PUBLISHING MY NOVEL
by
CHRIS RYALL
G'day guys,
Welcome to a guest post from Chris Ryall who appeared as a guest on this blog on the 5th of February. Chris lives in Japan with his wife. What he has to say may assist new writers.
Take it away, Chris ...
"As the third and final edit of my
debut novel nears its conclusion, and being an as-of-yet-unpublished,
first-time author, I find myself constantly considering my options for
publication. Like any writer, I want my book ‘out there’ and of course I wish
for it to be a success. That’s ‘the dream’ for all writers, I presume.
Getting a book published, however, is
easier said than done. These days there are really three ways to achieve this:
via a traditional publisher, through self-publishing, or by using a ‘vanity
publisher’. All have their pros and cons. None are easy.
Traditional publishing involves me
writing a successful query letter, retaining an agent, and having a traditional
publisher purchase my manuscript. (Because I am an unknown in the literary
world, it’s practically impossible for my book to be picked up directly by a
traditional publisher, without first going through a literary agent).
Self-publishing is much easier,
whether it be as an e-book online or as a physical book in the ‘real world’,
but it could also end up being much less successful if not handled
professionally and if it isn’t backed up by an aggressive marketing campaign.
Vanity publishing refers to me paying
a publishing company to publish my book, and this could end up costing me
thousands of dollars if not more. While there are some advantages to this
method, there are also many disadvantages and potential pitfalls.
As these are my only three options, I
must look closely at the pros and cons of each.
Traditional Publishing
This is usually the method via which
most beginning authors hope to have their book published, initially anyway. But
here’s something I read online while researching my chances of landing a
publishing contract. An agent once wrote that a publishing house might receive
a hundred thousand manuscripts a year. Out of that, ninety thousand are
rejected almost immediately, for a variety of reasons. Of the ten thousand
manuscripts that are left, only a thousand will end up being considered for
publication, and approximately one hundred will result in an actual publishing
contract. Finally, only ten percent of those hundred published books will end
up being successful. Whoa.
One hundred books published from a
stockpile of one hundred thousand submitted manuscripts; equivalent to .1
percent. And to think that the number of books that will find success is even
less – just .01 percent of the original number of manuscripts submitted.
However, remaining positive and believing that my book will be one of those
selected for publication, what are the advantages and disadvantages of having
my novel published this way?
The biggest plus that I can see is
that a traditional publisher will pay me an ‘advance’ up front, and even if my
book doesn’t sell as much as they had planned, I still keep the money.
Additionally, if it sells more than what it cost them to publish, I will also
receive ‘royalties’. Furthermore the publisher will take on the responsibility
of editing the book to perfection, handle layout and design, and create an
appealing book cover. They will also cover the costs of distribution and
advertising, and have many more connections and much wider access to bookstores
than any self-publication companies or vanity publication companies can provide.
However, there are numerous
disadvantages as well. Apart from the obvious difficulty of landing a
publishing contract, it could take anywhere from six to eighteen months for my
book to hit the shelves. The price they eventually set for a book may be too
high to generate significant sales. I would be cut out of any decisions
regarding my book, including the title, cover art and pricing. In the contract
process, in addition to losing my book’s copyright, I might also lose any movie
rights. Royalty rates for a new author are likely to be low, ranging from just
five percent to twenty-five percent.
These days it’s a tough market out
there for authors and publishers, evident by the number of bookstores closing
among other things. Many people buy their books online these days. So perhaps
self-publishing my book as an e-book makes more sense in this digital world.
The Internet is by far the biggest market in existence.
Self-publishing
If I choose to publish my debut novel
as an e-book, I could either sell it directly from my own author website, or
via Amazon. If I want my novel to be a physical book in the ‘real world’, I
could pay a POD (Print on Demand) printing company to produce my books. The
advantages are obvious. My book could be published almost instantly. All the
decisions regarding my book are mine. I can control the price of my book, and
either make the cover myself or pay an artist to design one for me. Most
importantly, I keep all the rights, and the profits are mine and mine alone.
The disadvantages are not as obvious,
but are rather off-putting. First and foremost, editing is my responsibility. I
can of course ask others to help me in this regard, or pay a professional to do
it for me. Formatting is another difficult and challenging task, depending on
the type of digital platform for which my e-book is created, or in which
country I choose to publish it. And as I mentioned above, the cost of the cover
art is also mine to bear, along with the substantial costs of marketing the
book. All of these costs represent a significant financial investment – a huge
risk for a first time author.
Self-publication requires the
establishment of your own publishing company, and all the costs associated with
that. The book will require an ISBN (International Standard Book Number), by
which books are identified. Distribution and the costs incurred will also be
mine alone to bear. Sadly, many shops won’t accept self-published books.
The number of sales with an e-book or
a print-on-demand book will be considerably less than if published and
advertised by a traditional publisher. Currently, self-published books account
for less than ten percent of the book market. Furthermore, a self-published
book will also be judged more harshly by those who think that ‘maybe it wasn’t
good enough to be accepted by a traditional publisher’.
Vanity Publishing
Vanity Publishing is great if you are
already wealthy and don’t care about the costs of getting your book ‘out
there’. However, while there are some reputable and honest Vanity Publishing
companies in the industry, there are also a lot of ‘dodgy’ Vanity Publishers
who appear more interested in your hard-earned money than in your book. This is
not to impugn the fine work of sincere and dedicated professionals who work in
the Vanity Publishing industry and provide adequate services for the fees
charged. But I have read many ‘horror stories’ regarding this, online; here’s a
link to a recent blog article on the topic which is fairly representative of
all the articles I have read.
Most Vanity Publishers would rather
call themselves ‘collaborative publishers’, ‘subsidy publishers’ or
‘co-operative publishers’ as that sounds more positive. Basically speaking,
these companies charge a premium to publish your book for you, but try and cut
their own costs wherever they can in getting your book to market. Just like in
the car market, there are countless ‘options’ that will cost you more money.
But if you are someone who has money
to throw around, there are some advantages to Vanity Publishing. Firstly, you
get to keep all the rights to your book. Naturally, as you are paying for the
service, you keep control over decisions regarding the title, cover and design.
You can purchase additional copies of your book(s) whenever you require. This
is convenient if you want to sign books for your family and friends.
The disadvantages are mostly
financial. You will be charged more by Vanity Publishers for services than if
you went direct to the people involved with providing those services. According
to various reports from writers who have previously used Vanity Publishers,
very little advice or professional support is offered in the way of editing,
design, typesetting, marketing and sales. Furthermore, while some Vanity
Publishers have their own bookshops, they have very limited reach to general bookstores,
retailers and distributors. In the end, you are paying a lot of money and not
getting much in return, and there is little chance your book will be seen by
the general public at large. Authors might as well have their book produced by
a print-on-demand publisher and distribute it and advertise it themselves.
And therein lies my dilemma. What to
do about my own novel, which will very soon be ready for publication? I know I
can’t afford the prices of a Vanity Publisher. I’m not even sure at this stage
if I can afford to pay a print-on-demand publisher to produce my book, in
addition to the cost of marketing required to achieve reasonable sales. So do I
go the traditional route, and hence face a long wait for responses to query
letters, not to mention waiting possibly eighteen months to see my book in
print? Or should I publish it as an e-book and sell perhaps a hundred copies to
family and friends before sales dry up? Perhaps I can garner further sales by
advertising my novel on my author website, as well as on Twitter, Google+ and
Facebook.
I guess for me, the main thing is to
get it published at all. My dream was never to be on the New York bestseller
list, although that would be great, or to make a million dollars from sales. It
was always simply to be a full-time writer and published author, with my books
on shelves in bookstores around the world, at least in the western world
anyway. So at this stage, I will attempt the traditional route, and begin
sending off query letters to agents. This will take time, and I apologize for
any delay in the publication of my novel. I have many wonderful family members
and friends who are waiting to read my book, and so I say sorry to those of you
who have to wait a little longer, but I hope that in the end, the wait will be
worth it.
Warmest regards, Chris."
Clancy's comment: Many thanks, Chris. Good luck with the book ... and many more to come.
Oh, by the way Chris ...
Oh, by the way Chris ...
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
I'm ...
Think about this!
No comments:
Post a Comment