When I started on the journey of writing, I learned a lot of things. Some first hand, some second hand. Let me tell you the second hand things were real valuable since I didn't have to suffer through a lot of the dumb mistakes we all make when moving toward our dreams first hand. While the first hand mistakes I made did help me and were valuable in that I learned a lesson I never will forget, the second hand information I was able to gain from other's mistakes saved me from being slowed down or ruined by making the same error.

    This essay has been written to be a helpful second hand form of information that hopefully will be able to help someone from making the same mistakes and learning the same lessons I did first hand.

    One of the things I learned the hard way, was the issue of self-publishing. Now I know today it seems so wonderful to many a new writer to get something out there in print. Many writers are so hungry to bring this about that they will do just about anything to attain it. It bears some discussion here, though, about the nature of what you might be getting into should you venture into self -publishing. I hope by sharing my own experience with self-publishing and what I've learned since then, that it may prove to be some good second hand information that can serve you well in keeping you free of the mire that slowed my own writing progress.

    When I first heard about self-publishing it was a godsend. By that time, as with many writers, I had been sending off manuscripts and getting nowhere. Rejection letters, form letters, and well meaning editors “wishing me luck” was about all I could get for my efforts. Being young and naive, and a bit arrogant too, I thought they were idiots for not wanting to publish “my great work”. After all, in my unbiased opinion, I was great and they should have seen that. In truth this set back would have helped me had I stopped and really looked at how my writing fared, then made corrections where needed, along with a realistic battle plan to get to publication.  But instead I chose another path.

    Here is where some feathers might get ruffled, but if you're looking to get into writing to make some great literary work that will change the world more power to ya'. The truth of the matter is those books and the authors who can create them are few and far between and don't often dish out money in any great amount to their creators. Personally, I never was one to look to writing as some “grand endeavor” but as a career in which I could sell things and make money. It's great to have accolades, I suppose, but they aren't going to put food on the table or pay the bills. Having some critic think one of my stories is: “A true work of vision” might sound nice, but he isn't going to help put my kids through college.

    In my opinion, to make it as a writer today you have to think about the commercial value of your work. In others words the two questions you have to ask yourself are: “Is this good?” and “Will this sell?” Now you also have to be confident and satisfied of what you write too. You should like your creation but also understand its viability in the market when looking to sell it to a publisher. This doesn't mean that you necessarily should or have to write for a certain publisher to better your odds (though having an audience in mind when you write is important). Part of being happy with your work is not playing around with its integrity, which could very well leave you feeling uninspired, even depressed when publishing success comes your way to such compromised tales.

    However, publishers have every right to not pick up books that they think will not sell. Are they right 100% of the time on what might be hot or not? No, but they tend to have a niche worked out that they keep selling successfully too and don't want to take on too many new things in fear of losing the gains they’ve acquired. That's why most publishers want prescreened material, i.e., manuscripts which have gone through agents who have already accessed their market value and can better pitch them to the right publisher.

    Not every manuscript makes it to an agent and not every agent-toted book makes it to print. That's just the way it works. However, to not look at your work in a commercial sense is the first mistake you can make. If you don't look at it with a critical eye with its marketability in mind then you have shot yourself in the foot. This isn't to say that you have to write to a formula, though many successful authors do (one author who has a liking for lawyers and law comes to mind as does one who likes to tell stories about the brain). If you can tell great stories that would be commercially viable if not extremely successful, then go for it. Bottom line, though, is that you enjoy your work. You have to like what you do and what you produce. Remember–never sacrifice your story for money if you won't be happy with it in the end. If you can live with it and yourself should such an offer come your way... well then, that's another thing.

    This was my first mistake. I thought my stories were great and that even if no one but me understood them it was the duty of the publisher to put my work to press; to spend their money and time to play nursemaid to my ego. Like I said, I was pretty naive and arrogant–a deadly combination if there every was one.

    This isn't to say that all things rejected by the publishers are not commercially viable. Remember, we already said that no one is perfect and there are many stories of publishers who passed on ideas which became bestsellers. In fact many publishers, by not taking on so many book ideas are doing a favor to smaller and independent run presses who can pick up these books and get them to press in spite of their previous bigwig rejection. In many ways this has been a good thing for Aspirations Media, my current publisher, who if it weren't for the strident policies of the big houses, won't have made a market for Aspirations Media to tap into. However, let's be honest, there is another side of the coin as well. Many manuscripts are rejected, far more than we'd like to admit, because they’re terrible. Just because someone can write doesn't make them a great writer. Publishers aren't going to pick up subpar work and print it nor are they going to invest the money to print work that is a carbon copy of everything else out there either. Though they like to have authors who fill a niche and can develop a sort of “system” they don't want to flood the market with too many of a similar author, unless they are really good, so as to risk the dilution of their market share. A really good author, though, helps to raise everyone else up and bring in greater attention and sometimes new blood who follow on his coattails.

    Still with me?

    So a lot of the rejected stuff is just plain garbage or sadly, work that could be good but people don't want to swallow their pride and make it better and marketable by undergoing various literary surgery. I know this truth to my own hurt, my own first work was terrible and my stubbornness from not, until recently, wanting to change it held me back for doing something truly good with it. Poor quality writing is why most manuscripts are rejected 9 out of 10 times. The other 10% that make it are just the few that slipped below the radar and if they are good, and their creator persistent enough, will see print eventually.

    When I had grown tired of being rejected and rejected and then heard of self-publishing I thought it was my chance to take the reigns and finally govern my own success. Had I perhaps sat down and really looked at and evaluated my work, considered taking time to just work more on developing my style and skills, I could have perhaps done better much sooner, but instead I didn't and let arrogance rule the day thereby slowing my progress.

    Self-publishing is toted now as the best thing in the world if you can believe the commercials and press. Indeed, I have other friends who have self-published work that think this is the case and though I may have some bias to this essay, I am not about to be pro or con on self-publishing itself... though my own experience might led to a more con position.

    For those who really want to get printed though and don't want to do the due diligence or the hard work to really hone their craft, then there is no end to the Print on Demand (POD) publishers you can peruse. Again, it comes down to the market and being commercially viable. I know it sounds cruel to some, but writing is just as much a business as it is a craft or art form or whatever you want to call it. Books that don't make it commercially; are terrible and not deemed print worthy, now have the option of being self-published.

    For a fee, a company will plug you into a system where, in most cases, you get to pick out a package set up of options to see your book get printed. Everything from cover design to print run to interior font can be selected by the self-publisher. While this may seem wonderful and that you have total control over the publication process, you still have to pay them to publish your book. It is the exact inverse of the standard publishing world wherein the publisher offers you an advance to publish your work (at least with the bigger publishers) and assumes most, if not all of the financial risk. In self-publishing this financial risk is transferred solely on you.

    Along the way these self-publishing companies have more options and ideas and aides for you, all for a cost of course, to help you in your journey. Everything from press kits to editing work to special layout arrangements... it's all there for a price. This continues all throughout the process until the book goes to press and in many cases long after it has been printed. When I did this process for my first book I spent the money and still was very excited about the concept itself. Never mind that the editor did a terrible job and if I wanted to get it corrected it would cost me more to have them fix the poor job I paid them to do in the first place... I was excited to have the book in print. However, I soon learned the added costs of going to print this way...

    In short order I discovered that the price margins for the book were insane. I was a no name author with a no name book and the company who I was going through at the time was asking $18.00 for a trade paper back of 330 page book (the hardcover was even more wildly priced). That was a a little far fetched, I thought. Further, my royalties were not that good at all should I sell one. Slowly, the radiance of the experience began to dim. I was able to get some libraries to carry it, but found that bookstores won't pick it up because it was a POD book so I couldn't sell it in the traditional book chains like I wanted to and then the full reality of what I had walked into set in...

    I soon discovered that if this book was going to sell it would have to be by my own efforts.  I'd have to do all the footwork to get a sale. I'd have to wear the hat of marketing, accounting, advertising, and every other person and place who is part of the publishing team in conventional publications. Needless to say, this grew very old very fast, and I still didn't have that great of a book either–which I finally accepted in the following months as being true. This added to the overpowering realization that I won't make that much money peddling my own book from place to place and so I put an end to this experiment and got back to the place I should have been to begin with: looking at getting better at my writing.

    Now this isn't to say that I don't like self-publication. In fact, I think it serves its own niche. For those who are more or less just hobby writers, that is folks who want to just get a story out for fun and friends, it serves a great purpose. I say hobby too because most writers don't have the understanding/skill or contacts to be a successful marketing/advertising force. Because of this they will get meager sales and limited exposure at best. However, if they are just into the whole matter of publication as a hobby this might not be that much of a concern, if at all.

    Self-publishing has also been known to give rise to big name writers as well. Vince Flynn, Graham Taylor, and Christopher Paolini come to mind, but I would argue that these are the folks with a commercially viable book to begin with; one who slipped through the cracks the first time around with the publishing houses only to be snatched up at another future date. Like I said before, most publishers will not pick up garbage and print it unless they have a good reason. Self-publishing also works for those who have a name that is already established but have a work that might not gain a lot of sales with their current publisher. In such a case you're banking on name and that helps with marketing and sales but that's about it. You'd still have to do a lot if not all of the leg work yourself. For some it's great. If you're a shy introvert, though, it might not work out the best.

    POD publishers are improving though and I can see a future for them, but the question you have to ask yourself as a writer is: Is this tale bankable? If it has some marketability and hope in reaching a good sized audience then it has a better chance at being picked up by a publisher who wants to reach and serve that market. Herein lies a chance for lucrative success and the possibility of more books being published to an ever growing audience.

    If you just want to treat the publication of your work as a hobby or think that you can do no wrong with your work and it's the “small-minded editors” who can't see your “greatness”, then self-publishing is probably right up your alley. If you just want to say you have something in print it's a nice vehicle for you to use, but don't expect to quit your day job over it anytime soon.

    If, however, you want to make writing a full time gig, that means making a living out of it, then I would strongly encourage you to study your own work and look at what sells and understand why. That isn't to say you have to formalize or press your ideas into a mold, but rather using your own unique style and vision to its fullest potential by making use of the business side of writing along with the creative.

    If you can get past having your feathers ruffled you can begin to see, in my opinion, why it is better to approach writing with the thought of marketability in the back of you mind. Even then you might not make it to the publisher, and might have to go the self-publishing route, but if your story is commercially viable and you remain humble and willing to learn how to improve both you and your work will go very far.

    One word of caution, though, many in the publishing and even book purchasing world view self-publishing as vanity press– publishers who will publish anything, no matter the quality, if paid. That's true of many POD and self-publishing ventures out there. Some of these ventures are crooked too and you should do some research before signing on with them. Just like there are bad agents out there they're bad POD publishers too, so choose wisely. Some circles look down on vanity presses, others think nothing of the concept and those who participate. I would encourage all considering this route to look at all the small press opportunities available to them first and then resort to POD if they don't/can't find a fit for their work.

    This isn't to say that all small press publishers are wonderful either. I have had my share of experience in that field now as well (more than enough to make an essay from), but they are still better than a POD publisher.

    Why?

    You'd save money, number one, and you'd get some useful experience too. There's a lot that goes on with publishing a book that you often aren't aware of or know how to deal with when you are doing it yourself. Having someone who has already set up the contacts and has done this before is beneficial for you to not only learn what has to be done and how, but also just what the whole process of going to print is in general, which can help you out in your future work getting published. Secondly, your publisher, in theory, will have a marketing and sales plan for you to get your book to the shelves and actually help you get some sales. This is because they will have become financially invested in your work. They've laid down the cash to print it and now, if they have a keen interest in seeing a return on that investment, will promote your book to the best of their ability. With self- publishing there is no such interest. Many could care less what you do after you pay them. Many more will offer “post publication packages” for still more cash that they'd gladly take from your pockets with little to now benefit to sales or real aid to your book.

    In the end the choice is ultimately yours, of course. Self-publishing can be salvation or damnation. The real question, though, is how hard to work on perfecting your writing and is this path you've started down more of a career for life or a hobby. Answer that and everything else will start to fall into place.

© 2006 Chad Corrie All rights reserved.

Reproduction or use of this essay without written permission of Chad Corrie is strictly prohibited.