. It would be nice to be supported by industry experts, but I don't feel they are willing to take the sort of risks with my campaign that I am happy to take and I don't need the pat on the back or ego pampering some do. My target market was researched before I put pen to paper and I have spent nearly six years crafting five books with that target market in mind. The only way I really believe I could fail is to hand my project to people who don't understand what I'm trying to achieve.
I share your worry some of the new hybrid publishers are simply vanity publishers rebranded. I'm not sure why you would choose one if you are ignoring traditional publishing. The restraints are the same and the chances of success are slimmer.
I would love to be able to drop everything and rush off to Russell Square this evening. It's one of my favourite places to be and the setting of my next novel, but my children are 23 months short of being able to look after themselves. (Yes, I'm counting down the months!) I'm probably going to wait until next year to launch my first book and release each of the others 3-6 months after the previous so that by the time the 3rd or 4th one is out, I will have the freedom to publicise the whole series (and pop off to London for interesting debates etc) without needing childcare.