As I fine tune my novel, I'm having a growing debate with myself. It is THE debate of the modern author. When pursuing publication, what route do you take. There are so many hoops to jump through on either side of the fence it is a very difficult decision to make.
Traditional Publishing is not the same today as it was five years ago, and even then it wasn't the same it was ten years ago. The main problem with traditional publishing is the big six publishing houses with all their many off shoots, demand more from perspective authors than they can give back. Most of the big six will not look at unsolicited work, this means the author has to secure an agent in order to be looked at, never mind actual interest. Seeking an agent is a time consuming trial in itself, you have to sell your book to them first, they will take a percentage of your earnings, and even if you get one, there are still no guarantees with the big six. Who are these big six you ask: The Hachette Group, Penguin, Random House, Simon and Schuster, HarperCollins, and Georg Von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group, though you might know them as Macmillan. Just about every book you see in a book store comes from them. It's a fortress you want access to, but the process takes months. Nailing an agent also requires you to come with a polished piece, meaning you better have some grammar savvy friends or hire a professional.
If you nail an agent, and if they read your work, you are looking at a four to six month waiting period to hear a yes or no. However, there are also some big exceptions to the agent rule with the big six, it comes down to the off shoots. Each of these big six has imprints with their own set of submission rules.
As a YA fantasy writer one of the imprints I've been eyeballing is Tor. There is still the beastly long waiting period but, they do take unsolicited submissions. Their submissions guidelines are here.
Self Publishing. This is the flip side of the coin. Self publishing is also referred to as vanity publishing, which is a very derogatory term because not everyone who self publishes is doing it because they couldn't cut it elsewhere. There are numerous reasons people choose selfies: you can publish fast, you get the greatest cut of the profits, and with the advent of e-books, your audience is potentially global. The harsh reality of self publishing is you have no net, and no support. When I say support I mean no one helps you edit, no one helps you design, no one helps you network and promote your work. While networking and promoting work is someone you can do with a bit of time and effort, editing and design are the punch to the larynx. If you think your readers won't care about a few editing mistakes, you're half right, many published paper form books are pushed out these days with multiple editing errors. My early printing of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is so chock full of mistakes I was tempted to circle them all and send it back. It was a rush edition, the publishing house wants to make a butt load of money, so they will cut corners to produce product. It happens in a lot of retail/ manufacturing businesses. That being said, yes your reader will notice tons of mistakes in your writing if you don't, and it can be a huge turn off, like leeches, leeches are big turn off.
So you must produce these services yourself. It's pretty much the same story as seeking an agent. You need friends with benefits....or English degrees. Selfies can also be a well disguised trap, make sure you do your research because a lot of selfie publishing houses charge.
An extremely awesome article/ guide I found on self publishing is here. This is a success story, but it also tells you the real downfalls you can run into with this process as well as the best method for success.
Small Publishing Houses. Small houses are also not what they used to be, but I think for the better. They provide many of the services large publishing houses do, though maybe not a flashy and wide reaching. Small pubs did do one thing right the big six are still flagging on. They snatched the e-book opportunity and ran with it. To be honest, I am leaning in this direction. A lot of small pubs will take unsolicited work, help edit, help design, and respond about ten times faster than the big six. On the e-book market, small houses can be pretty competitive with the big six, though they still hit their wall when it comes to traditional book format. Some will print on demand, produce limited printings, etc. It's harder for them to take a loss on a product than the bigger companies. There are TONS of small publishing houses, and as the big six become more and more exclusive, more new writers turn to this option. These houses like to snag writers so they advertise themselves on lots of lists sites. My Perfect Pitch and Every Writer's Resource are two great list sites to get a feel for the numerous small houses out there. Ever Writers Resource in particular not only lists houses, but gives a summary of what they are looking for and how to submit work.
It's a tricky business. Here I thought the hard part was just writing the damn book. Through all the drafting and moments of wanting to slam my head on my desk, I don't think I really thought about what came after all that work. Honestly, I'm still not sure which route I will end up taking. I will finish polishing up my work first, then see where the road takes me.
No comments:
Post a Comment