Self-Publishing, e-Publishing, and Patience
I know self-publishing and e-publishing are the thing to blog and talk about these days, but I have a few items I’d like to mention.
First, like many writers who are on the road to publication, a conversation will inevitably lead to this: ”Oh, you’re a writer, are you published?” I, and I’m assuming many other writers, hate this question. No, I’m a writer. Published or not I’m a writer. I know these people probably don’t mean anything, but it’s almost like you’re not really a writer unless you’ve been published–and not by a vanity press, or yourself.
This leads me to the next point: writing requires, no it demands patience. Most people in this day and age lack that virtue. I know I lacked it when I was young. I probably lacked patience all the way up until my early 30s. There’s nothing wrong with that, I think it’s just a fact of life, but it isn’t getting any better. Look at movies for instance. Back when I was a kid and a movie like Star Wars came out, you couldn’t watch it again unless you saw it in the theater or you were lucky enough to catch it on television, and often years after it had its run in the theaters. Today? Shoot, you can be watching a new movie at home the day it hits the theaters (not legally of course). Today’s world breeds impatience. I believe this is funneling to readers and writers as well.
Many readers are impatient and want what basically equates to a movie in word form–and an action movie at that. Writers are impatient in other ways. Many other ways.
Self-publishing and e-publishing are two of those ways and often become one way. Patience is the key to writing and publishing. Writing is a life-long journey. If you’re writing a book simply to get published, receive accolades and make a lot of money, well, you’re in for a huge disappointment. There are many other careers that are more stable, more lucrative, and provide benefits–but that point has been made many times by many other writers who have been in the field for a long, long, time.
I read many blogs about self-publishing and e-publishing and I will consider those options. I mention that only because I don’t want anyone to think that I’m against that type of publishing. So, are there people out there that can essentially decide they want to write, sit down craft a novel, maybe do another draft or two and then find an agent or a publisher? I’m sure there are, but here is what typically happens, and I know this because I’ve spoken with people who have a relative, a friend, an acquaintance, or perhaps even themselves that have written ONE story, or ONE novel and sent it out only to be rejected. I’ll add this caveat though: congratulations on finishing a story and then sending it out! How many people start writing only to quit? Most people. Very few people ever finish writing a story. And I know this because I was guilty of this when I was much younger.
Now, they send a story out, get a rejection or two and get antsy. They spent all this time writing a novel, months, or years even and now they’re getting rejects. What’s next? Rather than work on the next story and continue to send the story out they complain and obsess about the book they’ve already written. And here it comes: ”Screw it, I’ll publish this myself.” Or ”I’ll start my own publishing company.” Or (heaven forbid) “I’ll pay someone else to publish my book, and I’ll hand sell it myself.” Guess what? Those are probably not good ideas at this stage.
If you’ve written many, many, words and you’ve been at this writing thing for a while, then I agree, there is no harm in self-publishing. And if you have been at it for awhile, then you’re probably already aware of your options. But if you’re a noob writer, you have to realize, writing and self-publishing is a lot of work. And if you don’t read in the genre you’re writing in, and have no clue how the publishing industry really works, well, you’re pretty much screwed.
I follow Dean Wesley Smith’s blog as well as Kris Rusch’s–they blog a lot about the new world of publishing and how to self-publish, etc. They also teach classes on self-publishing! Links to their websites are also in my sidebar there to the right. Check them out.
Kris and Dean also recommend that writers should pursue both traditional and self-publishing routes. I maintain that a writer needs to have patience. If a book took you years to write, well, what’s the rush? Submit that book as many times as it takes. If there are 50 publishers out there that publish your genre, well, you better submit it 50 times–even if it takes years. I have short stories that have been on submission for two years–not to one market, but to over a dozen. Patience. If I exhaust the pro markets I feel a story would work in, well, I will then self-publish that story and do it right.
I could write about this all night long, but I think I’ve made my point. Have patience and keep at it, if you’re a real writer, you’ll realize this is a life-long pursuit.
