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| DepositPhoto |
Our topic this week is "Choosing your freedom - Traditional or
Self-Publishing?" We seem to address this subject here at least once a
year but that’s actually pretty appropriate, as fast as the publishing world
changes nowadays!
The post below has been somewhat edited and updated, but I feel the
same way I felt in 2018, which is when the post first appeared:
I’m in the independently published camp all the way, but
that’s because I’m me and this method of publishing suits my needs. There’s no one
right answer for everyone so I’m not going to try to persuade, dissuade or make
lemonade here today.
When I decided to work toward being a published author in
2010, I was focused on traditional publishing because that was really all I’d
ever heard of. I wasn’t tied into the author community – it wasn’t as easy then
to be connected and to research the ins and outs of various methods of becoming
published as it is nowadays with Facebook author groups and author loops and
twitter and etc. So I submitted a story to Carina Press (a Harlequin imprint)
over the transom as they used to say, in response to an open call on their part
for ancient world romance. I wrote a paranormal romance set in 1550 BCE Egypt
and the rest is (a very modest footnote to) history. Published author here, as
of 2012!
I learned so much from my experience with Carina and really
enjoyed the association. They gave me a beautiful to die for cover from Frauke
of Croco Designs, I loved my editor and she really ‘got’ the book, I lucked
into a wonderful community of Carina authors (which is where I met Jeffe) and
things seemed good. As a long time romance reader, I was thrilled to be part of
the extended Harlequin family as an author.
Carina acquired the second book in the Egyptian series.
Although everyone was again lovely to me and professional to work with, I got
to see a different side of traditional publishing – the cover by someone other
than Frauke was not my favorite, shall we say. (The second cover on the top row, below.) My editor left and while I was
quickly assigned to a new editor, they didn’t really seem to resonate with my
story or me. I couldn’t believe how much time was elapsing between book one’s
release and book two’s release. Which to be clear wasn’t an inordinate amount
of time at all for a trad published book (although Carina was primarily ebook
at the time and my books never made it into print with them although there were
audiobooks), but for impatient me, it was an eternity!
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| My entire ancient Egyptian backlist at the moment. I no longer have the rights to the original cover for Priestess of the Nile so this is my new cover. 3 by Frauke, 4 by Fiona and the one I can't wait to replace when I get the rights back hopefully! |
In a good, non pandemic year, I can write and release eight or nine books on my own as a nimble self publisher, which does include professional editing.
I discovered I didn’t
like working to a contract, in terms of what book to write next. My Muse is a
flighty being and likes to work on what appeals to her most. Looming schedules
make her tense. Some mornings I wake up with an entire book plot in my head,
out of nowhere, and if I don’t write that book right now, forsaking all others
for a while, I’m making a serious mistake. My biggest sellers have been those
books. They certainly weren’t anywhere on even the gauzy schedules I keep for
myself.
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| My first self published novel Cover by Fiona Jayde |
Oh and did I mention Carina decided to leave the ancient
world romance genre at that time (they may have gone back into it since for all
I know) and didn’t show any interest in acquiring my scifi romance, although
they were venturing into SFR then. I’m extremely glad they passed now of
course. So I couldn’t have continued with them, not writing the only two types
of novels I wanted to write.
Conveniently, I had also self-published my first scifi
romance two months after the initial Carina book released. I LOVED everything
about self-publishing. I picked the cover, the price, the distribution
channels, whether to make certain edits or not, the schedule, the promo…the
royalties came straight to me me me
with no extra % taken out for a publisher in between me and the seller’s
platform…
I’ve written my entire life and been seriously pursuing publishing
since 2010. I had a long career in the business side of the house at NASA/JPL
so once I was able to become a fulltime author (which didn’t happen right away
– took three years, until 2015) I was ready to step right into the
multitudinous tasks of being a small business owner in effect, publishing and
managing my own books. And I’ve been a happy clam ever since.
I admire authors who can be hybrid and work within the
traditional publishing framework and self-publish as well. I think there can be
advantages to having a big, successful publisher behind you. I can’t envision
it for myself at this time, but I wouldn’t necessarily say no if the right
offer came along. I would negotiate the heck out of the contract to keep my
intellectual property rights and to make sure there were no issues or
constraints on my continuing to also self-publish.
I never had a desire for an agent, although I will say I’d
love to see one of my books made into a movie or a TV show and I understand how
having an agent can move an author into that world, as well as into other
rights, such as foreign distribution. Having someone actively working to gain new
opportunities for your books would be cool but I’m not in a place where that fits
my business model. A downside perhaps to being independent the way I prefer but not one that causes me too much angst.
Obviously a big publishing house has the resources to give a
book a lot of high visibility promotion that I could never afford, although
there are so many cautionary notes on that one point – too many to repeat here.
I guess I’ll say as I understand it very few authors actually get the glam
promo paid for by the publisher and the vast majority are left to do their own
promo just like the indies BUT without the freedom to control the price of the
book, etc.
I’ve been truly shocked in some of the author
groups I belong to online when high flying very famous romance authors have
shared what their monthly promo budgets run. After picking myself up off the
floor, I knew the high stress of being at that level of name recognition and
sales was something I was probably better off without.
I think an author always dreams of one of their books
becoming a viral hit, leading to all the nice consequences like movie offers
and mainstream media interviews and promo, and I wouldn’t say no. I’d find a
good agent for sure and try to maximize the moment! But I’m very happy and content self-publishing
and running my own business. I feel fortunate to have come along when I did,
just when indie publishing was a real avenue that could be pursued
successfully.
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| Yes, let's make my STAR CRUISE series into a TV show! All covers by Fiona Jayde |
I had the classic career/day job at NSA /JPL for a very long
time and successfully supported my family until they were all out of the nest,
so I probably came to this second, later in life, unexpected career with a different set of
expectations and needs than I might have at an earlier time. I’m a
very competitive, highly motivated person but it just isn’t in the same ways as
it might have been had I been a fulltime author decades earlier, when the
traditional publishing model was the only way to go. I also had more energy
then and fewer chronic health challenges to work around, versus nowadays. I’m intensely grateful
for this opportunity to write and sell my books now and for me, indie
publishing is the way to go.
I've had a lot of fun along the way, fulfilled some goals and dreams that were important to me (and I have lots of stories still to tell).
So that’s my story, as told in 2018 and again now in 2020,
and I’m sticking to it!
