The Agony and the Ecstasy: Self-Publishing

I'm taking a break from Mr. Maass for this post—maybe a little longer—to update you on the agony and ecstasy of my self-publishing saga.

First, the agony, which is completely self-inflicted.

It was probably stupid to set the goal of releasing four novels at once. Yes, three of them have been previously published, but that doesn't exclude the need for a little tweaking here and there. In fact, it was shocking just how much tweaking my out-of-print novels needed and how many copy edit mistakes I found. (I’m quite sure—well, I’m almost sure—that these errors were made after I’d made corrections on the galleys.)

I have one more book in the series to finish tidying up. I’m pleased to say that the third novel needs less work than the first.  I am capable of growth, and I find that comforting.

Furthermore, formatting books for ebook publishing is TEDIOUS and fussy work. Instructions at Amazon contradict themselves, so you must use trial and error to complete the task. Besides, they speak in printer-ese. Bleed? Thanks for asking. Yes, I think I will.

I’ve watched all sorts of videos on YouTube that show how easy formatting is, but they’re lying. Will I do this again? Probably, but only one book at a time. And I will hire someone to do the formatting.

Let’s slip a little ecstasy in here before I make someone cry.

Writing as a self-published author is heaven for the perfectionist writer. Bonnie exhorted us all to slow down on Monday, not to rush a thing of beauty. Well, self-publishing lets me set my own deadlines, which I am six weeks behind on. But besides that, I have spent four years on my new novel, Goodness & Mercy.  And not one call from an overwrought editor or nervous agent. My little darling is maturing and blossoming at its own pace.

Back to the agony.

Formatting a print-on-demand book is even harder. I ended up hiring someone to do the dirty deed for me. I love her. Or him. (Androgynous name.)

More agony.

Writing as a self-published author who tilts toward perfectionism is hell. My formatter sent back a lovely document ready for uploading to Create Space, and what did I do? I tweaked it and tweaked it and tweaked it until I feared I might tweak the magic right out of the story. This morning, after one more minor tweak, I swallowed down hard and sent the uber-tweaked manuscript off for minor repairs by the formatter.

D-O-N-E, done.

I’m getting very close. Once the back cover copy is completed (again), the cover will be ready for its reading public. That means “celebrity” endorsers first, then blog reviewers, followed by my readership who will, hopefully, feel that I tweaked just right for them to post a 4-5 star review on Amazon.

I’m dying to write a new story. I have something lovely teetering on the edge of my subconscious, waiting for the all-clear to jump.  

I’m not ready to pass judgment on the process of self-publishing quite yet. Honestly, the true test will be whether or not readers find my stories. Storytellers need and want an audience. I've told my dog plenty of stories, and it's just not enough.

Thanks for listening. I feel much better. 

Carpe Annum - Seize the Year

On Monday, Bonnie gave us this great advice: "2013 is your year."  We at Novel Matters are so happy to partner with you on this journey, that we’ve declared our theme for the next twelve months to be Carpe Annum – Seize the Year.  The six of us are busy brainstorming ways to make this a reality for readers and writers alike, and we are excited! 

In 2013 we plan to feature interviews with authors and other industry professionals exploring what it means to own your career, to write what you were created for and to think outside the genre box.  Author interviews will be announced in advance to allow time for you to become familiar with their writing style before you hear what they have to say about the process.  And a challenging new contest is in the works (more info to come)!

We will be celebrating several new book releases this year by Novel Matters authors, published both traditionally and through self-publishing.  Discover what it takes to get books into print and how to tap into the market to get them into the hands of readers. 

Above all, we will encourage you to take yourselves seriously as writers and to make steady progress toward your goals. Whether you write best by the seat of your pants or by carefully outlining, sharpen your pencils.  Organize your chaos or toss a grenade into your well-ordered system.  Reach out to other writers for community and critique, to fresh sources for ideas and into your souls to make your characters sing. 

Hemingway said, “Write the truest sentence that you know.” Now would be the time.

Seize 2013.  Carpe Annum.

Going Indie

It was with much thought, prayer and a good dose of nerves that I decided to go independent in publishing my latest novel, Unraveled, which I released in August. My former agent had tried to find a home for it in CBA, with no success, so when I told her I wanted to publish it myself, she gave me her blessing. I made the decision because I believe in the story, and because I believe the quality of the writing is equal to my other published novels. But it was apparent that if it was to be published, it would be done independently. The reader comments I’ve received so far make me glad I was brave enough to give it a try.

There were a number of ways I could go once I made the decision, but I chose to go with Amazon CreateSpace because our own gifted Latayne had used CreateSpace for The Hinge of Your History: The Phases of Faith. She gave me pointers on how to get started, and once I began the process, Amazon made it very easy to navigate through. I’ve been very satisfied with CreateSpace, and would go that route again without hesitation.

Now I’m in the marketing phase, which is a daunting task. But I was pretty much on my own in promoting Every Good & Perfect Gift and Lying on Sunday, so this isn’t new territory. Fortunately, I’m a lot more knowledgeable than I was in ‘08 when those novels were published, and I have many more contacts. That said, I’m still only making a ripple with my efforts, when my goal is to make a splash. I’d really like to connect with book clubs, but I’m not sure how to find them. If you have any suggestions, I’d love to hear them. I'm marketing extensively to libraries, as I did with my earlier novels, which is already proving effective.

As you know if you follow this blog on a regular basis, Patti is also in the midst of going independent, and I’m happily benefitting from her research. She recommended Make a Killing on Kindle Without Blogging, Facebook and Twitter: The Guerilla Marketer’s Guide to Selling Your Ebooks on Amazon by Michael Alvear. I like his writing style, like his dry wit and humor, but after reading the first four chapters my assessment was: Just shoot me now. There was no way that I, a relatively unknown author, who is not remotely guerilla-ish, was going to succeed at selling books, whether traditionally or independently published. No. Way. I might as well hang it up. But then I got to Chapter 5, and began feeling less suicidal. Rather than telling me all the reasons why I should fail, Michael began to show me how I could succeed. I’m creating my strategy and will soon put his recommendations to the test.

James Scott Bell’s Self-Publishing Attack! The 5 Absolutely Unbreakable Laws for Creating Steady Income Publishing Your Own Books has also been helpful. The suggestions that overlap in both books are the ones I’m concentrating on first.

Is going independent the optimum course for me? That remains to be seen. What is certain is that there’s never been a better time to try. No longer does self-publishing require an outlay of thousands of dollars, or mean boxes of books in your garage. With a minimum investment you can have a quality product to put on the market, but that’s the key word here: “quality” is vital. From cover to content, don’t cut corners. Period. The old maxim holds true: If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well.  With the enormous changes taking place in the publishing world, self-publishing is losing its stigma. Many A-list authors are going that route, particularly with ebooks, because for many, it makes the most sense.

What about you? Have you considered going independent? If so, why? If not, why? And again, if you have suggestions about reaching book clubs, I'd appreciate hearing from you.

My Self-Publishing Experience

In the comments section of our previous post, "The Times They Are a’Changin’" a reader, BK, said she’d like to hear from someone who has published both traditionally and by self publishing during the last two years.

Well, I’m the only NovelMatters author who has gone both routes in the last two years. I’m not comfortable doing dollars and cents, but I can tell you from my experience some things you might not have considered.

Two years ago Zondervan released my non-fiction, The Mormon Mirage, and Moody published my fiction, Latter-day Cipher. They both had given me advances against the royalties that the books would subsequently earn at the rate of over 10 percent (I'm being deliberately imprecise here) on each copy sold at full retail price. So—until the point of “earning out,” technically I earned more than that percentage. Meanwhile, the publishers took the financial risk and paid for typesetting, cover design, editing, my book trailer, advance copies sent to reviewers, print advertisement, contacting radio and television stations, and many other elements of my books.

All of those became my job when my agent concluded that there was no interest from publishers in another nonfiction, The Hinge of Your History: The Phases of Faith. But I knew there was tremendous interest in this book because I spoke on it so often. So with my agent’s blessing I self-published it last fall through Amazon CreateSpace. My profit on the books I buy and resell is more like 70%. But, again—all the manuscript and cover preparation was my job. All the publicity is my job.

But you know what – I’m loving it. The sales on the initial printings (which all sold from two speaking appointments, one newsletter blast, and announcements on NovelMatters and Facebook) have given me the funds to create some neat promotional products I’ll sell/give away when I’ll speak next month before 900 women at the Women Walking With God conference in Wichita Kansas.

Here’s a picture. From the top going clockwise: the back of my book, the front of my book, a pen imprinted with my website address, two wristbands that read, “It’s a Contradiction!” and my website address, a pocket-sized notebook, a bookmark that has the cover image on the front and a list of my most popular speaking topics on the back. Center: a checkbook cover with the “hinge” image crossing from front to back (just as the book has.)

I’d like to give away some of these promotional products to a NovelMatters reader. I will choose from the people who make comments below. If you can answer any of the following questions (have read the book), you will be entered twice:

What is the "hinge" of the book title?

What are the four layers that span the spines of the book and the checkbook cover?

What are the three phases of faith?

What is the meaning of the phrase, "It's a Contradiction!"?

1)

The Times They are a'Changin' - A Roundtable Discussion

For the last 25 years of his life, my dad was a self-employed business owner in the San Francisco Bay Area. He provided custom binders for businesses, such as banks that offer binders to their customers for bank statements, with the bank's name and logo printed/silk screened onto it; or a company that provides a syllabus for each employee or conference attendee designed specifically for that purpose. In his office, Dad had floor-to-ceiling samples of colors and fabrics for the binders, as well as style samples. His business earned him a comfortable living . . .

until . . .

the advent of desktop publishing. In just a few short years, not only his job but his industry had become obsolete. Dad was forced into a retirement he wasn't ready for, because companies large and small had in-house designers who could do the job more quickly and economically, especially with the help of businesses like Staples. His business went the way of the buggy whip, as my husband likes to say.

While traditional book publishing (hopefully) will never become obsolete, the publishing world is in the throes of massive change as we speak. Bookstore chains of the brick and mortar variety that were the big draw of shopping malls have gone bankrupt, and countless jobs have been lost within the industry. That puts writers on shaky ground. Even writers who've had no trouble in the past securing multi-book contracts are feeling the tsunami effect of the sweeping changes taking place. Authors you'd never expect to hear this from are seriously talking about self-publishing. While that once delegitimized an author -- with a few notable exceptions -- it's an idea that's catching on.

There are pros and cons to be sure, and I for one am testing the waters. In 2004, I self-published a Christmas novella through WinePress, and was extremely pleased with the product, but even as recently as 2004, self-publication required that I purchase a certain number of books, many of which are still in boxes in my garage. I chose to self-publish then, with that particular book, because of the "specialty" nature of a Christmas novella. I'm not sorry I did, though I would love to find myself woefully short of product. This time around, with the ease and quality of print-on-demand books and e-books, I'm hoping for a happier ending to my self-publishing story. So let's talk pros and cons, shall we?

I'm looking at self-publishing very seriously. With ebooks becoming more and more popular -- some estimate that 50% of book sales will be digital by 2015 -- self-publishing means no longer having to fill your garage with books. The scary part is taking on the risk that conventional publishers took on before, like editing and book cover design. I'm determined to turn out a superior product to what I've done with my publishers, as amazingly supportive and talented as they were. That means cash. Up front. Risk. I may have to sell off some assets. Anyone need a porcelain pig or one million writing books? I do love the idea of increased creative freedom and a broader market. What say you?

I don't have much to say about self-publishing. I've never done it, and I'm not in a place right now where I'm looking to self-publish. For my contribution to this roundtable, I'd like to point to the uber self-publisher Amanda Hocking whose self published YA books have sold over one million copies. Is that the end of her success story? Nope. She just signed a publishing deal with St. Martin Press. She's a smart, interesting young woman and you might enjoy her blog post about why she signed with a publisher AFTER her massive self-publishing success. Read Amanda's story in her own words.

Patti mentioned my main reservations about self-publishing. A book that runs the gauntlet of traditional publishing has so many gate-keepers who know -- are trained to know -- what they're doing when it comes to editing, book covers, titles, you name it, and have marketing contacts and money to put in place for all the above. I can only imagine how disappointing it would be to write a terrific story but package or edit it poorly, or have it flounder because I can't afford to market the book like I feel it deserves. Worse still would be for reviewers to point out these shortcomings and say that it was poorly done. So, I'm currently wading on the edge of the pool and waiting for someone to signal that the water is fine so I can dive in with confidence. Sounds chicken? Yes! But right now it seems like the prudent thing to do.

This is a thorny issue. I've been publishing books in the CBA market for over three decades. I feel tremendous loyalty, especially to Zondervan who took a risk on a young, unknown writer just three years out of a mind-bending cult. On the other hand, even the best and greatest of publishers in 2011 are not financially able to take the kinds of risks that they did years ago. Because they must turn down some good, solid books with less "star" potential doesn't mean that the books must remain unpublished. That's why I self-published a nonfiction last year; and, God willing, I'll re-release some previously successful and timeless OOP books (to which I've retained the rights) later this year. I realize the marketing and distribution will all be on my shoulders, but so far with Hinge of Your History: The Phases of Faith, I've been pleasantly surprised at the good results.

I'm on the side of the pool with Debbie, wondering if authors are having more fun in the water -- while also watching for sharks. But I've seen some fabulous manuscripts wait and wait and wait to find a publisher brave enough to court new markets in this economy, and I know I'd rather see their authors jump in than give up. Faced with that choice, I'd take the dive myself.

We know from previous comments that some of you have self-published. We'd so appreciate hearing from you regarding your experience with self-publication. Would you consider your efforts successful? Would you do it again? What were some of the benefits, and what were some of the drawbacks? If you would not self-publish, we'd love for you to share your reasons why. Thank you in advance for what we know will be a good discussion.