FOR THOSE OF YOU WANTING TO SELF-PUBLISH

Status: Living with the in-laws. (Help! SOS!)

Watching: Nothing.

Listening to: The "f"-Word. (Cooking show.)

Reading: The Death Star. Page 327.

TOPIC: SELF-PUBLISHING AND WHAT IT MEANS


Self-publishing is nothing new. According to Writer's Digest, it's been around since the days of John Milton.

Defenders of self-publishing routinely point to such historic works like Aeropagitica as a celebration of the practice.

Businesses that offer such services can be traced back to newspaper ads from the 1930s--where they suggested that 'chapbooks' filled with poems would make excellent gifts or close friends and family members, but also warned against the idea that this route would lead immediately to fame and riches.

Because they are right.

Self-publishing is a gamble which shouldn't be taken lightly.

Even though print-on-demand (POD) and digital technologies have greatly improved the quality and layouts of self-published books since the 1990s--self-publishing still remains a "last resort" for those of us whom have failed to capture the attention and imagination of the mainstream publishing network.

But if you are considering self-publishing, then consider the following statistics:

• Very few self-published writers actually make enough money off their writing these days to sustain themselves.
• The average books sold in the United States comes to about 500 copies.

(So if you really wanted to make it--you'd have to sell ten times that amount or even fifty times that number--if you ever hope to go over the top.)

• The reported number of on-demand and short-run books in 2007 was 134,773; making the total number for that year (projected U.S. output) to be around 411,422.
• Fewer than 20,000 new books published make it into the chain stores.

(Which is why it is so important to shop around for alternative routes to pitch your books. Remember: Chain-stores--like Borders--cherry-pick what they think will sell and what might be a passing curio. If you ever looked at a chainstore's shelves--you'll notice that there isn't much space to be had for new books. And there's a lot of 'piling' to be had--or stacked books; one top of the other.)

• Sales by smaller publishers and self-publishing outlets reached an impressive $14.2 billion dollars in 2005. (The mainstream's bottom line for the same year--total--was about $26 billion dollars.)
• Authorhouse published nearly 1 out of every 20 U.S. titles in 2008.

So what does it mean to be self-published?

It means that you alone take control of every aspect of the development of your book: From content all the way down to marketing and publicity.

It has nothing to do with the vanity-press stigma--which so many critics of self-publishing and their supporters try and lump together as being one and the same.

Because it isn't.

Self-publishing is where you take control, vanity-press is where you pay someone else to do all the work and take most of your book rights away.

But if you do consider this route, you have to realize that no one else is going to step in and save your bacon.

You alone are the pitchman, salesman, and expert on what you've written and self-published.

If you want to make money, then you're going to have to stop making excuses and start getting your rear in gear.

But also be prepared for failure. So many self-published authors I know are obsessed with perfection, they don't consider failing while on the job to be a clear cut option.

I'm choosing self-publishing under my own imprint because I don't want to have to wait for the rest of my life for agents and publishers to decide if I'm good for them.

I already know I am. Now.

I'm choosing self-publishing because the odds of getting traditionally published is virtually impossible.

Why waste my life away beating my head against a brick wall?

We all know that agents reject 99% of all submitted query letters. We all know that 80-85% of all publishers require agent representation before being picked up. (And there is no guarantee that this will happen either. Keep in mind: Publishing mainstream depends on how the economy is doing and how much money consumers are spending. But since the economy is in the toilet and the mainstream is currently in a restructuring mode to survive this deepening recession...? Your chances of getting 'tagged' is not going to even show up on their To Do list.)

Self-publishing is my last resort. I've spent years doing the agent-train and getting absolutely nowhere with their generic response letters, and having been represented by 2 agencies in the past.

I'm quite capable of doing all the hard work myself and I can pitch my books like the best of them.

But I do it in my own way. I don't follow any of the concurrent models in use today; to pitch my works in under 90 seconds flat.

The other thing about self-publishing is that you have to invest your time, money, and effort into what you want to do with your unfinished book.

Why did I highlight the money word?

Because nothing is for free anymore. You want to take the cheap route--with half-assed cover art, cheesy editing, and poor writing (because you didn't want to spend the money necessary; when it could've made the difference?)--?

Be my guest.

If you want to take the self-publishing route with any hopes of being picked up sometime before you hit the Big 7-0--then you had better start writing like you mean it!

You had better start thinking like a bonifide professional and start spending the time, money, and effort to make sure that your books are in the best shape possible!

YOU ARE NOT GOING TO BE TRADITTIONALLY-PUBLISHED--NOW--SO WHY WORRY ABOUT WHAT MONEY IS COMING IN OR GOING OUT?!?

Think about what your career--as a successful writer--is going to be about...and start making every attempt to reach those set goals!

Money is just a tool for us to use--not to hoard or covet like it's the best Danish Blue cheese around. (Which is pretty good I might add. Expensive wedges of heaven--but well worth the pocket change.)

• If you want to be published--later--by a traditional publisher, then start early.

Get yourself a professional editor and have him or her do the work. Because paying them what they are worth, will make all the difference in the world--and your odds of getting picked up later a bit better than they would be if you queried an agent with a book that looks like a copy-cat edition of Atlanta Nights.

Having your friends or family members doing it is just asking for the Grim Reaper to come and take a swipe at you before you're actually ready to kick the bucket.

They aren't professionals and wouldn't know jack about editing, grammar, or even proof-reading. (Especially true--since 36 million Americans (or 1 in 7) can't read past the 5th grade reading level.)

• Cover art is the #1 make-or-break, deal-shaker that can (and will) affect your overall book sales.

Picking a cheesy template cover from the 1990s or using off-the-shelf, first-generation (3D) computer software--to grace your book with--isn't going to impress your target audience any.

Get a professional cover artist to do the work. On average, some of the going rates are between $500 and $1000 a pop. (Or more.)

You can gripe all you want, haggle over price, but if you are really serious, investing any amount of money into your books will have nice payoffs for the future.

The question remains: Are you willing to go the distance? Well? Are you?

• Distribution is key to your success as a self-published author.

If you can find a good distributor, then your odds of reaching a much larger audience is better than those self-published authors whom are struggling to gain a bigger foothold in the money game.

Lastly, the one thing that self-published authors do the most (and make a habitual mistake doing) is querying agents soon after they get self-published.

Why is this such a bad idea?

Well...duh!

Agents thrive on money. But in their Rules of Acquisition operates on the principle of more. So much more dinero, that it often boggles the mind.

If you're self-published and you are thinking about going the traditional route, then you have to show these same agents that you are worth every penny pitched.

And by doing that, you're going to have to have some pretty impressive sales figures to get any agent's attention.

Say, 5K self-published books sold to start?

Which means...

You're going to have to buckle down and start making yourself known.

Much like myself. I've spent the last 7 years pitching my books, WIPs, and whatnot to my prospective audience. I've done it in such a way that I am literally attracting new readers to my blogs every day.

And it's not in the tens of thousands which some boastful writers claim, but in the the upper hundreds to the low 1000s each month.

I'm happy with that. I can live with the knowledge that my work and life experiences are reaching these people and then watching as those numbers increase over time.

Because--in order to be successful--you have to offer something that people will read time and again.

That's how you gain recognition and exposure these days.

That's how you become successful.

EARLY MORNING INTERVIEW RUN (Part 1)

Status: On vacation

Doing: Writing this blog; finished shopping; taking the dogs out; fed the animals

Watching: Tavis Smiley

Listening to: Ian Van Dahl; Icon of Coil; INXS


TOPIC: AUTHOR MARKETING AND ADVERTISING THROUGH INTERVIEWS


Yeah, yeah...

We've heard this one before many of times:

"How do you advertise and market your book?"

>hits the snooze alarm<

Here's a simpler approach to doing it: Take all the guesswork there is to advertising and marketing and pitch what you want about the book and yourself as its author, and creator.

Keep it simple, neat, and clean. You don't want anything more complex than that.

So let's role play an interview on the following book and see how well things turn out, okay?

***

What is the name of your book?

It is called The Starchild.

What is the book about?

The novel is about a 14-year-old girl given the mantle of the legendary Starchild of Ancient Lore.

How many pages is it?

Roughly 1,273 pages. (1,250 after editing--maybe. It depends on what Linda decides.)

What audience are you targeting?

Anyone who likes a good science-fiction and fantasy read. I'm not all that interested in the usual play-by-play demographics. If you like this kind of genre, then the book may interest you. If not, that's fine. I'm not looking to play favorites here.

I'm just the book's author, not a referee.

When will the book be available? And what format?

Hopefully by the middle of 2009. I'm still waiting on the editing process. But it's a slow go, which is okay with me.

Format? E-book first for $7.50. But I am tinkering with a 2 for 1 special idea. I'm most interested to see how many people would be receptive to that marketing pitch.

Until I can get better established, I'm holding off the limited print edition for a couple of years. But for those who are interested, I am planning on breaking the novel into a serial.

Hopefully, that will happen within the first six months after the book's initial release date.

However, a lot what I am planning now depends on how well the e-book sells. So it's important that I keep getting the word out--whichever way possible.

Are you afraid of failing?

If I wasn't afraid, I wouldn't be here--tempting something mighty risqué. (laughs)

Failure for me is something that I am quite used to. I would be more worried about succeeding 90% of the time and having little in the ways of setbacks and of course--failures.

And if your book were to fail? What then?

If my book were to fail, it's only because I didn't put a whole lot of effort into it. That's the only reason why it would fail outright.

When you put out a product, you're expected to put out your best work. Not something that's half-assed done and skating on thin ice. People are simply not going to give you a second glance at what you have to offer--if you choose the quick and easy path.

Despite all my obstacles and opposition to this novel, I didn't buckle under the pressure. I simply changed the rules.

Changed the rules? What do you mean by that?

Changing the rules by doing things differently. We all learn by doing. But many people are still stuck on the old ways of accomplishing their goals. That's sooo 20th century! (chuckling)

You don't get much done by following everyone else and doing what they do. Believe me, I speak from experience. Once I found a better way, I went and did it--contrary to what others told me not to do.

Yes, it irritated them. Pissed them off even. But I did it because I felt it was the right thing to do.

So with writing my books, I adopted a similar stance. My position garnered a lot of flak--but only because I was still dealing with an obsolete mechanism which had yet to catch up with the rest of the everchanging world.

For example: I had people tell me that first-time writers shouldn't be writing large tomes like The Starchild. But I did it anyways because I couldn't be held back.

My imagination couldn't be held back.

Then I got people telling me that I won't be published because of it.

My response? "It won't stop me from writing them."

Then--as a last ditch attempt--some people suggested that my novel would bankrupt the book industry. (shakes head)

I ask them, "When was the last time an e-book bankrupted a $20B+/year enterprise?"

Seriously, I would like to see that happen! If it does? I'm going to take a bow as being the only author on record to accomplish such a feat!

What would you like to see come out of people reading The Starchild?

I would like people to see the possibilities that exist in their own world--by opening up their minds to ideas and dreams that once existed in the realm of science-fiction and fantasy.

By embracing change, we have less to fear from our fellow man. The Starchild has a lot of what I call 'reality anchors'--which ties the world we live in to the one that my heroine--Isis McGowan--lives in 10,000 years down the road.

Much of it has a lot of bearing on how we have treated ourselves in the past--only to be faced with such a bleak and uncaring future. Is it an omen of things to come?

I don't know. But by giving Isis the power to either save the world or destroy it--as she sees fit--it says a lot about the human equation for unlimited potential.

Why 10,000 years in the future? Why not in the present?

The Starchild was a culmination of 13 years of hard work, blood, sweat, and tears. In all that time, I had to juggle many different draft prototypes. Many of which landed me in the middle of a theological nightmare.

I'm not religious. Not by a long shot. I stopped believing in God and religion because the answers contained in either--didn't hold water in the face of reality. In other words, I was lied to.

Once I saw how fake many of our religions were--based more so on politics and power--than faith and beliefs--I started to ask myself more questions about the origins of our own universe and existance. Putting forth science and hard evidence--rather than attaching some spiritual connotation to the problem at hand.

I think so many people miss out on the awe and wonder of our own world--that they forget one important thing: If god were to truly exist, we wouldn't be such a poor and decrepit society in the first place.

We would be everlasting and in perfect harmony with one another.

But past histories have shown that man was always at war with one another. And where was God--I ask you?

Nowhere to be seen, felt, or heard.

The ugly truth is that god never existed--except in the minds of man. That in turn allowed him to use religion as a weapon against his fellow man--to get what he wants.

But never used for the good of the many.

I stopped using theology heavily in The Starchild's final draft because I wanted to show that both God and religion were the works of men and women who wanted nothing more than to covet power and greed; while using religion as a crutch.

By showing the reader what a future without a base religion looked like--maybe people in the here and now could understand that our own religions are nothing but smoke and mirrors.

Our faiths are born out of something which has been proven time and again to be non-existent.

And while this may seem like an attack on people's individual faiths, it's simply how I've viewed the world's source of religion. And presently, it's being used to wage countless wars against other people and their countries.

That's why I can't subscribe to it. It would put me right in the middle of one big hypocritical quagmire. I do respect people's right to having their own beliefs and religions, but that doesn't mean I have to participate in them.

The timeline choice was a concience one. I didn't want to have to deal with the vulgarities of the present and have to have a superhero mixed up in today's world--especially when she's not ready for it.

So I shunted everything forward about 10,000 years, added a ruined society, and the rest--as they say--is history.

So there is no God or Christianity in The Starchild?

No. Not in the religious sense. And my characters don't seem to miss that fact. They live their lives how they see fit--which does disturb Keron Sogi'kiagta. She can't understand how people can live without a source of faith or religion.

Bayen Yelou remarked on how it almost destroyed the planet in the past. Once the God of Insanity came, religion and God basically had no basis in their reality.

Are you afraid that people will call you out on your beliefs?

The way I see it, we can either be afraid of something that has no basis in our reality, or we can be afraid of ourselves, and each other.

People can call me what they will, but it won't change me or my own beliefs in life.

So you aren't a religious person by choice. But what about spiritually?

Spiritually, I have a higher sense of awareness. Of the world around me and the universe in general. That's what I use to guide me. It doesn't have a name, it doesn't have a religion, it doesn't have anything which mankind has pinned itself down with.

And I am comfortable with that.

What about your book do you think readers will like the most?

How much the storyline ties in with their own lives growing up.

Like what?

Being a teenager. Growing up without one parent or both. But in Isis's case, it was her father. Kelin was jailed for something which wasn't entirely his fault.

Other things which cropped up was Isis's fierce streak of independence and cavalier attitude towards things. It reminded me of the days when I acted out in such a fashion.

And of course, Isis's perchance for not being a morning person. This tied in nicely with me--because I never liked getting up earlier either.

I'm sure that most of my readers will agree with that.

If you could, what book would The Starchild be comparable to?

Unfortunately, my exhaustive research over the last decade has pointed to the fact that there is not one single book out there upon which my book could be related to.

I realize that this is critical to good book placement with the mainstream--but if your book (like mine) doesn't have a home, what chance will it have being sold successfully at the chain stores?

So are you saying that you're hosting a lost cause then?

No.

The problem with the mainstream is that they are too rigid and inflexible with their views of what a book should be and what it shouldn't. It used to be that a lot of new books popped up which defied description--and many found homes within the industry itself.

The problem is that even though The Starchild is primarily science-fiction/fantasy, the novel itself is completely alien to the mainstream. It does not fit anything that is--or was--on the market today.

So in other words, this book is so far outside the mainstream, the chances of it being picked up is extremely remote.

Have you tried to write other novels?

(chuckling)

Yes. I've written my fair share of books. But the majority still fall outside the mainstream.

Why is that? Is following the crowd not important? How else are you expecting to become successful?

To answer your first question: I don't write mainstream. I read it. To me, mainstream novels are my source of personal escape. But that's all. I have no desire to copy or emulate them.

The only thing I did was study some earlier published novels for pointers--grammar, spelling, punctuation. But I did not actively seek to follow in their footsteps.

It just wasn't my style.

Second question: Following the crowd is like seeking others' approval for what you are about to do in life. You need their permission before embarking on a new venture.

What's wrong with going at it alone? Find out what works best for you? I certainly found more joy in my writings, then I did if I were to try and emulate someone else by doing it their way.

And--as I found out--doing it their way didn't spell immediate success or instant gratification.

And that left me quite stymied. I was like, Why isn't this working?

Then I realized, "Because agents and publishers have been expecting this."

It's easy to copy and emulate something else without having a full understanding of it. But these agents and publishers are professionals. They are going to see right through your charade like it were nothing.

So I went back to what worked best for me. Does it matter if it will bring me a ton of money and such?

Not anymore. I've looked past the innate desire for money, wealth, and name recognition. It's not important.

As for your third question, success can't be measured by how much money you make or how well known you are. It's primarily by how much of an impact you have on people's lives--both directly and indirectly.

If you like helping people out like I do--than you're a success. If you can write and finish a book, then you are a success.

But writers will be writers. And they will always tie their books to how successful they will eventually become.

Sadly, not many make it. A lot of them burn out trying to be so successful--that they become more of a liability than anything else.

Success for me is measured by the fruits of my labor. Not by how much money I plan on making, how many people I can get to buy my books and so forth.

I've lived an impoverished lifestyle growing up. I still do--despite my best efforts to change it. But everything I've done points to the varying degrees of success I've tallied up.

Despite all the disabilities I have, I was known to never quit--no matter what the circumstances. The mainstream may have shut me out of a promising career as a published author, but it doesn't mean I have to give up my career as a promising writer.

That's success in my book. That's what success means to me.