What I Wish I'd Known

 What I wished I'd known before my books were published:

Nothing. 

Not a damned thing. I'm glad I didn't know what a weird and wonderful and stressful trip being published would be. I'm glad I didn't know about awards and nominations before hand. I'm grateful that I had no idea that business relationships could or would twist into something unrecognizable and actively harmful. I'm also grateful that I came to my first several books filled with aspiration and faith and freedom. Not that I was writing whatever I wanted - I recognized the need to comprehend craft and story structure and to honor to contract made with the reader. But because I lived in beginner's mind, I came to writing without any preconceived thoughts or ideas about what it HAD TO BE in order to make a sale or hit a list. When you're out there in the pre-pubbed trenches, you can't imagine, nor should you, the slings and arrows that come with being published. I suspect that when you're newly published, you can't imagine the problems that come with being in demand or with scrambling to make a living from writing. The truism is that we don't get to run away from pain. We only get to pick our pain. Which means every stage of writing life has its issues and its rewards.

This is a profession. It's a job. Like any other job, you'll have good days and bad days and a lot of boring, grindy days in between. That's why it's so vital for the process of writing itself to be the reward. The doing has to be the thing that brings you to the keyboard everyday. If you live only for the results of your writing, you'll have a lot of hard days in before hitting The End. Control what you can - spoiler alert: the only thing you control is you and your writing. Accept that all of life is a learning process and the day you're done with lessons and possible struggle, it will be because you slid into your grave. There's a grace to not knowing everything and a particular sweetness to retaining the capacity to still be surprised. 

So no. I don't have regrets about what I didn't know. I'm grateful for what has been and for what might yet come to be. Right now, that's enough.

 

Slow Writing and Herding Cats on the Way to Mordor

 

Photo by Nikhil Prasad on Unsplash

Before I became a published creative writer, I was an academic author. The academic publishing industry is a different racket–a very lucrative one, in fact. Higher education institutions grant the degrees and pay the salaries of the academics who research and write the papers and books that, in turn, the universities and colleges then buy for their libraries. The Guardian quipped, “It is as if the New Yorker or the Economist demanded that journalists write and edit each other’s work for free, and asked the government to foot the bill.” 

Being used to a safety net, I pursued traditional publishing avenues first and secured a contract with a boutique romance publisher for my paranormal shifter romance series. 

Two ideas anchored my decision. 

The first is that I am a slow writer. I can write reliably and well (I am an English professor, after all), but I need to mull and ponder as I scribble on many, many, many sheets. Adding in my ADHD means that most things in my life take longer than they might for others. My perfectionist tendencies–carefully honed in my academic career–also mean I find it difficult to let go of my work before I have reworked it multiple times. As a result, the 20 books to 50K method is not for me: publishing a book a month, or even every three months, is impossible. I do not mean to disparage anyone who has success with this model. I just know myself and my limits. 

The second is that I want to write books that people will read. In my academic field, I can guarantee that a dozen people will read my latest paper on apocalyptic imagery in the Middle English translation of Catherine of Siena’s revelations, and I have presented papers to thirty or forty people at a time (yes, my field really is that small). With the prospect of reaching hundreds of readers–maybe even more some day?–in mind, I happily pored over Calls for Submissions from smaller publishers as I considered ways to get my foot in the door. I’m not afraid to write to market and I’m used to editors telling me to revise my work, especially if it means my stories will find readers. The experience of working with a traditional publisher is a fantastic way for me, at this stage in my life and writing career, to learn the ropes and reach an audience.

And yet…

I have many friends who are self-published and I hope one day to have the confidence to do this. The shiny prize of higher royalties glimmers out of reach, as I consider all the responsibilities of indie publishing–so many decisions, so many expenses! It seems overwhelming. This is my opinion, for the point I am on my author journey: not only because I have so much to learn, but also because I am still working full time while establishing myself as a creative author.

I took a step in the indie direction by wangling a spot in the FaRo anthology, Once Upon a Forbidden Desire (pre-order available now). The amazing folks of FaRoFeb, led by HR Moore, have put together a fantastic volume, herding 20 author-cats through the entire publication process, from drafting and revisions, to copy-editing and formatting, and then on to publishing, distributing, and marketing the volume. It has truly been a wonder to watch it come together.

Here are two things I’ve learned from this process:

1. Collaboration is both wonderful and hard. Academic publishing is bossier and simpler: peer reviewers critique papers; editors make decisions about book covers, formatting, and so on; publishers set the schedule and take care of printing, distribution, and marketing. The academic writer is only one cog in the big machine. In contrast, publishing creative work independently means making a lot of decisions oneself. The FaRo anthology team had to balance the experiences and desires of many strong, autonomous women–all of whom had valuable expertise. The skilful negotiation and consensus-building I witnessed revealed the big heart of the group. There was so much curiosity, patience, willingness to listen and learn, and a strong desire to lift everyone up that inspired me to no end. I am grateful to be a part of this group because they make me better–not just a better writer (and having had the honor of copy-editing and proofreading several of the papers allowed me to learn from them), but also a better colleague and author.

1. Indie publishing is not for the faint of heart. It takes drive, smarts, perspicuity, and persistence to succeed. And that doesn’t include the writing part of the author job. We’ve all heard horror stories of someone who slaps some words on a page, sticks it up on Kindle as a book, and then is surprised that nobody reads it–or that they receive terrible reviews. The authors I know are polar opposites to those boogeymen. The amazing women I worked with on this project spent hours pulling together long-tail keywords lists, creating Instagram images and reels, fixing commas, converting ellipses and correcting other formatting errors, preparing ARC reader forms and blog tours, and so many other tasks that it would astound you if you haven’t been through this yourself. It truly felt like our own Fellowship pulling together to get the Ring–erm, book–to the Mordor of KDP and D2D.

I am grateful to have had these first experiences with both traditional and indie publishing. There is no single response to the question of how and where to publish; there are as many answers as there are authors. All of it is part of your individual journey. 

Remember, this is a long trip and you will learn from every experience you have. Don’t forget to pack your pipe-weed and ask for help from your friends!

Yours,

Mimi B. Rose

Camp Rare-way Publishing

There’s traditional publishing where you work with a publishing house. There’s self-publishing where you’re in control and hire as needed. There’s hybrid where you have books published both trad and self-pub. But, then there’s….me? 

I’ve always been on the traditional publishing track. That model suits my situation and health needs. But when my first book went out on submission it got offers from—audiobook companies. 

Whaaat?

Audiobook companies are sort of like traditional publishing? They’re producing the final product. But, they’re sort of like self-publishing? As far as my experience went, I was responsible for all editing (thank you past-self for being so smart and hiring that out), proof reading, final turn in of my manuscript. 

I guess I don’t really know what camp that puts me in. Camp Rareway? 

What it really means is, I can go whichever way I choose. And so can you! There’s benefits in both, some cons in both—do I sense a Rory Gilmore Pro-Con list coming on? But there’s only one way that will fit you perfectly. 

Check out my fellow SFF Sevener’s posts, research the differences in publishing big, small, by yourself, or a combo, then decide what suits you. And don’t let anyone look down on you for your choice. They’re your stories to tell and put out there in your own way. 

Trad, Indie, or Hybrid?

Where the books are: traditional publishing, self-publishing, or a fusion of the two.
What works best for me?

Welp, I have eight books that I've self-published, so that's working best for me right now. I love that I'm in control of most aspects including my schedule (okay, I'm in control of 90% of my schedule), the art, and the content. I dislike the relentless marketing spend.

I don't eschew traditional publishing. I'm not in the Indie or Die! camp. My supply and major houses' demand haven't synced yet. With trad publishing, I think there are advantages in gaining reader reach. However, there are disadvantages not only in process but also in cash-in-hand. 

I imagine being hybrid published is ideal, but since I haven't walked that road, I'll defer to my fellow bloggers who have. 

Dearest Reader...

 

This week we're talking about things we love loathe about publishing. What I love most is easy. The readers. I'm fairly new to publishing, though I've been in the writing world for a decade. Even still, readers have been such an encouragement for me. I've had people from around the world ask for signed copies of anthologies or track me down on Facebook to chat about The Witch Collector and how it changed from a novelette to a novel, or how Yeva and the Green Garden hooked them on my writing. I've watched a line form at a signing table in New York and readers smile and tell me how they couldn't wait to dig in. I just recently had a reader tell me how invested she is in the characters from Silver Heart, a novella I offer for free on my website. It gives me such joy to hear things like that. You don't have to please everyone--some people probably hate my work. But those who love it make it worth it. It makes my day to get messages from readers, and I cannot wait until the Witch Collector is out in the world. My little reader group--the Rebel Readers--are already such a wonderful support system. They're excited, and that makes ME excited. It makes me work harder.

As for things I don't like about publishing? Petty people and waiting. But these things feel minor in comparison to what I wrote above. I might be too new to answer this week's question with anything but naivety ;) But for now, I really love this gig, and I hope I get to do it for a very long time.

The Pain and the Glory of Publishing

 

At the SFF Seven this week we're asking: What are your favorite and least favorite things about publishing?

How much time have you got?

Okay, okay - the question implies one of each, so I'll go with that, starting with the negative so I can finish on the positive.

Least Favorite Thing

The uncertainty. 

The uncertainty, she be a bitch. Unless an author really strikes gold, the uncertainty never goes away. And I'm talking serious gold here, not gold-for-a-season. I'm talking million-dollar sales. And even then, there's no guarantees. I'm thinking of a couple of authors who struck serious gold, have made millions and millions of dollars on a particular book or series, then can't sell anything else. This happens surprisingly often with phenoms. Whatever it is about that one book or series that attracted the phenom lightning, it rarely happens again. In some cases, where it was the idea that attracted the lightning and the writer themselves isn't all that great - or doesn't push themselves to grow - the likelihood of them penning another book that anyone but the most die-hard fan wants to read is super low.

For other authors, working away at their productive word mines, it's difficult to know what the next day or next year - or next decade! - will bring. There's no corporate ladder, no particular career path, no salary or benefits. Publishing is a fickle beast and I hear regularly from my author friends, some very successful, who hit rough patches and worry about the future of their careers. The ones who survive are ready to reinvent - and to be flexible and diligent in their efforts.

I'll be frank: a lot of them can't take the uncertainty and give up. It's not a career for someone who wants certainty and security.

So, why be a writer at all? Well, that's... 

The Favorite Thing

Writing for a living.

Seriously, it's the reason we put up with the rest. I've had other jobs and a nearly twenty-year career in another profession, and being a writer is the absolute BEST. It's amazing being a creator and the font of something that I alone bring into existence. From there other people can also have jobs, but I am the origin. The money I make is from my own self, not derived from someone else's thing, and that's an incredible experience. 

It kind of comes around to the risk/opportunity ratio. Yes, there's a lot of risk and uncertainty, but there's also an equivalent or greater measure of opportunity. Because there is no corporate ladder or career path, it's all up to me to create. And I love that. I love that all the meetings have to do with something I'm passionate about, that the phone calls are about me and my work. I'm serving my own creation and not someone else and that, my friends, makes all the rest worth it. 

Rise of the Audiobook

This week I’m listening to The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi, a beautifully written historical fiction that takes place in 1950’s India. I love learning new things in such a vibrant way…and I’m listening to it! 

Good timing too because our topic this week is audiobook popularity. Do you listen to audiobooks? If you’re an author, do you make them? Any thoughts on if they’ll overtake ebooks? 

Honestly, I was slow to join the audiobook bandwagon. I’m not talking books on tape, but the electronic versions you can download in an app—so EASY! Yet, when they became a thing and my fellow book bloggers were devouring them, I stuck to my paperbacks and hardcovers. 

Crazy enough, at the time I was still working in the corporate world and driving at least two hours a day, sometimes more depending on which laboratories I needed to visit. 

Fast forward to today and…man oh man, why didn’t I give audiobooks a try back then! If I could hop a time machine that might be my destination, go back and tell my commuting past-self to download gobs of ‘em I could’ve soared my 90 book-a-year average into the triple digits! 

Even though I no longer commute, I’m so blessed to be able to work from home, there are plenty of days my eyes can’t take any more screen time. That means ixnay the ebooks and even reading on a page is difficult—thank you very much chronic disease—but, I’m thankful for audiobooks! 

Popularity then: I’d say they’re gaining. I talk books with most people I come across and within the last couple of years I’ve noticed that more are listening instead of reading. Interesting…possible factors could be: chronic disease is on the rise, resulting in conditions that increase the necessity of an audible option, and in our current semi-isolated climate hearing a voice is a comfort, even if it’s recorded.

Another interesting thing, I recently learned that for traditionally published books it’s not always the publishing house that puts out the recorded version. 

Come on, gasp with me! I can’t be the only reader out there who didn’t have a clue about how audiobooks came to be. 

Yes, I was aware of companies you could hire to produce your self-published or indie-published book if you wanted to. But maybe because I haven’t been listening to audiobooks that long or maybe because I don’t really pay attention to the intro and miss who actually made it I’d always assumed they came from the publisher!

There you have it, my take on audiobooks and how I think they’ll continue to grow. Yes, I enjoy them, though never as much as a paper version. And yes, I believe I’ll make one someday. 

*By the way, have you listened to Martha Well’s Murderbot series in audio?! The narrator, Kevin R. Free’s interpretation perfectly encompasses Murderbot’s flatline emotions and ponderings. So, so good. If you haven’t jumped on the bandwagon and dig sci-fi, hands-down start with this one!

Indie & Proud

I'm one of many self-published authors on this blog but one of the few non-hybrid. Not being traditionally published by one of the Big Houses isn't because I've eschewed that part of the industry; it's simply because stars and stories haven't aligned.

I'm unrepentantly Indie. It's been a joy watching this half of the industry scrabble into existence, explode with popularity, then settle into a competitive marketplace. Sure, the royalties from the gold-rush days would be nice to see again, but that era is long gone. Then again, so is the insanity of indie authors having to release two books a month just to have a toe in the game. It was a fascinating moment when readers cried, "Whoa! Too much, too fast!" Authors happily responded, "Whew! Burnout is real!" By then the importance of backlists was established. Readers could binge, authors could breathe. Suddenly there was room for authors who couldn't pump out a dozen+ books a year, but who did publish stories readers were willing to wait to read. Niche markets were finally being served in measurable quantity with rising quality.

Speaking of rising quality, the Indie market provided opportunities for more than authors. The supporting industry of creative professionals from artists to editors to formatters and designers found new demand for their talents. It used to be a struggle to find someone willing to work with a self-published author, now our business is par for the course. Small tech companies have popped up too to serve our unique demands, innovating in ways that are thrilling to provider and user. Oh sure, crackpots and exploiters abound everywhere, but for the most part, Indie authors are gaining the respect of peers and readers.

The downside of self-publishing? There are many institutional biases we still have to overcome. There are public-facing opportunities (books fairs, expos, cons, local news, etc.,) from which we are excluded because organizers don't consider us properly vetted. We are hugely dependent on the benevolence of a singular capricious capitalist company. A single seemingly insignificant design change on any retailers' site can tank our sales. A tech glitch on their end can result in significant losses in sales and challenges to our Intellectual Property (among other legal complications). Retailers who struggle financially find the easiest copout is to delay paying us pay us or to not pay us at all. Worse are those who under-report our sales, a circumstance against which we have no proof or recourse. When distributors have a problem--be it in tangible or digital product--it's the author who gets blamed, though we have no ability to right the wrong. We've yet to consolidate our voices to demand changes that benefit all self-published authors. We ride the shirttails of the publishing industry despite our conflicts of interest. Oh, and of course, the whole damn enterprise is costly. Success is a long-game. Books into which you invested your heart and savings will tank. Envy is real, jealousy pernicious and prevalent. Don't get me started on piracy.

But...for all the negatives, it's worth it. To me, at least. I write stories because I want to share them. I want to help total strangers escape their realities and find a bit of joy.

The biggest advantage of being an Indie author is also its greatest disadvantage: control = responsibility = accountability.  It's our name on the cover. It's our words on the pages. It's our reputation regardless.

I wouldn't have it any other way.

What She Said

So for my post, can I just link to Jeffe's post and nod vigorously? No? Rats. Okay. Let's come at this another way, then.

Sometimes, mes amis, the world of publishing leaves you very few options. When what you write isn't necessarily the flavor du jour, most trad publishing houses won't look at you cross eyed. If they do, but your sales don't hit a particular benchmark, you may rapidly find yourself unpublished by traditional houses. If that happens, and if you have the self-confidence and spite to pick up your stories, you can go home and learn to become your own publisher.

Or say you've been writing one genre and you want to dip your toes into another - one you aren't necessarily certain you want to immerse yourself into. You write that book and rather than subbing it to agents and editors, you put it up yourself as an experiment. To test the genre waters, so to speak.

Or, maybe, after an eternity of waiting, you recover the rights to a group of stories that were orphaned when your cherished editor left the business (get used to that one, cupcake, it happens on a daily) you finally have the opportunity to finish out the series and relaunch the whole thing at what you consider a much friendlier price point - or with the cover of your dreams. Whatever your entre into DIYing it is.

Just know this. Everything about self-publishing is learnable. Scads of people have been through this wilderness and will gladly point the way. Some people will charge admittance. Many more won't. Author loops are crazy generous with how-to information, software suggestions, cover designer, editor, and copy editor referrals, too. Most of them will discuss the nuanced differences between launching wide versus targeted, too. Here. Let me pass you an aspirin. Author loops are a fire hose. You might need the pain killer.

All of this said, there's no right or wrong answer to the question of going indie or trad or both. There's only what's right for you and your work. If you're a security seeker, go trad. If you're a risk taker and a control freak, go indie. If you see the merits of both, then do all the things. There's really no math to do that will make clear which path is 'best'. It's all judgement call and what sounds like the most fun. Sure. You need a career strategy at some point. Tons of people will coach you through that, too, but as far as I can tell, you end up with a mirror of THEIR strategy rather than one of your own. So you may as well be guided by your own sense of what sounds easy versus hard. If having to format your own book sounds like the third circle of hell because you're a technophobe, you can hire someone to do that work, or you can choose to stick with the trad houses. They'll handle all that fiddly stuff, at the price, however, of having complete control over how your book is presented to the world.

So. Yeah. What Jeffe said. It's all about tradeoffs. You get to choose which ones you'll accept.

Being a Career Writer: What to Focus On

I dug out this photo from last summer - at Epcot Center after the RWA conference and me all shiny from winning the RITA® Award. Sometimes that still feels as fantastical as my troll friend here.

Our topic this week at the SFF Seven is one writing/publishing-related skill we want to learn/improve on this year. The writing/publishing conjunction struck me because - while I totally get that being a career writer involves both - those two aspects of being an author seem far more distant from each other than a slim slash mark would convey.

Okay, I started to write about something I saw an author tweet about the trials of self-publishing. Though I was paraphrasing, I ended up deleting because it felt unfair to call them out. But what I'm seeing is a LOT of discussion of the business of writing. That right-hand side of the slash mark. Marketing. How to get reviews. Amazon stripping reviews, stripping rank. Piracy. Best-selling rank. Marketing. Covers. How to reach readers. Marketing. Box sets. Series. Ideal release timing and spacing. Marketing.

You get my point.

So, I get that it's easier to focus on marketing. (Did I mention marketing?) There's a LOT of information out there on that stuff. In fact, many writers have gotten into the business in order to have something to market. (I've met these people. "I wanted to take advantage of Internet marketing and so I decided because romance novels sell, I'd write one and use that as my test product.) Also, the business side of the slash mark can feel much more controllable than the writing side.

This is what bothers me, however. For all the discussions I see about improving all the business end, I see maybe a tenth - if that - on improving the left hand side of the slash mark: the WRITING.

In point of fact, some self-publishing authors I know have said they don't care about improving their craft. The reasons vary, but some seem to feel it's beyond their control or irrelevant.

It's also the most difficult aspect of being a writer. Improving craft can be both humbling and infuriating. A writer has to set aside ego and take a good hard look at their work. They have to compare it to work by better writers and see where it falls short. And they have to be willing to listen to criticism without losing confidence. THEN they have to set to the frustrating and often daunting task of attempting to improve.

I get that it's hard. It's hard for me, too.

But I'm going to venture that, if you're losing readers instead of building an audience then the problem may not be with the marketing. We're in the weeding-out phase of the self-publishing boom now. Readers no longer have patience with giving books a whirl just because they're cheap or free. Or, rather, they'll give the author a chance, and if the quality isn't good, they won't try them again. I'm hearing this from many, many readers. This phase has been inevitable. The first week of the cruise is done and people have stuffed themselves with all the free food at the buffet. Now they're pickier, looking for the good stuff.

I should caveat that I'm picking on self-publishing here, because traditional publishing tends to force you to up your game to pass the various levels of tests involved in selling a work to them. However, with many editors in traditional publishing failing to give content edits, making our work the best it can be there, too, is critical.

So, what AM I wanting to improve this year? Craft! Each book is a master class in craft, meaning I learn something new with each one I write. Over the last couple of years, I've been working on my endings. I've been trying to give them as much heft and time as the beginnings - which isn't easy. I've improved, but I'm still not there. I also find I'm rarely satisfied with endings other authors write. I think this is partially why the cliff-hanger ending is so appealing. JUST DON'T EVEN TRY.

But I'm curious - who writes really good, perfectly satisfying endings? I'd love suggestions!