Self publishing is the modern way

Why don’t some people take self-published books seriously? Not everyone can interest an agent or publisher in their work, just as not everyone (no matter how talented) can play in the NFL. Some writers make the effort and pay the cost and self-publish. Writers sell writing to live, you know.

Some really skilled football players get turned down by the NFL, and sometimes for one single reason. There just aren’t enough positions on all the teams put together, for every one to play football on a pro team. Other good players play on regional leagues. Some coach. Some teach. Some even write books about football. That doesn’t make them bad players, or dumb players, or trashy players.

It makes them non-NFL players.

How self publishing is like football

It’s not. Except in a single way: not everyone can get an agent or publisher – a single, fallible, mistake-making human – to slow down and buy their manuscript. That’s the breaks. There aren’t enough slots in publishers lists for all the books that want to get written. About 80% of Americans believe they have an important book in their head. Do the math – lot of books. There aren’t that many football players, and look at their  chances to go pro.

Sidebar

Lately, some of the biggest writing names on the planet are going with self-publishing either in print or digitally. Steven King. John Grisham, Libby Hellmann, Stephen R. Covey, Maryan Pelland. Now read below why some people won’t even consider a self-published book.

One really terrible reason not to read self-published books

I subscribe to a newsletter called TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home. It’s a good read, packed with current info and published what feels like way too often (just my humble…)

The newsletter writer said this today:

“But on the other hand, there are still people who won’t read self-published books—I have a friend who says he won’t look even at ones friends recommend to him simply because he knows there are already more books that passed by a professional publishing gatekeeper than he could ever read and sees no reason to look outside those lines at something that may be awful. And it’s not clear yet whether a replacement gatekeeper will be found.

Italics are mine. This thinking says never go to an off-Broadway show. Never try an ethnic restaurant. Never watch a minor-league, or indeed, a little league game. Never listen to an unknown musician. They might be bad.

TeleRead, I really like subscribing to your site, but choose some more open-minded friends, will you, before all the up and coming talent in the world starves? Wait a minute. Aren’t you self-publishing??

Read more Ontext

Which is better – self publishing or traditional publishing?

Can writers find jobs through social media?

Writers need a platform if they hope to hook up with a publisher, and sometimes, even just to sell an article to a magazine. A writer needs a platform to sell her writing. Becoming an expert in something is the way to build a platform, and blogging is a great foundation. I’ve been blogging since the word was invented – since about 2002, I think. My first is http://www.womendaybyday.com then I added http://www.ontext.com and http://www.digitalgrandparent.com

Blogging basics

I use WordPress, having tried several other content management systems and sites. WordPress has a learning curve (I use the self-hosted side at WordPress.org). Having your own url is essential if you want the blog to grow, propagate and be sustainable in the long run. I think Blogger and WordPress.com also allow you to use your own url.

While there were once all kinds of SEO tricks to get a blog or site noticed fast, Google and other engines are moving away from that model because all that happened was entities with big budgets floated to the top of the rankings and quality wasn’t an issue. Now, quality content, relevant to your topic will make your blog stand out.

Promoting your blog

As far as promoting it, social networks really work. Spend 15 minutes a day commenting on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, SheWrites, Redroom, and forums that match your topic. I also have great success with Yahoo Answers and whatever Amazon’s equivalent community is. It’s more effective to make conversational comments, be a gentle expert voice, rather than out rightly promote your blog.

Put your blog’s url on your business cards, letterhead, and anywhere else you put your name – if you post to any groups or forums, include your url in your signature. That creates links back to your blog – a good thing. Tell everyone you know how to find your blog. Encourage comments on every post and put links at the bottom of every post to other posts within your blog. Always.

Building your blog

My strongest advice is to post every day, multiple times a day if you can, until you have 100 articles up. They can be short. But they need to be excellent, fascinating, and readable. On your front page, include a place for readers to subscribe easily – both RSS and email. Visit Feedburner.com to read about how easy it is to add those elements.

Then, I’d say make sure your theme or design is appealing but not overwhelming. Use a readable font, not  anything out of the ordinary. Add images and fill out the identification data on the images, including the alt or alternate text since those play in search engines. Make sure your images are copyright safe or you credit the image maker. Use unusual and clever pictures to draw attention.

When you write a particularly valuable post, put a review up on Stumbleupon (I get a ton of traffic from that group) or any of the other social bookmarking sites. Once you get your first hundred entries up, drop to a level that works for you, or, as has been said, you won’t continue the blog if it feels too much like work.

Blogging is fun, especially when you’re writing about your passions, but there is a work side to it if you want your blog to endure, and especially if you want to use it as a platform.

Read more:

Steps to becoming an expert

Sell your writing

Getting the ideas into words puts you miles ahead of the other 84% of Americans who know they have a book in them. Your next steps will make or break your project.

About a million paper-based books are published each year in the U.S. through known houses. If you don’t have an edge, you don’t have a book.

• Create an original story with an unusual arc.
• Write your best and polish it until it shines.
• Every word must advance your reader and your story.
• Build an author platform as you write, so you’re ready when the book is ready.
• Hire a substantive editor or ghost to put the book in the condition demanded by publishers. This is not arbitrary – manuscript format and condition is an absolute. Don’t know the rules? Slush pile, here you come.

I talked to a first-time novelist about to launch her book. She took a path that made complete sense. She engaged one of the industry’s most successful ghosts to polish her novel and mentor her:

Why did you hire a ghostwriter/editor?

I didn’t even know what ghost writing was – till I looked up her (the ghostwriter’s) website. I finished writing this book – a year’s project, and was about to turn 40. It’s a nervous breakdown book. I plunked down in front of computer and wrote it in four months. I knew, as an avid reader, it wouldn’t get published the way it was. I kept revising, editing. I read a book or two on how to get published, but I didn’t know how to polish it.

I emailed Janet Evanovich, since she wrote a book on polishing. I was desperate, going on and on about what do I do next? How do I do this?

Look online for editors and thousands of things come up. Who’s legitimate; who isn’t?  Ken Wilson, Janet’s associate, gave me a name. I heard an angel chorus and my life changed.

What was the process like with your new editor?

I told her a great story was inside me with great characters. She listened, calmed me, made me breathe. I had researched her. It was evident she knew her stuff. I hired her as an editor. The book was already written, but she taught me first how to be a writer. It was such a process. Recognizing the dynamics of active vs passive, and forward plot movement. Every sentence must move your forward. We took 150K words to 90K. It’s so good now, I’m so excited, I can’t stand it.

I’d send her chapter 1, she’d look at it and send me recommendations. We talked about show not tell, pare down narration. Point of view. Then I’d redo it and send it back to her. She has patience, a soothing manner, a way to put things in perspective. She’s brutally honest — good and bad. I didn’t need another family member to tell me the book was good. She told me what was wrong, combined with what was right.

About half through, I got better at reworking stuff before I sent it to her – I got what she was saying, internalized it and it found its way into the work. Miracle.

She was mentor, coach, teacher. I never had a writing class in my life. Later, she did some ghosting, but I felt comfortable. It was my voice, my thinking, my story that I love and my characters.  I loved them before, but if I couldn’t get it out there in a way that readers could meet them and know how awesome they are, what’s the point? I’m accepted the help unashamedly.

What would you say to a writer hesitating to find a mentor/editor/ghost?

1. Your book will be raw. No matter what your friends say.
2. You have to believe in your mentor/editor’s skill. It’s an intimate relationship based on trust.
3. Research before you hire someone. The worst thing would be to find an egotist whose goal is to shred your work and do it her way.
4. Know that it will take months to polish the book.

Diana, the author I interviewed, concluded,

I was driven. The writing had to be done quickly — it’s my personality. I couldn’t sleep. I had to finish. My editor has read it cover to cover, and I love the slinky flow now. It sings to me – it was always singing in my head, and now it sings on paper. This is what I was trying to do; I had to learn it and my characters thanked me a thousand times. Get help.

Everything you need is in there, but may not be in the right place. The story is born as you write it. It may be a tangle, and the book is born in the edit.  If it means that much to you, and it’s bothering you as much as it haunted me, you need to find a professional to help. Friends are fine. Family is fine, but you need a professional if your work is to stand out and be respected.

Here’s more to read:

Why people buy self-published books

Contract, rights, and agents — a guide for writers

Maryan at Twitter