So I’ve been pondering. I don’t think I write weird stuff (not like the Boccalone Prosciutto ice cream I was reading about today), but I do know my work is not easily shoved into any of the boxes available at the moment. Oh, some of it–Fidelis would be an easy sell were it ready, I think. Flame, once she’s ready. And Hiro–there are publishers open to gay high fantasy. But Eve and her ‘verse? That’s harder. It has spaceships, must be SF. Except it’s really not. It’s not even space opera–the name implies big, galaxy-changing stories, and mine are just about people who happen to get around on spaceships.
They could be called SF Romance. Some of them. Joss isn’t, really–though he and Zeke get together in the book, the main relationship is Joss and Paige (not romantic–she’s 12 and he’s gay).
I could probably sell Taro to a publisher that specializes in gay stories–but then I’d have to find another publisher for Eve, Ben, Donte–and back to the first for Rafe, and probably Kolya, and Joss…
Gay is a genre, and that majorly sucks. But it’s still true. Any of my universes that have Teh Gay in them will have to be specially marketed. If I go with a traditional publisher.
And then there’s J.A. Konrath, who is making a killing in ebooks right now, and pointing out that many others are doing the same–without having been a name in traditional publishing first.
There’s the new royalty model at Amazon for Kindle.
And there’s the proof of my book, sitting there on CreateSpace and ready for me to just…let it go.
Apparently formatting for Kindle is not so hard if you have a basic grasp of HTML. Apparently formatting for other ebook apps isn’t much harder.
And, perhaps most important, is the fact that trying this with one book–or one universe–is not the end of my dream of being traditionally published. I have other universes. I have books done in other universes. Fantasy (supposedly) sells better anyway. If this works out well–fantabulous. Maybe I’ll do all the books this way. If it works out moderately, fine. I still have other options. If it fails like a mad faily thing–what am I out? One book I probably won’t be able to traditionally publish unless/until the others sell and do really well.
Why not try this? No reason I can see but complete and utter terror but that alone is not going to stop me.
So here’s where you come in. Do you know a reason I shouldn’t do this? Do you have a suggestion on how to make marketing work? Leads on ways to do this more easily (but still cheaply) than doing it myself?
I’m looking for blogs from people who’ve done it, especially on mistakes they made because they didn’t know better.
I’m looking for forums and blogs and gathering places I can pimp my book when it’s ready. (Don’t worry–I won’t drop in, pimp my book, and vanish. I know this is a LTR kind of thing.)
Ideas on how to handle self-made income (should there be any) and taxes, stuff like that, would be good.
Suggestions and volunteers for starting an army of minions fans to help me spread the word is MOST encouraged.
Help me?
I don’t have first-hand experience here and I don’t know any blogs/forums to point you towards…. But I honestly think you should go for it.
I think it used to be that anyone who didn’t go the “normal” publishing route was looked down on or told repeatedly that they’d never do as well…. But things have changed a lot in the market, and e-books, self-publishing, etc, are not only accepted, but used by some of the most well-known names around.
You’d read books about publishing, right? The pros/cons of different kinds of publishing, what the look for, what to be wary of, etc… There are some good publishing books out there to help you with that. I’ll dig through my stack and give you some titles if you need it.
Of course it’s terrifying, ANYTHING having to do with publishing a book is terrifying, but it might be exactly what Eve’s universe needs. And maybe you’ll find that it’s the way to go for other stories, too, or maybe you’ll be able to publish those more traditionally. Whatever the outcome, I think it’s definitely something to try out with Eve’s.
Okay, the only problem I forsee is spending money you don’t have on a professional artist for the cover, because while I like what you did with the CreateSpace copy, I don’t think it’s really a marketable strategy and Konrath for one definitely heavily implies that the virtual cover is still An Important Thing. Which I am unsure of; I think the price is the IMPORTANT THING when it comes to downloading for my nook. (Which, by the way, I totally expect a copy for my Nook if you do this. Normal PDF format.)
But basically what’s holding me back with Marie is that cover thing. I don’t even have a half usable cover so I’d definitely have to pay someone. And I’d like to pay an acquaintance of mine to edit it (she’s a freelance editor.) But really, it does come back to the cover and having the cajones to do it.
The only hurdle that comes to mind right now is lack of know-how–at least that’s why I don’t feel it’s feasible for me. There’s a lot to learn, it’s a quickly changing landscape, and no one really knows. That said, those things aren’t very different from the traditional publish route, and KD darling, you’re one smart cookie. You’re smart and you know yourself and you know how to dig in and put everything of yourself that needs to be put in into a venture, and I think those things are pretty much what you need to succeed and then some. So, unfortunately, I don’t have any practical advise, but I can offer this: a sort of matter-of-fact encouragement, ’cause I don’t go feel all cautious and need to balance my reaction when I’m reading this. I simply think, Good for her! And have this quiet confidence that you’ll work it out. 🙂
As far as promo goes, I’ve always had this idea in the back of my head that us Sporkers (and any other up-and-coming writerly friends we have) could really help one another get noticed. If enough of us wanted to do the e-book thing together, we could throw together our own promo site that summarises all our stuff and our crazy happenings and links to our personal sites, maybe get some promotion through the NaNo site since so many of us got our start there
maybe even get on Oprah. My mother gets a lot of Hay House books (they publish pretty much everyone who’s remotely self-help-y these days) and the reason she gets so many of them is because they all pimp one another shamelessly and they actually seem to be friends, which somehow makes it less offensive that they’re trying to get more money out of you? “If you like my books you will probably like [random book we don’t need but OMG IT SOUNDS SO AWESOME LIKE THAT]! Also we totally went to dinner the other week. I had digestive problems after. It’s okay, we talked about it and linked it to my underlying emotional issues.”Uh. Yeah. 😐 I don’t really have anything immediately useful to offer but to say I think you should at least look into it more, for the sake of not having regrets about not exhausting the possibility. Regrets suck.
You guys are awesome.
@scribs–thanks. I am honored by your confidence. ^_^
@Heather–thanks. *hug*
@Jen–augh, the cover. Forgot about the cover. But that’s still do-able. I could find someone good on DeviantArt. There are some FANTASTIC artists on DA doing commissions for not very darn much money.
@Kami–that makes a lot of sense. Ian had actually suggested that, and brought it up in the Common Room. We could have a global network! ^_^
Ohhh, you mean I could actually BUY your books??? *tackleglomps you at the thought of it*
I have no practical input. I’m definitely a fan, though I’m not sure I would/will be an effective minion.
*hugs lots*
Yay, my first minion!
I, for one, have a good friend who loves gay romance who I’m pretty sure would love to read. I can’t guarantee she would buy, but it’s a start, and I WILL buy. I love your stories, and judging from what you’ve said here, they’re going to be even awesomer after the edit. I’m still excited about bratty!Ben and cackle out loud whenever I think of him and Eve clashing.
You’d need to work really hard, but you know that, and I believe in you. I know you can do it.
Also, I have to say… not all readers prefer the physical page. Granted, I don’t know any others who are like me, but me? I can NEVER get stuck into a physical book. I can read online for hours at a time and finish eBooks, but physical books… can’t read ’em. I just can’t get comfortable with them anymore. I think there’d be plenty of other readers like me out there who are too used to the screen who’d love to buy eBooks.
Keep us updated on what you decide to do, aye?
I think your arguments make a lot of sense, and I definitely think that you could do it if you wanted to. Also, I’d love to be able to buy your books, because you’re awesome, and I’d tell everyone I knew to do it too.
My only hesitation is that self-publishing one novel in a series could affect the other books in the series. If you’re able to convince a publisher to take Eve and then the sequels, what happens when you get to Taro? Could you skip it without loss of continuity? Would they buy it anyway? Would they not have bought it anyway so you shouldn’t worry? I don’t know.
That, and marketing your own stuff is HARD, but you know that already, so. 😉 (Have you tried a gay-focused e-publisher? Can’t remember.)
Here’s a site that has a lot of info on marketing: http://pimpmynovel.blogspot.com/ It’s geared towards traditional publishing, but a lot of the strategies would be the same, I’d think. If I come across any good blog posts in the near future, I’ll send them your way.
Personally, I’m not a fan of reading novels on my laptop, but I’m thinking seriously of getting some kind of ereader (Kindle or otherwise) in the next year or so. I’d definitely buy your book(s) then!
@Dusty–I’m not sure they’ll be available in Australia, which sucks. Kindle is only for the US, I’m told. But if I go Smashwords too–well, hopefully. If it can’t be bought, I’ll send it to you! Then you just talk it up wherever. ^_^
@Lire–thanks! I’ll count you in the minion army. XD
@Wonderer–It’s not a closely-linked series, and yes, it could be read without a loss of continuity if it had to be. But if you went to Amazon looking for my books, they won’t be separated by publisher–they’d all be under my name. If I release Taro in epub, I’ll do it through CreateSpace too, so those who want a physical copy can have one.
Also, if I did get a traditional publisher (and decide to go with one–J.A. Konrath is doing just fine without) I could make a deal to stop selling Taro on my own. Cat Valente did that with…The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fantasyland in a Boat of her Own Making (what a long-ass and possibly slightly wrong title!) She had it on the ‘net for free, I believe, and then when someone wanted it, she just…took it down.
I’ve looked at gay-focused e-publishers. The problem is that they wouldn’t want half the books in the series because the lead characters in those books are not gay. Leading to my complaint of “gay is a genre.” Teh Gay supercedes everything else about the novel and that frakking SUCKS. Talk about separate but supposedly equal…
You would have to put in a ton of work to make sure you do it right the first time, and find the audience you want. But if you really feel it’s the best option for the sort of story you want to tell… GO FOR IT.
Find someone to make you an eye-catching cover, hone your synopsis and texts with the help of a crit partner and/or freelance editor, still make it the best book you can possibly make it. Research research. But go for it.
Best of luck.
Thanks! One reason I’m considering it with this book is that it’s already polished and ready (as ready as any manuscript is, anyway) because I was querying it. This book made an agent dither for a year before she passed because she didn’t think she could sell it. Another told me he passed solely for market reasons, and to send him fantasy.
Eye-catching cover–oh yes. Gonna need that. ^_^
The only thing that hasn’t been mentioned that I’d hesitate over is something that someone said at a panel at ComiCon–that if you self-publish under the same name you submit elsewhere, it is possible that this will affect your marketablity (something about sales numbers or something which may make booksellers reluctant?). Since I’d never heard of that before, and when I worked at a bookstore we never checked up on sales records for authors (that I know of) (then again, we were an indie bookstore), you should… possibly not pay any attention to that–I just wanted to mention it.
Pros that I don’t think have been mentioned: being known on the internet, and having a fanbase, is apparently under some circumstances an incentive to publish an author. Cassandra Clare (author of the Mortal Instruments trilogy–YA urban fantasy) started as a fanfic author who became famous in Harry Potter/Lord of the Rings fandom (and in traditional media reports on same–newspapers and the like); I believe it’s been suggested that she got the book deal partly because people knew that there’d be an audience. (I just checked and can’t find cites for the built-in audience thing, so take it with a grain of salt.)
If I could draw I’d offer my artistic services for the cover; as it is, if there’s any way I can help with anything, let me know; I am putting in my Minion Application now.
yay! *glomp* Man, I am going to have the BEST minions anywhere!
Go for it, man! It doesn’t mean you have to give up on traditional publishing, but you might as well get one of these fabulous books out there. If it doesn’t take off like you hoped (which it will), you still have several series of books that *are* more accessible to traditional publishing. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
(I’d be interesting in helping with your cover. I love Photoshop.)
Ooh, and the options come up! I love playing in Paint.net, but I’m no pro. I’m considering working with a friend of Kay’s who just completed art-school of some sort and has some lovely work on dA.
What would you want to do with it?
Also, *GLOMP.* When the Taro book proof was just for me, I put blurbs from people on the very first page and yours was one of them. ^___^