Friday, July 5, 2013

When to Self-publish a book?

From the last few days, lots of my writing friends (both in India and abroad) whose books have encountered rejection, are considering opting for the self-publishing route. In India as we don’t have agents, we writers approach the publishers directly after getting their email id’s from the website. One of my friends told me that she was strongly considering uploading it on Amazon just so that people could read it, as all the publishers she had approached had not bothered replying. I am sure it’s not that easy and that there are other things to consider while self-publishing.

I made her reconsider her decision. I even beta read her book, sent her feedback and requested her to resend the book to the same few Indian publishers after she had revised it extensively. I asked her to send it in batches, to a few publishers at a time. First send the bigger publishers, then the smaller ones. She has done that and is happy that the publishers have told her they will get back to her.

I personally feel that sometimes a particular story has no appeal for the publishers however well we write it. That’s why it’s important not to pin our hopes on one book and to keep writing other books and stories.

Now I come to an important question. At what stage does one consider self-publishing? After how many rejections should one drop the idea of going the traditional publishing route? At what point should we give up on getting that particular book traditionally published? For those who have gone the self-published route what was the reason and the process? Please share your views. 

P.S. If any self-published writer is interested in doing a  guest post on the entire process, then please email me. There are many writers who want to self-publish but don't know how to go about it. The post will help them.


28 comments:

  1. I think whether and when to self-publish is a personal decision. Some people feel their manuscript is ready and are willing to do the extra work to get their book self-published. For others who prefer the traditional route, they may put aside the manuscript and work on another one to try for the traditional publishing again. There's no right or wrong answer. It's just nice to have options.

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  2. It varies so much from author to author. The range between rushing into it too soon and waiting too long is large.

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  3. Do have a look at my latest post, Rachna.

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  4. I agree with the others. It's a personal decision. I self-published one book, The Fourth Wish, and readers really liked it. But trying to call attention to it and get more sales, etc., was a lot of work. For a year I found that fun, I really did. It also jump-started me into getting a blog, getting on Twitter, Facebook, etc., and I had some enjoyable school visits. But it's a lot of work, when you could be writing instead. I was, in fact, writing my next book and my next, and had already decided that I would like to go the traditional route next time. I still want to stay with the traditional route in the future. But, for those who are considering self-publication, I can really recommend Create Space. Very helpful staff; they walk you through everything and answer any questions you have, etc.

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  5. After a year of shopping my book around, I considered the self published route very seriously. Thankfully we tried for small publishers and found a home for it. This is just me, but a traditionally published book for the first run may help establish a base and can make self publishing other works more profitable. That's my theory, anyway. :)

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  6. I think that any publishing decision needs to be thoroughly researched, whether it is self-publishing or where to submit your manuscripts for traditional publishing, and especially contract terms if you are made an offer from a publishing house.

    Deciding to self-publish because you keep getting rejections is a bad idea. It should be a choice you make because you have options, rather than because you don't.

    Thanks for the post, Rachna. Hope things are going well :)

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  7. That's such an interesting question. I would like to know the answer. A lot has been said about this but opinions are so different and divided, I still don't know what to think. Not that I have a book for publishing at the moment.
    Have a great weekend!

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  8. Rachna, I'm sure this post will come as a beacon of hope for those struggling to find a publisher.

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  9. I think querying agents or publishers also has an element of randomness to it, catching people in the right mood or on the right day has a lot to do with it. You might get ignored, you might get a letter with helpful advice.

    As for self-publishing, it's still early days so I don't think there's an established way to do it. Yet.

    mood

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  10. I'm still on the fence about this myself. I think it's just up to the author and the WIP.

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  11. This is a great post. I think the shift in my way of thinking about publishing came when I heard Veronica Rossi speak about getting Donald Maass to critique a manuscript at a writing workshop. She had been working on it for seven years. SEVEN YEARS. Don read the first fifty pages and told her it was good, very good, there was nothing wrong with it. But it was never going to be published because it wasn't different from what was already out there. A lot of us, in the first manuscript or the first couple of manuscripts, are so focused on telling the same story better that we forget it is still the same story. That's something that might be viable to self-publish after you have already published, traditionally or indie or self-pub, something that is unique. The writers who break out are the writers who have something fresh to give to readers.

    It's hard to hear. I hated hearing it. But I also knew that it was true, and I put everything I had into creating something different in my WIP. It paid off with a three-book deal for Veronica when she wrote and sold UNDER THE NEVER SKY shortly after that conference, and I went on to finish my WIP and just sold that in a three-book deal. It's not about writing something better, no matter how much we kill ourselves trying. Yet those early books teach us what we need to know about technique, so that when we have that shiny new idea, we are ready to write it well. :)

    There is nothing wrong with self-publishing if a writer feels it's the right avenue. But honestly, it's not the solution for everyone either.

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  12. Rachna, I would like to post my road to self publishing. I'll send you an email.

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  13. I don't think it's an easy decision, but I've seen people do it right with a lot of hard work and much success. I imagine even with CP's, feedback, and such, it's such an internal decision in which authors weigh all their options and reflect on what they've done so far.

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  14. Good information Rachna on your new look blog:)

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  15. Definitely something to consider... I'd probably check into the e-book thing (which I know very little about). See what works for other people who have dared to stick their toes in that water and take the plunge if you feel so led. Pray. Trust that God cares about your writing and your life! :)

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  16. I definitely believe no matter how good the writing, we all need at least a *little* luck because agents and publishers are human, too, so they have their own "hot buttons" on what they like.

    I will definitely consider self-publishing, but only once I feel all other avenues are exhausted.

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  17. Fascinating post. I tried this once and had a very bad experience.

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  18. Great post Rachna,
    I would prefer that my novel were 'chosen' by a Publisher, first and foremost. There's a lot of great writing out there in the self published world and a lot that is not.
    Sadly, my own e-short story didn't fare well, with few reviews and sales. I guess that must speak for itself. The more we write the better we get I would like to be a successful author and I also want to be a good writer.

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  19. I didn't exhaust other venues before self-publishing. I just went for it . . . after a great deal of research.
    The first area of research for me was in books that were similar to the one I wrote - I tried to discover if other books of a similar genre were finding success with publishers. It turns out that after researching authors, publishers, and agents, that many other authors in the same genre hadn't been successful in that genre first. They had written other books in other genres and then crossed over to the one they really wanted after getting name recognition in a different area.

    I decided I didn't want to wade my way through all of that, and I decided to self-publish. After I made that decision I researched self-publishing. I continued to learn after I self-published my first book, and I'm sure I'll keep learning as time goes by.

    My writing goals include publishing at least 5 books via the self-publishing route, and getting published by a small press, and a traditional press. I have too many book ideas, and not enough time. I plan on sending some of those ideas out in the traditional world - but not yet. I'm having too much fun with self-publishing so far.

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  20. It's a difficult question. I think some people aren't ready to publish, both traditionally and self publishing. We can't base our decision to self publish on impatience. There's a lot to consider when it comes to self publishing.

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  21. We don't decide to self-publish just because our books have been rejected. I've never actually been rejected because I pretty much decided to self-publish from the get-go. I thought that since it's my first book and I was anxious to get it out, I'd just do it myself. I might submit to publishers at some point, but not quite yet. And you're absolutely right that some books don't appeal to publishers, but it doesn't mean the writing isn't good. It just isn't what the publisher is looking for.

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  22. Self-publishing is a personal decision, as others have said. If you listed ten, twenty, a hundred reasons, most would be valid because it's usually a combination of things that let us know it's the thing we feel we need to do for that book. It's hard work, not inexpensive, but very rewarding to see what you can accomplish. At least that's the way it's been for me.

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  23. A friend of mine who had one published traditionally just decided to publish one through Amazon herself. I am more apt to buy it because I know her writing and it's good.

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  24. The reasons an author may or may not decide to self-publish definitely can vary.

    For me, I decided I wanted to self-publish my shorter works instead of going through a publisher, even though I've worked with several small publishers before making that decision. When it came to considering my novels, I realized I enjoyed the process and control I had over my product so much that I didn't want to give it up. Does that mean I won't ever try the agent/publisher route again? No. Some books do better with more traditional publishers--like middle grade and children's books. But for now, I'm enjoying self-publishing and plan to continue self-publishing for the next few years.

    Of course, I'm also a strong believer that you shouldn't just write something and throw it out there. Manuscripts need to be properly edited via critique partners/beta readers/editors, proofread, formatted correctly, and should have a good to great cover.

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  25. I'd say two factors detemine self-publishing - willing to do all the work yourself and having gotten the MS in the best possible shape.

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  26. Hi, Rachna,
    I opted to self publish some of my work because of my experience with traditional publishers. I expected more help by way of promotion and in one instance I still haven't been able to collect on my royalty since the novels have been published.

    Self publishing was the next step for me and apart from the energy that goes into promotion, the rewards are good.

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  27. Everyone has different needs and agendas in publishing. It's different for everyone, I think.

    Jai

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  28. Yes, self publication can rich our mind. Change our thinking.

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