A Writing Tip for Choosing How to Publish

When you’re a writer and you tell someone you’re writing a book, there are two inevitable questions: “What is it about?” and “Are you going to publish?”

To be honest, I used to hate these questions. The first one you know I dreaded per the previous post, “A Writing Tip for Talking about your Book.” The second one because I was just trying to write. I wasn’t seeking money or fame, I was seeking release. This was about putting a piece of myself on the page and thereby better understanding myself and my world. So that publishing question always threw me for a loop.

But it also planted a seed, and as I worked on my book, it became a seedling, and as I edited my manuscript, it stretched its roots into new crevices seeking light and nutrients and water, and as I kept refining my story, it started branching out and bearing fruit.

Now, when people ask me if I’m going to publish, I can emphatically say, “YES!” But then comes the harder follow-up question: “Are you going to publish traditionally?”

I’m not trying to be cynical when I tell you that I also hate the word “traditional.” We throw around this word like it carries weight when really things that claim that title (traditional publishing, traditional farming, traditional households, etc.) have been around the same amount of time as a cough in the grand scheme of things and only came into existence because we became obsessed with ownership (of labor, of land, of money) as a measurement of success.

I know what they’re asking and I know the question underneath what they’re asking which is,”Is your book good enough to make it into the big booksellers?”

The thing is, whether or not your book gets sold at Barnes and Noble has no bearing on whether your writing is quality. Our society equates the two, but whether your work is good isn’t worth half as much as whether your work is marketable. Big publishers are gate keepers. Yes, they have their eye on trends and are staffed with experts who have been in the industry a long time and who vet the “good” stuff from the “bad” stuff. But it’s really important, and I know I’m using a lot of “but’s” here, that you take a good hard look at who the gatekeepers are and the history of how these systems came to be, including the lens through which these people look at the world and how they evaluate what good even is. The quick and dirty of it is that these publishing houses are businesses that exist within the capitalist system whose primary goal is to make money while spending the least amount of labor (you as the writer selling your words) and reaping the most amount of benefits (the earnings per book of yours they sell). Which means, it’s not about whether your story is rich in detail with characters that jump off the page and a moral lesson that everyone should learn, crafted in language that is fresh and unique, it’s about whether the publishing house is willing to take a gamble that your story will make them more money than the thousands of other manuscripts they have waiting to be reviewed.

Ultimately, after eight years of research and learning about what my options were, I decided to self-publish my novel, Dance With Me. Here’s what I’ve learned about each type of publishing. I hope they reinforce what you’re learning in your research and help you make an informed decision.

Traditional Publishing

• If you’re going to go this route, pick up a copy of Jeff Herman’s Guide to Book Publishers, Editors, & Literary Agents: Who They Are, What They Want, and How to Win Them Over. Herman’s got a great, tell-it-to-you-straight, humorous voice that sounds like he’s speaking directly to you and genuinely wanting to help you get published. This guide is a goldmine: not only does he outline the three major categories of publishers (The Big 5, Independent Presses, and University Presses) so that you understand who they are, but he also gives you a list of every Agent in the field, a quick bio about them, what they tend to publish, and how to approach them.
• In order to publish with a publishing house, you need to have an agent representing you. Most publishing houses won’t accept unsolicited manuscripts (i.e. a manuscript from someone they don’t know/a manuscript that’s not represented by an agent). For the ones that do, see the advice in the next bullet.
• To get an agent, you have to query them. Most agents won’t accept unsolicited manuscripts (i.e. a manuscript from someone that hasn’t been vetted by someone they trust). The ones that do have very specific criteria for how to query them and when or if you will receive a response (whether yay or nay). Some only have windows where they will accept queries; e.g. from March-May. Some require a short synopsis. Some require a full-length synopsis. Some require the first chapter. Some have additional questions for you to answer. Some require exclusive submission, meaning that you if get accepted, you have to cease reaching out to other agents. Regardless, to get an agent, you will need to do your research. Find out everything you can about their agency, how they came to be an agent, what types of published works they represent, how many works they take on at one time. Find them on Twitter or other social media and get a feeling for their personality. When you approach them, craft your query carefully. DO NOT send blanket queries to multiple agents. They spend their whole lives reading and can tell if you’re being genuine and considerate of their time. Always be respectful and cater your query to them personally. It’s like a job interview. It doesn’t matter if this is the tenth job interview you’ve had for a job you don’t care about beyond the income. You show up to the interview like it’s the only job you want in the world. Same goes for querying each and every agent.
• If the agent you’re querying requires a full-length synopsis, take your time and make it good. A synopsis is like telling the agent the story of your book without the fluff. It’s every big detail that matters without the metahpors and imagery. It has to be intriguing and worth the read without the dramatization. It’s a retelling of your 60,000 word novel in 500 words. It’s like the elevator pitch. If the agent doesn’t like the 500 words, they’re not going to back the other thousands. You have to get their attention. Think of the thousands of queries they receive and make sure yours is a breath of fresh air. A synopsis is a fuck ton of work and even harder than writing your novel. But it’s worth it if you want the agent. Think of it this way: the synopsis is a test, and you will pass (i.e. you’re ready to publish) if you can write, edit, and finalize your synopsis with no major changes to your original work.
• Treat every rejection as a win. It’s a stepping stone, getting you closer to the “yes.”
• Once you land the deal, understand that what is happening is that you are selling the ownership of your work to the publisher for its exclusive access. This includes their right to sell your manuscript but also usually includes their final say on stylistic things like the title and the design of the front cover. This will also include a developmental edit where they make any number of suggestions to your story to help its marketability; i.e. expanding a character, changing the ending, etc. You may be able to negotiate a contract where you keep artistic control. They pay you an upfront sum to purchase the novel and then pay you royalties on every copy of the book that gets sold. You start making money on those royalties once the publisher has made back what they “loaned” you to buy the book. The publisher owns the right to your work for your lifetime plus 75 years.
• Working with a traditional publisher gurantees you access to their publishing markets, but it does not mean your work is over. They have myriad other titles to push as well as yours, so you will still have to use your author platform to claim space. You may end up in bookstores, but there’s no guarantee which shelf you occupy: you may be pushed to have your cover facing customers or you may be given a display highlighting your work along with others in its genre, and you may may be shelved with only the title visible.

Self-Publishing

• If you’re going to go this route, pick up a copy of Write. Publish. Repeat: The No-Luck-Required Guide to Self-Publishing Success by Sean Platt and Johnny B. Truant with David Wright. I purchased the audio book, and though there were moments I wished I were reading it to underline points to come back to later (thank you Audible for your “clip” feature), I loved getting the advice directly from the mouth of Johhny. It was like having a mentor IRL. Plus, his anecdotes and swearing just rang a little better hearing them with a British accent. This book is broken down into every step you need to take to have a successful career in self-publishing. And you believe it because Platt, Truant, and Wright are all full-time authors, who mostly publish themselves, and have had their works picked up by the traditional publishing world but still choose to do it on their own.
• Pull on your big girl pants and get ready to work. Have the confidence that you can publish on your own, that your’e smart enough to figure out how to self-publish well, and that you’re going to make mistakes and do it better the next time.
• Understand that you are now bridging the artist and business worlds. Your writing is your art but now to make the books sell you have to put on your business cap and go to work. It’s not sleazy. Your friends won’t hate you. If you genuinely believe you have a story to tell, show that passion to the world. Let it shine. Own that space.
• Even though you are making the decision to publish on your own, you are not alone. Find your community. Join a Writing Group or connect with other writers online to help yourself stay committed to publishing your work. You will need beta readers, developmental and copyeditors, and other writers who you can learn from and grow with. Over time, you may develop a keen eye to the development and editing of a story to complete the process on your own. But most likely, you will always need community. Be there for them and let them be there for you. I’ve been lucky enough to form relationships with friends who have been there for me in each of these regards and I can say that I am publishing a different, better version of Dance With Me because of them.
• Pay someone to edit your work. Seriously, this is important. You need a second set of eyes on your manuscript. Someone who can objectively point out the plot holes, the stickiness in flow, the hiccups in character development, the issues with scene setting or character descriptions. Your friends and family are too close. Find someone you trust. Get their feedback. Then, sit with their critiques. After numerous times getting my work edited, I realized I had a cycle that I went through: When I first got the edits back, I was angry that the editor didn’t understand what I was trying to say. Upon a second review of the edits, I was embarassed that their notes meant I wasn’t a good writer. After those emotions were processed out, I’d read the edits again, and be able to hear the feedback. I’d be able to work on the comments that correctly highlighted where I had issues, and let go of the suggestions that didn’t make sense from my work. I’d feel newly invigorated and be excited for the next evolution of my manuscript.
• Decide which type and what platforms you’d like to use to publish. E-book or print? Amazon KDP, Kobo, Smashwords, Barnes and Noble Nook? Research what file types you need for upload. Whatever program you are working in will have a different file type than what is required to upload. Use a program to convert the file type (.doc to .epub or .mobi). I decided to move my work from Word to Scrivener because Scrivener will automatically compile your document for you in the right file type.
• Purchase ISBNs for each format of your work. While some platforms provide free ISBNs, to retain full control, you will need to own them yourself. ISBN is the number that exists on the back of the book above the barcode and tags your book in the system. It’s like a product code on food. You can choose to purchase one at a time or save money and purchase 10 at a time. To purchase, you need to create an account with an address that the ISBN is linked to. I didn’t want this linked to my personal home address, so I opened up a PO Box. Once purchased, you’ll need to register the number to your book along with the title, author name, author bio, book jacket synopsis, genre, publication date, file type, and cost. The ISBN comes with a barcode that you can generate at the same time. You may or may not need to also purchase EANs. I’m still figuring that one out.
• Decide on who will design your book’s front cover. I am no artist, so I went on Fiverr for help. The title and cover are what the reader sees first, so they must be extraordinary. They must make the reader pause in their perusing, pick up your book, and read the dust jacket/open to the front page. They have thousands of options; what’s going to make them choose yours?
• Decide on pricing. Look at the books currently being sold in your genre across multiple platforms for guidance.
• Decide on your author platform. For me, this meant launching a better website (the site you’re currently on!) where readers could buy my book, peruse my blog of book reviews and writing tips (like this post!), learn more about my writing group, Solano Writers Society, and get in touch with me. This also meant building my social media presence. I really don’t like social media but I knew it was important for building my brand. They need to get to know me to want to buy my book. I’m setting up a consistent look with Canva, trying to post consistently, and being creative in what kinds of posts I would want to see.
• Let that baby fly. Continue marketing your work. Then, pat yourself on the back for your success and start your next book.

Some final tips…

• I am by no means an expert. But I’ve lived this writing/publishing world for over a decade and have thoughts that may be helpful. I know that if I did it differently, I could have worked smarter not harder. Not had to learn the hard way. Take what works for you and leave the rest. Same goes for every piece of advice you hear from here on out.
• Understand that publishing is a marathon, not a sprint. It takes a lot of effort, and there are times you won’t want to take the steps that are required. You’ll want to find shortcuts. But if you have a story that needs to be told, then that effort is worth it. Take it slow, be intentional, and do it right.