Harsh realities on my birthday
First off, happy birthday me! Today I turn 33, which feels about the same as 31 and 32. I’m still a kid at heart, though it looks like I’m finally moving into my mid thirties. One of my birthday traditions is a lot of introspection about my place and direction in life. In the past these have taken the form of journal entries, but now that I have a blog this seems like a much better place for it.
Until now everything you’ve seen me post has been positive, but I’ve hit my first massive hurdle as far as my writing goes. I haven’t slowed down. The quality continues to improve. So what’s the issue? Getting published.
I did some research online, because I wanted to learn more about the game I was getting into. Since 2007 every major publishing house has laid off staff. Some of the major ones like Bantam are closed to all new submissions…they aren’t accepting books at all.
Those books they do publish aren’t selling. Because there are so many other entertainment options books in general are less popular than they used to be.
At the same time a record number of novels are being written every year. Anyone with a pulse and a keyboard can type out 300 pages of crap, and that crap is floating around everywhere. So how do I get past the crap and get editors to actually look at my work?
Honestly, I don’t know. Standard submission to publishing houses is generally ignored, so you need an agent. From what I’ve seen if you have quality work finding an agent is possible, but what then? If you’re agent is good he might get a publishing house to pick up your work, but for that to happen your novel better be damn good.
I’ll definitely be trying that route, but it seems like an uphill battle that gets more challenging every day. I need to start thinking about a plan B in case it doesn’t work.
So what’s plan B? Self-publishing. Publishing your own novel generally results in a spectacular failure, which doesn’t surprise me at all. Most novels are crap, and even the few good ones that are self published never reach their market.
If you self publish you need to do all your own advertising, and very few people are both good writers and good self promoters. I have the advantage of being both, but haven’t had to use my marketing skills since I left the mortgage industry three years ago.
I need to dust those skills off and start putting them to work. I need a Facebook page that sings, more publicity on this blog (read: any), and any other social networking I can set up. I need a larger body of work for people who stop by to read, and I need to broaden the type of stories I write.
I believe that we stand at the threshold of a new era. As the internet grows in size more and more readers will choose to read content online. eBooks are the future, especially with platforms like the Kindle and the iPhone which allow people to read anything anywhere.
It seems to me that the best way to hype your book would be to put together a pimp website. Then develop an eBook for every major platform, and just distribute it electronically. Your overhead costs are next to nothing, and if the book is popular most of what you make will be profit.
eBooks can sell while you’re asleep. They can reach readers in India, Austrailia, England, the US or anywhere else in the world. It seems like a no brainer for me to join the eBook wagon.
Now I just have to figure out how. My skills with Publisher are pretty decent, and I can design a decent layout for a novel without having to pay someone else to do it. That’s the easy part. The hard part is advertising. How do I get the book to the readers? How do I find them?
I’m thinking one of the first things I can do is start writing niche fiction. If I write Exalted fiction and distribute it for free, I might get some traffic to my main site from it. Repeat that process for Shadowrun, Star Wars and every other IP I can think of.
I can also post on forums across the web, though I need to find the right communities. I also have to be careful how I do it as no one likes to see a bunch of ‘buy my book’ spam.
Beyond that? I don’t know. At least for the short term, though, I have a plan. Work on the website, work on the writing. I’ll just keep creating content while I learn the ins and outs of the market. One step at a time, and eventually I’ll achieve my goal of getting a novel published!
Sounds like a good plan to me. =)
I’ve also been speculating about the waning popularity of books; although in my mind it’s more like “death of the written word.” The sheer number of texting shortcuts in chat and other online interactions makes me shudder to think of our language’s chances of existing for another few years unscathed. Still, I guess as long as communication is still occurring, then I probably shouldn’t be overly picky about how it occurs. The important thing is that we all understand each other, right?
I’ve also been doing my own how-to-get-published research and I’ve been knocking my forehead against some of the same walls. I think your plan to grab attention with niche fiction holds a great chance for success, especially if your main site is attractive to visitors.
I thought your first paragraph was especially funny; I had a birthday recently too and am looking at the mid-30′s mark myself. You’re right – it feels the same as 31 and 32 and mhrmlph… I have noticed however, that while I don’t *feel* any different, I do have a different perspective and understanding of certain things. I don’t know whether I should be grateful or horrified at the thought I might be (gasp!) growing up.
Ultimately, though, people like you have a gift. Whether or not you make a living from your gift, or turn a small profit now and then, the important thing is that you’re using that gift. When all’s said and done at the end of the day, even if nobody reads what you write, you honor that gift in the way it deserves by simply doing it. What other people think is secondary.
But I DO want to read your novels!!! =)