Writer: What am I Supposed to DO!

Sooooo many options! Hmmmm...

Just cracking a door into this topic makes my head want to explode. With so many options out there for writers to publish their work, it takes research and good judgement not to screw it up and mar a career before it's even started. I compiled a list of pros and cons for traditional publishing, self-publishing, and...wait for it, the coolest kid on this side of the block right now: E-Publishing. Let's take a look!


Traditional Publishing: The Literary Agent
 
PROs:

• Most publishers will not accept manuscripts without an agent. Agents filter submissions and reduce the workload for publishers.

• Agents have access to editors of large and small publishing houses and are thus better able to put the right story and writer with the right editor.

• Agents know what editors want, and the writer's manuscripts receives priority.

• Agents handle contracts and negotiations so writers can focus on writing.

• Agents help writers polish and lead proposals in the right direction to help editors sell them to superiors.

• A good relationship with a literary agent provides an outlet to help generate ideas for the next book concept before time is invested in a concept that needs tweaking or eliminating.

• Experienced agents know and understand the publishing industry and can get the right contract for a writer.

• Experience agents understand editor's needs, know what's current and what's not, and are on top of corporate policies.  

CONs:

• Lack of autonomy in terms of handling negotiations and selling of work

• Sharing the profits of books sold; Most agents earn 15% of author royalties.

• The trap of new agents out for him/herself and not the author; new agents have little to no previous contacts with publishing industry.

• Scammers: agents or impostors who make money off the writer by charging reading fees; not members of AAR; other hidden fees: manuscript critique, editing services, additional services, connecting clients to fee charging publishers, etc

• Writers must do careful, extensive research on agents to ensure they find the right agent.

• Query letters (enough said)

• And the waiting and rejection letters

General Advice:

• Author Michelle Buckman: "Getting a bad agent is worse than no agent, but a good agent is precious to your career."

• Ask agents smart questions: Material they represent, length of contracts, fees charged, prior representations, willing to represent more than one book, willing to nurture careers, etc.

• Meet agents at writers' conferences because connections can be established and an agent might express interest in work unlike in cold contacting.

• Agents are interested in writers who are familiar with the publishing industry and have been in the field for a time. Get informed.

Non-Traditional: Self-Publishing (Print)
 
PROs:

•  Autonomy: control price and cover; control changes, decisions, etc

•  Autonomy over the creative process

• Self-publishing writer can receive 40-60% of selling price as opposed to author in traditional route who receives 10% of selling price.

• Instant publication

• Writer controls marketing details of book.

• “The accomplishment of building something from the ground up.” – Sally McGraw

CONs:

• No free professional editors, people to handle layouts or format book, cover art, printing, sales people, etc: All this must be done alone or seek help, which costs money.

• Most likely to sell fewer copies than if with a traditional publisher who prints and distributes books

• Writer must figure out how to negotiate payment and ensure contract matches typical publishing contracts (writer to editor without agent).

• Writer is responsible for promotional costs.

• Print route is risky in the midst of popularity surrounding e-books and digital publishing.

• Money is invested before received and there is no guarantee a return.

• Writer must find a distributor because most book sellers will not buy directly from an author.

• Building brand and garnering audience might take some time.

• Very stressful and time consuming

General Advice:

• Create meaningful connections with other writers; promote self through bloggers in terms of reviews, giveaways, and promotional incentives.

• Work with a small press that specializes to the book's genre.

• Organize or host local events to promote self and bolster sales.

E-Book Publishing

PROs:

• Writer controls the rights of his or her work; can choose the cover, the editor, etc.

• Writer controls pricing and examines novel sales as they're happening, which offers insight to markets tactics that work and don't.

• There's no need for a middle-person or company who takes portion of proceeds.

• Speedier process as opposed to the one or two years wait that results in a hunt for an agent and editor and wait-time for book printing and availability in bookstores.

• Potential for increased readership

• Market for E-Books is growing.

• Potential to make a small fortune

• Easier to produce subsidiary content for your work

• E-Books can never go out of print so opens up new opportunities for new readers.

CONs:

• Investing money before making money: paying for custom cover art, professional editor, formatting, etc

• Lack of standard formats available for readers using a variety of systems; can lead to reader confusion

• Writer must take sole responsibility of marketing side; invest time in learning marketing strategies.

• Sales have ups and down. Unpredictability

• Quality must be high to compete with other E-Books.

• Amazon's algorithms for suggesting author's works to readers does not always work to the favor of the author.

General Advice:

•  Aggressively, but intelligently market book online. Take time learning about marketing strategies through social media.

• Invest time in building an audience and targeting readers.

What do you think? Think something I should add something or remove anything? Let me know! I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Thanks for reading,
CSS :)

List of Sources:

• Jennifer Reed: How To Decide If You Need a Literary Agent. And How to Find a Literary Agent (http://bit.ly/QU5Yjv)

• Ali: Book Writing and Publishing FAQ – Do I Need a Literary Agent? The Pros and Cons of Having Literary Agent Represent You to Publishers
 (http://bit.ly/cpEcoX)

• Christine Rose: Literary Agents (http://bit.ly/q94Vze)

• SFWA: Literary Agents (http://bit.ly/i7VoX)

• Brian Kelms, Writers’ Digest (http://bit.ly/Mysx5)

• Taylor Davies: Blog to Book: The Pros & Cons of Self Publishing (http://bit.ly/QjNTH0)

• Audry Owen: Is Self-Publishing for You (http://bit.ly/EcuFh)

• Naysan Naraqi: The Pros and Cons of Self-Publishing (http://bit.ly/PpWWXu)

• Writer’s Nook Club: Creating And Selling E-Books: The Pros & Cons For Creating Electronic Books (http://bit.ly/TTl4Wi)

• Lindsay B: The Pros and Cons of E-Publishing your Book as an E-Book (http://bit.ly/YXEr5i)

• Libby Fischer Hellman: To E or not To E: Update (http://bit.ly/rpjo2G)

Send Negativity to Hell! S is for Strategy.

When I was a kid, I used to be scared out of my wits by hitchhiker seeds: those brown, spiky little balls that resembled bugs with claws and hooks. Chills gave rise to goose bumps on my skin and exclamations of “Eww! Eww! Get if off!” whenever those pesky little seeds clung to my socks, pants legs, or sleeves. 

Annoying little buggers

Don’t ask me why, maybe I was slow, but I had a hard time getting those seeds off me. Now, I just brush the little suckers off, no problem. You know what’s like that? Negativity.

Negativity clings onto a person worse than a bear trap because sometimes we don’t do anything about it. I used to be that person that let negativity fester, grow, and get worse until it finally crushed me under its weight and invited its big brother depression to join in on the party to tear me apart and slow me down. The worse part? I let it happen. That was not cool.  Faith and prayer played key parts in uplifting my spirits, but one other essential component included making a decision: I refuse to live this way anymore.

I’ve learned to have more appreciation for attitude and the power of the mind. I sincerely believe despite whatever issue, big or small, manageable or terrifying, neutral or miserable, a person can wade through it all unscathed and stronger if she takes control over her mind and attitude.  A lot of negativity is delusional thinking anyway mixed with endless worry that leads you absolutely nowhere.  Who wants to live life feeling stuck? Progress is what it’s all about, especially the progress I want to see in my life. And even better, I have all the power to create and achieve that progress. Like Captain Planet used to say, “The power is yours!” That reminds me. I remember talking to this teenager about Captain Planet and she told me she didn’t know what I was talking about. Sheesh, kids make you feel old.

Can't believe she didn't know who I was! 

Anyway, moving on! Chucking negativity helped me because now I can go about achieving my goals without focusing heavily on my alleged limitations or external surroundings. I want to share with you some work I’ve done for the S in ESPER. S stands for strategy. You can learn more about all the guidelines for strategy by going here on the Personal Excellence site by Celestine Chua.

Strategy:

1.) What are the resources and information necessary to accomplish my goal?   

• Homework on writing a book, plotting, characters, writing well, writing suspense, action scenes, descriptions, setting, cliffhangers, foreshadowing, rewards for readers, etc. 

•  Homework on securing an agent, writing query letters, and pitching my book in the most effective way.

• Homework on promoting myself as a writer through social media. How can I improve in this area? What are some resources available to help me that won’t hurt my wallet?

• Anything else?

2.) What are the obstacles that stand in the way of my goal and how can I overcome them?

•          Making time to write.
•       Yes, I know I don’t have a full-time job and thus have the luxury of more available free time than most, but you’d be surprise what poor time management can do to a person with too much free time. I need to figure out how to manage my time in ways that will maximize my productivity.          

•       Distractions from Daily Life: internet, low priority tasks, phone calls, food, basic needs (JK on those last two ^-^)
•      Possible solutions is to disconnect from the internet when writing, but I love listening to Spotify when I write, and that requires the internet so what to do? Resist the urge to check my email? That doesn’t always work too well. When I really really want to get some writing done, I turn off my wi-fi and listen to tracks on my Itunes or listen to the Relax Melodies app. So, there is always a way to bypass the obstacles to overcoming your obstacles. Does that make sense?   
   
•      Let people know that I’m working and not available so they don’t disturb me

•      Convince myself that those low-priority tasks tugging at my cuff for attention like annoying little brats will get done when it’s their turn, but right now, it’s time to write.

3.) What can I do differently to achieve my goal?

• I’ve had the goal to finish editing my novel numerous times before and failed. So whatever methods I used before isn’t going to give me the different output I desire. This begs the question how do you go about writing a book differently? Writing is writing, right? Well, I can change my settings. I usually write in my room, which contains many distractions: bed, video-game consoles, telephone, etc. I can also change the time that I write and see how that works in terms of output. I can stop listening to music altogether when I write. It might be a big distraction that I’m not even aware of yet. I can go on and play around with all the different ways that I can write until I find the methods that increase my output. Since I have yet to query agents, I can keep whatever strategy I have set-up and change it up when the silence proves to be deafening after three to four months. Or less. :)

Well, that’s all for today. I’d love to hear your thoughts on the strategy for achieving goals.  

Thanks for reading! :)

CSS