Thursday, December 16, 2010

Thoughts on Publishing

Yes, it's been a while.  No, I haven't been writing every day - get OFF my butt! ;)  Actually, I've been taking a bit of a break after NaNoWriMo.  And since the new year is quickly approaching, I've decided to stop my Write (Almost) Every Day Challenge and begin afresh in the new year.  I plan on jumping right back into my NaNo novel at that point, editing and writing and working on getting it publishable.  


Which is what I wanted to talk about today - publishing.  My friend, Tracy, wrote a blog post a few days ago about self-publishing.  Here is a link to that lovely post:  Building A Bridge.  Go there, read it, come back.  I'll wait.








Wait!  You're supposed to come back!
Yes, I know she has a lot more posts than me.  
Yes, I know she posts WAY more regularly than I do.
Yes, I know she has a lot of witty commentary and sage insight.
Yes, I know that she shares recipes!  And, believe me, I've had her yummy food, the recipes are worth it!
But you're supposed to come back after you read that one post!  You can peruse the rest of her posts later!
Dang!


Well, for those of you that did come back, I'll continue.


Tracy talks about how she feels that experts (literary agents and professional publishers) help to make her story the strongest it can be, and she feels that self-publishing doesn't include these last few strength-boosters in your story.  I totally agree with her, and I had some other thoughts on the subject.  I thought about writing a comment to her post, but my thoughts kept getting bigger and longer and I didn't want to write a novel of a comment, so I decided to write my own blog post on the subject.


The funny thing is, the night before Tracy wrote this post, I had a dream that my husband's brother, Josh, wrote a book and had it published.  He was not self-publishing, but I was quite irked in my dream that he was having a book published.  I was jealous, of course, but I also had other thoughts on the fact that Josh was publishing a book.  Did I mention it was a BIG book?  That didn't help my jealousy.  


But seriously, I was mostly upset because Josh is not a writer.  He is an aspiring actor living in L.A.  Now, I don't mean to say that non-writers shouldn't write and have their books published.  I actually don't mind that.  The thing I mind is that non-writers who are celebrities (Nicole Richie, Hilary Duff, Sarah Palin, etc.) have an easy time publishing.  I understand why - publishing companies know that they will be able to sell a book written by Sarah Palin - they have no idea if they'll be able to sell a book by little old me.  But my point is that, in the past, publishing has been HARD.  There is a format, a process, a LONG wait, and an emotional tailspin created by thousands of reject letters.  Authors go through all of this and then when they finally get a yes they rejoice, run around in their living rooms, shouting and rushing towards the closest bottle of champagne.  Somehow I can't see celebrities doing this.  I actually imagine them kind of shrugging, like, "Yeah, I wrote a book."  (Not all celebrities - I actually can't imagine the agony that Portia de Rossi went through while writing her personal experiences with bulimia in her recent work, Unbearable Lightness.)  


But this is how I feel about self-publishing, too.  It takes away a lot of the process, the hardship, the struggle of becoming a "published author."  I also feel that it kind of takes away a bit of the power and prestige of the title of "published author."  It's like, hey, anyone can do it, so what does it matter that you're a "published author?"  Who cares?


That said, I have a friend who is in the process of self-publishing.  I do not mean to belittle him in any way. I will be buying his book and giggling like a giddy school girl, most likely telling everyone around me that "I know this author!"  The only problem is - so far, the only places to buy his book will be on Amazon, Ebay, and the Barnes and Noble website.  Which, I will admit, is awesome.  But all I know is that, if I ever get a book published, I want to be able to walk into any book store and see it on the shelf.  It's a lot of hard work to write a novel, and I'm willing to work even harder to get it published.  One of these days...

3 comments:

  1. Don't worry. It will happen. Your book will go to auction and there will be a bidding war between publishers as to who will have the priviledge to have you in da' house.

    As far as the self-publishing goes... meh, to each their own. Many people have self-published with astonishing success. Agents and publishers are not all knowing. Ultimately the big houses are going to go with what they think will make money, which is not necessarily synonymous with the best literary work. Obviously. Have you read some of the tripe that's made it to the shelves? Oy. Going through an official publisher doesn't guarantee you get an amazing novel at the end of the process. However, I do agree that having people who know the market, can give expert advice on editing, design, etc., does up your odds though.

    So, hey, if you are determined and no one will consider your work, well then... why not? You're always going to have your "American Idol" winners who don't put in their time in the trenches (and seedy bars and out-of-the-way tiny venues in Wyoming). Doesn't mean they don't have talent that deserves appreciation.

    Dear god, did I just use an American Idol analogy? HORRORS!

    Either way, if you self-publish, cool, or you get picked up by a publisher, cool. Celebrate your hard-earned (no matter what side of the discussion you favor, we can all agree that it is "hard-earned") success as a writer and author. We'll have the party at my house.

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  2. I recently finished a totally awesome book called One Day (that I already told you about) and at one point one of the characters tries to publish a book. And when we pick back up with her a year later she has a notebook full of all her rejection letters. Of course in the book One Day, her book does end up getting published and creating a franchise because everybody likes a happy ending. But I remember when she first made a reference to the notebook full of rejection letters I was like "That is BRILLIANT!!!" I'm totally doing the same thing if I ever finish a novel.
    And at the end of my life one of two things will happen.
    A- I will be a world famous author and then I will look back and laugh at all those times people didn't see the genius when I offered it to them.

    or

    B- I will not have ever published a thing, so I will hold a big bonfire type party and invite people over to watch it all burn :o)

    Either way, I think I'm good.

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  3. You are tooo funny! Did you go to the post that writerjen suggested in the comments on my post? That post talked about what Holly mentioned above, publishers having more resources and marketing and business and designers, etc.

    Some people are successful with self-publishing. I think that is awesome. I think those who are, have the energry and the skill to master all the skills needed that you would find in a publisher. I don't have all those skills. I don't really want all those skills. I know! Me, the control freak willing to relinquish some of my control. Yep! I know my strengths (most of the time) and I know my weaknesses (all the time).

    You and I will be published one day.

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