Connecting Your Writing With Publishing

If you write a lot and along side of that, read a lot, then you’ve no doubt heard the screams of the publishing industry – “the sky is falling, the sky is falling…” And, “it’s the end of the world as we know it!” Ebooks, digital, Indie publishers, oh my!

Yep, it is, well, for some, but we as writers need to connect with that even if many big New York publishing houses aren’t and recognize the new blooming opportunities. The publishing industry can appear to be an out-of-touch unstable mess with policies of granting silly, over-bloated advances to ‘high brow’ writers who generally sell very few books. Meanwhile readers are looking for entertainment and/or information. So the publishing industry on some levels is failing, but in other areas, there’s great potential. Read on.

Think about this. If there’s so few ‘dedicated’ readers, and the number is dropping all the time as many big publishing houses will tell us, then myohmy, how are they paying the rent on all those posh Manhattan offices? 

So, what’s really suffering in the publishing biz? Mostly Literary Fiction. Have you ever been to any of the book shows and seen the lines for writers such as Danielle Steele, Stephen King, or other icon of ‘entertainment’ fiction? Those lines wind round and round and never seem to get any shorter. Publishers are doing pretty good on that one. 

So, from the writer’s viewpoint, don’t buy 'the sky is falling philosophy' and don’t worry. Quietly watch what people buy at bookstores or check out Amazon to see what’s ‘bestselling’. Readers in the real world decide what they want, not a publishers in New York or wherever. And those readers want a lot. I recently spotted a patron in a bookstore check out with a copy of “Idiot’s Guide to Screenwriting”, a craft magazine on beading, a copy of “The Husband” by Dean Koontz and a paranormal romance by Christine Feehan. So, looks like readers really aren’t locked into the “same ol, same ol” after all. Wish I could peek over the shoulder of a reader purchasing books online to see what they’re getting.  More research would be needed for that.

It’s time for writers to find more venues and to explore more markets. It’s up to us to rearrange the publishing business in the model we want to see. And even while we do that, check out the most current listings of Publishing Houses in the United States. It’s staggering. And it includes the monoliths as well as the independents. Monoliths are slow to move, but keep your eye on the more nimble independents. They’re the more creative in business models, innovation and marketing. 

Big publishing is slowly beginning to think beyond the book – flat, bound, nice and useful. Okay, yep, and no. The web is the newest outlet and the E-book market is growing by leaps and bounds; but I bet you know that already! Self-publishing for niche markets is growing quickly as well. Look into them, research, don’t limit yourself. 

Don’t corner yourself to one field of writing either if you have the capacity. Love fiction? Me too. But I also write articles, grant requests, have taught online courses and on the ground courses. I’ve written travel articles, how to articles, and biographies, screen scripts, blogs and magazine articles. Broaden your abilities as much as you can. The publishing industry can’t sustain itself as only ‘print’ and so it’s making content digitized, downloadable, and yes, there’ll still be a place for the hard copy book.

Change is already upon us and more is coming. You, as the writer, must recognize this reality and forge your new path. Mix your career, write in different areas, of course approach the print publishers if that’s where you want to place your work, but don’t rule out other avenues as well. E-publishing, self-publishing, publishing with independents; all of these are now open doors to writers. And a bit of research will glean you even more opportunities to build your own empire.

Remember, the future of publishing is not technology or free samples. The future is about giving readers what they want and there have never been so many opportunities to do so. As a reader I currently read from my Kindle Fire, my computer and hard copy books. So I suggest you enjoy what you write and don’t limit yourself to any one possibility – there are many and for now it just seems to be growing. 

Resources:

Amazon Kindle  

Don’t have a Kindle? Get a free reader for your computer: http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=kcp_pc_mkt_lnd?docId=1000426311

Self Publishing Manual 

2013 Writer’s Market – Kindle Edition 

Adventures in Writers Rejections

Adventure?! You say, almost shriek at me.  Where's the adventure?  It's frustrating, depressing, demoralizing.  

Rejection isn't anything but bad, bad, bad.

Well hold on there a minute, partner, I respond.  I disagree and I've been published and rejected many times so I do have a platform from which to spout forth my opinions.

You just have to look at it the right way. It's hard to swallow at times, the feedback you might get from a publisher, editor, agent...and remember, Editors are busy people and most of the time don't send any real response so if one of them did it could be because they see potential in your work, or because you're so out in left field they're trying to help you fix your mistakes. Either way, they're trying to be helpful. Stop a moment and appreciate that. Learn from it.

For example, if you do your homework before submitting you'll avoid such form letters  as, "too short", "too long", "we don't accept unagented material", "we don't accept simultaneous submissions", "this is outside our genre". I mean why waste your time and theirs by not following the instructions they provide for authors?

You can prevent a response such as "numerous grammatical errors" by proofing your work thoroughly or hiring someone to do it for you. If you're going to do it yourself you better find some online grammar help or take a few courses to polish up your skills. This isn't like the 'old days' when some famous author or another tossed a haphazard heap of paper on an editors desk and strolled off leaving them to fix all spelling, grammatical, etc. errors (if that ever even really happened at all). That's your job.  Do it and do it well.

If you get a response from an agent such as "we aren't accepting new clients at this time," it could mean a lot of things.  The agency could be overwhelmed with clients.  It might be restructuring, deciding anew on what genres to represent or even about to go bankrupt and fold (I was repped by an agency that went belly-up many years ago and it wasn't fun).  This kind of response doesn't mean much, especially about the quality of your work, just move on and try another agency.

A response such as "This type of story has been done to death," doesn't mean that particular publisher has done it to death, but rather they perceive the market to be saturated. Not much you can do about this but go back in and rewrite; find a new angle to your story; make it fresh.  Yes, you can do another vampire book, but find a whole new way to do it. Get away from the 'same 'ol, same 'ol'.

If you're a blogger or you tweet about your writing or anything else that gets you out there and builds you a following you'll impress a publisher or agent, especially if you're doing it well.  There are lots of small publishers out there who can't afford to promote new authors, so if you do the promotion, let them know in your query letter that you're set up and ready to move should they chose to publish your book. If your writing is good to begin with, this could be the nudge that moves your book to 'sold.'

Remember these days too, self publishing is an option.  It's still frowned on by traditional publishers, but little by little it's expanding, especially on the Ebook front. It may not be for you at all, but it's worth giving some thought to. But remember, should you chose this route, it doesn't excuse you from good grammar, good spelling and good writing. If you don't put out a good book people aren't going to come back. And a truly bad (in the sense of loaded with typos, misspellings, punctuation and grammar errors) will make your name stick in people's minds for all the wrong reasons. 

Whether submitting to publisher or agent or considering self publishing, a well-written, well edited piece of work is a must. No short-cuts. 

Now get out there and remember to enjoy the adventure.